More Than a Job

Every job I have held after college was one that was more than a pay check. I worked in youth groups for the teens, the relationships that I got to build with them and the impact you saw take place over the years. I joined the United States Marine Corps because of the honor, the sacrifice, and the commitment I saw over their long history. As Mark and I start this business my mind is in the same state. We are not trying to start another coffee shop or pub but we are "beginning with the end in mind" and want to be agents of change in our community. We are giving money back for sure but we want our real impact to be our relationships with our employees and guests. Hearthstone is being built on the foundation of relationship, hope, and love. Maybe some of you out there will be loyal guests and bring others into that relationship with us, other of you may feel like you want your job to be more than a paycheck: you want to be part of impact and change. If that's you, message me and let's talk more about your potential involvement with Hearthstone Coffeehouse & Pub. Cheers.

BIG Step Forward

We actually just got the keys to our new place! The address is 8235 E. 116th St. Fishers, IN. Mark is out of town so I called him and asked if he could guess where I was standing. Tomorrow is going to be eventful was we meet in the morning with our contractor and the talk to coffeeshop designer, Tom Palm. Obviously, there is still tons to do but you have to celebrate the little stuff. I also walked next door to the Chateau Thomas Winery and introduced myself to one of the managers, Ivan. They seemed like really nice people, genuinely happy to have someone coming in and even offered to try and partner with us in the pub side of our venture. Hearthstone is moving forward!

Covering All Your Bases... some of which you didn't even know existed

Short blog here with lots of a back story... when starting a business take your layout and plans to every government agency you can think of and then ask them who else you should talk to. Take about 20 copies of your plans and a fat checkbook. And start ALL of this about two months before you think you need to. At some point we are going to load up on this blog links to all pertinent forms we have found... if it does one person good then I will be happy.

October is Tomorrow

So Tuesday we finally got our alcohol license application turned into the state. Seriously, for a minute that was about half of my job description. Now we just have to wait for our meeting date to be announced and then go field some questions.

On a more fun note: I met with designers today to try and get some bids for working with our general contractor. One group I was really impressed by, seemed interested in working with my vision... the other one seemed barely prepared to meet. As much as when I worked in the church world I rely on my sense of people: will they do the job? will they do what they say and when they say it? are they on time? etc.

While October is months away, with all of the build-out, design, equipment orders, supplier decisions, and permits to get okayed this is a HUGE process. My day is broken up into 30-45 minute meetings punctuated by 2-5 phone calls in between.

Tomorrow I am going to do some field research in Carmel, Fishers, and Greenfield. It should be an informative day and (potentially) end the week on a lighter note.

Setting the Stage

My name is Devin Rose and I am the general manager of Hearthstone Coffeehouse  opening in Fishers, Indiana this October. We are trying to blog our experiences so that people can see what we do wrong... and, hopefully, right. By "we" of course I am referring to our president, Mark Goff. 

Starting a coffeehouse and pub is the business equivalent to having a child or getting married; you're hoping it works, that it is successful, that it can hold it's own but the road ahead is fraught with peril at every turn. What we are envisioning is a European-esque coffeehouse and pub where people can come and sit while enjoying unique fare, artisan speciality coffee, micro brew beer, and great fare. As our name implies, there will be a fireplace with comfortable seating. As we go along, hopefully, we will be able to share more of what will really look like. 

Not only do Mark and I have the usual worries of leases, building permits, sign permits, contractor issues, decorators, etc. but we have the added issue of alcohol. A liquor license literal has doubled the amount of paperwork and headaches we have as we fill out form after form and swear over and over again that we are not ex-cons, drug-addicts, and really do want to run a respectable establishment. 

This is my third week on the payroll and we just signed the lease. Which will allow us to apply for the alcohol permit amongst other things. If you are starting a business on your own and do the pre-launch stuff in addition to another job it will probably taken 4-6 weeks to get to signing a lease and then you need to allow for another 30-90 build-out on said property... which is just as well since your alcohol license takes 90-120 days to obtain. Basically, it's all "hurry-up-and-wait". 

All of the legal and lease stuff has to take priority to everything else for the time being. Forgetting to file for a permit slows down everything else you want to do. So in between applications we meet with suppliers, talk to vendors, compare prices, and set-up subsequent meetings. Right now food is the big deal there. Our coffeeshop and pub is one of experience: we want the furniture to compliment the colors, the colors the music, the music the smell, the smell the food, the food the beverages, etc. This means there are no small details if everything is to flow into everything.

My most promising food vendor at this point has set up a secondary meeting with us in their kitchen where we can sample the potential menu items they have concocted for us. She was really cool in first meeting and asked what we wanted our place to feel like, emphasized customer service, and then stated she would be right there alongside us those first weeks until we found our balance. It's not a lock yet but I liked what I heard. 

To summarize our position: we a spread thin but the water is shallow.