Starbuck's Seeing McD's a Helper

A few weeks back, I posted here about McDonald's getting into the coffee world. Starbucks is now saying that this move will not be threat but a long run help in the future of hight quality coffee. In this article, Starbucks Chairman, Howard Schultz, said this.... "It will be very hard on a national level for existing operators to replicate the look and feel and sensibility that our customers have come to expect from the 'Starbucks experience' we have created inside our stores," Schultz said. " Don't discount the differentiation and position we occupy," he added. Remember how "fast-foodish" Starbucks is become? Maybe they are planning on taking on McDonalds with combo meals and clowns....... ~~be bold (p.s. I will have to say that, although it might appear different, I appriciate what they have done for coffee in the US)

Quote of the Day

"As with art 'tis prepared, so one should drink it with art." Arabic Proverb

Top Regions for Entrepreneurship

This article from Inc.com reports that... "The top regions for entrepreneurship in the U.S are in the "non-California" regions of the western part of the country, with Colorado scoring the highest for innovation and entrepreneurship, according to research sponsored by the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy and the Edward Lowe Foundation." "Fort Collins, Colo; Raleigh, N.C.; Provo, Utah; Austin, Texas; and Boston, Mass., are the top five most innovative-entrepreneurial regions in the U.S., according to the Innovation-Entrepreneurship NEXUS: A National Assessment of Entrepreneurship and Regional Economic Growth and Development report, which measured innovation and entrepreneurship for 394 labor market areas across the U.S." It is interesting to see where these hotspots of entreprenuership are springing up espically when we think back to the padded pockets of VC's--with many of them in California. I think this study goes along with the best cities to do business (see my earlier post) I'm interested in watching to see how business trends in the Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Montana. It looks as though trends are spiking based on these studies.. ~~be bold

Quote of the Day

"Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"~~Oscar Wilde

The Today Show

The Today Show Originally uploaded by JasonDuncan. The Today Show visits Nashville! I will have to admit that this, along with Law and Order (yes, all of them) and CSI (all of them) and Without and Trace and Numbers (wow, that is alot of shows) I wake up and have my firct coffee watching The Today Show.. Welcome to Nashville.. ~~Be bold

Quote of the Day

" You are lucky because you caught me in a transitional phase. I was sitting here, eating my muffin, drinking my coffee, and I had what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity." Pulp Fiction

Business Plan update

Well, we are now finished with the "graded" part of our business plan for Cafe Evoke. We have turned in a "final" draft and have presented the plan. We feel pretty confident in our planning to this point. We know we need to work on a few areas from now until opening which including.. 1. Really understand needs for staffing/payrool 2. Rework marketing plan to reflect new location/target market 3. Continue working on funding/budgets for capitalization These things will be areas that we will be tackling head on once I finish my last two papers for school. We only have a few more days left in Nashville and we are going to really push to have things in place to really hit them hard when we reach Bozeman, Montana. We are drafting a location and layout plan for the City Planner in Bozeman so we can figure out parking at the space we are trying to get. That is going to be a big hurdle for this location as there are only a handful of parking places and 2 other business to share with. There needs to be a certain amount of parking (off street) based on the amount of people that can sit in the business. Our main focus right now is to try and work out a plan withe the planners for parking. ~~be bold

"Best Places for Business"

Well, the list is out! Inc.com has posted their 2005 "best cities for business" list. I was interested in a few of the cities that they mention. Here is a rundown of a few that I like.... 2. Boise, Idaho 3. Casper, Wyo. 5. Medford, Oreg 8. Missoula, MT Although Bozeman did not make this list, there is some rumbling in the North West part of the country in which we are moving! Bozeman I'm sure will be gaining some ground on this list as time goes on. Missule is just hours form where we will be and that growth they have been seeing is being transfered to Bozeman. There were some big movers on the list but Missula still kept in the top 10.. Where is your state on the list? Go check find it! ~~be bold

"College Entrepreneurs Honored"

Dr. Cornwall over at The Entrepreneurial Mind posts pictures from Belmont University's Undergraduate Awards Day. Several entrepreneurs were recongnized and my friend, Matt Sells, was awarded the Regions Bank Outstanding Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award ($5,000 cash money!). The other photo is of other student entrepreneurs. Yes, that is me in the pink salomon colored shirt.... There are also a couple other great posts over at Cornwall's site...here's one...and another here. These are some insights on small buisness polls and thoughts on doing the right thing. ~~be bold

A State of Disarray

Well, today I have felt like a chicken running with my head cut-off. I was updating me PDA when I hit the wrong button and lost my desktop planner. Not good. For those of you who know me, I like to have control of my stuff and I like to be organized..today was not good for me in this area. I am translating this into a lessons to keep in mind as I begin to really hit the details of Cafe Evoke. Backup often! Get correct systems in place, and make sure this doesn't happen to information that is more important than what I lost. Tomorrow is the day that I present my business plan. I feel pretty good about it but I feel a bit unknowing about what to talk about in the 10 minutes I have. I'm sure many of you know that when you are excited about something, as I am with Cafe Evoke, all you want to do is talk about it and I think I could go on for about 2 hours. Back to work I go... ~~be bold

A Thought about Grants

We have been talking about financing around here and trying to figure out how much and where the money will come from to capitalize Cafe Evoke. We know how much personal investment we can put in and we think it will end up being about half of what we will need when it is all said and done.. We are going to try and raise a few dollars here and there from family and friends (if you would like to help, you can donate through the links on the sidebar!), and then go to the banks for debt financing. We then came across a few grants that are given to coffee shops around the country and decided that, although very competitive and hard to get, this type of funding could be very helpful in our business. That would allow us to only borrow a small, short-term loan from the banks which would be a lot less risky for them. Does anyone have any information regarding grants, or know of any grants that are looking for start-up buisnesses? I would love to hear about them! ~~be bold.

Trip to the Social Security Administration

Today, I had to again go to the Social Security Administration office here in Nashville. It appears that my "safe spot" to store my card is so safe that I cannot find it...again. Each time I go in that building, the thing that comes to mind is the phrase..."good enough for government work" and lousy customer service. I was taken aback today.. I strolled in with book in hand, expecting to wait the usualy hour or so just to have my application processed. I walked in to see the normal line of people waiting, inside and out. I was immideatly escorted to an open window and before I knew it, was out in my car heading home. The gentleman at the window and I had a conversation in which he described my major, enterpreneurship, as "the Donald Trump degree" (I can only hope it will lead to something like that...but I AM entering into the coffee business so...) and how when he used to live in Oklahoma..(where I am from). I had a nice little conversation with him and he sent me on my way saying.. "If you turn into Donald Trump, remember me." If this office can hire such a great employee, it is setting high standards for us at Cafe EVoke. ~~be bold

Remember this....while raising money

Stuart C. McWhorter, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, of Clayton and Associates offers these helpful tips for entrepreneurs looking for money... 1. Do your homwork--> Know what interests the firm you are looking to have invest in your company. Know what excites them and what industries they have expirence in and invest in. 2. Raising money takes time--> You need to balance the time you spend raising money and the time you NEED to spend running your company so it doesn't fail while you are raising capital. 3.Find an advisor--> Get someone who knows the game. Someone that can give advice as your business grows. If possible, this person should not be the one giving you money! 4. be Flexible--> You might have to give up some shares in teh company to attain the money you are looking for. Be flexible and work with the investors to make the deal a success. 5.Raise more than you need I think this should say..raise more than you THINK you need. It will always cost more than what your paper numbers tell you. Be prepared because it is hard to go back for me. It is important, howver, to have a reason for your high needs! Keep all of this in mind when you go out to find money in the start-up phase and along the way. ~~be bold

Newly Revised Bankruptcy Rules

It seems to me that there was a bit of a problem with the cureent bankruptcy laws. I always felt like they were a way out. It seemed that many companies where on a 2 year, "lets file chapter 11." business model which seems a bit absurd. Well, be prepared all ye filers that this is not going to be a vail to hide behind anymore... President Bush signed the controversial 500-page Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act into law on Wednesday. The new law, which will go into effect in six months, will force more debtors to pay back creditors through court-enforced payment plans rather than have their debts erased like they are under the current system. "In recent years too many people have abused the bankruptcy laws," Bush said. "They walked away from debts even when they had the ability to repay them This article from Inc.com also reports that over 1.6 Americans filed bankruptcy last year. As a growing entreprenuer, I have had to set in place an exit startedy in which bankruptcy is a possiblilty. I have always believed in fighting it out until there is nothing left to fight for, or with. I do believe that if you have the ability to pay, you should pay! Be careful about filing as this law goes into effect...you could find yourself facing repayment to you creditors.. ~~be bold

Quote of the Day

"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers." ~~Ralph Nadar

A Lesson in Customer Service

We alot here at A Thought Over Coffee about thinking like and serving our customers. In the past few weeks, I have found myself analizing customer service at the places I eat, hang out, and shop. Many times, I find that the things I say I will value in customer service are not present in these companies..at least in practice. My wife and I entered Publix who's tagline is "Its been our pleasure". Most grocery stores have an array of employees carring out tasks such as stocking, cleaning, ringing people up, etc. When I walked in, I was greeted by two "bag boys" who asked how I was doing. Now, this is not the impressive part. The impressive part was that they both stopped what they were doing to hear my answer! During our long long shopping spree (no, it was not the kind that is free), the manager spoke with us, the butcher spoke with us, the deli guy spoke with us, and the stocker spoke with us. I was blown away by the sincerity of each one of these employees. I hope that Cafe Evoke will have these same characteristics. It is not enough to just say "how are you doing today." It needs to be sincere. Claps for Publix.. They have a new customer! ~~be bold PS..No, the Pleasure is mine!

"Students fight for Fair Trade"

"Coffee isn't just the miracle liquid that keeps you awake all day. It is also behind an economic battle between impoverished coffee farmers and the lucrative business of selling coffee worldwide. A smaller turf battle simmers on the DU campus over those same issues." I came across this article in the University of Denver's student paper about students fighting for Fair Trade coffee being sold on campus. These students want 100% of the coffee sold to be Fair Trade in order to help farmers in these coffee growing countries. "Fair Trade is the only way to satisfy the hunger for economic justice on campus." Buehler said. "Sodhexo and DU administration are helping by providing more FT coffee." This needs to be in the thoughts of every university and school that serves coffee. On my own campus, Belmont University, the idea of serving 100% Fair Trade coffee has been belittled and ignored for several years now. Fair Trade is important to keep the lives of these farmers as comfortable as our own. It is not that this coffee tastes any different and those that say no one would care, should might as well use Fair Trade in order to give back. It is not in the taste, but the economic well being of the farmers that produce the beans. DU is going in the right direction and I hope that I see Belmont take the initiative as well.... ~~be bold

Business Plan update/Quote of the Day

Well, with only half a day left before turning in my final draft of the business plan, things are looking good. All that is left is some final general edits and some touch up work with the financials and it is done! It is amazing what you are forced to discover as you write this. I have talked about the book The Art of the Start before and it talks about the business plan being something that most start-up entrepreneurs feel is the most imnportant but that it is actually the process that is key. I think I have discovered this after finishing things up. I think The Grateful Dead say it best.... (todays Quote of the Day) "Sometimes the light's all shining on me Other times I can barely see Lately it occurs to me what a long strange trip it's been Truckin - I'm goin home Whoa-oh baby, back where I belong Back home - sit down and patch my bones and get back Truckin on"

While we're talking Starbucks....

"Another company with strong entrepreneurial roots has gone corporate in how they wield their power. None other than Starbucks has found the power that a big corporation can have in getting their way in Washington" This was offered by The Entrepreneurial Mind today over an article from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. So it seems that not only is it going to be important to hire an engineering firm to design special ice scoops to shave 1.45 seconds from the scoop time, they are also going to have to hire some layers and politians to nudge Starbucks into favor with lawmakers.. "Kris Engskov, head of Starbucks Corp.’s fledgling lobbying effort, won his first real victory last October: a tax break worth millions of dollars to the company. His boss had mixed emotions. Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz was glad to win the tax break, but he was disturbed by a wave of editorials and news reports labeling his hip and fast-growing company a money-grubbing special interest and referring to the provision in the 2004 tax bill as the “Starbucks footnote.” (Thanks for the post Dr. Cornwall)

List Update

We have gotten a few more things crossed off the list.. 1. Finish Logo Concepts, letterhead, and business cards. 2.Complete business plan (the draft is done, with just a few more touchups, it is ready to be turned in!) 3. Sell Condo (YES!, It SOLD yesterday!!!) 4.Get finiancing plan complete 5. Find a place in Bozeman Here are the big projects left in my final semester of school.. 1. Individual Strategic Analysis of The Body Shop International 2. Group Paper and Presentation of Strategic Analysis of Hershey Foods Corporation 3. Presentation of Business Plan Over the past few weeks, we have been really thinking about the logo we created and decided that we might need to go back to the drawing board and work out some different concepts. This is appearing to last longer than we thought but we really want our logo to fit our vision and mission for Cafe Evoke. As of now, the one pictured is it. I think it will change soon though. We have already created a few more that we like as well or better! I'm taking this as good news! We found a hosue today and we are very excited. It isn't exactly what we had pictured but we think it will be a great place to begin our adventures in Bozeman. ~~be bold

Coffee Kids

coffeekids Originally uploaded by JasonDuncan. "COFFEE KIDS has helped thousands of children, women, and men in coffee-producing regions in Mexico and Central America to improve the quality of their lives and build more sustainable communities. Founded by coffee roaster Bill Fishbein in 1988, Coffee Kids is an international nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Our staff works with local non-governmental community organizations in Latin America to create education, health-care, training, and microenterprise programs for coffee farmers and their families. Our projects respect the cultural integrity of our local partners, foster independence, and promote long-term self-sufficiency." This is a great organization that serves coffee growing families. Check out their site here adn help them out by donating if you have the means to do so! ~~be bold

"Coffee on the Double"

"Ms. Kipper, 22 years old, had just stood for about two minutes in a line of about 10 people. She is one of millions of Americans who wait each morning to shell out, on average, between $3.50 and $4.00 for one of Starbucks Corporation's premium beverages. But how long is too long to wait for a vanilla latte?" This was a clip from an article that my wonderful grandmother, Oma, sent me today from The Wall Street Journal. Now, as most of you know, we are opening a coffee house in which atmostphere is the key product that we are selling. This article is saying that customers are not willing to wait 20 seconds for a cup of coffee. Starbucks and others are looking to engineer different ice scoops that will cut "14 seconds" from the production time of an iced drink. This in unbelievable to me! I am aware of an increase in the pace of our market and economy but this seems DAMN rediculous. Yes, I agree that prompt customer service is a key issue that every business needs to take into consideration--we have talked about thinking like your customers and serving them--but how can one enjoy a FRESH cup of coffee if they want to have it in 2.56 seconds? If we continue on this rampage to cut time, we will walk into these coffee shops and find a warming try with premade drinks that you just pick up and walk to the counter..you've seen them, the ones at McDonald's that the slide the"burger" down to the customer? Then, we will be dealing with unhappy customers again! Peoplt want Fresh and Fast! I have an alternative...LEAVE EARLIER!! Enjoy LIFE!! if we cannot spare an extra 20 seconds...well... ~~be bold

Quote of the Day

"Everybody should believe something. I believe I'll have more coffee."

Thoughts about the 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year

We watched the Race for Space documentary today in class and it really allowed me to stand back and appriciate 'Burt' Rutan and the kind of leader he is. I was reminded of The Entrepreneurial Mind's post about this man back in December. Rutan was a kind leader, passionate and committed to his vision, excited, and above all else, he not only believed in his own ability to succeed in this "game" but also believe just as much in his 125 employees that did a task that only 3 goverments have be able to do to date. See my earlier post about leadership and he fits the mold perfectly. Even in the midst of the death of the project managers, the family of employees, including the man's wife, pushed on together. That is culture that I hope Cafe Evoke and created and commit to from day one on. ~~be bold (Rutan sure does!)

"The Art of Powerpointing"

I have been reading Guy Kawasaki's book The Art Of The Start. I ran acorss a little minchapter that had to do with the use of Powerpoint in your presentations. I am in teh midst of several projects in which this is being used and I thought he presented some great guidelines to keep in mind when presenting your business to investers and others.. 1. Use a dark background--look professional 2. Add your logo to the master slide--another way to get your image and name out! 3. Use common, sans serif fonts--try arial 4, Animate your body, not your slides--don't wast yoru time! You can be more express with you body! 5. "Build" bullets--mush easier to read than a huge blck of text 6. Use only one level of bullets--just explain what you are taking about! It appears your thinkig is fuzzy when you have so many levels of bullets. 7. Add diagrams and graphs--it makes it interesting 8. Make printable slides. These are great things to remember when presenting information on the "Swiss Army Knife of Entreprenuers." This book presents a huge amount of information for pitching your business plan and many ofher useful things. Buy it if you haven't. ~~be bold

Update

Well, the final finished copy of our business plans are due a week from yesterday. The captial budget is virtually completed, thanks to my wife Jenni, and the staffing plan just needs polished and it is done! We have lost out on two great housing in MT so far but that is our luck from trying to rent from 2000 miles away I guess. We will know about another one today. We are holding off on the rest of the financing stuff until we arrive in Bozeman. It is important for us to build contacts and network and that is better to do face to face and in person. Our plan for attack is finished though and all we need to do now is move! Here is how the list is looking today: 1. Finish Logo Concepts, letterhead, and business cards. 2.Complete business plan (the draft is done, with just a few more touchups, it is ready to be turned in!) 3. Sell Condo (YES!, It SOLD yesterday!!!) 4.Get finiancing plan complete 5. Find a place in Bozeman Here are the big projects left in my final semester of school.. 1. Individual Strategic Analysis of The Body Shop International 2. Group Paper and Presentation of Strategic Analysis of Hershey Foods Corporation (<--done on Thursday!) 3. Presentation of Business Plan Not to much longer now! Graduation in only 1 month away and we are on the downhill at this point! ~~be bold

Quote of the Day

"Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis - a good hot cup of coffee." - Alexander King

To be...a Leader

Dr. Cornwall lectured today about leadership and what it takes to be a good leader in your new and growing business. This goes along great with our dicussion about leadership and staffing. He presented 9 characteristics of a good leader.... 1. Relentless focus on vision:--> This is important because it can stop vision drift, the growth myth, and also a loss of the sense of culture within the company. (See this post from Dr. Cornwall for a write up on these myths) 2.Values->Policies and Practices->Actions:-->It is important for the leader of the business to be able to determine what his or her values are and keep grounded in them so that they create habitual business routines for each person in the business. 3.Provide Inspiration for Potential:-->The leader must be able to keep the troops going. Always have a bounce in your step and provide the fire under the rest of the employees. 4.Consistent and frequent communication about vision:-->No matter what you do, make sure you talk about the vision for the company. It is easy for the leader to see the end result, take the others with you! If you write letters, include the vision. Memos, include the vision. Newsletters, include the vision... 5Serve as "emotional Shock Absorber" for stress caused by growth: 6.Adapt to unexpected changes:-->This is what you were doing when you created the business, don't stop now! 7.Learn from failures: 8.Focus on results--objectives and milestones:-->This, to me, is like steering the car. You can't just hold the wheel steady and get to your final destination. You have to make small adjustments to get to the end. Bring your business with you on this drive! Tell employees what needs to get done and have milestones and objectives to communicate progress on the way. 9.Lead by example: These are great guidelines that Dr. Cornwall has laid out for us to asses what it takes to be a good leader. Leadership is important as your business grows and even before. No matter how many people are in your buisness, being a good leader will bring you through the "perpetual white watter", (as Peter Vail refers to it) that your company will go through. ~~be bold

Ming Wang Update

Well, it appears that Dr. Ming Wang (as posted about last time) is a great as he is presented. He did a great job and the surgery only took a mere 20 minutes. I can already see the 20/20 line without glasses and that is only supposed to be about 80% of what the outcome will be. I'm loving it. I have always been the kid you made fun of for having 5 inch thick glasses but not anymore! ~~be bold..

Going to see Dr. Ming Wang!

Ming Wang Originally uploaded by JasonDuncan. Well, I will be visiting with Dr. Ming Wang tomorrow and hopefully having LASIK surgey and fixing my eyes for good! I'm excited and eager to meet this world famous doctor and get my eyes fixed. I will share with you more when I am able to view my screen again, and with more clarity than ever! ~~be bold..

Quote of the Day

"..it evokes things, it makes people think and ask questions..." ~~Chief of Police--NYPD on TNT's Law and Order (If I did not know any better, I would think this quote was in response to Cafe Evoke!) ~~be bold

Quote of the Day

"Drinking coffee is kinda my major hobby... the great benefit of being an actor is you have all this spare time. My ideal is just hanging out with people - I think I am innately lazy" - Craig Parker (Haldir in the Lord Of The Rings movies)

CoffeeHouse Highlight

"Ergo, Progress Coffee — a place for food, beverage, art, music and magazines where you can eat, drink, look, listen, read — and hang out for as long as you want." Welcome to the first edition of CoffeeHouse Highlight in which we will talk about coffeehouses all across the country. This first addition is Progress Coffee in Austin, TX. this is a great coffeehouse to have fresh, organic food and coffee and be inspired. Progress was a stop on Austin's famous SxSW tour this year with a surprise show from The Flaming Lips. They offer free WiFi in a 1942 warehouse on Austin's east side and their weekly lunch menu is prepared with only fresh foods, changing weekely and with availablity. You can access this menu from there website. Progress also features a newstand to buy the current issue of your favorite magazine. This is a very chill place features art and events ranging from church groups, author visits, concerts, parties, and everythign inbetween. Joshua and Progress are reaching out to the community and have created a place for people to come, talk, and have a fine cup of coffee in an atmostphere that is comfortable and friendly. Check out their website for online retail, events, history, pictures, and directions. If you are in the Austin area, stop by and give Joshua a wave. --be bold

Money, Money, Have you Seen Our Money?

We are in the process of getting our "stuff" in order to begin looking for financing. This is an area that I know not much about. I do know that there are a few things that I will need to be sure of before stepping out and talking with bankers and lenders, no matter what form they take. We need to make sure that we borrow enough money for start-up. We also need to make sure that we have all our "ducks in a row" (sorry, not a huge fan of that quote either, I assure you it will not apear in the quote of the day feature.) and make sure that our numbers look conservative enough. And basically we need to get out there and NETWORK! Our goal is to have our paper work in order by May 20th and when we land in Bozeman, we will then begin the networking process, meeting bankers and investors that share our vision for Cafe Evoke and are willing to finance the place. Dr. Cornwall over at The Entrepreneurial Mind responds to this post from Startup Journal talking about financing and things to avoid and look for.

For the Gaming Coffee Lover

I came across this post over at the Coffee and Caffeine Blog today and I thought it a good example of the worldwide overtaking that coffee is responsible for. "Coming from Jamopolis Interactive, the developers of Moon Tycoon, Deep Sea Tycoon and National Lampoon’s University Tycoon, Coffee Tycoon has players building up a coffee empire, moving from a single store to chain." Go check out the site in which he also gives links for the information on the new game! I am not the big "gamer" that many of my friends are but for coffee, I will have to sign on! --be bold..

Quote of the Day

"After a few months' acquaintance with European "coffee," one's mind weakens, and his faith with it, and he begins to wonder if the rich beverage of home, with its clotted layer of yellow cream on top of it, is not a mere dream after all, and a thing which never existed." - Mark Twain

New Section!

I have decided to add a new section or feature to this site! It will be a review of coffeeshop that will be posted weekly. We will talk about design, customer service, and what the coffeeshop is all about. If you have a coffeeshop that you are excited about and would like to see it featured in this section, please let me know about it! You can email me here and let me know the name, why you like it, and the website. Thanks again and look for the first post of this section later this week! --be bold

Montana Coffee Traders on roasting

"Montana Coffee Traders has been roasting for more than 20 years " I was very suprised to find this article this morning talking about roasting and what it takes to make a great batch of coffee. One of the highlighted companies was Montana Coffee Traders. This article talkes about the crucial components and quality assurance that are mandatory when beginning a roasting program. For those of you who are interested in coffee and want to learn more, its a great easy read. This also gets back to the point we have been making for serveral weeks now which is know what your customers want, be consistent, and give it to them! Support Montana Coffee and go check them out! ~~Be bold

Quote of the Day

"Coffee, which makes the politician wise, And see through all things with his half-shut eyes. Alexander Pope, English satirical poet. Rape of the Lock, cto. 3 (1712)."

Starbucks shop soon will be open 24 hours

"Gotta have a frappuccino or doubleshot coffee in the middle of night? No problem. The Starbucks Coffee Co. location in Fishers near 116th Street and I-69 in the Gateway Shops soon will begin brewing up its famous beverages 24 hours a day." I was directed to this article while on my daily stop to Specialty Coffee Retailer's Daily News Page and it made me begin to wonder what this one Starbucks decision to open 24 hours do to the rest of the coffeeshop world.. This company has changed the way Americans drink coffee but is this now going to force smaller stores, like Cafe Evoke, into longer hours which will mean even higher payrolls, etc? Evoke will be opened 18 hours a day and even these times will be strecthing our employees. This will be interesting to watch and see where this change will take the "coffeeshop" world. --be bold

Update

Well, our move to Bozeman is only a few weeks away..5 I believe is the number. It seems that everytime I look up, another week has passed. Here is the list of things that needs to be completed before we leave: 1. Finish Logo Concepts, letterhead, and business cards. 2.Complete business plan (the draft is done, with just a few more touchups, it is ready to be turned in!) 3. Sell Condo (YES!, It SOLD yesterday!!!) 4. Get finiancing plan complete 5. Find a place in Bozeman Here are the big projects left in my final semester of school.. 1. Individual Strategic Analysis of The Body Shop International 2. Group Presentation of Strategic Analysis of Hershey Foods Corporation 3. Presentation of Business Plan Not to much left now and we are out of here and on the next leg of our journey to opening day. I hope everyone has enjoyed the reading here at A Thought Over Coffee so far and I hope to bring more as we continue. Let me know if there is anything you would like me to post over. THanks for reading.. As far as the business plan update for the weeks goes....We are still a bit on hold with the writing of. We have made contact with many of the vendors for the construction process and have assessed the costs that will go into building a patio and doing the floors, etc. We hope to continue to talk with the owner of the space I mentioned about a few weeks ago and get something nailed down.. All that is left if the completed staffing plan. --Be bold

Quote of the Day

" A morning without coffee is like something without ... something else" ~~unknown

Fair Trade

Fair Trade Certified Originally uploaded by JasonDuncan. Look for this label when buying and enjoying your coffee! You can find it at these great stores.. Bongo Java in Nashville Progress Coffee in Austin --be bold

Staffing

We have been talking alot about muddled structures and how do over come them. It seem that many entrepreneurs hire in the beginning due to crisis situations--situations in which they NEED an HR person, they NEED a marketing person, etc. This offen times leads to a tension as the company grows. It is important to hire with your company culture in mind. Yes, it seems that quite often the busienss is different in the long run than what the entrepreneur visioned but with the proper people, the values and mission of the company can be met and a team really begins to form. We at Cafe Evoke will really be thinking this through as we begin to staff the coffeehouse. With the long hours and committment to serve, it will be important to find people with these same goals that believes in our model and that can carry our mission in everyday practices, "on and off the field". Keep culture in mind when you make these hiring decisions and do not let it get pushed aside during growth. The cutlure is who your company is, the face that many people see, and the piece of information that really gives people the first impression. --be bold