Tough Decisions

As we are looking into an area of town that is about to be developed further, we are running into a timeline issue and tough decisions will need to be made. We are going to meet with a developer (and leasing agent we have been working with) to talk about his buildings that are going up beginning in March. The problem is that the building will take about a year to complete which puts us a long way out. There are other buildings available in this area that we are also meeting to discuss with the owners and their leasing agents but we are still looking at a summer move in date at the earliest for any of these buildings. As I wrote yesterday in my "window" post, I feel that we cannot wait too long to get opened. The good thing about being in the part of town where we are looking is that we would be the first coffee house there. These are all things we are going to have to take into consideration. We have vendors that are waiting to take our orders, our equipment is ready to be shipped, and we have money sunk into the deal already. You grow up fast when these types of decisions must be reached and you learn on the fly. The key here is to be patient and not get into something that will have negative effects on Cafe Evoke and our ability to serve our community here and across the world. ~~be bold

Is There A Window?

When we first began to plan Cafe Evoke, I was told many times that we should move here and live for awhile before opening the coffee house. I also used to say that there is a window that is open in this town and that it would be on its way to closing as the days move on. Is this happening in this town now? I found out today that there is another 'organic coffee house' going in on Main Street. The building is great but it is right across the street from one of the oldest and well know shops in town. People are opening these as a fun thing to do and more and more seem to want to pop up. We are ready to go but are having a crazy time finding a location. We have had some hopefully news today which makes us excited but could put us on a path to open in a year -- not exactly what I had in mind. We are really focusing on the North Western part of Bozeman now as we think this might be one of the places that will work for now but get even better as the years pass. I hope to have some more info to pass along by the end of the week but I am excited. I'm not sure of a timeline anymore and it is really wearing at me waking up everyday not know when or where we will open Cafe Evoke but I am confident that it will happen. Things are looking good and I feel that we are setting ourselves up for success. Do I think there is a window open here in Bozeman for Cafe Evoke, for sure. We have our fingers in and we are working as quick as we can to get something tied down. ~~be bold

US News and World Report

A Thought Over Coffee, Cafe Evoke, and myself will be featured in a special edition of US News and World Report that will run next week. I was interviewed last week and had a "photo shoot" last night which was -- at the least -- interesting. Be on the look out for this article. It will also be online at US News. I am excited for the publicity but am also hoping it will bring more readers who have advice and ideas of us and Cafe Evoke. Let me know what you think! ~~be bold

Starbucks vs Their Union

Coffee and Caffeine blog linked today to the article about the charges the National Labor Relations Board has against Starbucks. You can find the whole story here. It is funny how it seems there is an uprising against this giant. I guess that is what happens when you try and take over an entire industry (cough:Clear Channel Radio :cough). Interesting article. ~~be bold

Update..

Today was 'black Monday" for all online retailers included ComfortChannel.com who I work for. It was pretty crazy today and there was not much room for much else but phones and emails. Things with Cafe Evoke are also busy this week and will be until we can find a location. We had two areas in mind and after today, there is one place we are focusing on. The place we are focusing on one will be a great place to call home for Cafe Evoke but we are not sure of the exact building yet. We found out that we will not be able to go into the building we most recently liked as there is a bakery that will be serving coffee, etc. No problem though, we will move on as normal. We are still pushing along and soon we will find a place to open and will begin our build out. We are still on the radar and we are not giving up. We hope to have meetings this week with several building owners and get our business plan and information to them and see where it takes us. Until then... ~~be bold

Small Business and Entrepreneurship Webring

I wanted to point out that I have created a small business and entrepreneurship web ring. If you have a blog or know someone that keeps this type of blog, I would love for your to join this ring. I like reading from other small business owners as I am of course no expert. The information you need is at the bottom of this blog. Just click on the "join" link and if you need anymore information, please leave a comment on this post or email me at blog[at]cafeevoke.com. I think this could be a great way for all small business owners to share ideas, advice, and stories. ~~be bold

...for a Sunday morning...

It has been great weather here in Bozeman, Montana this weekend and I wanted to show you what we woke up to today for the second day in a row. I suspect that many of you will have the chance to see Bozeman when you come for the opening (enter sarcasm but an invitation here) but for those of you who need a nice picture to look at while drinking your morning drip or espresso drink, here you go. Have a great Sunday and I will let you in on the weekly update tomorrow morning. For now.. ~~be bold

Starbucks challenge Update

Green LA Girl posts an update for newest version of the Starbucks Challenge. From what it looks like, Starbucks is not doing very well despite the promises that have been made by their upper management team. I commend Siel and City Hippy for their efforts in getting the word about Fair Trade. They have put a lot of work into this campaign and we should all take part in this effort. Have you taken part in the Starbucks Challenge yet? Make sure you stop by your local Starbucks and ask for Fair Trade by name and let them know what happens. If you would like, you can email me the results and I will make sure to pass them along. ~~be bold

Tea Shops the New Thing?

"STARBUCKS IS TO COFFEE as one lucky chain perhaps will be to tea." While I was reading around on the net this morning, I came across this article from Startup Journal, the Wall Street Journal small business edition, talking about the raise in tea focused businesses. I agree and think this would be great. There are many coffee bars that are serving great teas and many people are really getting into it and I think it might be the next big thing. There are a few things in this article that I do not agree with however. The quote above is one of them. It would be good for business and I hope someone can get the word out about tea as Starbucks did for coffee. I just hope the "lucky chain" in the tea business has some ethics and consistency. "Several small companies are pushing tea-centered restaurant concepts for the U.S. Backers of the ventures say the time is ripe for many coffee-saturated consumers to make the switch" Are people over-saturated with coffee? I don't think so. Specialty Coffee sales have been up in the past few years and I think this trend will not be going down in the future, at least any time soon. Coffee is the highest traded commodity next to oil and the most consumed beverage other than water. This is not going to go away. Also, I hear that the US is over-saturated with coffee all the time. Italy has more coffee cafe's that this entire country! We have a long way to go. "The U.S. now has fewer than 100 such tea bars, but the number is poised to double by the end of next year, says Brian Keating, a Seattle researcher. "It's going to be another three to five years before baby boomers in large numbers say they've had enough coffee," he predicts." Can we not exist together? I believe we can. Evoke will have great teas to go along with our coffee and other beverages but I do not see that we will begin drinking more tea and leave coffee behind. Independent coffee houses will react to this trend and will continue to serve both. ~~be bold

The Thanksgiving Proclamation

"Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness: "Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us. "And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best. "Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3rd day of October, A.D. 1789." George Washington > (from The Entrepreneurial Mind)

Have a Great One

Sip that coffee slow and have a great day! Eat alot and if nothing else, enjoy the day off! ~~be bold

An Extended Network

The first thing I do when I go to a new city is find out what coffee places are in the area and I go to them. This is hard because most independent coffee houses and cafes are not listed in the yellow pages for all to see and you really have no idea what you are about to visit until you get there. Because of this, we are interested in putting together a network of independent coffee houses across the country -- and hopefully world-wide. This site would have state-by-state listings of specialty coffee houses and cafes and will included all of the vital information including: 1. Pictures 2. Menus 3. Description of atmosphere 4. Directions/contact info If you are interested in listing your cafe, please write us. We are trying gather a handful of cafe's that are interested before we publish the site and get it rolling. Please also let us know what other information you would like to see on a site like this. I really want this to be a site that we can all use to support each other as we travel. ~~be bold

What Does it all Mean?

The thing that is taking the coffee industry by storm these days is environmental and ethical certifications. Go into any specialty coffee shop and you will likely here the terms Fair Trade, eco-friendly, shade grown, and bird friendly. What does this all mean? I am currently finishing up Bruce Milletto's new book Effective and Essential Marketing for the Specialty Coffee Retailer in which he talks about many ways to gain market share in this ever growing industry. In a section in which he writes about politically conscious and Earth friendly products, he runs us through the meaning of all of these terms that so easily confuse us all. Below you will find a brief summary of what these different certifications really mean. Eco-Friendly Coffee: Before a grower can be certified organic, several years of product must pass during which time all traces of artificial chemicals gradually fade away into the environment. This movement seeks to protect the environment. Organic Coffee: Coffee can be certified organic in one of three ways: Direct Certification, Co-Certification, or Local Certification. Organic coffee is grown without the use of synthetic chemicals - no chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicide. Fair Trade: For coffee to be certified Fair Trade in the US, it must meet the standards established by TransFair USA. This certification promises a set price above the cost of production to farmers - no matter the state of the industry Shade Grown: Third party inspectors follow criteria established by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) or The Rain Forest Alliance (The Eco OK label) to certify coffee as shade grown. This type of farming provides bio-diversity and habit for birds and other species. Bird Friendly: This coffee is shade grown with a focus on environment that protects the habitat of native and migratory birds and other wildlife. This goes along with Shade Grown farming. For more information, visit SongBird.org Relationship Coffee: In Relationship Coffee local producers deal directly with coffee roasters, cutting out the middle man in the coffee chains. This leads to higher prices for growers who are encouraged to produce extraordinary coffees. As you can see, there are many types of certifications and you will most definitely see at least one of these in your local coffee house. These labels protect the environment and keep the prices of coffee at fair levels. For more information, click around on some of the links above or on the sidebar of this blog. ~~be bold (all information above comes from Bruce Milletto's book, Effective and Essential Marketing for the Specialty Coffee Retailer. Please check out his site, Espresso101, for other great books.)

Quote of the Day

"Success is the prize for those who stand true to their ideas" ~~Josh Hinds of Get Motivation.com

Finding a Home

We met yesterday with a leasing agent in town that has many of the buildings we really like listed. We took a drive with him and stopped at the two places we think are at the top of our "wish" list. They both have great chance for Cafe Evoke to strive and serve this community. The first place we went to was great because it had a fireplace, large patio, and very open floor plan. A coffee shop/deli actually was in there last so it is somewhat set up for us (although there would still be a lot of work). The location is picking up in traffic but would require some intense marketing the first couple of years. We are meeting with a baker that is going in next door this week. The second location is in an up and coming part of town that I have written about before. It is on the corner of what they are calling The Mill District. The building is great and very organic modern. The down side is that the space will not be available until next March and the space is 4300 square feet. We are meeting with the owner in about a week and will figure out what the chance of splitting this space are. Things are looking good and I think we will be able to get something going soon. We have another meeting with a leasing agent today to look at two other spaces on Main Street next to the high school. Out of these 4 choices, I think we will find the best home for us. ~~be bold

Update...

After a great day skiing yesterday, we are ready to begin looking for a home for Cafe Evoke yet again. Today we are taking a drive with a leasing agent in town that has a few buildings that we really like. He is not only going to tell us all about the spaces, he going to get us hooked up with the building owner as well to talk about what Cafe Evoke will be about and how we will be a good tenant in the building. I think we have some good options to choose from. On Tuesday, we meet with another agent who has two spaces directly across from Bozeman High School and only a block or so from the space that more recently fell through. The beginning of the week will be busy and I hope that we can work out a deal and get moving with building, etc. The only direction to go at this point is forward. Here we go again. ~~be bold

First Day Out

I made it a point to mention in my business plan that Cafe Evoke will not take away from what I love to do. One of my passions in life is skiing. We moved west to be in the mountains to mountain bike, cycle, and ski. As the snow has been better than normal in the mountains of Montana this year, Big Sky has fired up the lifts (at least a handful of them) last weekend and this weekend for preseason turns. Jenni and I are heading out to join in the fun for a nice discounted rate. I hope this snow keeps up! Have a nice Sunday. ~~be bold

"If You Build It -- They Won't Just Come"

I was reading this post from Better Local Marketing this morning that discusses word of mouth marketing. This is interesting to me as I am really going to "equip the troops" if you will and get our word out to the community. Kevin Stirtz (keeper of Better Local Marketing) gives us a few tips on making our word of mouth campaign a success: 1. Decide whom you want to reach. 2. Create a message they will respond to. 3. Find multiple, complimentary ways to deliver your message to them. 4. Plan to deliver the message multiple times to the same people. Repetition has power. 5. Budget for the long-term for best results. Do your marketing well and you can create effective word of mouth marketing for your business. Then "wow" those new customers and you'll create even more. He brings up a good point here. He had been talking about the old phrase "build it and they will come" and how many business owners think this refers to them. No quite. You have to build a solid marketing plan and create a buzz before people will begin to talk about you. This is what we are trying to do with our promotional programs (which I have posted about) and also with the rest of our marketing ideas. This is a great little article that brings us back to the reality of word of mouth marketing. ~~be bold

Back to Basics

I have spent the past several hours thinking about our next move for Cafe Evoke. In what part of town should we be trying to locate? What type of building do we really want? How much can we afford to pay? All of these things are creeping around in my head as I find myself in some what of a new position. We have been focusing so much on what I am calling "matured planning." What I mean here is that we have been talking to vendors about inventory and what we will serve, we have been talking with people who would like to work with us, and planning our floor layout. These are all great things for us to be doing and we needed to be doing them since we did sign a lease and pay our deposit and first months rent before getting it back 2 weeks later. Where does this leave us? At the beginning. We have not been back at this point for awhile and it is a bit unsettling right now. I do believe we are much better equipped for the journey this time around that the previous 2 times we have begun looking for a space and when we find that right space, we will be ready to go forward with agility and speed. I felt it was time to re-visit the business plan. I spent a good year working on that and have since basically put it aside and watched it collect dust. This is a working, living document that will have to be changed as our experience and education of the coffee industry has changed drastically in the past several months. Not only have we flat out learned more but we have attached ourselves to beliefs and values through this industry that are more important now than ever before. It is becoming more of a passion now that ever. Not just about drinking coffee as an end user but embracing the process of coffee -- from berry to cup. Going back to this document will give us something to stand on as we venture out and find a home for Cafe Evoke. I heard many people say that your business plan is not a final word on your business, but a tool to help you grow and understand what you are truly doing. I agree.. ~~be bold

Our New Machine

We just received our new Oscar espresso machine by Nuova Simonelli. I am very excited and cannot wait to get this thing plugged in a going. We also purchased a mini grinder that will work perfectly next to our new machine. We purchased a few other things from Simonelli while in Seattle included our 3 group espresso machine, a single panini grill, and another large grinder. We used most of this equipment while at the coffee school and really like it If you are interesting in a great home espresso maching, please read the reviews at CoffeeGeek.com. ~~be bold

We are not the only ones..

I was reading some blogs I found linked from Viva Barista and came across Pure Arabica. This is kept by up by a guy named Nick in California. I was reading through his post and found this post. "It's a difficult realization to be sure. We have been approached by developers who are offering us a unit right on the corner in the same shopping center we're in now. They have also offered the unit to Starbucks but would like to see a small business go in before a big box fast food chain like the *bucks. But, the renovation cost as well as the rent increase, make it a very difficult move to fathom." It seems we are not the only ones that have been fighting over a space with our friends in the sea. I like what he says though.. They have also offered the unit to Starbucks but would like to see a small business go in before a big box fast food chain like the *bucks I understand that property owners want to make money. So do I. But what kills me is that most of the buildings in Bozeman are owned by people in California or some other state other than Montana. They do not know what the market is here and they do now want local businesses. They are making it hard for local business to open and even serve their own community. There are still a few places around that are local and that have owners that understand the importance of serving the local people so I feel we are in good shape. Great blog and I hope Nick continues to post pictures and thoughts on his journey. ~~be bold

Back to the drawing board -- again

We finally heard back from the leasing agents in AZ and were told that the only way to have an exclusive on coffee and stop them from actively seeking our green friends would be to pay three extra dollars per square foot per year. When we negotiated this lease several weeks ago, we agreed on a price that was at our upper limits. Because this company will still be trying to get Starbucks if we sign the lease without exclusivity, it is not going to work for Cafe Evoke. We have already begun searching for new locations and we have asked a few people we have met along our journey to help us. They have agreed to keep their eyes and ears opened for us. We will find a place and get the doors opened soon. Thanks, again, for the support along the way. With two locations no off our charts, we have gained experience and endurance for our future. ~~be bold

The Way We Roll

For those of you who are loyal readers (and I thank you for the support), it will not come as a surprise that things with Cafe Evoke have not been easy. We have climbed the highest mountains and then crashed down to the lowest valleys but we are still kicking and screaming our way to opening. I have felt a bit like a young child when talking with our leasing company as I feel they have not really given us accurate information (or "the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help them God") about what is going on. They say they will call in two day, I do not hear from them in 3. I call and am told I will have an answer TODAY (this was yesterday keep in mind) and do not hear from them. I have come away with some key things to remember from here on out. 1. I know my business, my plans, and my vision. Keep with it. 2. Just because we are a start-up does not mean we have to grace people the privledge of walking all over us. 3. Be Firm 4. Make a detailed plan of when things need to get done. (organizing, finding money, talking to hopeful employees, paying a kitchen designer, etc) 5. Be true to your word and follow up with everyone (this is not something most companies do, I have found out, and it really makes a difference when you do what you say when you say you will do it.) 6. Be Bold We are not letting our fight down and we will open the doors of Cafe Evoke soon. We have pulled our "network" of poeple we have made since we have been here and we are begining to venture out a bit more and find the right space. I was promised a call back and an answer yesterday but I will give them the benifit of a doubt that they are actually working on getting me an answer and that I will hear from them first thing today. ~~be bold

Update...

Another Monday in which I hope to hear back from the leasing agents in AZ and CA regarding the space we thought we had. I was told it would be two days from Wednesday when I heard back but I did not really expect to hear from them on Friday. Hopefully today we will know something. As I feel there is nothing left to do but go ahead like we will get this space worked out, I will be sending in my final changes to the floor plan designers today. This will allow us to have the plumbing and electrical plans completed and off to bid. Although we do not even have a space nailed down, I wanted to get as much of the detials down so we can push ahead upon a signed lease (one that is signed by both parties I should note). We are already being pushed back for opening so it will be important to get on the ball when we have the keys to the space. I hope today is a big day as I am getting a bit worn out with the back and forth -- you got it no you didn't -- stuff. I will keep you informed. ~~be bold

#41. Bozeman, Montana

Bozeman commonly makes top 10 lists, especially the ones in ski magazines that rave about the area's three premium resorts. A little more shocking, at least to those in the Silicon Valley, is Bozeman's ranking among mid-size towns regarding free wireless Internet. We're No. 1, according to metrofreefi.com. Bozeman Montana made MetroFreeFI.com's top 100 unwired cities list. This was not a list of small towns or even mid sized cites (Bozeman was number 1 in these categories). This was a list that included Austin, Kansas City, Oakland, etc. The top 5 cities came in as follows: 1. USA » CA » San Francisco (442) 2. USA » IL » Chicago (220) 3. USA » WA » Seattle (106) 4. USA » CA » Palo Alto (105) 5. USA » GA » Atlanta (95) I was reading this MSNBC.com article that interviewed some local business owners who offer such hotspots and people in this town were not surprised. Area business owners who offer free Wi-Fi weren't as surprised as the Californians about topping the list. This is, after all, a fairly progressive college town, they said. "Bozeman is really advanced," said Chris Bombeck, owner of International Coffee Traders on South 10th Avenue. "It seems like more often than not people require this technology. Way to go Bozeman. We are soon to be able to add another hotspot to this list: Cafe Evoke. ~~be bold (Thank you, Jean, for this link!)

It Will Always be a Fight

I found this article today documenting another Starbucks move into a coffee marketing that has a few popular independents. I feel like this is close to home as we have been in "competition" for a location with Starbucks and we WILL have our own little mermaid at some point in the future here in Bozeman. My thing with Starbucks is that it is not very comfortable to sit around. It is loud and sterile with no real uniqueness. It does not matter if you are drinking charcoal in Nashville or Bozeman, they are the exact same. Then again, there's a romantic ambiance and cozy atmosphere that separates the local independents from the somewhat sterile environments of the chains, said some java lovers. "The independents are more genuine; they have a certain presence," said Jess McCluney, a Roanoke College student and former employee of Mill Mountain in Salem. I like to see these coffee companies in VA not stepping down but rather standing up to the idea of their very own local Starbucks entering their market. "Competition gives me a chance to prove my product is good," Buckley said. "We [Java the Hutt] have the flavored lattes and blended drinks; mostly everything a shop does, but without the couches and live music. That is what all independents need to do. Starbucks IS NOT the definition of coffee in this country. They have done great things for coffee here in the US but they should not be included in the Webster's definition of the drink. I will have more on our situation with the giant next week. ~~be bold

Marketing Plan

I found the follow post tonight at Church of the Customer: Word of mouth data by BNET's -- Almost half of all online marketers will engage in some form of word of mouth marketing this year. Next year, a majority of digital marketers will conduct such efforts This post talks about a study by the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association and eMarketer and defines the top ten reason word of mouth marketing is gaining its position on many small business marketing plans. What makes this study interesting to me is that Cafe Evoke will employ many word of mouth campaigns to get our name out there. It is free and it is something that gets around very quickly. It is a very interesting post. Go have a look. ~~be bold

..just in case

We are waiting to hear back from the owners of the building we have been talking about for the past few months but we are not sitting still. My wife and I took a drive through Bozeman last night, looking around in the areas we think Cafe Evoke could possible succeed in serving this community. We found 3 spaces that are possiblities and we will be making calls on them today and hopefully will be able to go look at them this weekend or early next week. We will wait to hear back from the landlords about the exclusivity cluase before making any decisions but plan to look into all of our options before telling them YES to the lease. We might even be able to use the other options to get a better lease term. This is what we are focusing on right now. I still need to get in touch with the accounting and insurance agent which I will try and do early nexts week. ~~be bold Note: As I work at 7:00 am each morning, my posts will come later in the day. I hope people still have a chance to stop by and read!

Bouncing Back

I spoke with the leasing agents in AZ today and heard some -- possibly -- good news. She told me that the sea keeper (you know, mermaids are in the sea) cannot have anyone come look at the space until after the first of the year. I was a bit disappointed as I thought we would not know anything for months but then she asked if I would take the space if they gave exclusivity on coffee so we would not have to deal with a coffee place going in the corner unit. She is going to speak with the owner of the building to see if he will allow us to go in with this clause in our lease. We should hear back tomorrow or Friday. (I will believe it when I hear it!) This is a positive bit of news and I will post when I hear back from her. ~be bold

Update...

I'm still trying to recover from our trips the past two weeks and I'm struggling. I guess it was all the long hours or something. We have still heard nothing from the leasing agents in AZ or CA about the space that our mermaid friends are interested in despite being told we would have a call last Thursday. (I think we have lost our ability to keep our word in today's business) I have emailed to get some status on the issue as I really hope to move along with Cafe Evoke soon. My first two attempts to email came back undeliverable. Go figure... As we are still unsure as to where Cafe Evoke will call home, we are going to move ahead and get some more leg work completed. This will include meeting with our insurance agent and accountant -- setting up accounts and getting some information about costs and expenses. This will allow us to really push ahead once we have a home. Other than that, we are putting off buying, etc until we know for sure where we will be. The hard part about this is that we have made many contacts through CoffeeFEST and we have been receiving many samples that we will not be able to act on. That is part of life I guess. We are still kicking our way to opening. ~~be bold

Some Pictures from Seattle/Portland

I have finally gotten some pictures to show you! Here are three and I might try and get more up sometime..who knows. The first is of Jen and I holding our American Barista and Coffee School certificates. This next photo is of Jenni with her latte art..it was a heart if you are having trouble seeing it. (don't mind my apron -- although it is cool) This last photo is of our friends and us hanging out at a bar in Seattle during CoffeeFest. That's it for now. I felt like I should put some up since I have been promising for so long. ~~be bold (thanks Matt for getting those to us!)

It Was Painful

We got back to Bozeman tonight after a painful day of traveling that started at 3:51 AM Mountain Time (we had to get up this early to catch our first flight). Here is how it went... 1st Flight: Nashville to Dallas 2nd Flight: Dallas to Seattle 3rd Flight: Seattle to Bozeman (cancelled!!) so.. 3rd Flight: Seattle to Salt Lake City (yes, Utah) 4th Flight: Salt Lake City to Bozeman We have been up for nearly 24 hours now and we are pretty sick of traveling. This is the second time, in two trips in which planes were involved, that our final plane to bogeyman was canceled. Fun. Might take tomorrow off so if I do not post, that is why. Check out what has been going on at A Thought Over Coffee and I will for sure be back on Wednesday with an updated to do list for the week. ~~be bold

Traveling

Today we will be heading back to Bozeman from Nashville. It has been a nice little trip in the midst of crazy business stuff and it was much needed. It will take us all day to get back as we have to make a few stops along the way but it shouldn't be bad. Tomorrow we set out to find a home for Cafe Evoke. We are going to move as quickly as possible in hopes to keep our hopeful opening date of late January, early February. I will post an update tomorrow with a list of tasks we want to get done this week. Have a great Monday. ~~be bold

..a correction.

As it seems I have made a mistake in a prior post regarding Fair Trade, I wanted to post a comment I received from my friend, Green LA Girl, helping me get some of my facts straight about pricing, etc. If you have not read her blog, have a look. She is very knowledgeable on Fair Trade and the coffee crisis. Wait wait -- I think you're confusing a couple different things here. The farmers get certified on their end, while the US coffee companies get licensed to sell certified fair trade. The're a pretty good argument alleging that certification costs too much for already-struggling farmers. Licensing, however, is a different issue -- It costs 5 to 10 cents a pound of green coffee for companies. Which I s'pose could be considered pricey, but not prohibitively so for most US companies. Generally, the complaint about the cost of licensing is NOT that coffee companies are so poor that they can't pay for it, but that they don't WANT to pay for it, because they wanna use the money for other things -- sometimes important things, like helping out the farmers. The problem is that this often can seem, you know, a paternalistic US company giving the farmer a handout -- vs. the fair trade system which is about paying farmers fair prices. I guess I disagree with what you're saying about the marketing costs. Yes -- It would be great if more money were put toward solving the coffee crisis. But unless we make efforts to make sure that consumers know that there IS a coffee crisis, and that they, as consumers, can do something to help mitigate it, the crisis will continue. Meaning that marketing is not always an evil thing that makes people buy what they don't wanna buy. It can be a way of letting people know about important socio enviro economic issues that they may not have known about before -- As of now, there's more fair trade certified coffee grown in the world than is bought by companies -- so I feel like marketing and additional licensing is necessary, to get both consumers and companies to buy more fair trade coffee. This is important information and it is good that she pointed this out. I do think that it all boils down to helping the farmer and not paying federation saleries but maybe this all comes with time. ~~be bold (Thank you, Siel, for the correction.)

You can start breathing now...

For those of you who were losing sleep over my computer not turning on, the helpful "geniuses" (self-titled but seem to be just that) at the Mac store got me up and running. I did not even lose any data! This service only cost me the membership into their ProCARE program ($100.00) and the cost of an external hard drive ($150.00). Had to do it, however, to get to my budgets and financial sheets. ..just in case you were worried. ~~be bold

Make Fair Trade -- Fair

I hear McDonald's is joining the Fair Trade movement and it makes me very excited. This is a huge step for this company and it will surely help some of the coffee growing regions. Good job Ronald! I have been thinking about Fair Trade in the past several weeks and have talked to many people about it. Here are a few things I have come up with. 1. Fair Trade helps coffee farmers and their family 2. The farmers deserve a fair price for their crop 3. It is EXTREMELY expensive to get the stamp of Fair Trade Here is my point. I want every farmer to get his share or even more for his crop -- it only seems right. I don't like the fact that there are many companies out there that buy at Fair Trade pricing but cannot carry the stamp because of the extreme costs that are invovled. I also do not like the fact that much of the money made by selling green Fair Trade beans goes into marketing and payroll. I would love to see more of the money that is gained through Fair Trade to go directly into the pockets of the farmers who grew and harvested the crop. That is what I care about. Groups like Coffee Kids are taking donations and selling beans, giving the monies earned to the children in these regions -- great stuff. I guess all I am really saying is that we need to figure something out to keep the costs of being certified FAIR TRADE down so more people can carry the seal. I know of many roasters who buy at Fair Trade prices but cannot advertise as such because of the little logo that costs so much for them to have. Lets make Fair Trade fair and help coffee companies support the farmers they buy from. I'm not sure how to do this but I will be thinking of solutions. ~~be bold

Update..

First off, thank you for all of your emails, comments, and links over the past couple of days. It is very confidence building to see that there are people out there who care about small coffeehouse owners. My wife and I are currently back in Nashville TN for some relaxation and preparation for the storm ahead. We have already contacted several other building owners (buildings we looked at previously) and are going to hit the ground running when we return to Bozeman. I am still somewhat confident that the space we thought we had could work out -- under some new terms -- but we must keep looking just in case. To add to our troubles, my computer will not move from the start screen -- for those of you that use MAC, the screen that pops up with the apple in the middle with you turn your computer on -- so I will be taking that in today. The problem here is that this computer has all the updated budgets and financials on it. I hope to hear back from the building owners with an update from the Starbucks meeting in the next several days. What makes me nervous, however, is the fact that nothing is quick with Starbucks so they might leave us hanging for months. Thank you again for all of your support and I will keep you in the news.. ~~be bold

Cafe Evoke meets Starbucks

As it turns out, the delay on signing the lease seems to have nothing to do with our menu "change" but rather a call from Starbucks who is now interested, again, in the space two doors down from the one we have been diligently working on. At this point, it looks like back to the drawing board for Cafe Evoke and into business for Starbucks. I can relate, now, all the small business out there who get bullied around by the big guys. How would this change our future relationship with these owners if they really seem to care nothing about us? Looking on the bright side, I guess now I can join the challenge for Fair Trade coffee in Starbucks locations worldwide. It is important to note here that I understand that our little mermaid friends really have nothing to do with our ability to gain control -- and keys -- to this space and I understand that if it was not for the chain coffee in this country would be even more greatly underserved, I still would appreciate some respect from business people who really know nothing about the green giants. They are not always right you know! We have already begun looking for other spaces and are hoping to meet with some other building owners when we return from our "relaxing" trip to Nashville. I have requested that the owners of the space return to us both signed copies of the lease and our deposit check and we will go from there. This is not a done deal yet and we could still move in. I am just not sure if I really want to deal with these people anymore. I am not sure how many times we have to keep getting up but for now, we are back on our feet -- sort of -- and moving on. Yes we have lost money (quite a bit at this point) that we will not be able to recover, but I think we are still in good shape. We will keep you updated.

...just run with it.

After moving ahead with the planning stages of the build out for Cafe Evoke, we have hit yet another speed bump to our progress. The leasing agent came back saying the owner of the company was not happy that we changed our intended use from a "Starbucks-like coffeehouse to a full deli." (Yes, those are exact words) Let me tell you the situation. Before signing the lease, I saw that they had defined what 'art' was in our use but that it just said "coffeehouse" with no explanation. I picked up the phone and called to see if they wanted me to add that we would be having salads, pannini, and soups and she said she would have to make a call. This was a week ago and I had not heard from her so I emailed to see if things went through and that is when she came back saying they would not sign the lease because we changed it on them at the last second. Here is what our business plan says -- which they have. This portion is taking from the very first page and is part of our Executive Summary: "We will serve coffee, sandwiches, salads, and pastries to college students, business people, and everyone in between" This seems pretty straight forward to me. The local leasing agent does not know why they think we are changing this as he gave them this plan before we even began this process months ago. At any rate, we are working this out while we move forward. I think we will be to fix it and make everyone happy. Jenni and I are leaving for Nashville tomorrow and we are already pretty worn out from our last trip. Hopefully it will be more relaxing! ~be bold