Upcoming

I wanted to let everyone know that the Coffee and Tea Festival should be posted by the end of the week. I am currently visiting family in PA and have not been able to write or post anything to this blog. We have some great posts for this edition so please check back. I will also be posting a follow up to CoffeeFEST 2006 and our plans for the future of Cafe Evoke and Cafe Evoke Catering. There are some things in the works that could be exciting and get us back on track. Thanks for being patient as I take a few needed days of vacation. More to come in the next day or two. ..be bold

CoffeeFEST 2006 :: Day 3

We ended our time at CoffeeFEST 2006 a day early this year as we are traveling to PA for a family wedding. We still had time to get the things done that we set out to do and we feel very good about our position going back to Bozeman. We got to see some friends and learn some great things. Here is what we did yesterday: 1. We participated in a "cupping" at Batdorf and Bronson which was great. I would call the time more of a tasting than a cupping but it was very nice. We sampled four single origins and noted all flavor differences in each. We tried a Costa Rican, Ethiopian, Nicoragran, and Mexican. I would say that I enjoyed the coffees from Ethiopia and Nicoragrua the best. The samples were brewed on the Clover which I still love and wish I had. 2. We also spent some time talking to Mojo Trailers about the options and pricing of the vending trailer that they just released. We will work this week to get a quote from them and see what our options are for purchasing one. We have a lot of planning to do before we step into that but we think it is a strong possiblity. Those were our main two goals for yesterday and we had a great time on the floor. This year's show was larger and better than last year but a few vendors I wanted to talk with -- MoCafe is one -- did not attend. I guess I will have to do all of my checking over the phone. They increased the classes by more than 30% this year and I am really excited that the industry is stepping in the direction of education. I think we will all see a very large difference if it continues to move in this direction. ..be bold Tagged: coffeefest, trade show, coffee, espresso, cafe evoke, coffee catering, seattle

CoffeeFEST 2006 :: Day 2

Yesterday was day 2 at this years CoffeeFEST trade show -- the first day the floor was opened and classes were being conducted. While I did not get to many of the classes yesterday, I did attend Matt Milletto's (of Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup)How to Hire and Retain Great Employees. It was a great class and I enjoyed getting tips that will allow us to have the best staff. He talks about how to conduct interviews, place help wanted ads, train, and manage your staff of baristas and cashiers. We then spent several hours walking the floor and making plans for today. There were a few things that really jumped out to me which I will be spending some time looking at today. Here are a few things: 1. Mojo Trailers out of CT is a company that custom builds coffee vending trailers. They have a great look and quite a bit of storage on the inside. They come fully equipped if requested and would be great to add to the Cafe Evoke Catering line of packages. It would allow us to do large events and things in other towns in Montana. I will write a post about this with all of the details and how it could be a great opportunity for us. 2. CoolCorC is a company out of Memphis that uses the left over cork from wine corks to make cup sleeves. This is a great product and keeps us from having to use paper products for our cups. This is a brand new company and they are still working on pre-assembled sleeves. 3. Greenware produces plastic cups and lids from corn materials that are fully compost in municipal and industrial facilities. In about 50 days, these cups will be completely gone if in the conditions that are right for composting. These cups have met stringent scientifically based specifications and have been certified by the bodyguard Plastics Institute. 4. And for those that are coffee lovers -- I got to see, try, and love the Clover. This is like a French press for a coffee house allowing you to brew coffee one cup at a time. What a great machine (more on that later as well). We are excited for today as it will be our last for this year. We are participating in a cupping today which will be great and we will be heading to a few booths to talk and get samples. This has been a great show and we are feeling excited and ready to be back in Bozeman to work on our business and spread the passion about our products and services. ..be bold Tagged: coffeefest, trade show, coffee, espresso, cafe evoke, coffee catering, seattle

CoffeeFEST 2006 :: Day 1

So maybe I should call this "day 0" but that is no matter. Today we arrived in Seattle and got settled in. We made the drive from Bozeman in about 10 hours after lunch, gas stops, and driving around like tourists finding our hotel. Tonight we took it easy. We spent the evening with a friend from Bozeman having drinks and talking coffee and other things. While I do not have the plans of making deals and running around with my head cut off like last year, I do plan to get some work done on this short weekend. There are a few classes I will be going to (the list from the other day has been shortened) and a few vendors that I am excited to talk to but I also want to experience coffee culture in this town as well by heading to some local shops. I will be writing each day documenting the show and what we got done. This should be a great weekend to get excited and fueled for the future and also give us some good traction for heading back to Bozeman and working on Cafe Evoke Catering. ..be bold Tagged: coffeefest, trade show, coffee, espresso, cafe evoke, coffee catering, seattle

So Sorry..

The stresses of trying to get out of town for 10 days, getting my business in shape to "maintain" for that amount of time, and personal things have kept me from blogging. My apologies. I will continue writing once we are in Seattle on Thursday (tomorrow) and talk about our time at CoffeeFEST. Thanks for understanding and make sure to stop by on Thursday for posts from the show. ..be bold

A Short Week

My wife and I are leaving for Coffee Fest Seattle on Thursday morning so this week will be rather short -- with more to get done of course. I am very excited about heading over to WA for this trade show as it will be a time to catch up with friends and see the new happenings in the industry. I wrote a few days ago about the classes I was excited to attend so in the next few days, I will talk about each one and why I feel it is important. Live blogging will take place while we are there so be ready for that starting Friday. I like to think of coffee trade shows as summer camps. Remember the feeling of being at camp? The excitement of it all? The feeling when you got back -- a sense of life and a passion to get going with it? That is what trade shows do for me. For 3 days, you are in the midst of coffee and the atmosphere it brings. Everyone there loves coffee and the art of it as much or more than I do. This is why it is important to go to as many as possible during the year. I hope to come away with more knowledge, more joy, and more excitement. ..be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee catering, coffee, espresso, tea, bozeman, montana, tradeshow, coffeefest

What does EVOKE mean?

I get asked this often. So, I have copied in what we are talking about straight from Dictionary.com: "to produce or suggest through artistry and imagination a vivid impression of reality". Now you have it. ..be bold

Finalized Marketing Plans

Yesterday ended up being pretty product as I sat in my office hoping for some fresh new snow to fall on Bozeman. I met with the Bozeman Daily Chronicle to find out what advertising channels might with for Cafe Evoke Coffee Catering. It was a whirl-wind of a meeting where she just told me all the options, gave me price sheets, and told me to get back with her (I now have much homework). Here is what I am thinking: 1. A 3" or 4" ad in At Home Magazine's directory -- 23,000 copies distributed all over the valley. 2. A 1/6 page color ad in Balance Magazine (a magazine for women) 3. A 1/4 page color ad in the special GVIBA section that will give us a free editorial next to our ad of the same size. While I have not yet figured out what we are going to be spending on our advertising for the rest of the year and going into 2007, I think all of these will provide us with ample coverage of the valley and get our information in front of the women of the community. We just finalized our booth for the 2007 Bridal Affair to be held at the Gallatin Valley Mall and we are excited. We will have a booth in the main hall with free espresso drinks and also one in the tasting/fashion show area. I am meeting with Alice to sign/review the contracts for our directory listing today at 2:30 which will finalize that channel as well. Figuring out where to spend your marketing/advertising dollars is not an easy task. I feel that we have done a good job so far in finding avenues to reach our target market. We have created systems that will allow us to track each ad (coupons, etc) so that in the future, we can better tailor or decisions. ..be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee catering, coffee, espresso, tea, bozeman, montana, marketing

Cafe Evoke Coffee Catering :: Business Update

Yes, I am still going to talk about our business on this blog -- don't you worry! (ok, so maybe you were not worried, I just like to think so) We have been working on our marketing plans for the end of the year and for next year in order to align ourselves properly for the coming wedding season. We had a huge September -- our biggest and busiest since the start -- but things have slowed a bit this month. We do have a few things coming up that should spark some more interest. One the working block are: 1. A listing and ad in MyPhoneDirectory 2. A full color ad in Montana Bride (coming out next month) 3. Information kit for our hopeful customers -- including prices, pictures, and list of references 4. A spot in the upcoming Bridal Affair event at the Gallatin Valley Mall 5. Some type of ad (press release, small print ad, etc) in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle 6. Trailer and/or Auto Decals 7. Website These are the things that are on the list to be worked on. The first two are complete and we feel very good about them. I was never really big on yellow pages advertising but I think this market is still at a point where this directory is used. The informational kits are almost done and should be ready to be distributed in the next week or so. We are going to push the wedding market huge in the next few months as we feel that is a large part of our target market. The rest we feel are the women of Bozeman. That is our focus for the next several months as we push to really saturate this market with the idea of Coffee Catering. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee catering, coffee, espresso, tea, bozeman, montana, myphonedirectory, marketing

Tips for Green Living

Did you know that you can receive tips for being green directly to your inbox each day? Well, by entering your email address in the box below, Ideal Bite will send you a green tip every day. There are many fun, inexpensive things you can do for the environment and yourself and these tips will introduce you to many of them. Your email address will not be sold from what their website says so it is safe. You can even send in your own green tips. If they like it, they will send it out as the tip of the day. So enter your address and wait for all the green living tips to begin rolling in. Here is a list of past tips so you know what great things are to come. ..be bold Tagged: fair trade month, fairtrade, espresso, coffee, tea, idealbite, greenliving

Just Checking..Fair Trade Style!

So, I need your help. I am in the process of ordering new personal checks (which means I am writing to many!). I found a great place -- or two -- to get recycled checks which I am for sure going to do, but where can I find checks that show my support of global issues like Fair Trade or ending poverty? While checks with bunnies and ducks on them are great (?), I would love to help spread the word to all of the corporations that I have to pay each month about Fair Trade and other good things like it. Have any ideas? Have you ever seen these types of checks (I have not)? Let me know by leaving a comment! ..be bold Tagged: fair trade month, fairtrade, espresso, coffee, tea, recycledchecks

The Coffee and Tea Festival (#14)

Hello and welcome to the 14th edition of the Coffee and Tea Festival. This week the festival is back at my blog after a great trip over to Arizona Coffee. Thanks again to Chris for hosting! I have a few posts for you and -- sure enough -- they are mostly about tea! Here we go.. Dan Harris presents Reading Indian Tea Leaves Tells Me China Is A Good Market posted at China Law Blog. This post is for all you business readers out there. We all know that China is a great place for international business to get their products and services but maybe not the best place to sell yet. A tea company from India thinks differently. Joe Kissell presents Zarafina Tea Maker posted at The Geeky Gourmet. Are you a coffee drinker not yet introduced to the great world of tea? Here is a great little review of some new ways to brew tea -- not so much harder than brewing coffee each morning and with an elegant flavor to get you started on your day. While I do not agree with the choice of using a super automatic espresso as he mentions in this post, maybe this tea "brewer" is worth a few bucks? I don't know, what do you think tea drinkers? This month is Fair Trade Month and I have been writing several posts (the most recent one here). While this is not all about coffee and tea, you hear the most about these two products. Well, that will do it for this weeks edition. Thanks to everyone who submitted and please keep the posts coming. The more we get, the more we can all get to know each other and these great industries. If you find anything that should be included, please pass them along! As always, you can submit your posts with this fantastic little form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. ..be bold Tagged: coffee and tea festival, blog carnival, espresso, coffee, tea

The excitement of it all...

I have said (and heard from others) that no one is as excited about your business as you are. But does this mean that the people who you work with and maybe for you are not going to be as excited about their jobs, the product, the customers? I like to think that those who might work with Cafe Evoke Coffee Catering or Cafe Evoke (the coffee house) in the future will be excited about the product and the process. It is always hard for me to believe that people who work in coffee do not love it, live it, and otherwise crave for it. The art of the process and the excitement from the customer after receiving her drink is what I wake up for. How do we pass that joy along to our employees? I was talking with some friends a few days ago and they were telling me about a staff meeting they recently had at their shop. The two managers are in the zone and loving the industry and everything about it. They have great ideas for the future and are super excited about what it holds for them, their employees, and the shop. As they were telling everyone about their plans and what is going on, they were greeted by blank faces. Not many were really excited about anything other than receiving their paychecks. Here is what I think.. 1. Send them to trade shows (build it in the budget) 2. Bring in trade magazines to your shop 3. Host a jam or competition 4. Get everyone in your shop signed up with The Barista Guild of America 5. Show them the film "A Passionate Harvest" 6. Bring in speakers from the industry 7. Have contests where each barista can submit a "specialty drink" of their own creation. The winner's goes on the menu for a period of time. There are so many great things about the industry -- there should be no problem getting excited. But it is apparent that not everyone sees this business as a lifestyle but merely as a paycheck. ...be bold

Fair Trade Month :: Nationwide Events and Promotions Calendar!

I am sure you are all wondering what you can do to be a part of Fair Trade Month. Since you have already purchased your Halloween candy and watched Black Gold and told people about it what is left? Well, TransFair USA has a great list of events from around the nation on their site. You can search for events in your state and even add your event to the mix. For those that are lucky enough to have a mermaid outlet in your area, you can get Fair Trade Certified coffee "the entire week of October 25th!" (what? That's the only time they will serve it?? -- this is what I am thinking when I read the below release from the site search): Nationwide Starbucks will be featuring Fair Trade Certified coffee during the entire week of October 25th. So be sure to stop by your nearest Starbucks and ask for the Fair Trade Month special! ..oh, and while you are at it, make sure you ask for FT coffee every time you enter one of their stores. Keep in mind that FT is way more than just coffee. It is everything from tea, to bags, to clothing and gifts. Make sure to stop by the Global Exchange store for lots of great FT stuff. You can click on the banner in the left sidebar of this blog. You can save 10% on orders of more than $20.00 so open your wallets and take out the green (or plastic) and start buying FT products. ...be bold Tagged: fair trade month, fairtrade, espresso, coffee, tea, transfairusa

Fair Trade Month :: Black Gold

There has been a lot of hype about the new movie Black Gold documenting the struggle to make sure farmers are being paid fair wages for their products. It is great to see that coffee bars and houses are the hot trend these days with coffee lovers paying more and more for great product. Coffee companies are doing well financially and things are great. The horrible part is that the growers in coffee producing countries are among the poorest in the world. Does that make since? This film documents this struggle and is starting to be shown in cities across the country to rave reviews. I received an email from my friends at Bongo Java in Nashville, TN a few days ago as they are hosting a screening at a great little theater close to one of their stores. I see there are many screenings in Seattle and in other big cities but what about places like Bozeman? I have been in contact with Rick, the director of marketing and distribution for the film, trying to get Black Gold shown right here in Bozeman. He told me that they hare having a hard time screening the film in markets like this because they cannot find a place to show it. I have been in touch with some friends that are very involved in the Bozeman movie market and hope to bring this film to Montana. I will keep you updated of the progress. Are you in a small market where this film has yet to be shown? Get in touch with them and try to get it on the big screens. ..be bold Tagged: fair trade month, fairtrade, espresso, coffee, tea, oxfam, blackgold

How To Drink Espresso

How to drink espresso according to Dr. Ernesto Illy... "It is the same as with great wine or food. Don't gulp it. Take little sips, let your tongue play with it, let it dig into your taste buds adn stick there." This was taken from an article featured in the Tastes section of Wine Spectator -- Oct. 31st, 2006. ..be bold

Fair Trade Month: Halloween Candy!

Halloween is coming up in a matter of weeks and the time has come for everyone to buy all of that wonderful candy (in my eyes, the best candy, however, are the sweettart bunnies and ducks around Easter). What can you do to keep in line with Fair Trade Month? Buy the action kit! Greenlagirl writes about the Halloween Action Kit that GlobalExchage is selling on their site (you can get it by clicking on the banner image to the left!). So far, I have not been around my house for Halloween in the past few years and this year will be no different. If I were going to be here, I would head over to the GlbalExchange store for some great stuff. Because it is Fair Trade Month, Global exchange is offering 10% off any orders over $20.00 if you use coupon code ftm2006. What can you do if you are not going to be in town for this month? You can buy some anyway. You can get all of your friends to purchase this candy rather than Nestle. This action kit includes more than just choco. It has cards, posters, and a few other great little things. Head on over and take a look. boo.. ..be bold Tagged: fair trade month, fairtrade, espresso, coffee, tea, equal exchange, halloween

Fair Trade Month: Why I Choose Fair Trade

I get asked very often why I choose to commit to Fair Trade Certified Coffee. What's the big deal? Because it is Fair Trade Month, I am going to tell you about how I got started. I was at a seminar back in Nashville, TN a few years ago listening to a local coffee roaster (who is a part of Cooperative Coffee) talk about Fair Trade. This seminar was put on by a group of students at Belmont University who had been trying to get certified coffees served on campus. It made since because this guy owned a shop very close to campus and was trying to get Belmont's account. The school decided to go with our friends and her mermaid. The speaker told a story about a time when he, and others from Cooperative Coffee, where at origin building house -- with Habitat I believe. The crews showed up at a families house and they were overwhelmed with thanks. The chief began to lay out the pad for the new home and discovered that 3 trees needed to come down to make the plan fit the space. The marked them and were about to begin cutting when the father came running and waving his arms. He was obviously against them cutting down these "trees" and was frantic. They finally learned that these "trees" were the income for this family. It was coffee. Those 3 "trees" are this families income. Without them, they really have no way to support their kids and keep them alive. From that point on, I was hooked. Fair Trade is way more than a label or seal or organization. It is life story -- a right to live. I know many people who do not want to buy into this group because of one thing or another but for me, I do it because I like the idea that money is going back to the farmers. It is not a perfect system -- yet. Fair Trade Coffee News has a nice article describing why this is not a scam of an idea. I know that many think that drinking certified coffees means more bucks out of your wallet -- not true (at least in bozeman, montana). I went to a few shops in town and discovered that the most expense place in town was not Fair Trade Certified. The lease expensive -- a shop serving 100% FT. 3 cents to people in this country is not much -- but for these farmers, it is life or death in many cases. Help support these families by drinking FT Certified coffee and tea. You can also buy other Fair Trade stuff at Global Exchange's store (or by clicking the banner at the top left corner of my blog). ..be bold Tagged: fair trade month, fairtrade, espresso, coffee, tea, transfairusa

Know your vendors..

Over the past year and a half or so, I have had a lot of experience in working with vendors. As many of you know, I hold a job as a customer service rep (etc) at a local dot com retail company here in Bozeman. Because we are set up to have almost every item we sell drop shipped, we are constantly on the phone with vendors trying to keep things moving in the proper way. I have translated this into our coffee business as well. Here is what I have found are key things to keep in mind when setting up accounts with different roasters, supply companies, etc: 1. Know the facts before signing the line: While in the coffee business you are probably not going to be held to just one roaster for instance, it is important to keep this in mind. What are their lead times? What will they do for your in a crunch situation? How do they ship? Are their bulk discounts and when do they apply? How are payments handled? These are all things that need to be exposed on the front side of any deal. 2. Take a test drive: What do I mean? Order some samples from different companies and see what results you get. I was recently doing this and have 5 roasters set up. I explained to all of them what I was "changing" roasters and they all seemed like they would be great. This was about a month or two ago and all I have received are samples from 3 of the 5 that were "getting them out to me". Out of those 3, not one has followed up with me as they said they would. Because of that, I have dropped all of them as possible roasters. Here is where it gets tough -- you need quality product. Keep this in mind but remember, even if the product is great, the vendor has to make sure they take care of you for the relationship to really work. 3. Communicate Talk to your vendors. If you have questions, ask. If you need a bit more time on a payment, ask. Go over every invoice and make sure you understand what you have paid and how everything works. This goes very well with number 1 above but it seems that many fail to really talk to their vendors. These are people and the more you get to know them, the better they will take care of you. Send a thank you note to your vendor if they got a large order to you. If your rep bent over backwards to get you your stuff, send his manager a note about it. If you can take care of your vendor by communicating, your life will be much easier. Those are three things that I have learned over the past months. They are loaded with other stuff but keep that in mind while you are getting your business rolling. I have talked with so many people about starting coffee businesses in the last 3 months and I tell all of them to get out there and meet the industry. This sets you up to know which vendors are going to work for you and which are not. This also gives you an idea of what to look out for in your area. This should be fun so get to your vendors.. ..be bold

CoffeeFEST Seattle 2006

CoffeeFEST Seattle is happening October 27th-29th at the Convention Center. We got our tickets together several weeks ago and are very excited for this show. While there is no cafe in the plans for us (which means no deals to be made) we are excited to see some friends and learn about the new trends in the industry (maybe even meet some other coffee catering companies). Last year, we were coming from Portland after spending 5 days at the American Barista and Coffee School that is run by Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup. By the time we had finished these classes, I had a hard time sitting through the free seminars that CoffeeFEST offers each trade show. This year will be different and there are a few classes that I am looking forward to. Here is my list (so far): Basics of Bookkeeping Marketing You Business to Succeed Coffee and Cultivation 101 Wrestling the Mermaid: Competing with Chains Business Law for Coffee Retailers Essentials of Water - What the New Cafe Owner Needs to Know Mate 101 In the next several days, I will post a bit about each of these classes. There are a few more than I hope to be able to attend but will have to wait and see -- there is a large show going on at the same time! I really hope to be able to talk to some people about coffee catering while we are there and try to really push this business. We are close and this show could give us the final few leads we need to break the seal on the market here in Bozeman, Montana. ..be bold

Upcoming Posts

I received an email a week or so ago from a person helping Folgers with their new gourmet coffee line. This email was asking me to help them by trying the coffee and posting a review on this blog. I told them to send it over and I would post an honest assessment of their product. I received my shipment a few days ago (I know I know, I have probably let it get "stale" -- or something). I had one roast in whole bean form (nice) and two others in ground form. I am going to try them in the next couple of days to be prepared for a review of the product as soon as I have a chance to find my brewer (I have been using my french press several times a day lately). I will also be reviewing a new product called Java Juice Extract for a friend of mine. One of my favorite things do to (other than see art, drink coffee, and listen to jazz and other chill music) is to be outdoors -- hiking, biking, camping, etc. This stuff is great because it is a coffee extract that you pour into water and -- wam -- you have coffee. I am excited about this because it is a certified Organic product. I do not see that they are using Fair Trade certified coffee beans yet but who knows! I will email them and let you know what they say. Be looking for these posts in the week or two. ..be bold

It's Fair Trade Month

Green LA Girl informed me that October is Fair Trade Month. What does this mean to you? I hope everything! TransFair USA has a new site, Discover Fair Trade, that gives information about Fair Trade and what is going on in this world. There are chances to win prizes and information on how to really get involved. Even if you are only able to purchase Fair Trade Certified Coffee -- there are many other products out there that are fairly traded -- you will be helping people and reaching past just a local community. You are extending a hand across oceans and into other's lives by drinking (or using) products that you would normally buy anyway. Yes, it might cost you $1.65 instead of $1.62 -- it is worth it. So, in honor of this month, head to your local coffee spot and ask for Fair Trade Certified coffee and maybe a little bag of choco covered espresso beans! As the ad on the left sidebar of this blog says... "When you buy a $3 cappuccino, coffee farmers won't even get 3 cents." ..be bold Tagged: fair trade month, fairtrade, espresso, coffee, tea, transfairusa

The Coffee and Tea Festival (#12)

My friend Chris over at Arizona Coffee hosts the 12th edition of the Coffee and Tea Festival. There are some great reads that come with this edition so stop by and check it out. If you are in AZ, Chris's blog is also a great place for you to go each day for news on local coffee. Thanks to Chris for hosting. Great job. ...be bold Tagged: coffee and tea festival, blog carnival, espresso, coffee, tea

The Barista Guild of America

I sent in my membership application and $45.00 to join the Barista Guild of America. It took them about 3 days to cash my check and about a month or so get send my stuff. No worries however. I got my membership card, certificate, and list of companies and groups where discounts are extended for members. I hope to be able to use this for more than just discounts and to also get to some of the jams that will be going on near Montana. I am officially part of the community now. ..be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee catering, bozeman, montana, coffee, tea, espresso, scaa, barista guild of america, barista

Cafe Evoke Catering :: The Plan

The rough internal version of the plan is completed. I guess I should say that there are a few things that needed to be added in the coming weeks. This plan included future capital needs, advertising ideas, a brief history (we are only so old you know), pricing structure, and cost break down for each item. This will get us on our feet and through the end of 2006. What needs to be completed before this year is out are goals for 2007 and an idea of what we make per event that we do. I am currently still employed at another company part time so we want to find out what it will take to get my out of that job and full time with Cafe Evoke Catering. This is a thin grey line. I cannot afford to leave my other job to early but there is a certain amount of time that must be put into the catering business to get it up, going, and running smoothly. It will also take time to grow the business. I have taken off the past two weeks from any advertising/marketing efforts so that will all begin tomorrow. Below is my list of "to-do's": 1. Get letters, pricing, brochures to caterers around town 2. Call/drop off information at all reception halls and locations in town 3. Drop off information at all local coffee shops 4. Get list of area reps for make-up and other industries like that This list will take me a week or two to get going. Once that is down, another list should be formed. All in all, I hope this sparks some business towards the end of the year. ..be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee catering, bozeman, montana, coffee, tea, espresso, business planning, budgeting