With the Business thread you will learn that the first Business Plan for my coffeehouse was drawn up in 2005. More a sketch than a full picture, but conceptually that first draft is still reflected in, and influences the work I do now. Under the working name Jagged Peaks it was a design that focused on service. Truly, the intimacy of the interaction between customer and business was at the heart of the concept. This is still very much central to the ideas and themes around which I continue to build this business model.
I am now just over a year in dedicated development of this business. I find I am giddy with the everyday learning I do. With each seminar and session I attend I move this dream forward another yard. It is remarkable how many resources are out there once you start pealing back the onion. The tax-funded offerings by the city, the willingness of other entrepreneurs to share, the online and library services, and for me the many veteran options available; all incredible.
I read somewhere that sometimes the research can become a trap. The research can start to satisfy that urgency you feel when you want to work towards the goal. The only way to remedy this is to, as Stephen Pressfield says, “Do the Work!”
That is, to Act. Act now.
This blog is part of that acting now. It is a tangible output, a future launch platform, an interest-generating vessel and landing page to direct future business associates – be that the lawyers, accountants, banks, insurance, or others that I will need to make this business a reality. But more than that it is a place to share stories and start to develop that relationship with the customer.
The dream is now a business. It is registered. It exists. There have been no revenues as yet, but there have been expenses. I will pay taxes as a business this year and with this page launched I can continue onto those next steps like location searches, financing, and of course, finishing that Business Plan that was begun in 2005.
Here we go!