Posts Tagged ‘VIVO Cafe’
I recently had a conversation with my SBA - Spiritual Business Advisor, Mr Iggy Pintado- www.iggypintado.com.au. Iggy doesn’t know that I call him that yet. We talked about where I have been and where I am going. He asked me what I hoped would be my legacy. Legacy? I’m a small business owner, I focus on building successful profitable businesses, and I focus on making money and moving forward. I don’t focus on what I might leave behind. His question is what elevated him to SBA status because it triggered the stories of where I came from in business and the legacy - there’s that word, which was given to me. And to think that I hadn’t really ever thought of it that way previously because for so long it’s always been about what’s ahead. I have rarely spoken about my parents in business, at least not officially. I include some anecdotes, a couple of funny stories here and there and even make fun of them occasionally as children do. Even old children like me. Iggy made me stop and realise the significance of sharing my stories, their legacy in fact, and maybe I would discover mine. I guess I never understood the relevance of documenting my years growing up with small business parents, the original small business pioneers. So here goes just a small snippet. One blog cannot fully tell the story, not sure even hundred can.
How often do you get to interview a former Prime Minister let alone Australia’s second longest serving one? I’m assuming not often.
I had started reading John Howard’s Book Lazarus Rising, and wondered what it would take to have a book signing event here at VIVO Cafe. So “my people asked his people” and my night with a PM began to take shape. Then came the offer: would I like to interview him? Well, yes. I think. I suppose I could. Probably. I said yes before I thought about it too much. How hard could it be to ask intelligent questions, keep an audience interested, keep him interested, look and sound as if it was actually an everyday occurrence and NOT make it political. Okay Angela, stay calm, you’ll be fine.
On Tuesday 3rd August, we set a World Record - a foursquare event. What’s foursquare? Go to www.foursquare.com and see. This blog is about the motivation, inspiration and dedication that made it happen, in spite of our hurdles.
How do I do it? Did I just wake up one day and say “let’s set a world record?” Sort of. I said it then I did it. From inception to execution it took 14 days. And fear only ever set in on Tuesday 3rd of August at about 12.30am. Along with the cyclone winds, electrical blackouts, cancelled trains & buses.
This was an experiment, an idea to see if social media could actually create real business for small business. Money business. Countable (new word) money business.
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5.00am: It’s a typical day at VIVO Cafe.
Of course I say that in the car while driving to work. I listen to AM radio in the hope that I will know a tiny bit of what’s going on in the world around me. Sometimes my work bubble extends so much over my life bubble that it can, does and will totally take over. Especially on a day like today, that is about to send me over the edge. So far all is as it should be, but not for long!
5.01am: First phone call, two staff have already missed the train, they will be one hour late. As it’s against the law to SPEED and I can’t magically appear at work, I now have the ‘drive of stress’ to contend with. The one where you develop road rage against everything because the world doesn’t get that you need to go to work faster. Right now. We have over 100 booked for breakfast starting at 7.00am and we need to unpack furniture and basically get ready for the entire day. Breathe. Even after 25 years as a business owner, or maybe especially because of these 25 years, I still get worried when calls start early. It’s never good. It always gets worse. This isn’t pessimism, or a self fulfilling prophecy or me being negative. This is life in a small business and in the cafe world when you start to run late early on, you very rarely get ahead.
“Hot shoes, great feet, awesome legs, bodacious body. Feet are like business, if you work on them from the ground up you are bound to get it right.” Angela Vithoulkas
I have said this in humour many times, tongue in cheek, but at the heart its serious. To me it says that without the proper foundation from the very very bottom, the whole thing can come crashing down around you. It also says that no matter how great the top is, its nothing without a great base. In hospitality we look at it from the perspective of how important is a kitchen hand compared to a head chef? Both are equally valued as one cannot perform without the other. Some would think that a lowly kitchen hand could not be more important than a chef. From an owner’s perspective I say ‘wake up and smell the VIVO Coffee’ because my business would come to a grinding halt without my kitchen hands. They will pitch in and do any job that is asked of them, rarely complain and are vigilant in their duties. Please don’t misunderstand me here, I am not suggesting for a minute that I don’t need my chefs. I am saying that I need both. That my business needs both. That any and all businesses needs both levels of the team and all the ones in-between. Altogether we make a difference. What’s a cheese sandwich without the cheese? (please disregard this example if you are gluten intolerant, lactose sensitive or a vegan).
When you are the “boss” its not just about the buck stopping with you (everything is your responsibility), its about those moments that are your fault and how you deal with them. When your team or staff have issues or cause a problem that becomes either a cost factor or worse, loss of a customer. As a boss we are quick to judge and assess these situations and know what should be done to rectify it. We just know. Supposedly. But when we are the cause, who knows what should be done? Who dares to correct us or advise us or make us feel better? No one except our own conscience and pride. We are either torn up with guilt or consumed with denial.