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.