When is comes to community and serving the neighborhood well through the cafe, you’d be hard pressed to find a better example than Franny Lou’s Porch, in Philadelphia, PA. Blew Kind began her entrepreneurial journey in 2010 with Leotah’s Place in North Philly then, moving across the street and renaming it, she established Franny Lou’s Porch. All along the way …
You’ve heard of FOMO, but what about the insidious FOLO? This is the Fear of Limited Options and is a big mental hurdle that most coffee bars have to leap over. If you want to run a healthy business and not have your menu built on a very shaky…
This is going to be a deep dive into some foundational ideas related to your shop and the way it exists in your community. I wasn’t planning this episode but I really felt a gut-level urgency about the message. Thing is, if we want to build something that lasts and is resilient in the face of our resent and future …
There is an abundance of stress to go around right now. I’d say it is likely the most tense and uncertain time I have seen in coffee in my 20 years of working in retail. Stress leads to more stress and as someone who is prone to stress/panic attacks…
Entering into a new role, or even just taking over a new cafe or team, is a daunting challenge. Many burn out and the experience leaves a bitter taste in their mouth and a lot of destruction in their wake. In the midst of the reshuffling during COVID there are a lot of opportunities to establish a new way of …
Not everything we do is fun. Actually, there are a lot of dirty, time-consuming, repetitive tasks that we have to do everyday on order for the cafe to function. Even though these tasks seem rather dull, we can transform them into something of…
Leadership is a HUGE topic and it is easy to get overwhelmed with the never-ending opinions and techniques that are available these days. It is cruel in a way because in a time where we need good leadership the most we want to find good resources but the choice of what voice to listen to is often paralyzing. …
We assume that if nobody is complaining and life seems to be going along smoothly that all is well. We enact the popular mantra of “Well, no news is good news!” In reality though, “no news” is bad news. Why do we think this way? Today we will be…
More than communication, we need connection! As we move forward through the current retail landscape the currency of connection with our guests and also our staff becomes more valuable. A focus on connection and conversational communication is what will separate the sustainable businesses from the unsustainable. Today we will be diving into the need for reaching the hearts and …
Nobody likes to feel bad. In fact in management we are somewhat obsessed with avoiding negative emotions, confrontation, and challenging our staff out of a sense of self preservation or keeping the peace. We believe that if things feel good in the…
