We have had a strong week so far. We have exceeded $600 in sales all three days this week, and we are headed for a record week provided Thursday and Friday are not disasters! We never did pull the trigger on any advertising. We started trying to figure out how to get new revenue growth, and it just started taking off by word of mouth again. Much of it has been our success with getting groups in here at night to utilize the studio as a meeting room. It is booked SOLID, and has been for the last month. I used to get excited every time we booked an event or group. Now I get excited if I can find an opening to book an event or group!! That drives sales during those events, but better than that, it brings people in the door. We interact with one person to book an event, and 10 or 15 or 20 or 30 people involved with that event walk in the door. Some of them become regular customers, and others spread the word about our shop by talking to people in their lives. It is fun to ask first time customers how they found out about us. Maybe 1 in 20 say they drove by and saw us. Most say they heard about us from someone else...
I booked a catered event today for Monday morning. They need coffee service for 15, plus breakfast items. They also need lunches and drinks at mid-day. I put it in the system and it is a $195 sale. They are going to call on Friday to let us know if their attendees have increased in number... Could go up...
Monday may be our chance to break our single day sales record of $702.12. We have been consistently hitting the upper $600's. If we do 650 Monday, plus this $200 sale, it will be our first time over $800 in a day...
We spoke with Premiere Global again and we are getting closer to being dialed in on a food service to their building twice a day. That could easily add $250 to $400 a day in sales Monday through Saturday! If we build that business and it is consistently successful, I will not need a day job!
I submitted a resume to the company that is interested in hiring me as a Project Engineer. It will seem weird to extract myself from the shop and go work a day job again. It will also mean putting a hold on the photography business. I had two photo shoots today, and I am getting more phone calls daily by referrals. It has been highly successful for just the short time that I have been trying to market it. To put the skids on it now will seem counter-productive, but I will be able to build it again in the future. If this job opportunity does not work out, Intel is still interested in me participating in their plant decommissioning. Potential positions are Project Manager, Construction Coordinator, and Safety Professional. The Safety Professional position sounds interesting to me because it is something I have never done before. I would be involved in training the incoming contractors on all safety requirements and procedures. They also supervise operations in the field to insure saftey requirements are being utilized and enforced. They also participate in design reviews to insure safety is considered at the very onset of a project. They inspect work being done to confirm electrical, gas systems, chemical systems, scaffold, etc etc are done correctly. I have been on the project manager side of all these tasks, but it would be interesting to do them from a safety perspective. Intel believes that safety is a value and a culture, not just a job requirement. I'm absolutely sure there is no other place on Earth like Intel when it comes to creating a safety culture in the workplace.
We have taken some steps to create a stable condition at the shop if I leave to go work a day job. Our most recent hire (Robert) is an incredible asset. He only works two days a week for us because he has another full time job. He used to run a shop called Daz Bog on North Academy, so he has management type experience in a coffee house. He is completely and utterly passionate about coffee. He is especially interested in roasting, and has been saving up to buy a roaster for himself. He is always reading about developments in the coffee industry, and always has the cutting edge knowledge about new technologies. He is an incredibly hard worker and we never have to give him direction. If there is a lull between customers he always finds something productive to do. We literally NEVER have to give him any guidance or direction. He is the optimal employee... We spoke with him briefly about creating an Assistant Manager position, and asked if he would be willing to work here full time. We told him we are willing to purchase a coffee roaster and that he can experiment with roasting coffee here at the shop. We would also match or exceed his current salary at his other full time job. He said he is definitely interested, and we are going to meet with him on Friday at 7:00pm to discuss it further.
We also have identified two other individuals that we would be interested in hiring. One is currently a Starbucks Shift Supervisor, and the other is a senior in high school (actually, I did her senior portraits - scroll down to older posts and look for Laura's photos).
Tracy and I were very concerned about the transition that would be required for me to take a full time job outside the shop. God provided three great prospects out of the blue for us (well, two out of the blue, Robert was already here). From the very start of this effort, things have always fallen into place when needed. We have not really experienced any kind of crisis. If you are one of the people out there who have been praying for us all along, thank you, and keep praying!
Josh went to the eye doctor today and has to have glasses. He has been having trouble with his school work this year, stating that he does not know how to do his homework. It turns out that he cannot see the board, so he has been listening, but not seeing any of the school work! If this helps him, then it will be $400 well spent...
I have to make 20 burritos and finish up some closing duties. Gotta run...
A few additions to our prayer list:
Alex, who has pneumonia (he is a dialysis patient as well)
Heather - Arnie's daughter who is having a C Section in Oklahoma as I write this!
Terry - one of our regular customers who has had trouble breathing lately. They put him on Oxygen and are trying to figure out what is wrong...
Sharla - a friend from church who was recently diagnosed with cancer
Kelly - a friend of mine (active duty Army at Ft Carson) from my photo group who recently had to notify a family that their son was killed in Iraq
My brother Aubrey and my neighbor George who are both serving their third tours in Iraq
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