Nemo’s Update

1-We have had a great week, with a number of out of state participants in seminars at the Pikes Peak Work Force Center and at Premiere Global. That translates to HUGE lunch hours. We also had orders for 30 breakfast burritos by seminar hosts, my company RK Mechanical had a training seminar in the studio on Tuesday, the Photography Meetup Group had a Photoshop seminar in the studio today, etc, etc…. Every event we schedule in the studio/conference room not only helps to boost sales, but it is a marketing machine. When someone comes into our shop because of an event, that is one more thoroughly impressed and satisfied customer walking out the door to help spread the word about Nemo’s!

2-We are planning a movie night in the studio for the kids and their friends. The projector shows movies at 7 feet high x 12.5 feet wide on the studio wall. While the kids are watching a movie, us parents are going to have a game night or something like that out in the café. Looks to be a good time…

3-We would like to thank the 70-80 people who took an interest in our advertised Barista position. We met many wonderful people through the interviewing process. All of you were keepers… If we were a Barista Adoption Agency, we would have taken all of you. Unfortunately, we were interviewing for either one full time position, or two part time positions. Based upon having flexibility in the schedule and to avoid issues if someone is sick or on vacation, we chose to hire two part time individuals. It was very difficult to narrow the field down to just two, out of so many outstanding applicants. We would like to welcome Sarah and Carl to our team. Not only do they both have coffee experience, they have dynamic personalities with a dedication to the customer service experience. We have a great product, so our main focus when hiring is to look for ENERGY, dynamic personalities, SMILES, and an easy interaction. If you interviewed and were not chosen this time, we will keep your application on file. All of you were great!

4-I met with a supplemental insurance company last week. They do not offer full medical coverage, but they do offer accident insurance, hospitalization coverage, vision, dental, short and long term disability, and a wide range of other options. As an employer, we can offer this coverage to our staff, pre-tax. I need to set up a staff meeting and determine if it is something they want to implement…

5-I received payment for three video projects, so I have the cash in hand to buy the Canon 5D MkII... however, my gut feeling is telling me to hang onto it... I'm going to throw it in the bank and sit still for a few months. This is not easy to do, but I'm sticking with it.

6-I saw in the news that Starbucks is closing 300 more stores, 200 of them domestic, and it will result in approx 6700 layoffs. One item mentioned in the article is that they are going to stop brewing decaf coffee every hour on the hour. We figured that out in about two days... It is not fun to dump shuttle after shuttle of decaf coffee down the drain. After awhile, you see dollar signs in the sink instead of coffee. We now make decaf Americano's for our non-caffiene friends. Americano's taste better than brewed coffee anyway, and it saves us lots of money. Starbucks indicated that this move will save them $400 Million dollars a year. I think we are saving just a little less than that... LOL

Gotta run,
Take care and God bless…
JD