This or That...

Kathy and I don’t want to come off as complainers and hope we haven’t. We share the pressures of owning and operating a small business in a small community so that there is understanding of the reality and the need for patronage. As we have said in previous blogs, we believe there is enough business for all of us, even the franchise businesses. You will never see or hear us bashing another business, franchise or not. Yes, we get discouraged when things aren’t going as they should. We are human, not robots, lol. Business ownership is a challenge, and we want to support everyone. All we look for is a fair share of the business opportunity. Spread the wealth as they say. I’m sure all the other locally owned businesses feel the same way. Spending at locally owned small businesses keeps the money local rather than being sent off to a glass tower in big city America. If you haven’t been to visit us yet, we invite you!

Kathy and I work hard to serve our community through the café with events and fundraisers that our fans have suggested and we believe will benefit the greater good. We will continue doing things like fund raiser dinners, food and fund drives, sports livestreams, bonfires, book signings, community days, holiday dinners, makers markets, and etc. We are appreciative of all our followers that support us in these endeavors as much as they can. We must discern the events that make the most sense for our business. Holding an event that costs significantly more than the revenue it brings in isn’t smart business, rather it’s a going out of business plan. We want to be in business for you! These events are hard work for us. They take a ton of planning, advertising, purchasing, and labor for execution. They are meant to be fun for the participants and beneficial to the community. During the planning we get good positive feedback of planned events and fundraisers on our social media with likes and comments. Then when the event is taking place, we often don’t get the turnout we need or anticipated. After the event when posting our follow-ups, we continue to get positive feedback like “oh that event looked like so much fun, I wish I would have been there or I wish I would have known about it”. How can we get more participation in these events to make them worthwhile? Are we not hitting the mark on what’s desired by the community? Do we keep doing them with the hopes that they will grow? Or is no one really interested? We would love to get your input so we know what to plan and how to get the word out going forward. Please share your input in the comments, DM us, or stop in for a cup of coffee and chat.

Another suggestion we are considering is to stay open a couple nights a week into the dinner hours to give folks another option for dinner while tailoring our menu with more dinner-like options. We believe people are looking for another dinner option in town, but we are hesitant to make this investment in time and resources. Some of our events have been special dinners and like the other events it has been a struggle to get the participation needed. Is this something our followers would support? Could we offer what you all are looking for in dinner options? Again, please share your input in the comments, DM us, or stop in for a cup of coffee and chat. What will it be… this or that?

Thank you all for continuing to make The Buzz YOUR café!