Finalized Logos

Here are the finalized Cafe Evoke logos. We are excited about them and think that the fonts, colors, and simplicity will really mimic the feel and atmosphere of our cafe and also the catering business. The catering logo will be present on the trialer (pictures to come as soon as I get the camera and cord at the same time) and also on the coffee sleeves that we will use at each event that we cater. I would like to see the sleeves printed with both logos so we can use them for the cafe as well. We are currently checking on that. Today we meet with our kitchen planner and will get the Health Department paperwork started and order the remaining pieces of equipment that we need. This will include travel airpots, ice bins, handwashing units, and a few odds and ends. I will post a picture of the entire setup on this blog in the next month to give you an idea of what this looks like. The all new CafeEvoke.com is in the works! I expect this to be up and going in the next three weeks. I will keep you updated. ..be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke Catering, coffee, bozeman, montana,Cafe Evoke

Completed Brochures

Well, the brochures have finally been completed and are ready to go to press today. Each brochure will include a pre-stamped post card asking for suggestions, comments, and questions. We hope this sparks some interest in the cafe and catering business and also serve as a tool to put peoples minds at rest about having a cafe like Cafe Evoke in their community. We will be using the brochures at a North East Neighborhood Association (NENA) meeting on April 18th at which my wife and I will be speaking about Cafe Evoke. These meetings have many of the community members in attendance and will be a great way for us to get to know some of them. I tried and tried to get the PDF versions of this brochure up on this blog but could not figure it out. Any suggestions? I would love to put them up and get your feedback so let me know by commenting below if you know how I can put PDF files on a site that is hosted by blogger. There was a lot accomplished yesterday as I worked all day on the cafe and the catering business. We are sprinting for it and are more excited than we have ever been. More to come about that later. ..be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, bozeman, montana, coffee, startup

List Update..

Here is the latest update on the list I first posted here at the beginning of the week. I wanted to post an update to this list today as we have made some progress since then. 1. Meet with kitchen planner to figure out what our equipment needs are. 2. Get budget put together and approved 3. Find and purchase 110v commercial espresso machine 4.Find and purchase a 6x10 trailer 5. Find and purchase a cart (Item found -- in final stages) 6. Get paper work completed for catering license 7. Find and purchase misc equipment (listed and ready to purchase) 8. Finalize pricing strategy 9. Create list of packages that we will offer in the future 10. Talk with area catering about using us (The first steps have been completed but this will continue throughout the life of this business) 11. Get quotes for printed coffee sleeves 12. Set up accounts at our roaster and tea distributors 13. Get Health Department paperwork filled out with the help of our kitchen designer. 14. Finalize catering logo -- a variation of the coffeehouse logo (in final stages. Should be done tonight) So far, we have ordered our espresso machine and second grinder. I am ordering the catering cart today. As we get our equipment needs secured, we will begin working on the inside of the trailer. We will be building shelving, cabinets, and tie down areas for all carts and equipment to insure that things will not roll around and the trailer will always be found in an organized way. We have also been talking to people in town about what we are doing and are getting great feedback. We have given our cards to the event planner for the city of Bozeman and also a caterer and specialty chef that does many of the finest dinners in Bozeman and Big Sky/Yellowstone. It will be important for us to get our word out to people in this town as many of our "gigs" will come from word of mouth. We are working on a nice brochure for the catering aspect right now as well that will help people understand and discover what Cafe Evoke has to offer. Things are moving forward quickly and we should -- if all goes right -- be able to cater your next event by the first of May. ..be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke Catering, coffee, bozeman, montana

Starbucks in MT (cont...)

I posted here on Saturday about a Starbucks coming to Missoula MT and an editorial written about it. I got this information from Starbucks Gossip -- a site I stop by regularly to get the lowdown on what the giant is doing. I was there today reading around and found the below comment: That editorial is awesome. Any protests are flat-out bogus. It's the rare indie coffee shop that knows how to keep its gear clean... nothing worse than stepping into one of those places and seeing an inch of crusted-over milk on the steaming wand. Is this accurate? I bet you have a better chance of seeing "crusted-over milk on the steaming wand(s)" at Starbucks than at..say..Stumptown, Progress Coffee, or Bongo Java. Basically what this person is saying is that Starbucks is the all knowing coffee retailer which is ignorant. Why can't we all just get along? Independents could argue that Starbuck's use of super automatic machines takes away from the need to have skilled baristas -- baristas that live coffee, have a passion for the art of pulling the perfect cup with the perfect crema, and the love for using the machine. Starbucks is not going to go away. They are the corporate side of coffee and have done great things. They are not BETTER than independents, their baristas are not superior to those at independents, and their coffee is not the best that has ever been roasted. There are great people that work at both of these types of stores. People that know what they are talking about, know how to pour a great cup of coffee, know the skill of latte art, and love coffee. This article is right. People will go to the place they like the best, the place that fits their style, and the place that is the most convenient. For me, this place will always be a local coffee retailer. Do I despise Starbucks for being successful? No. Those of you who are not interested in the independent take note. Just because we do not have a mermaid on our sign does not mean we are not qualified to serve coffee in this country. Get over it. We know how to take care of our equipment, we know how to pull great coffee, and our baristas will always be at the top of any barista jam or competition. Its not about competition. Its about the passionate journey coffee takes from the vine to the cup. Its about the art of making coffee. Its about community and relationship. Go to the place that makes you happy but I will guarantee you one thing -- you will find as created, passionate, knowledgeable, and "qualified" baristas in the local scene as you will in the corporate scene. ...be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, Bozeman, Montana, Starbucks, Coffee

Catering Update

Cafe Evoke Catering is getting closer and closer to being ready to serve the finest in fairly traded, organic coffees and teas at your next wedding, party, meeting, or brunch! We got quite a bit done over the weekend and are very excited with our progress so far. We have a bit to go still but think we will be ready in the next several weeks. Here is a list of "to-do's" in order to get this up and going. 1. Meet with kitchen planner to figure out what our equipment needs are. 2. Get budget put together and approved 3. Find and purchase 110v commercial espresso machine (Item found -- in final stages) 4. Find and purchase a 6x10 trailer (Item found -- in final stages) 5. Find and purchase a cart (Item found -- in final stages) 6. Get paper work completed for catering license 7. Find and purchase misc equipment (listed and ready to purchase) 8. Finalize pricing strategy 9. Create list of packages that we will offer in the future 10. Talk with area catering about using us (The first steps have been completed but this will continue throughout the life of this business) 11. Get quotes for printed coffee sleeves 12. Set up accounts at our roaster and tea distributers 13. Get Health Department paperwork filled out with the help of our kitchen designer. This is a simplified list but one that covers most of what we are working on. I will have more info as each of these things get checked off the list including pictures of equipment and our set up. There are a few other things we are working on in support of this project. One of them is the all new Cafe Evoke website. This will feature sections on the catering gig and also all about our missions, goals, and values for Cafe Evoke (the coffeehouse). Be looking for these changes in the next month or so. Things are finally moving forward for us and Cafe Evoke and it feels good to know that we are close to serving coffee to this community. We are still about 10 months away from opening the doors of our cafe but this will be a good way to get our name out there and create some buzz. We already have Saturday night and Sunday morning full time gigs which is nice. I will update the above list this week as we get the rest of this going. ...be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke Catering, coffee, bozeman, montana

Starbucks in Missoula, Montana

As many of you who stop by A Thought Over Coffee on a regular basis know, Bozeman has not been graced with the presence of the green machine, the little mermaid, our friends at the jolly green giant. Not all Montana cities are still in this virgin state however. Missoula, about 4 hours west of Bozeman, has a Starbucks going downtown.. ..from an article found in the Missoulian on Friday... It's an encouraging reflection of how well things are going in Missoula these days that little else is causing as much teeth-gnashing among the local intelligentsia than the impending opening of a downtown Starbucks coffee shop. Oh, the horror! Starbucks ranks right up there with Wal-Mart and Microsoft among corporations most reviled in America, a land where there's such a thing as too much success. While I think there is more to it than people against success, there are quite a few people that are not big Starbucks fans. I think a few reasons are that many people are afraid that local coffee will be put to an end, that there are more socially and community minded companies than Starbucks, and that -- yes -- local coffee might even be better. Those small independent coffee shops and kiosks all over town that Starbucks now threatens? They owe their existence to Starbucks. It was Starbucks that got people to plunk down $2 for a cup of coffee and be glad about it. It the process it launched an entire industry - made up, by the way, largely of little, independently owned espresso shops that took a whole lot of business away from the cafes and restaurants that once did a brisk business with 25-cent cups of drip coffee. I agree and thank God for it. Starbucks has changed the way American's drink coffee -- dark, burned, and bitter. I am not sure you will find a independent coffee retailer that does not agree. The landscape has been set but are they really taking the torch? Are they setting the trends? The problem with big companies like Starbucks is that they are not flexible. Just to change the name of one of their fluffy blended beverages takes meetings, petitions, and proposals. How can they "catch the wave" in the same way an independent can? Then there is the term "barista": an Italian word meaning "a person who serves in a coffee bar. A bartender" Today there are thousands and thousands of young people earning money in coffee-making jobs - some with Starbucks, most elsewhere. These are jobs that didn't exist before Starbucks introduced Americans to the term “barista.” These aren't high-paying jobs, but they're plentiful with flexible hours, and they help pay rent or tuition. Pre-Starbucks, making coffee was something a waitress or bus boy did in between their many other chores. I heard a story not to long ago of a group trying to get some of the big name baristas and coffee personalities from around the world (many were from the US by Dr. Illy was also going to be around) together to do a coffee documentary. One of the barista that was to attend was a Starbucks employee who was great at what he did -- one of the best. A PR person told the group that was handling the program that they were not to use this term -- barista -- without the permission of Starbucks. What to you think those Italians would think if they heard this? I guess we have to clap and thank Starbucks for teaching us Americans the word (hardly a offense for Starbucks as this article points out). As many of you know, we at Cafe Evoke went head to head with Starbucks (here, here, and here). They got the better of us and probably won't even go into the space they said they would. As it turns out, they have letters in to many of the prime locations in the area in the chance they might want it. That does not leave room for any other business to go in. I am not afraid of "competing" with Starbucks. It is just a shame that they can freeze an entire market that is already striving with great local coffee -- both shops and roasters (see sidebar list for some MT coffee). Then, the article takes a turn in a way that I think it should have avoided... Starbucks also suffers from the same failing assigned to other major corporations - it hasn't solved world problems, such as Third World poverty. Starbucks hasn't turned poor coffee farmers into wealthy coffee farmers - as if anyone else has, would or coul If I were to really explain how there are MANY small indie's trying to help the global market, it would be as long as the blog! People are not against Starbucks because they do not support the global community. They are against Starbucks because they will not commit to doing more. Take the Starbucks Challenge for example. This is a campaign for Starbucks to live up to their own policy and mission. Serve more! You have done great things and have the potential of doing even better things! The "little guys" are doing so much but do not have the size of Starbucks. Just think how great it would be if all stores served fairly traded coffee? Now, don't even get me started here... Actually, it may not be possible to hate Starbucks without also opposing free enterprise, entrepreneurialism and capitalism in general. It's a shining example of all three. Finally the article ends with some nice words towards independents. Now a confession: Some of us haven't darkened a Starbucks' door for years. There's no shortage of good coffee to be had in these parts, and most of it is a good deal more conveniently obtained than by traveling to the nearest Starbucks. The opening of its downtown shop won't change that by much. We don't much fear for the survival of our favorite coffee vendors - they're not about to roll over and play dead. They'll compete, some of them fiercely, and most of them will find a way to succeed. Among them may be one that competes with such innovation and creativity that it becomes, well, the next Starbucks. If so, that will be a good thing. I will say this again..Starbucks IS NOT the definition of coffee in America. It has been a great missionary and tool for getting the word out but that is all. They have flaws like the rest of us. The reason I support local and buy local is to support this community. Starbucks stores in Bozeman will not support Bozeman. Money will not get plugged back into this community quite as well as a local. Yes, they are providing jobs and that money will be spent here but will they support local groups, local campaigns, and local charity? Having a Starbucks here will not end our coffee market. It will probably make it better. Just understand that when it comes to coffee, try your local and give them a chance. ...be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, Bozeman, Montana, Starbucks, Coffee

The Coffee and Tea Festival

Have you been wondering what happened to the Coffee and Tea Festival? Well, it is not gone -- completely. I have been out of town and have not been able to compile the festival each week. Because of this, I am going to change this from a weekly event to 1 or 2 times a week event. Help me get the word out about this festival. It would be great to have 10-20 submissions each time to choose from (or just to include!). You can post the below information on your blog or website and help us collect posts. If you are interested in being a part of this carnival as a host, please email me and I will set you up with your time. This is an easy way to get traffic to your blog. It only takes a few minutes to put the festival together. Let me know. Ways to submit your posts: E-mail them click here (<-- this is the festival's home page at Blog Carnival!) or use the button below: (<-- If you want to put this button on your site, let me know and I will send you the code) Thanks again and be looking for the next festival in the next week or two. I will post a schudule as soon as it has been created. ...be bold Past editions: Week 3 Week 2 Week 1 Introduction ..be bold Tagged: Coffee, Tea, Coffee and Tea Festival

Oh Where, Oh Where Will Our Location Be?

We have been keeping a close eye on the progress of the two buildings (pictures here) we are trying to work deals on. I have not been pushy but have kept close tabs on the leasing agents and people involved with the buildings. One building has a problem with parking. This is something that can break any deal as Bozeman is very strict on parking. I had heard news before I left for Colorado that the owner was trying to buy a parking lot. This would mean Cafe Evoke could move in and call it home. I emailed the leasing agent yesterday to follow up and see how that progress was going -- if it was still going -- and found out that letters of intent have been sent to 2 or 3 lot owners that are near this building and they are waiting to hear back. Although I am not optimistic that this will be a quick process, it is good to see the owner wants us in this building and is willing to put forth the effort to buy a parking lot. The other building is a mess of legal work. Because the building is owned by the Montana Rail Link, the land is owned by who knows who, and no one really knows what to do with it, we are taking our time and trying to do this deal correctly. This is a great building (pictures can be found here) and would be a fantastic location for Cafe Evoke. We have sent follow up emails and left messages with an appraiser that has an idea of what the building is worth. Once we get that, we will turn it over to the investors who are interested in buying the place and we will also continue to work a lease deal out as well. Things are moving and we are still plugging away. The catering gig is looking very good and we hope to be up and going in the next month or so. ..be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, bozeman, montana, coffee, startup

Carnival of Entrepreneurship

This week's carnival is being hosted by The Entrepreneurial Mind. Head on over, you will enjoy it. ...be bold Tagged: Carnival of Entrepreneurship, Cafe Evoke

Update...

We returned home last night from a great time away -- no cell phone and no blogging. We are now back and ready to hit the ground running. We met with our financial planner while we were in Colorado and set the fixed cost budget for the catering gig. Things look great and this week will be filled with setting up accounts, talking with caterers in town, and buying equipment (a trailer, cart, and other stuff). We are also going to begin the process of getting our license and paperwork filled out and turned into the Health Department. This should be relatively easy (compared to everything else we have gone through so far) so we are very excited. We think we can be up and running in a month or so -- due to lead times, etc. on equipment. The new logo is almost done and we will begin working on the website, CafeEvoke.com, to reflect the catering aspect of the business. I will keep posting on our progress as we move forward. ..be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, bozeman, montana, coffee, startup

On Vacation

My wife and I are heading to visit family and get some turns in Crested Butte, CO tonight. There will be some business getting done while we are there but the blogging will be limited -- if at all. So, take some time and visit the links on the side page or get caught up in the latest from the Cafe Evoke journey. We will be back in town on Wednesday and the blogging will continue. Our goal until then will be to get a budget sheet completed and the budget set so we can figure out what will happen with this catering gig. We will also be working with the City of Bozeman as catering can be considered manufacturing. More on this when we return. Have a great week. A few odd endnotes: 1. If you have been looking for the Coffee and Tea Festival, we did not have any submissions and I did not have the time to hunt around. This might have to take a break for a few weeks unless someone wants to host. Email me, blog[at]cafeevoke.com if you are interested. 2. I have ad space available and if you are interested in better than cheap adspace, also email me, blog[at]cafeevoke.com, and we will work something out that will be fantastic. ...be bold. Tagged: Cafe Evoke, bozeman, montana, coffee, startup

Update...

Things have been moving forward it seems in the past several weeks. Here is a list of things that have gone right for us since the last update: *Great meeting with a member of the traffic calming project in the North East community. *Great meeting with the president of the North East Neighborhood Association *Found out the owner of one of the buildings we are looking at (not the train depot) is looking to buy or lease another parking lot. *Got to go inside the old train depot building and found out that it is a fantastic location for Cafe Evoke. *Had a productive meeting with our kitchen designer about starting our catering business *Got the brochures done for the market research project. *Got invited to the neighborhood association meeting. A few notes about the list above. I was ready to cross out the building from our list that did not have enough parking. I had not heard from our leasing agent in a week or two and figured the meetings did not go well. I then got a call from her and was told that the owner is meeting with another person that owned a parking lot within the 1,000 foot distance that would allow this building to have enough parking for Cafe Evoke to move in. This is very good news. We are still working on the depot and are waiting for the agent to get us the appraisal that was done a few years ago so we can take a look. This lease deal (or purchase) will be a difficult and a slow process. We have time, however, so everything should be fine. We are pushing forward with the catering aspect of Cafe Evoke as well. We met yesterday to talk about what the state will be looking for and what our steps are. The fee for the license is only $60.00 per year and we will rent a kitchen, per hour, for $20.00. The expensive part will be a trailer and the cart/equipment needed. We are working on a budget spread sheet right now and hope to talk with our financial planner at the end of this week about what is possible. We are excited. That is keeping us busy at the present time. I hope more news will be coming about the buildings in the next several days. I would really like to know where Cafe Evoke will call home and I think that is not to far in the future. We will then begin our proposals to the city. ...be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, bozeman, montana, coffee, startup

"Ten Cool Colleges for Entrepreneurs"

The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship offered a post about the Ten Cool Colleges for Entrepreneurs. The list includes colleges such as Harvard, University of Texas, and University of Arizona. This list does not include the Babson's or Stanford's. There is one program that caught my eye. University of Colorado, Boulder A leader in "green" entrepreneurship, this program specializes in helping students create companies that are eco-friendly and socially progressive. Leaders of Boulder's organic and natural-products industry offer support. I think it is great that a school is taking this approach in entrepreneurship. I wrote this post a few weeks ago about business being green and I think schools us the University of Colorado are helping spark this interest. I have been thinking about heading back to school to get my masters in entrepreneurship (once Cafe Evoke is up and running on it's own power that is) so maybe I will look into getting it from Colorado. By then maybe there will be some online programs that will help me get my masters without having to leave Bozeman for a long period of time. (Although if Belmont did this type of thing, it would be hard not to go back.) I am excited to see that there is so much evolving around "green" business right now. Small business's are popping up all over the place and the more that have a "green" aspect, the better. ..be bold Tagged: Small business, top colleges, green

Thoughts On Business Conduct

I have prided myself in the way I handle business appointments and meetings. I arrive to each meeting at least 5 minutes early, I follow up a day before each meeting to make sure everything is still on, and I arrive prepared to talk about the business at hand. It appears not all people treat this type of thing as seriously as I do. We have been working with a kitchen design company for the past several months and they have done a great job. They know their stuff and the city approves of everything that they do. We feel lucky to have found them and really trust their work and service. There are a few things, however, that really frustrate me about this company. We have scheduled two meetings with them in the past several months where 1 or more of the people that were to be involved did not show up. The first time, the person that was taking our floor plan and plugging it into the computer, was to be at a meeting to discuss some changes that he needed to make. Changes that we had already talked about many times but that never seemed to get on the floor plan. We showed up -- both of us taking time off work -- and he had decided to go hunting. No one let us know. Then, we were to meet on Friday -- a meeting set but the lady we have been working with -- to talk about our catering license and to put together all the information needed so we could meet with our financial planner at the end of this week and we again took off work to get to the meeting. We walk in and the front desk tells us that she called a few hours before to tell them she would not be in the office that night because she had been delayed -- due to weather -- out of town. I understand that we cannot control the weather and that we cannot hold that against her. She did not even mention it to anyone that she had an appointment. She has our information or she could have told the front desk but did not. So, we lost hours of work and time to drive down to her office when she was not even there. We called and left a message on her cell phone to have her call or email us with a new meeting time and we have yet to hear back. Now, this is not the way to conduct business. The way I see it, she does not respect our time as much as her own. We are going to continue trying to get this worked out but we are on strike two at this point. I look at it like my professor, Dr. C, use to tell me. If they are not your best friend when trying to gain your business, how do you think they will be when you are already business partners? Looks like we will be ignored once we pay up because they do not seem to care now. ..be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, bozeman, montana, coffee, startup

Festival Submissions

Do you have a submission for this week's Coffee and Tea Festival? Please have them in by Sunday for a Monday run. I am also looking for someone (someones) to host the festival in the month of April. Is that person you? Ways to submit your posts: E-mail them click here or use the button below: ..be bold Tagged: Coffee, Tea, Coffee and Tea Festival

Meeting Recap: NENA Member

I have always felt that the best way for businesses to succeed is for them to create synergy with the businesses and residents around them. We met with the president of the North East Neighborhood Association (NENA) last night and had a great talk. He also is the owner of a Bozeman bed and breakfast at the Lehrkind Mansion so not only will does he have roots in the residence of this community, he also serves the community with his business. The two things that he brought up that could be issues with this community are the hours and the traffic -- the two things that have popped up the most over the past several weeks. We are ready to go back and figure out how our hours can be adjusted if needs be. I have said this many times before -- I do not want to open with long hours and have to take hours away. Some of this will depend on the location that we decide on for Cafe Evoke as one building has houses very near and the other does not. I had mentioned a few days ago that we wanted to hold a community meeting in which we would give a presentation to the community members about our values, mission, and goals, giving a face to Cafe Evoke. We were invited by the NENA president last night to join them in their April meeting. We are very excited about it because we feel it is a step in the right direction. From now on, we will be joining in on community meetings and events to get to know as many people as possible. There will be a minority -- a vocal one at that -- and we will need to listen and be sincere with their fears and concerns. We hope to create win-win situations with this minority so that we can all coexist. Cafe Evoke has made some big steps in the past two weeks as we began our market research plans. We have had two very successful meetings and are looking forward to a chance to meet the rest of the community in April. Our brochures are ready to go to press and I hope to have them sent over by Wednesday of next week. I will try and get a PDF version for online viewing. ...be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, bozeman, montana, coffee, startup

Carnival of Entrepreneurship (#6)

The 6th edition of the Carnival of Entrepreneurship is now up at Global Market Development. Great carnival this week so stop on by. ..be bold Tagged: Entrepreneurship, carnivalofentrepreneuship, startup

Get "Jazzed"

I was reading Arizona Coffee Blog and found this post with a link to a USA Today feature on 10 great places to get jazzed about on great java I think there are a few notables in this list -- although they are all great. The first I am excited to see on this list is Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Portland. I spent some time here back in October and got to know some of the baristas. Great place with a great feel. If you are in Portland, you must stop by. The second is Zoka Coffee and Tea out of Seattle. This shop has had some Barista champs and is also a great place to spend time. Take a look next time you are in Seattle. The last shop I will note is the original Peets. I like this because there has been a push against the bigger chains lately but it seems that Peet's has kept its "independent" feel and flare. Well done. ..be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee, usa today, top coffee shops

What's on the Inside

We took a trip inside of this building yesterday which has not become our favorite. We have always been interested in this building -- even from day one, but never acted on it or tried to work anything out. We have learned a lot over the past several months and decided that we might has well. Our contractor joined us for this "tour" and he was very impressed with the quality of the inside. I am not sure how long it has been since it was occupied but a calendar that was posted on the wall in the back room was from 1987. The floors are nice finished brick, walls are mosaic tile (up to the "chair rail" which is made of marble). Very tall ceilings cap it all off. The original ticket counter still exists and two bathrooms are present -- one on each side. The electricity does not work in this building so our pictures are a bit limited but these should give you a feel for what the inside looks like. It would take some structural re-arranging but for how long the building has been sitting, we are very excited. I think one of the major attractions to this building is the ceiling. It gives you the feel of a building that has been through a lot. One that has many stories that have been put to rest and many more to create. That is the kind of atmosphere we have been looking for. We have found some great buildings but the only ones that have looked like ones we could use have been new and lacking that feel. This building has it all. We are trying to keep our cool about it and approach it as calm as possible. Many people have tried -- and failed -- to open their business in this building. We are putting together proposals in hopes that our determination will only grow stronger. There has been talk about some people buying the building so we are keeping that close at hand as well. In case you were wondering, the building is being used to store oil right now. Not the best use for this building I would say. I think Cafe Evoke would fit very well here! ..be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, conversation, coffee, tea

Update..

Cafe Evoke could be serving the finest in organic and fairly traded coffees at your next party, banquet, or meeting. We are exploring - in depth - the possibilities of getting our catering license and buying a cart to begin doing this type of thing. We have always wanted to do this once the cafe was opened. We like the idea of having our regulars use Cafe Evoke for their parties -- bring "their" cafe home. Why not start now? This would create a bit of revenue to pay the small amount of bills we have each month and also get our foot in the door and our name out there. No one is doing this in Bozeman right now and we have had many caterers express excitement when they hear what we will have to offer. Coffee is becoming a very popular request at weddings and other parties. At this point, we have a lot of work to do. Pricing, market research, meetings, etc. We hope to have a rough draft of the "addition" to the business plan by Friday as we are meeting with our kitchen designer who will help us get the necessary paper work. We will also be using their kitchen to clean our machines and other tools. We are exciting about this opportunity and think it will not only let us get our name out as I said before but will let us really tailor our coffee and tea selections so that we are prepared when the doors finally open at Evoke. We are really looking hard at an old building in the NE of Bozeman and think that it is the best we have seen so far with a lot of history and character. It will be the most difficult deal we have worked on yet but if it works, it will be fantastic. ...be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, conversation, coffee, tea

The Coffee and Tea Festival! (#3)

Good morning and welcome to this week's edition of the Coffee and Tea Festival!. We have three posts to visit today from certification, to the consumer push towards Fair Trade, and finally to some great ideas for cooking with coffee. Lets begin. There has been a lot of debate over certifications. There are 7 or so that a plantation can receive. An article over at Coffee and Conversation discusses whether or not promoting shade grown coffee is a good conservation stradegy or not. Primarily, the authors argue for rigorous shade-certification programs to prevent premiums from going to farms that do not truly preserve biodiversity, and strong linkages between organic, shade-grown, and Fair Trade certification. Further, to discourage conversion of primary forest to coffee, certification could be withheld for new farms, for a specified period, so that farmers are not rewarded for clearing forest. These certifications are a way for the coffee industry to give back to the environment in most cases with certifications given for shade grown, bird friendly and organic just to name a few. Another certification is the Fair Trade seal in which the buyers agree to pay fair market value to the farmers in coffee growing countries. (There are other goods that can be bought Fair Trade, too, however.) GreenLAGirl has been on a campaign trying to steer Starbucks into serving more Fairly Traded coffee. In what she calls The Starbucks Challenge, she is asking coffee drinkers to request fairly traded coffee when they visit their local Starbucks. This has lead her to research the company indepth over the past several months. She offers this post in which she shares... [a] communique with Marc Gunther of Fortune Magazine regarding his article, How UPS, Starbucks, Disney Do Good which praises Starbucks as an uber-socially conscious company. She is challenging this industry leader to really step up to the plate when it comes to taking care of the global coffee market, living up to it's own policy, goals, and missions, and in treating their employees across the board. Starbucks has down great things for US coffee and she is pushing them to give even more. Our last stop for this festival is over at Thought for Food. This post tells us that if we use.. 3 teaspoons finely ground coffee 1/4 tsp. sweet paprika 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp dry parsley flakes that we can create a great coffee rub for beef. Now, I have not tried this yet but think next time I cook, I might just try it with some coffee. That is it for this weeks edition. Please keep your submissions coming and hopefully we will get some posts on tea for next week! I am still looking for a person or a few people to host the festival in April. Please let me know if you think you are interested. I will fill you in on what it takes, etc. Thanks for reading! Have a great week. Past editions: Week 2 Week 1 Introduction ..be bold Tagged: Coffee, Tea, Coffee and Tea Festival

Coffee for Conversation

Cafe Evoke's tag line is simple: come.sip.talk The idea of this is to create a place that people can enjoy conversation, sip great coffees and teas, and just be together. I have always thought coffee was a great tool for relationship. It is comfortable and allows people to come together and get to know each other without the awkward "what to say" feeling. I was reading over at Coffee Sage this post about coffee and conversation. I have found that nothing quite relaxes me more than being able to sit and enjoy a cup of good coffee. I have also noticed that conversation seems to take on new meaning when sitting with someone else who also enjoys that cup of Joe. Coffee, though it can make a person tense, can also even out an irritating mood or angry feelings. Say for instance you and your make are having a disagreement. Jump in the car and go to your local coffee shop or coffee bar, sit, relax, and talk things over with a good cup of java. It is truly an ice breaker. Got employee problems? Invite them out for coffee! It will ease their mood and yours and enable you to discuss the much needed discussion. Your employee will feel good that you took the time to sit with them. I agree. ..be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, conversation, coffee, tea

Festival Submissions

Do you have a submission for this week's Coffee and Tea Festival? Please have them in by Sunday for a Monday run. I am also looking for someone (someones) to host the festival in the month of April. Is that person you? Ways to submit your posts: E-mail them click here or use the button below: ..be bold Tagged: Coffee, Tea, Coffee and Tea Festival

Update...

Over the past month or so, I have been talking about the buildings we have been looking at and trying to work deals on. I have posted one picture before but I wanted to updated everyone on the other two buildings that are built that we are thinking about, too. The first picture is of the building have I been talking about the most. This building is located at the corner of Wallace and Peach in Bozeman and has a nice feel. It would be a great location if parking and zoning can get worked out. I am hoping to get a final YES or NO by mid week next week so we can move on. We would be taking the bottom floor of this building and would be able to use the two garage doors located on the side of the building. This building is an old railroad building that has not had anything happening in it for some time. It is in need of a lot of work but we really like the feel it gives and can see it as a future home for Cafe Evoke. The problem with this is that we have to work with Montana Rail Link as they are the current owners. They are not sure what they want to do with it yet but think it would be great as a restaurant or cafe. We just talked to the agent that works with this company yesterday so this deal has just begun. We are working up a deal to send over to them in hopes that it will spark interests in our cafe. There are quite a bit of large windows allowing you to see views of the Bridgers and the exposed brick would provide a nice backdrop for the art aspect of Cafe Evoke. This will not be an easy deal to put together but we are excited about the possibilities. We have 7-9 months before we can even move into any building because of zoning so it makes since to work on as many things as possible in the meantime. There is a cold storage company in this building right now and we are meeting with the owner of this storage company next week to go take a look inside. Our general contractor will go as well so we can get a good handle on what it would take to get the building up to code and on par with an art and coffee house like ours. Things are moving forward slowly and I am fighting the feelings of frustration and defeat as we are in a good position to be open in a year or so. ...be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, bozeman, montana, coffee, startup

Still Moving?

I received an email from our leasing agent yesterday telling me she was meeting with the agent of the building owner we have been working with for so long to see what they are thinking and how things have been going. I have requested that we get an YES or NO by early next week as we need to move on. Progress is still being made but the ups and downs are beginning to wear. We have been making phone calls to other buildings in the area and have been looking at houses that are zoned in the proper area and we will continue to do this until a lease is signed. It feels like we are moving side to side however and not forward. We are hoping to get a letter in to the city next week asking them to consider Edit 21 and we need to set up meetings with more people from the area. I am disappointed with were we are at this point but understand that we have done everything we can. Have we done it right? I think so. We are taking our time to make sure things happen correctly but it is not easy. I have to keep telling myself that it is one step after another and not a giant leap. Cafe Evoke will happen. ...be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, bozeman, montana, coffee, startup

Keep Perspective

Inc. Magazine ran a story in this month's edition called Confessions of an Entrepreneur's Wife. "She was proud to support her husband's dream of building a great business. But five years is a long time to watch someone focus on his company at the expense of everything - everything - else." I think this piece could have ended with the first quote. The husband set out to create a successful company. But did he create it? To me, this company has done nothing but fail in the first five years. Starting a business is not [all] about making money. It is about creating something good, something that fills a niche, something that solves a problem for the community. Can you really call your business successful if it wrecks a marriage, prevents you from ever doing the things you love, makes others miserable? I have read many studies about business failure when a husband and wife go in together. Why do I not see many about marriages and relationships that fail when the wife or husband is not a part of it? It is important to make sure you plan and budget your time so that there is always some left over for the business. Yes, I said that your family and joys in life should come first. You are going to have times -- as in the start up phase -- where business is going to take up a good portion of your time but that needs to be rare. Add a self evaluation to your business plan that talks about how this business works into your everyday life as it is now. If it looks like it cannot be done, re-think you idea. Make plans like: *You will be home for dinner each night (even if it means you have to go back to work) *You will take Saturday morning bike rides, hikes, or just be with your family *You will be at church or other religious gathering on Sunday mornings These are not things that you must have in your plans or things that are for everyone but they are examples of the types of ideas that should be included in this part of the business plan. A business is not successful if it destroys everything in your life. Think through how the business will benefit and better your life and the lives of the people around you. Understand that your family, friends, and employees are all stakeholders and should be considered when making business decisions. A new business does not have to be a life ending commitment. Keep re-evaluating yourself and your business from the day you open to the day you close the doors. ..be bold Tagged: Cafe Evoke, bozeman, montana, coffee, startup