Telling the Story
It is a simple story really. When I got divorced in 2010 my children and I relocated to Cedar City to be near my family for support through a very difficult time. I was counseled to do so by my Stake President and knew that it was the right thing to do. That has proved to be the case.
When we first arrived in Cedar I was continuing to work for the company I worked for in Florida. I put together commercial and residential proposals for geothermal air conditioning systems. I would work from home and my mom would come to the house and watch the kids while I worked. Everyday she would drive by this little brick house on 400 South that was for lease and she decided that she wanted to start an antique business. Well, it was antiques, oddities, gift baskets and fudge. We opened the doors in October of 2010.
That was a fun little house and things started off just fine. It wasn't pulling in much money everyday but people liked it and it grew in popularity. A few months later we found ourselves in January and business was at a stand still. We quickly realized that we needed to do something to bring people into the shop.
Across the street was an old bakery that had been foreclosed on. Somehow the idea of starting a cafe came about and the next thing we knew we had an offer on the table with the bank and ended up with this building that was in really bad shape. In March I began working on the building and spent quite some time just degreasing the kitchen area. It was nasty, no, I mean really nasty. I had demolished an old hood, cleared out an old donut fryer that was still full of oil and a donut or two, moved out other equipment and then started degreasing. The fam started calling me Mr. Degreaser. I went through quite a lot of it. Amy and Dave would be in there on occasion to help with the cleaning and we had some fun times pressure washing the walls and the ceilings and, wow, it was seriously nasty work.
Anyway, there were walls to put up, lights to put in, painting to be done, floors to refinish. It was a major undertaking and after a few months we had the place ready to open. We moved the antique shop over, added consignment to the operation and opened the cafe. Things started off slow at first but it didn't take too long to get the word out and to start getting repeat customers. The food was great, the service great and the price was quite reasonable. Pretty soon the cafe became the main source of business. Our small dining area had to be expanded, then it had to be expanded again and then one more time. The kitchen got small in a hurry but somehow we managed to make it work. We grew in popularity and lines would go out the door for people wanting to eat a Little Brick House sandwich.
Last October we found ourselves in a difficult situation with the power company requiring us to upgrade the electrical system. We had 30 days and then they were going to shut us down. We did not have the resources to do it or the desire to sink more money into a building that had some major problems with the foundation. We knew we had to make a move and happened found a competitor was going out of business and was trying to sell off equipment. We put together a deal to buy that equipment and to take over their space. And so at the end of November we made the move to where we are now. It has certainly been an adventure.
When we look at the challenges of starting something like this, wow, they are there and there are many of them. We started this thing we virtually no capital and that has made it a difficult thing to do financially speaking. For quite some time we have worked for less than minimum wage. When the resources aren't there we don't get paid. We quickly realized that we were in business to pay suppliers and employees. Though we were busy and customers assumed we were rolling in the dough we never really got ahead. Something would break and we would have to repair it. There was and is always something. That just seems to be the way it goes for a small family business.
Is it worth it? Well, absolutely. For me, financially it is challenging and we don't have a lot of extra money in our home. What we do have and what this affords me is a certain amount of freedom to be able to be with my kids. I walk the boys to school every morning. I am able to attend school functions on occasion. I can bring them in to work with me when needed and when you're a single dad trying to juggle life with three kids, that helps. I could not get a job anywhere and have the same flexibility I have right now in critical years for my children. Would it be nice to be paid a little more? Absolutely, and that day will come but there are certain things that outweigh the income.
I have enjoyed working with family. There are moments when Dave and I are able to chat about things and before you know it we are engaged in a conversation with tears in our eyes. Working with Amy and the folks has been a great blessing. I would be lying if I said it was all great all the time. It isn't. We have our moments but I think we all understand that those times happen and we press forward quick to forgive and enjoy the time together.
Then there are the fans, our customers. What a tremendous blessing to have the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people. To become friends with them, to learn about them and to love them, that is a great blessing in our lives. I love the people. I love to see them amazed by the food and the service. I love to see them come back again and again. I walk around the grocery store and see people that I know and always find pleasure in saying hello and sometimes sharing a conversation.
Several years ago I read the book Raving Fans and when we started this thing I wanted to create something where we would gain raving fans of our company. I think we have been successful in that for the most part. I know there are those who don't have a great experience. That stinks, we didn't do our job and so we regroup and try again.
It is a culture thing that needs to exist within the organization and sometimes it is a challenge to get employees to buy in. I think that for the most part we have had good employees. Some better than others. Our hope is that we have employees who take it seriously and treat it like it was their own. I appreciate the employees we do have.
I don't know how good of a story that is, hopefully it didn't put you to sleep. It is late however and I think typing it has put me to sleep.
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