As the new year approaches my thoughts rest on the huge new project of building a roastery & cafe that lies ahead. We have a fantastic space and location to work in, and some great people on board. The potential for this to finally become a steady, sustainable income for me & my family is motivating. The possibilities to make this so much more than just a great coffee shop are exciting.
For example, the possibility of making the roastery open and available to other aspiring roasters. A coffee roasting incubator. Kind of like these:
Watsonville already has a kitchen incubator which is sprouting all kinds of new wonderful food talent. Why not coffee too?
Another exciting possibility: Weekly food pop-ups. Partner with a revolving cadre of amazing chefs to bring an exciting new option to the lunch crowd of the business park we are located in.
The cafe will be a sanctuary in a sea of workplaces, and place where someone can get away for a few minutes and relax in the simple enjoyment of a well crafted beverage.
Each day I also worry, there are many potential things that could go wrong. Lacking enough funds to make this dream a reality is my biggest fear. I am driven enough, stubborn enough, hard working enough, and skilled enough to make this happen. But if we don’t get funded it will all come crashing down like a house of cards.
Reality Check #1: Our first rental payment of $3500 is due in 3 days. This first rent will have to come from personal savings, a huge hit that we won’t be able to repeat next month because the funds just won’t be there. January is historically the slowest month for this business, and a rainy month will absolutely decimate sales. Over half our revenue is from farmer’s market sales. If something else does not pan out by February 1st, Hidden Fortress Coffee Roasting will be DOA.
Several months ago I started a couple of crowdfunding campaigns and started working overtime to finish our business plan. I have submitted the plan to a local bank, and the first meeting was encouraging. I had coaching before this meeting with a retired businessperson (founder of Pizza My Heart!). He looked over the business plan and discussed the fine details. Everything looked really good, he said. Fingers crossed!
The crowdfunding route has been a little discouraging. The Kiva Zip loan is close to it’s deadline, and is 65% funded. But is has been going incredibly slow, and I am really worried that we will not make the $5,000 goal. Which means that the $2325 already raised will be returned to investors. We really need that money. On top of the $50k business loan, if we get it, we are counting on another $10k, from somewhere. If we could just get our 2 crowdfunding campaigns to actually work, we’d be there.
If you are reading this, maybe you can pitch in! It is not as if I am asking for something for nothing! You get a return on your investment.
The Kiva Zip program is a LOAN. You get paid back. In fact, right now your loan amount is doubled. If you loan $50, we get $100, and you get your $50 back. https://zip.kiva.org/loans/17125
Pledging on Barnraiser gets you the perk of your choice. And it is the only way to get tickets to the launch party…unless you have been a big contributor in other ways already.
There are a few other ways you can help this succeed on the blog: https://www.hiddenfortresscoffee.com/…
This is a huge project, and I will be a driving force in making it happen, but I cannot do it alone. If you can help, you will be a part of a pretty cool thing. And
there will always be great coffee!
Cheers,
Amelia