So, I picked up a second job at Sheridan's frozen custard, as few of you may know.
They wanted to get into the specialty coffee business, so we've now got a Franke Evolution super auto (lame) click for pic
They already use very good syrups (Monin), and they told me we would be using fresh-roasted beans (roasted the day it's shipped), but they couldn't tell me who it was. It's Kaldi's of St. Louis, I found out, which is a bit of a relief to me. They're known to have a quality product, but I don't really care much about all that to be honest. It's a custard stand.. it'll always be a custard stand.. anything else is secondary, and not to be taken seriously by the customer base. So anyway, I'm getting ~20 hrs. per week there.. which is nice.
Coffee Haus.
Jason (my boss) is being more receptive about my ideas. I've got just a ton of ideas that would make us the Coffee Center of Lubbock. The problem is, he's lazy as all get out. He wouldn't even really have to do much of the work.. he'd just have to give my idea the blessing and let me take care of everything.. it would be easy.
He's accepted an idea I gave him to help push whole-bean coffee, but I need him to accept my next idea which will be to stock retail items, like grinders, cup-at-a-time brewers, and so on so people have a reason to buy beans from us, and keep coming back. The immediate problem I see is money. We just can't afford to stock this stuff yet.
I have another idea that I may use myself if he doesn't like it, and that is to offer Home Barista training. Someone buys an espresso machine, has no clue how to use it. They could pay us a certain amount, and I would go to their house and actually take an hour or so to train them on their own equipment.
Jason is the type of person who would be afraid of a loss of business from such practice, as it encourages people to just stay home and not buy coffee. In practicality, that's just not how it works. Word-of-mouth advertisement would be absolutely HUGE from this sort of a thing.
I also mentioned something about hosting a customer coffee education seminar. The problem is that he doesn't really know jack about coffee. I'd be doing pretty much everything single-handedly as it is now. I'd have to work cupping into the standard training of the staff (which I think is extremely important.. since understanding the flavors of coffee realy helps to describe different coffees to customers, and honestly really helps the sale of whole beans and drip coffee).
I think we could very VERY easily make it the Go-To place for coffee knowledge in Lubbock. There's not a single shop locally with that sort of a title, so there's definitely room for it. I know of only 1 other CG in Lubbock, and he's never stepped foot in my shop that I know of. I've never met him in person, though I've tried.
I also think that training the rest of the staff to pour art and to properly make espresso (yeah.. it's not so standardized and precise) would seriously increase the consistency of quality, and bring more customers to really take interest in the world of espresso.
Jason sees us as being in direct competition with *$.. which honestly just is not the case. Most people come to our store because we have a better product than Starbucks.. not because we're just as fast and "just another coffee chain". I have no clue how to move him from the Second Wave to the Third Wave mindset. It's far more pro-active, and he's just not so ambitious, but that doesn't mean it would take much more effort from him.
Basically, I would like him to be receptive of the actions required to create an active local Coffee Culture that could esily be centered around our store if done right.
*sigh*.. to be a peon when I really want to be an owner... it's a frustrating thing.
even the cups are fugly. hee hee hee hee!! it's really not that bad of a machine, tho.
Jasonian Said:
Jason (my boss) is being more receptive about my ideas. I've got just a ton of ideas that would make us the Coffee Center of Lubbock. The problem is, he's lazy as all get out.
go easy with that one, man. You're a smart guy, I know this: but using the word LAZY and BOSS in the same sentence will get you canned. My advice to you on that one is to go about your job, smile when spoken to, do the best you can, and make tons of mental notes about what you're not gonna do with YOUR SHOP when you open yours.
Jasonian Said:
I have another idea that I may use myself if he doesn't like it, and that is to offer Home Barista training. Someone buys an espresso machine, has no clue how to use it. They could pay us a certain amount, and I would go to their house and actually take an hour or so to train them on their own equipment.
Um.....just keep in mind that any roaster/equipment supplier with a brain already does this. Some of us do it for free. Those others that charge money for it understand that it's an easy sale, so just keep in mind what you're competing with....
You know me man: I'm a grouch. But don't let me rain on your parade. You're the perfect employee. I just enjoy imagining you as the perfect shop owner. I'm sure someone will chime in about converting your boss from second to third wave.......but my thirdwave ass is going home. It's time for Simpsons and Celebration Ale. later......dank.
Maybe print him out some of the third-wave material from this site or HB. Or have you pulled anything close to a godshot for him? Seems like he needs to be converted before you're able to make use of it.
Re being your own boss, seems to me that doing Home Barista training is something you could do on your own with fairly low overhead. A good grinder and a prosumer machine would do for your personal equipment, and then working with an individual to get the best possible result with the equipment they have. You might start by offering it as an Adult Education or City Rec Department class.
go easy with that one, man. You're a smart guy, I know this: but using the word LAZY and BOSS in the same sentence will get you canned. My advice to you on that one is to go about your job, smile when spoken to, do the best you can, and make tons of mental notes about what you're not gonna do with YOUR SHOP when you open yours.
Yeah, I guess that's the most I can do. I've never called him lazy in any other place, and I don't think it's so much laziness as it is just a lack of motivation. He's been running this shop the same way for years, and as the saying goes.. it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
dankbean Said:
Um.....just keep in mind that any roaster/equipment supplier with a brain already does this. Some of us do it for free. Those others that charge money for it understand that it's an easy sale, so just keep in mind what you're competing with....
Not locally. The local roaster sucks at roasting, and sucks even worse at providing a decent cup of coffee/espresso.. or anything else they offer, honestly. It's just flat out bad. I'd honestly rather go to starbucks.
They've got the local market for espresso equip. and roasted beans, though.. I doubt they'd really see this as a threat at all. I think creating the active culture would do more to combat that than anything else.
dankbean Said:
You know me man: I'm a grouch. But don't let me rain on your parade. You're the perfect employee. I just enjoy imagining you as the perfect shop owner.
That's probably the biggest compliment I've ever gotten relating to coffee. I can't tell you how much that means to me.
dankbean Said:
I'm sure someone will chime in about converting your boss from second to third wave.......but my thirdwave ass is going home. It's time for Simpsons and Celebration Ale. later......dank.
haha.. probably so.. it's more of a rant, honestly, but I felt the need to tell SOMEONE, so why not share it with the people I know will actually understand the jargon and concepts?
I am in a malaise from my post DC trip but this is the best advice I can give you.
Don't put yourself out there for this guy. Do it for yourself. Maybe you should start thinking about where you want to be in a year+. Lubbock may be a nice place to open a shop or maybe you should move out. I can't say on that one. I just feel you should get some perspective and maybe take a trip to see what is out there before you get too tied in to where you are. See one of the Barista competitions(maybe enter one) and find out where you stand in the food chain. Maybe make some contacts with distributors and see some professionals in the biz. I mean, CG and HB are great fun, but there is a lot of noise floating around on here that complicates the reality of the business. If you really dream of opening your own shop, it's a long road. A road I am also pursuing. You gotta put your time in to make sure that when it happens, you are ready. Dragging your boss towards your dream doesn't help anyone because when you leave, he will be screwed and you might be burnt out. One step at a time. You should consider yourself a commodity in this industry and find a place you will be appreciated. That's my $.02
I don't intend to stay in Lubbock, and it's not MY shop, so I don't really feel tied down. Honestly, I'd like to see the Third Wave hit West Texas, and I feel like I could possibly help it along.
I guess I should just slip into the long frustrating process of waiting until I have a shop of my own before I start going nuts like I am.
I also think that training the rest of the staff to pour art and to properly make espresso (yeah.. it's not so standardized and precise) would seriously increase the consistency of quality, and bring more customers to really take interest in the world of espresso.
I think this should be your first step. Who knows how many people come there, get a mediocre shot of espresso and just move on..
You may even have patrons that will get there, see you are not working, and leave..
Got any pics of this place? I'm trying to get a visual..
Oh.. And if there are any CG's within a 25 mile radius of this place, please drive there, seek out Jason's boss and ask him "Uhh.. Do you sell freshly roasted beans?"
Not trying to outright discourage you. I just want you to make sure you get something out of all of this. You shouldn't have to drag this guy along and help his business when you really get nothing in return. Keep polishing yourself and working on your skills and thinking ahead. If you are anything like me though, that probably won't stop you from doing things now anyway.
I'd love to just manage a local shop for the time being. I'm sick of being on level with a bunch of people who have no clue what they're doing half the time, and don't care to change that.
Forget about what you can teach him and focus on what you can learn from him. Learn the business of running/owing a cafe. Use this place like a living lab specifically to learn the business. Get as much access to numbers and decision making criteria as you can and pay close attention to the results (and file them in your database). Absolutely STOP with the suggestions and ideas. If you don't stop now you'll be gone within 6 months. If you keep your head down you could really leverage this job in such a ways as to help you with your own development and aspirations. Play a lower profile -- be a tiger in waiting. Your time will come -- don't mess it up. Good luck.
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