Two Months in - yipee we haven't lost our marbles

Ok, so everyone told me running a cafe would be hard.  That the margins are tight (to sometimes non-existent) and that staff would be your main worry (other than paying the bills and mortgage of course).... um yep on all our accounts.  However the buzz of being back in hospitality confirms that I personally have done the right thing - I just now have to make sure that it works commercially. 

Pete and I are so overwhelmed with all the wonderful feedback we are receiving from our incredible customers.  We turn every constructive comment into a point to make change and we honestly couldn't be happier with how Mister C is going.  What we need to do now is make sure we give our customers what they want - however, sometimes they don't know what they want.  So for example we have created a make your own muesli bar to give people a healthy breaky on the go - will it work or not.  Who knows until tomorrow, but you just have to keep trying until you hit the right spot.  We have brought on a pastry chef - Mel, and she is incredible - the sweets coming out of our kitchen are ridiculous.  Where do we go from here? How do we increase trade in our quiet times, afford to get more seats in our licensed areas and how do we service more people faster.  It is non stop... I no dream of taking endless differing coffee orders, I had a massage today and I couldn't stop thinking about baristas and then there is the all important challenge to create a great culture.  Peter and I love our staff and they are a great team, they are good people, they care about what we do, our food and Mister C.  For that we are eternally grateful...

Biggest buzz was meeting Mr Close, our year 8 teacher and his wife Diana.  Remarkably he hasn't changed a bit, he looked exactly the same (and the same as the logo) except he is naturally grey.  He was very pleased at what we had created and although it isn't a shrine to him, we have certainly used a memory and person from our past to name our business - so it was pretty cool. 

This is a pretty straight blog account, because that is how I am feeling right now.  Did I do the right thing to give up a wonderful, job and stable lifestyle?  that I have risked much of what we own?  That I have completely changed track at the age of 41 and I don't know what the future will behold?  Abso-fucking-loutley.... this is the most incredible thing I have ever done and although very hard right now (due to being out of work for much longer than expected and the build being about 30% extra) it is the most satisfying feeling in the world to hear customers happy with what we have done.  Hospitality is very very hard but pleasing people makes up for it.  Thank you Mister Close, I think I am in love.

Where did our first month go?

Ok, so they say time goes faster as you get older; but that is truly ridiculous.  Mister Close has been open a month - WOW, what a ride.  Driven by adrenaline and perhaps quite a bit of our yum coffee Pete and I have been putting in massive days, 6 day weeks and working a little on the 7th day.  We have just had to.  I don't think we have been naive going into this as we fully expected that we needed to pull to work this hard.  However when your friends and family tell you constantly you look tired you know it is catching up with you.  We have put everything we possibly can into Mister Close and thankfully our customers are really enjoying what we have to offer. 

You live by the sword and you die by the sword!  We have invested a great deal of time to be openly communicative through this blog, facebook, twitter and of course appearing on reviewer sites.  What we are trying to get our head around is the instant slamming or praise you get from social media.  We are desperate to make MC work and we ask for feedback constantly.  What hurts is when people slam you and seem to do it personally.  Anyone who has owned their own business will know how hard it is to get it off the ground and it isn't new news that over a third of businesses fail in the first year.  The difference in 2011 is that when you come home from a 12 hour day, pick up your kids from day care, get back on the tram and then log into a reviewer site to read some pretty harsh comments it would have to be the most horrible feeling in the world.  Personally we hate seeing any business fail, so why would others enjoy slamming small businesses.  No constructive comments or guidance, just personal opinion and attacks on what you build.  We take every comment seriously and meet every time we hear a negative thing said about our food, service or experience.  It is that important that we ensure consistency in everything we do.  We do have to toughen up and perhaps a little bit more sleep and time will build up our resilience to cope with harsh nonconstructive opinion. 

At the same time social media has been really helpful.  We can quickly respond to people's comments, we can communicate instantly with our market and we can stay on track with what they are liking and not liking. 

So July is almost here, new financial year and we are opening Sundays - 7 days a week.   A big step but we have an awesome team in place to handle it.  A month in we have learnt heaps.  We are just so appreciative that our customers like what we are doing and the best s yet to come.  Pete and I just need balance now. 

We contacted our school and Mr Close has contacted us - we look forward to feeding him very soon.

Thanks to all for welcoming us so well - we are humbled, proud and a little tired, - but we really love what we are doing. 

Getting it Right!

So here we are...  day 10!  What a ride and when it all opened the main overriding emotion Pete and I felt (apart from exhaustion) was pride.  um, yep I know exhaustion isn't an emotion  - but it is was the main thing that consumed us last week.  We are blessed with fantastic staff and we are loving our customers.  We love our space and are still working on heating ( we are making head way), gas (who knows what is happening there) and a few small things.  We are sticking to our guns and are going to produce good food from good produce.  No we won't serve 1 litre coffees, doughnuts, fried food, made to order sandwiches or sushi - we leave that to those who do it best.  What we want to keep doing is surprising our customers with food, service, coffee and an environment that makes them feel good. We believe we can do that, we believe that is what people deserve and want.  Why shouldn't every meal be a great meal?

The biggest thing for us now is to listen to our customers, hear their suggestions and try our best to exceed their expectations.  Personally I am loving being back in hospitality.  Sure I miss the stability of working for a company, regular hours and income - but the adrenaline of running your own cafe is all consuming.  To have taken this plunge is such an awesome feeling.  Peter is a true inspiration and I am so very proud of him for taking this plunge with me.  He is a damn good operator and I am in awe of my mate of 28 years. Now it is time for us to "get it right"... to build a reputation, set our standard and keep ensuring we meet or exceed it.  We really believe we can do that - we just now need all our customers to help us achieve it by being honest and letting us please them. 

Mister Close - he feels good, he looks great, he is tasting super and we just love him.  And yes, we contacted our old school today to let him know.

Thank you to all our customers, friends and dear family - we made it.  It is now time for us to get it right. 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

We are finally here! YAY!

So we opened our doors last Wednesday.  We didn't have full electricity til Thursday and we hopefully get gas tomorrow, but Mister Close looks hot.  He has come up so well and yep, we are pretty proud of what we have accomplished.  Completely and utterly exhausted, but man is it worth it.  We are pretty proud of what we have accomplished and I am especially proud of Peter who has been able to offer a full menu every day with limited power and Gas. 

Just like any new day at school you wonder what all the other kids will think of you, but we think they like us.  Kind of weird when you open up in the mouth of a food court which offers fairly cheap food alternatives and in an area of town where franchise and Asian food is the main offering - but we are determined to make our stamp.  We want to make sure we offer good food, an every changing menu and warm friendly service.  This combination is so important to us.  Peter puts so much love into his food and Carlos assists him with such finesse and I think the same level of passion.  Sure, we are priced differently from the $6 sandwich down the arcade or the Korean BBQ - but it is important for us to cook and serve up what we believe in - good wholesome home made food. We make everything front mini carrot cakes, mayonnaise, chutney, soups and it goes on and on.. I think sometimes people can underestimate that. 

It is pretty overwhelming and I must admit I was almost in tears a few times last Wed and Thursday - but only because we are so proud of what we have been through and accomplished.  We have had a fantastic first 5 days and even 2 catering jobs Than.  We are loving our customers and are starting to know their names (never been good with names so this is the test).  However for a guy who has returned to hospitality after 20 years I have just realised why - I really love pleasing people.  Thank you to everyone who has given us such wonderful feedback.  It was a huge risk, but I think we are going to like it hear.  Thank you new neighbours - you rock!

Perhaps May 23 or May 24 or perhaps May 25

For years I have heard other people talk about building homes or opening businesses and there have always been delays.  I think Mister Close has had his fair share of delays.  We proudly take possession of him tomorrow (May 19).  The plan was to work our sweet little batooties (is that a word?) off and softly launch on May 21.  It all comes down to the power - oh don't worry we have power, enough to run a few computers, a photo copier, some lights and a ghetto blaster.  Big problem is that WE ARE NOT A TRAVEL AGENCY.  We happen to be a cafe who signed a lease back on 2010 stating our electricity needs.  Now almost 6 months later it was discovered we don't have the 120 amps agreed upon, we are still running on the needs of an AAT Kings office. 

Problem rectified by our magnificent (new) property managers, however it is like buying a brand new Cliff Richard Album and and not being able to play it or a hypercolour tshirt and your breath isn't hot enough for it to change colour miraculously (not that it has ever happened to me).  So come tomorrow we will be washing dishes without any other appliances on, we will then be able to turn on the cool room and stand in it for effect which should be fun - then turn it off so we can wash some more dishes.  All we need now is for Origin to place the job and city power to make it a priority so they can come and wack a meter on our power.  Then we can use everything at once and open for business.  The only thing is - we dont know when that would be.  I was told 2 days, 5 days or up to 15 days however the guy who told me that latter exclaimed that he is being recorded and has to tell me that it is a possibility. 

When you have food that could spoil and a kitchen that can't work at full capacity it makes it hard, but then add on top of that people who are waiting in the wings to give you them all and help us make Mister Close ace - you just have to make the call.  So we did.  While we are still hopeful and could possibly open our doors to all day coffee and muffins - the reality is that we most likely won't.  So CLOSE but yet so far. 

Once again an out pouring of love goes to all our incredible family and friends for being so very supportive.  Our partners Fi and Ian have been so patient and understanding.  thank you thank you thank you...we are almost there. 

I am so playing wired for sound by Cliff Richard when we first open.  He was a genius!

Here we go, hold on tight...

This is the last week... in fact we have 3 days til handover and we can barely contain ourselves.  Mister Close is looking rather special, but of course it must be human nature to continually doubt yourself.  Did we do the right thing?  Have we extended ourselves too much?  Have we got the formula right?  Will all the other kids like us when we arrive?  Faith is an incredible thing, but I think sometimes we are so busy building up faith in other people rather than ourselves.  The faith, respect and trust Pete and I have in each other has been built up over many years.  He once had faith that I could sing and I once had the faith that he could be on time.  Well - he has now learnt to be on time, but alas I am only good at singing when I have dance to distract people's attention. 

We have taken many risks with Mister Close.  The biggest one is having the faith that this level of cafe is needed in this part of town.  Russell & George have done a spectacular job in designing our space, but it really looks quite alone in its location because everything around us has neon lights and another 200 or 3000 stores that are just like it around the world.  Mister Close is one of a kind. 

This week - May 19 is when we have hand over of Mister Close.  Almost 8 weeks ago it was an empty shell and almost 18 months ago Pete and I started talking about the possibility of doing this.  There have been many set backs and there has been a bit of stress, but we are almost there.  Good things happen to good people - and without blowing my own trumpet I know we are good people.  We are opening Mister Close for the right reasons and it is feels pretty good.   We genuinely believe there is a lack of quality food , spectacular service and good coffee along Swanston street and certainly within a 100 metre radius of where we will be.  Personally I am pretty proud of what we have achieved so far,.  Pete's menu is fantastic, we have hired some incredible people to join the team, the music is downloaded and I have developed some great routines.  Here is a sample of our sandwiches just to get you drooling.

• Stuffed roast chicken with rocket & home made mayo
• Grilled pumpkin, salsa agresto, buffalo mozerella & oven dried tomato
• Shaved ham & dill potato salad
• Haloumi, roasted capsicum, eggplant, rocket & dukkah
• Tuna with capers and home made mayo
• Salami, piccobello cheese, roast capsicum, dill cucumber & olives
• Roasted honey carrots & garlic with bacon, avocado & cos lettuce
• Poached chicken, brie, spinach & avocado

We still plan to open May 21 to fam and friends (in fact everyone is welcome) to help us work out our systems and then May 23 - Mister Close finally gets to say HELLO WORLD!

Almost there...

All good things come to those who wait, so does that mean the longer you wait the better it will be.  Perhaps not if you were building a massive Ferris Wheel or Very Fast Train from Sydney to Melbourne.

So we are now less than three weeks away from introducing Mister Close to the world <<insert thunderous applause>>  Apart from the weird sensation of going back to work (I don't think Pete and I have ever had this much time off - well except when I went travelling, oh to be young again) we just can't wait.  So now we are pulling together our team (Calling all front of house peeps - lovers of customers and all around fabulous human beings - we need you).  It is now getting into surreal world because of all the delays, we have naturally lost our momentum and we realise now we have a thousand things to do.  As we sit here on May 2, all the tiling is done and the flooring is don.  We move into the next stage over the next few days of fitting this bad boy out with all the equipment that Pete needs to make his magic happen. 

Every time Pete and I travel into the city and look at what used to be the old Foy's Department store, it

excites us to know end.  So with less than three weeks it is time to get everything in order.  Pete has the knowledge of what is ahead of us while I am allowing ignorance to excite me of finally opening my dream.  I love Pete's food and I love working with people and customer service, so what is there to be afraid of?  I will let you know in about 6 weeks.  It is just nice to know that this roller coaster ride of emotions is coming to a close - we know we get to step on a new roller coaster, but at least we will be driving it this time.

So the best news is:

• We have Campos coffee on board.  They are a kick arse specialty coffee roaster and every time I drink that coffee it makes me smile.
• Mr Starbucks across the arcade has decided to move out.  So we will be getting new neighbours and we just hope they are really nice and don't burn off every Saturday afternoon while we have the washing on the line.
• We have already secured a fantastic Barista (in fact 2 I think), an awesome FOH leader and the kitchen staff are all in place.
•  Aprons are ordered - so important. 
•  The first two weeks of menus are done (just have to figure out how to use our POS)
•  We have had incredible architects in Russell and George who have been so professional, creative and patient dealing with all the delays.
•  Creative Order and David Marinelli have rocked our world with their assistance in developing Mister Close, his brand and image to the world.

So Peter and I (and our families) are a bit white knuckled - but we know this is going to be amazing and that Mister Close will be everyone's new best mate - well, that is what we are aiming for anyway because what's there not to love?

Tick Tock Tick Tock