10 Good Reasons To #SupermarketSwap Now!

Nigel: Serious about #SupermarketSwap

I am right in the middle of reading a very informative book about Supermarkets and the amount of power they have over the food industry and how the more we spend in them, the more power they have and the less choice we have.

The book is called Shopped. The Shocking Power of British Supermarkets and is written by Joanna Blythman, a leading investigative food journalist. The book was written in 2004 and things have disintegrated a lot further since then! Take for example two pieces of news this week,

The first being that Sainsbury's have announced in a meeting with Fairtrade Farmers, that they are going to create their very own brand of Fairtrade, their own Fairtrade label and they will put in force their own regulations and monitor themselves. The Fairtrade Farmers are extremely concerned that there will be no Fairtrade premium and that there will be no minimum guarantee and that the public will be confused about what Fairtrade is really about. Supermarkets take the Fairtrade Logo and use it on some of their products and yet happily screw their British suppliers into the ground by negotiating lower prices retrospectively and other massive companies like Nestle, will put a Fairtrade logo on some of their products and yet insist that access to clean water is not a human right and tempt African Mums to bottle feed instead of breast feed!  So, from taking small steps to support the ethos of Fairtrade, the supermarkets are now beginning to do what they usually do, take someone else's great idea, let that someone else pay for all the development that goes into it and then just do it themselves, where the only way they measure their success is profit and the bottom-line, rather than any ethical aim, or the long-term viability of a community, or of the world.

The second piece of news is that Tesco would like to buy out Booker Wholesale. Booker Wholesale actually supply independent shops across the UK! It doesn't take a genius to work out that this is going to make it virtually impossible for any independent using Booker Wholesale to be able to fairly compete with Tesco. Tesco has this week asked the Monopolies Commission if they could possibly speed up the investigation into whether they can go ahead with the transaction or not. Some board members have resigned over this idea and not one shareholder has been heard to show any enthusiasm over the idea, from reports online.

10 Good Reasons To #SupermarketSwap Now!

1/ You'll spend money on local traders who will pay tax, if they earn enough and then in turn will spend their money on other local businesses in the community, thus contributing far more to the local economy per pound than any supermarket.

2/ You'll enjoy a more personal service, where the number one aim is not necessarily to make a profit but to create a long term relationship that is a win/win situation for everyone, the supplier, the business and the consumer.

3/ No long queues. Mainly because everyone is standing in the supermarket queue and not in the independent shop's queue!

4/ You'll buy little and often, which is much better as there is less food waste and buying in an independent means you are less likely to over buy and over spend on stuff that you didn't want anyway. Read more about the waste generated by supermarkets, in an article by Joanna Blythmann, the Journalist who has written the book I am reading at the moment!

5/ It's good to support a local family that you know personally and you know they are getting your money, rather than a few directors at the top of a chain, that already have lots of money.

6/ You can ask an independent trader to get an item in that you specifically require and they will do their utmost to get it in, or point you in the right direction to another independent business.

7/ Each independent shop has it's own unique atmosphere that lends a unique character to our high streets across the UK. A local shop has its own individual brand of personality that stems out from the proprietors running them. A supermarket is a clinical practical place, there is no joy in Supermarket shopping,for most people. Going into an independent shop is a whole experience in itself, you connect with the shopkeeper at least and even with the other customers. Which leads onto my next point...

8/ Community! A good high street filled with independent shops, like the one we have in Shepton Mallet is an easy way for individuals to access the community, without actually knowing anyone in the first place.

9/ To promote choice. If the supermarkets have a monopoly, they can then charge as high as they like prices to the consumer and pay as low as they like prices to their suppliers. Every time you make a concerted effort to divert your spending into a local business, you are helping to shape the high street.

10/ Supermarkets want you to see them as the answer to your shortage of time and sell you pre-made meals at a premium but it really only takes a few minutes to create a dish from scratch with fresh ingredients bought from your local market, or shop. If you buy smaller amounts less often but better quality and containing better nutrition, those cheap rows of custard creams and fizzy pop look less and less attractive, especially when we take into account the unaccounted for costs to our environment, our health and our communities.

In Shepton Mallet high street, we have the Friday Market every Friday and independent shops up and down the high street, as well as some great charity shops too. Now is the time, more than ever to make one small change to your shopping habits. I am not saying that you should completely drop your supermarket shop, I am just saying try to challenge yourself and make a small change. When you are in a supermarket or chain, put just one thing down and come and get it on the high street instead.

When you find yourself in my shop, ask yourself what you can get from us that you would normally get from the supermarket and get it from us instead.

If you don't find what you want, order it in, talk to us about it! If you don't have the time to come in, tell us what you want and we will bring it round to you.

We can all decide that it's not worth taking up the challenge, we can all decide to keep shopping in the supermarkets and we can let our high streets slip away but we have to do something to challenge the way things are, the cost of your food is not just the price you see on the label, it's the price you pay with your health, your children's health, the well-being of our community and of our world!

You have the power of the pound in your pocket, please use it wisely.

Copy Cat Businesses and how to Cope!

Picture by Anne-Marie Sanderson

I am feeling so annoyed having read one of my friend's posts on Facebook where she tells us that whole chunks of her website copy and ideas have been stolen and placed on someone else's website and business literature.

It's made me think about all the times that Gunter and I have suffered from this same copycat syndrome. It doesn't stop there, they will go after your client base too. We even had a business that tried to steal our name and our logo, let alone the ideas!

The gratifying factor is that they copy the things they see but they will never know the true secret to your success that they try to emulate, that's not to say that copying doesn't undermine your business and take the bread out of your mouths but it does mean their days are numbered, their longevity is questionable and their ethical sensibilities are none, even if they insist their business is ethical.

When someone copies you, the usual response from well-meaning friends is that you can choose to see it as flattering, however if someone steals your car, no one says that is flattering. I prefer to look at it this way, the threat to your business is a challenge for you, a challenge for you to focus on the positive and not the negative. Choose to concentrate on your business and all the good things you do and choose to ignore the other business, do not support it, or help to promote it. The one thing that I have noticed is that people that copy are intrinsically negative thinkers and struggle to realise their own brilliance, when they realise their own brilliance, they won't have to rely on yours and in that lies their weakness, if they take on you and try to compete against you, with your own ideas, not their ideas, then how will they ever win that battle? They can't! Their days are numbered because once you cut them from your circle and you are not so generous with your time and your ideas, they will have to stop copying you.

It is a long, slow and painful lesson for them to learn but copying just does NOT WORK. It is a simple equation a business that copies = FAILURE. That business will not last long because copying someone else means that faced with their own challenges in business, they will not have the resources, the though processes, or the experience of how to deal with challenges, they only know how to copy.

So, to anyone, especially my friend, who feels copied in business and stolen from, please take comfort in this, as long as you focus on your business and your positives, you will succeed no matter what, unfortunately I cannot say the same for business owners that copy. They say jealousy is the sincerest form of flattery, that's what they say about copying too......but copying only cheats everyone involved, the business owners and the public.

The one that copies will almost always be a friend, a friend who asks your advice and then takes your secrets for themselves, they'll treat you kindly and then take from you, rather like a conman....'He always seemed so nice', people say after their life savings have been taken, think about it, he wouldn't have been able to take your life savings if he seemed nasty, would he! Yes, it will feel painful cutting them out at first because you're a human with a conscience.

Having been in this situation many times over the past 7 years in Enfield and in Shepton Mallet. I know the way forward for you is to know your positives and concentrate on them.

It is hard to focus on the positive but keep going and blank that business out from your radar. Focus on your goals and your aims and what you are doing.

Could Online Shopping Help to Regenerate Our High Streets?

Karen Mercer, My Coffee Stop. Photo by Anne-Marie Sanderson.

Save time by not reading this article and just buy something straight away from my website, to see if my theory is correct!  

BUY SOMETHING NOW!

Ok, if you must, here is the article, enjoy! 

Where does my money go to, who do I buy from?

I specifically ensure that my money is mostly spent on independent local businesses! So, when you buy from us, no matter whether it's from our shop in Shepton Mallet, or online, you know that we filter that money back into the local, independent and small business, circular economy. Buy from us and we make a concerted and conscientious effort to spend it in our local high street. We go to Peppers, The Hive, Denela's, Dredge and Male, Steve's Fish Restaurant, The Swan, The Bell, The Club Lounge, Hidden Treasures, The Dusthole, Anna's Attic, I-do Vintage, The Furniture Workshop, Minsky's Barbers, C.H. Penn the Jewellers and Starlight Studios and support numerous home businesses and charities in the local area, doing what we can. I've probably missed a very big one out there! We even support Haskins by choosing to shop at Aldi and other shops in their building! So, when you buy from us, you are absolutely supporting your whole high street because we make damn sure you do!

I'd really like to do more and for that, I need your help, please!

What I am asking for you to do is to please help my family and myself to contribute even more to our town. 

Since closing our shop in Enfield, we are totally reliant on you making a conscious effort to buy from us. I know it's hard to come into town when you've been working all the hours that you can, that's why I have created a website, so that you can still support our family and our business ethos, by ordering online from us. We deliver FREE to you if you live in the BA4 postcode area, we also have click and collect as an option. If there is one thing that you can buy from us instead of a supermarket, then please do just that.

What if you can't find the healthy, or vegan, or gluten-free thing that you want on our website? Then please just comment on this blog post and tell us the product name and size that you are looking for and we will update our website, to sell you the things that you are looking for.

We don't lead an extravagant lifestyle, we don't have massive needs but we would like to provide you with a business that you want to use and sells the things that you want and need at a fair, reasonable price. We want to create a business that is successful here in Shepton Mallet. 

When we closed our shop in Enfield, I thought that our customers/friends would love to buy from our online shop, I imagined people buying our Yogi Tea Bags, or Protein Powders, or our Coffee but this hasn't really happened but I still feel sure that it could, maybe I just need to say, please buy from us, we need you to help us and we would like to be give the opportunity to sell you the things that you need.

Since closing our Enfield shop, we have had to claim Housing Benefit, to help us be able to pay our rent. I don't want to have to claim housing benefit, I want us to be able to sell our friends and our family the things they want, at the price they feel able to pay.

In writing this blog, I might earn a few pennies from advertising revenue and I really mean, a few pennies! In creating my website that takes many hours, I have sold a few things but it could do a lot better. I need my friends and my family and my children's friends, to make a concerted effort to use it and if there is something that you want to buy that is health food or whole food orientated, then please let me know. 

I understand that you can't always get to visit my shop in person, or even get to it EVER, BUT please support my family and I in our venture to continue our Coffee and Health Food shop on the high street of Shepton Mallet.

Anna Perra's shop on the high street is closing this month, I haven't been able to visit for ages to buy at least a little something because I just haven't had the money. I've seen Penny's Sweets go, I've seen No 21 go, I've seen Nostalgia go, Tina's Pet Pantry, Fred's Shop, Twice as Nice, Mendip Fireplaces and Just Jo all these shops added character, personality and enjoyment to our high street and now Anna Perra is going, there'll be another empty unit. Anna is keeping her business going as an online shop and doing events too, so she's cutting one massive overhead from her business and concentrating on creating an income from decreasing her overheads. Seeing another shop close is always a shock to residents and especially, I feel, to other shopkeepers. It is a reminder of our own vulnerabilities and how needy we are for your continued support. Yes, I look at Anna Perra's shop closing and feel scared, very scared for the future of my shop too.

I want to support the high street, I want people to know about the shabby chic charm of Shepton Mallet but I cannot do it on my own, I need you to help. This is a two way process, I will help you get the things you want and you can help me to stay where I am on the high street, adding a big dollop of personality and charisma to our wonderful town!

People used to say that online shopping caused the demise of the high street, I see online shopping as a tool to help regenerate the high street and keep supporting those little independent shops that you love, even if you're working so hard that you don't even get a chance to visit them!

I look forward to receiving your order today!

BUY SOMETHING NOW!

Coffee Kiosk To Let at Enfield Chase Station London #Enfield #EN2!

So, it's bitter sweet. We will close the doors of our Enfield shop soon. Help us to celebrate almost 7 years of loveliness on December 24th, 2015! I think there'll be a party atmosphere ALL DAY! So, please do come along and join us. Gunter and I have had a wonderful time with you guys and all our customers are our friends and we are so happy and delighted to have had the privilege of laughing with you, chatting with you, listening to your woes, your journey, your ups and your downs, sharing life with you for these past, almost seven years.

We were hoping to sell our business to one of our customers, so that they could live the dream, the fantasy, of just coming to the station and having the banter, community, coffee and cake for the whole working day. We are nearing the end of November and there is no sign of that happening on the horizon, the main issue being, that there is no lease in place. So, no matter if we sell you the logo, the secrets, the Facebook page, the Twitter account, the equipment, the name and the goodwill, it is too much of a risk with no lease in place.

We can't sell this business without being able to reassign the lease and so, what better leaving present can we give Enfield than to give you the details of the unit and the landlord and let you go for it. For some reason, it is quite difficult to find details of the landlord and the lease details on the internet, it seems to be buried deep, deep DOWN! So here we are especially for you is your chance to negotiate directly with the landlord and GO FOR IT!

It is a challenge, the unit is in a difficult position, at the end of platform 1, so you do have to work hard at encouraging people from the other end to even know that you are there but with the power of social media and the local press, TV, Radio and even the national papers it can be done! As you know because you've heard of My Coffee Stop, even if this is the first time, from reading this blog.

We're taking our name and business with us to our Coffee, Health Food and Book shop in Shepton Mallet, with a cosy community cinema too and we leave you with a wonderful opportunity to chase.

Being at Enfield Chase Station gave us a great start, you'll not be able to sell your business at the end of it, to realise the value in that way but you'll have a great job of your own creation, that you can re-invent everyday!

If you choose to go for it, then GOOD LUCK and when we are in Enfield, we will come and visit for a coffee and cake but make mine a herbal tea please, as you know I don't drink coffee!

RENTAL DETAILS FOR THE COFFEE KIOSK AT ENFIELD CHASE STATION!

Free Coffee at Waitrose!

A gorgeous cappuccino, created with love, Fairtrade and Organic by My Coffee Stop!

Update January 31st 2015

DESPITE WAITROSE'S ANNOUNCEMENT AND HUGE MEDIA COVERAGE THE FREE COFFEE OFFER HAS NOT TRULY BEEN SCRAPPED!

This blog entry was originally written in November 2014. Waitrose, though, have just recently announced that their Free Coffee offer had ended but the message was confusing. Gunter and myself were told by several customers and even a member of staff at +Waitrose that free coffees would be ending in February of this year. So, it seems that customers are understanding that they can't get their usual free takeaway coffee at Waitrose and even some staff have misunderstood. 

Now, I don't know if this was a deliberate ploy on the part of Waitrose, to give out a confusing message that would be misconstrued, so that most customers wouldn't bother trying to get their free coffee and if anyone did complain, or get upset, it could gently be explained to them that the free takeaway coffee offer is still actually available. So, only the complainers would get free coffee and the others would taper off, which means that Waitrose manage to keep the most vocal of their customers happy and get massive PR and headlines at the same time, perfect manipulation of the media and fogging of the issue. Then, when they announce, later in their game plan, that free takeaway coffees are now being stopped, they will get even more headlines! 

I couldn't quite believe the headlines and the rumours that were being circulated, so I decided to get in contact with Waitrose via Twitter to understand precisely what the position was, exactly. Full marks to a massive company like Waitrose employing savvy Tweeters that do their job well, answering tweets efficiently and politely. A big thank you from us to those Tweeters for making things clear for us, so that we could really understand the situation.

The truth of the matter is this: 

1/ If you wish to sit in a Waitrose Cafe, with a free coffee, you can, as long as you have purchased something else to go with it. 

That seems fair for Waitrose, the customer and for the coffee market, including nearby independent coffee shops.

2/ If you wish to have a free takeaway coffee from one of these cafes, you can, just take it out and it's still completely free.

3/ If you are in a shop that has a self-service machine, then you can still help yourself to a free coffee as normal, I have seen tweets saying that the cups are now 'hidden' and that you have to show your card to get one, so they've put a few more controls up but your free coffee is there for the taking.

4/ If you go to a shop where there is no self-service machine, then you can order a takeaway coffee at the counter and it is still FREE.

This is FANTASTIC news for people that love their free Waitrose coffee, you can still get it, don't worry, unfortunately, it does effect our ability to be able to grow our business.

Luckily for us though, most of our customers choose us because they care about the taste of what they are drinking, they care about the ethics, sustainability, the Fairtrade and organic certification, they care about the personality, the banter and the atmosphere of our little community coffee shop, they come to us because they love our attitude and our damn fine coffee, rather than because we are giving our product out for free!

Our customers vote with the pound in their pocket and they have voted consistently for us over the past 6 years since we opened in February, 2009! Thankfully our customers are a united bunch of people who think carefully about how they spend their money, the bigger repercussions of how much is fed back into the local economy and what they are really buying from us and what they are really buying is a positive change in mood. Our customers come in early in the morning, on their way to work, they want a smiling face, some care and a fantastic coffee, to enjoy on the train! They can feel good that they have chosen to support a local, independent coffee shop and making people feel good, is what we are best at!

All in all, I'm not so sure if Waitrose's free coffee offer is a threat to our business, perhaps it is actually a bigger threat to the viability of their own business. Once they realise the impact on their own success, they will withdraw all free coffees, where there is no minimum spend from the customer. 

PS. If you want to save some pennies at My Coffee Stop in Enfield, please bring in your own mug, for a 50p discount off any hot drink! Or you could even bring in a reused cup from another shop. Putting it bluntly, go to Waitrose, get your cup, with or without the free drink, reuse it in our shop and claim your 50p discount from us!

Original Post from November 2014, starts here....

Ok, ok, I am a coffee shop owner and have a vested intrest in seeing Waitrose stop giving out free coffee. Putting that to one side, I am very interested in fairness, ethics and sustainability when we shop, Waitrose was one supermarket that I actually felt good shopping in. I felt they had strong views about corporate responsibility and sustainability.

I haven't stepped foot in a Waitrose for about 1 year now. Why? I do not like lies or misleading information. Waitrose have claimed in the media, that they give coffee out to grocery shoppers to thank them for shopping at their store. Actually, they don't, they give free coffee with no purchase necessary, as stated in the terms and conditions on their website.

Free hot drink

1. Offer available to all myWaitrose members on presentation of a myWaitrose card in store.

2. One per myWaitrose member per day.

3. Only Americano, Cappuccino, Latte, Tea, Mocha and Espresso (Decaffeinated versions, Mocha and Espresso available in selected stores only) qualify as a free hot drink.

4. Selected stores only, excludes Costa Concessions, online, petrol filling stations, Shell and Welcome Break.

5. Subject to availability.

6. No purchase necessary.

7. Cannot be used in conjunction with other Café or hot drink offers.

8. At any till the myWaitrose card must be scanned to activate the offer. Quickpay customers must scan their myWaitrose card at any point during their shop.

There is also no time limit given for the promotion and no promotion of how good the coffee tastes, or how sustainable and fair that the product is. I wonder where those beans are sourced from. I am sure if it was Fairtrade coffee, they would tell us, as part of their corporate responsibility branding.

Is it fair that a large organisation that claims to be ethical, responsible and sustainable is able to continue to hand out these free drinks and directly threaten or challenge, little independent coffee shops near by and directly effect the local economy, negatively? Well, of course not and yet people are very possessive over that free coffee and if I make whinging, whining negative comments about the lack of ethics, or sustainability behind the scheme, they whinge and whine back at me. Nothing must stand between them and that much needed freebie, that they feel they deserve, especially as the green roots of economic recovery are looking rather brown and withered. Getting something, for absolutely nothing is a novelty these days and who minds taking it from a large corporation? If it is truly for nothing, is another story, seeing as you are inadvertently taking part in market research, each time you receive a coffee, by getting your card scanned and details read and your information and your routine logged.

The dynamics of the Waitrose free drink offering are very interesting indeed, for instance, I have heard several reports and jokes about how awful some people find it tastes. But why would they keep going back to get another one and another one? How long do you have to spend waiting in a queue, diverting away from your usual stroll and taking up your time to walk into Waitrose? How many times have you gone in for the free coffee and come out with other things that you realised suddenly that you 'needed'. How convenient did that feel and you had a free coffee too. Of course you know how it works, the cost of the coffee is a promotional tool, that is paid for from the shopping that you do in there. It's almost like a slight of hand magic trick.

The free hot drink promotion by Waitrose is not doing anyone any good, least of all their own business, which has issued a profit warning. If I were a member of Waitrose staff, I'd feel upset that I had joined a company that calls itself ethical and they had spent my potential share dividends on giving non-customers a reward, where no purchase is necessary. Basic business sense, ethics and a regard for sustainability suggests that a minimum spend would have to be a qualifying factor, for a free hot drink promotion, over such a long period of time.

I am amazed that Waitrose have recently won an award for sustainability, when this promotional activity is unsustainable.

The way I see it is simple, Waitrose are destroying my business's chance of growing, therefore, I cannot support their business practices by shopping there. They have lost hundreds of pounds from me, as I have lost faith in the way they do business and of course their free coffee is an unfair challenge to my business, the free coffee is also damaging their business, not just the cost of giving out the free drinks but the cost of customers boycotting Waitrose because of this economic unfairness. I'd love to know if Waitrose staff had the chance to vote for or against this unprofitable scheme.

Another Shop Shuts in Shepton.

Helping Mike Alford and his family and in turn, helping to protect our High Street by successfully campaigning against Tesco installing a Timpson pod at The Townsend Retail Park, gave me a warm glow and a real sense of achievement. Today, though, I feel like a firefighter who has been fighting one blaze, only to turn around and see that another fire was burning and the sustainability of another business on our High Street has been under threat. That business, Penny's Sweets, right next door to our shop, has now closed. Jenny Penny is pleased to take on new opportunities, which is a good thing but I feel gutted that they have closed.

I came to Shepton Mallet with the aim of helping to revitalise the High Street, to help visitors and locals to realise what brilliantly cool shops we have. Right from the word go, Jenny and her family were very welcoming, as our shop neighbours. I particularly enjoyed the support that Jenny and I gave to each other. I sent customers to her, she sent customers to me.

The closure of Penny's Sweets is a real blow to the High Street. To me it looks like a row of teeth with a space, where one has been knocked out, there's a gap, a big, vacant screaming gap. I'm trying to be thankful that the only casualty seems to be the shop, rather than Jenny or her family. Taking the decision to shut your shop is a very difficult process and it can destroy some people, so I take great solace in the fact that Jenny has retained her sanity and health. However, on a personal level for me, I feel so upset by this, I can hardly gather together my motivation to go into work today.

I've never thought about what it feels like for the shop keeper of the shop next door to the one that closed, before. In this instance, this shopkeeper feels very, very upset and sad, it is almost like there has been a death. I feel like crying and do, sometimes, when I walk past that closed door. I have in my mind the image of a happy, lively place, which is now a tombstone. I might get that a bit more into perspective soon but that's how it feels to me right now.

My morale is rock bottom and I want to blame someone. Basically, it's your fault because you didn't pop in enough and you didn't buy enough, or is it the fault of the economy, with the prison closure, the Co-operative bank closing and so on, or maybe is it the fault of the council, the accountancy firm at The Mill moved to Wells, as they couldn't get planning permission to expand their offices here in Shepton, or maybe it is my fault, I was completely focused on saving the High Street from the Timpson pod, depleting footfall even further, whilst in the meantime, my neighbour's business closes? Now I pose myself the difficult question, did my business help or hinder the business next door?

I like to think that I bought more visitors into town and I promoted Penny's Sweets to my customers and to all my visitors, I also talked about Penny's Sweets on social media. I like to think I helped the business next door to me but did I truly? I set up a Shepton Mallet Shops website to support all independent shops and businesses in the area and a Facebook Group, Discover Shepton Mallet, to let everyone know about these kinds of hidden gems. It wasn't enough, more needed to be done. Doing more in these times is like riding a ship in a storm, with one hand on the steering wheel, (If that's what it's called on a ship), whilst bailing out water, with a bucket, with the other hand.

I know I can't take on responsibility for the whole High Street but I do have to accept at least some responsibility for there now being an empty shop, next to mine. If I don't then I deny myself the power to make changes and make a difference in the future.

So, for the while, let me feel sad and analyse what I can do better in the future, with your support.

A Guest Blog by Chantal Allison: #Transition Towns #Shepton Mallet

Why it's a 'No' to Timpson in Shepton
By Chantal Allison, from Transition Shepton.

Once again, the turning of the 'clone-town' screw is being felt in Shepton. One major argument for inviting large corporations into our local economy is to create jobs for local people. What doesn't get said is that these jobs are usually for minimum wage and are probably only part-time.

The proposal for a #Timpson, offering shoe repairs, key cutting, watch repair and dry cleaning will, I believe, create 2-3 full-time jobs at best. However,  three local businesses will be directly  affected;  The Shepton Cobbler, Wash Tub and C H Penns, the independent jewellers. That's at least eight jobs that I'm aware of that are at risk. This is not taking into account the impact on other businesses as the result of the reduced footfall in the High Street.

Timpson are a corporate entity in their own right, who  have over 1000 pods throughout the UK in #Tesco and Sainsbury's. This arrangement of course, works in favour of the supermarkets, since it encourages people to shop in their store, with a so-called one-stop, 'convenient' shopping offering.  

The one-stop shopping approach has at least two, perhaps unintended, consequences:

1/ All profits made from local labour is funnelled straight into the corporation's central coffers away from the local economy, thus further impoverishing the town. 

Local businesses do not do this. They promote the circulation of wealth within the local economy.

2/ A sense of community can diminish.

 A thriving High Street often creates and invigorates the local community.

Promoting local businesses is not just a romantic hankering for the good old days. Large corporations such as Tesco could not function without oil. They need it both in their distribution of food and goods and in the running of  their over-lit and over-refrigerated stores. This will become more difficult to sustain and justify as fossil fuels become more scarce and more expensive to extract. The move towards fracking is evidence that easy options for extracting fossil fuels are running out. The corporations will inevitably pass all the necessary price hikes on to you, the consumer. And if they're the only show in town, then they'll charge what they like.

Shepton needs a long term vision which ensures local businesses can thrive, local people can prosper, and the unique character of our High Street is promoted and preserved. The wider benefits of a prosperous and vibrant High Street is an increased sense of community for local people, more visitors who bring wealth into the local economy and perhaps most importantly, increased resilience against the anticipated price hikes in energy and oil.

Come on, Mendip District Council! Show some imagination and innovative thinking! Use your  committment to regenerating the High St by finding long term solutions that benefit the whole community. 

Allowing a Timpson outlet at Tesco in the Townsend Retail Park, is not the way to do it.

***********************************************************

Thank you to Chantal Allison, from Transition Towns, for contributing to the My Coffee Stop Stories Blog.

Transition Shepton is part of the Transition Towns network, which is a nation-wide grass-roots movement  promoting ways of reducing the carbon footprint and encouraging towns to create their own initiatives.

TESCO, 'Every Little Helps' so go on then, help!

I am just a shopkeeper with two shops and one of the most important things for me in business is ethics and sustainability, in fact, all my business decisions are taken with that in mind, in balance with the economics. I am not one for taking a business decision just because it would be good financially, it has to be sustainable and ethical and I have to be able to sleep at night and to know that I have helped my community and contributed to it in a positive way. Why can't Tesco do that?

It's no secret that Tesco are struggling, especially after the news that their CEO Philip Clarke was ousted after poor financial results. I believe #Tesco is suffering financially because they are too aggressive in upscaling their retail operations, at the expense of local communities and local long established businesses. Surely they must realise that economic times are extremely difficult. In their rapid diversification, they have not chosen the best option, this aggressive way of doing business destroys the economy of the local community, it directly takes the pounds out of the pockets of the very people, that Tesco need to be cash rich, their customers!

Someone needs to make Tesco see logical, economical sense:

In the short term profits rise with aggressive trading but in the long term, agressive trading destroys the health of the very economy it relies upon for it's success.

If I could have a chat with the Chairman of Tesco, not the CEO, as he is leaving and not with the incoming CEO because he'd be new to the job, this is what I would like to say:

'When Tesco decides to really give back to the community, when the relationship is truly symbiotic, instead of stifling, then you will see sustainability in your business.

When you give a percentage of your profits to your community, you will see that the community will choose to support you.

Think of sustainability and success in business, as being like the water cycle, if there was someone at the top siphoning off a large percentage of water for themselves, then the amount of water in the cycle would decrease and they too, would not be able to enjoy the resource of plentiful water, as the water cycle would have been destroyed, it would no longer be sustainable. That is what is happening to our economy, you are hoarding the finances, not sharing and that is why your profits will fall and fall. It is due to greed and faulty thinking that you have got yourselves into this mess. 

At the moment Tesco, I can't afford to support you. If I support you, then that would mean I would be supporting your plans which have already caused devastation across the UK's High Streets and supporting the planning application for a Timpson pod, which you have recently put in. This Timpson pod would offer, shoe, watch and jewellery repairs, as well as key-cutting and dry cleaning, all services which we have firmly established by family businesses, for years on our High Street.

Putting a pod like that in place will decrease footfall in the town center and be a kick in the guts for small businesses on the High Street, my customers. If you take money from my customers, I don't have money to be your customer!

Do you get it now? Do you understand why your business is now failing too? Tesco, you are busy destroying the circular economy, when you could actually be responsible for making it stronger and healthier.

Think about it, giving more to your local community financially, not just with tin collection schemes that customers pay you for and then you donate to a local charity and make yourself look generous when you've added 30% of your own goods on top but by encouraging local businesses to thrive, by really teaming up with them and working together towards mutually beneficial ways of trading. Do that and then you will see Tesco thrive again.

So, Tesco, if you want to know the secret to true economic success, it is sustainability and sharing.'

Seeing as it's not very likely that the Chairman of Tesco will have a chat with me. I appeal to you, to please help me to stop Tesco's planning permission from going through.

Please join my Say No to Timpson at Tesco campaign, by clicking on the link below and signing the petition  it brings up and sharing with your friends too. Thank you.

Say NO to Timpson at Tesco!

You can also log an objection to the planning application, directly to Mendip Council, using this link:

Application Objections

Pathway to Success!

The reason I enjoy social media so much and implement it into my business strategy is because it makes it easier and more instant for me to communicate any ideas that I may have, it's also a great resource of inspiring ideas by other people. Ideas, communication and interaction are delightfully combined in the Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram and all the rest of them are the perfect platforms for creative women in business, no matter whether at home, on the High Street or out and about. That's why I had the idea to create The Ideas Station, specialised workshops for women. It was only today, that I became truly aware of how I develop an idea of mine from the first thought, or concept, right to the end and completion. For me focus, is the most important first step that I take to bringing my ideas to fruition.

Focus is one of the most truly useful skills we can develop.

I am generally rubbish at that but each time I apply myself and consciously focus on the challenge or action I have to complete, it works. I complete successfully and my vision comes to fruition.

I am sure that you too, like me have lots and lots of thoughts and ideas zooming round your head, about everything. I'm sure you have some amazing ideas and then because of distractions, no action is taken, which means your idea floats away forgotten.

Ideas to me are such valuable celestial inspirations, they seem like bursting stars of gifts from the universe to help me through my life. I am blessed to be extremely rich in ideas, sometimes overwhelmingly rich, which can lead to inaction, as one idea after another causes it's own unique distraction.

When I have an idea, it floats around in my mind, with all the other ideas and constant background chatter that we all have about things we must do, need to do, don't want to do and so on. However, when I choose to focus on one idea, a very strong image is formed in my mind, it is so extremely powerful that it leads me to take each action necessary to implement the idea.

If I could paint what I see when I choose to focus on one idea in particular, there would be a pathway in front of me, with deep perspective, wide at the beginning, where I am standing and my ultimate goal right at the end of the path, where the lines converge. The pathway is edged with light, it could be blue, or yellow, or any other colour, or a kaleidoscope of different hues. The image has straight lines only, like the tunnel that people believe you may see when you die, with the sparkling star of the idea at the end. This visualisation wasn't taught to me, it wasn't a concious decision to use it, initially but as time goes on, that is what I do.
I purposely conjure up that image in my mind and when I say, I'm focussing on this project at the moment, I mean absolutely that. This image protects me from any other distractions, other ideas or obligations are clouded in a misty fog.

It was only today, that I absolutely wholly consciously understood what a powerful technique I have honed over the past nearly 5 years in business. It's a really reliable pathway to success. The biggest tip I can give you for 2014 and beyond is:

Focus on that future point, where your dreams are reality and come to fruition and you will find everything falls into place as you move towards your special light and your ideas transform into reality!

If you want to know more about The Ideas Station inspirational social media workshops for women, then you can read about and book them here.

5 Coffee Shop Business Secrets for Beginners.

1/ Know what you are selling...

You are NOT selling coffee, it's usually something else, for instance in our shop, we are selling a good feeling, community, comfort, an experience and usually a change of mood, from grumpy to grinning in 30 seconds!

2/ DON'T tie your money up in loads stock.

Strict stock control is an absolute must, having lots of stock hanging around means that you are paying effectively for storage space, when those things could be at your suppliers, until you need to order again. You'll find that as with anything 20% of your stock will sell about 80% of the time, concentrate on never letting that run out. But don't waste rent money on space, stocking stuff that sells only slowly.

3/ Don't be a leader!

That's NOT the aim, just be different. When you compete on difference, that enables space for other people to enjoy success within a similar sphere to you. Coffee shop owners needn't be in competition with each other, as long as their differences are highlighted and strong, that then leaves opportunities to collaborate with each other.

We enjoy an excellent cafe round the corner from us, called Michaelangelos and we enjoy supporting them and spending our money in another independent, we love recommending them to our customers too. Yes, we both sell coffees and cakes which is a large cross over but there's also massive differences between us, for example, they do fabulous lunches and we do fabulous networking and events.

4/ Change your way of thinking.

If there is something that you perceive to be a huge negative factor, in your business....twist it around and see the positive! Believe me there is a positive in every negative, you just have to look very hard for it.

When we first opened our shop at the end of a train station platform, people said it was in a difficult location, not much footfall right up to the door and so on. We looked at the premises and saw it's potential as a hidden gem, that turns it around doesn't it! Now it's a truly magical moment when someone discovers us, they open the door from a cold platform and the atmosphere of our coffee shop seems to glow, with warm and welcoming shades of oranges and browns, laughter and chatting, books and flyers, they are amazed by the contrast of how it is outside to how it is when they open that door and the warmth embraces them.

5/ Keep Your Door OPEN!

When you are open, keep your door open! At first people are scared to walk into a new place, you have to remove any barrier that you can and that door can be a big barrier. I have seen people push on our door handle half-heartedly and then walk away when it doesn't open easily.

Keep your door open and make it easy for them to make the transition from outside, to inside, at least until you are established. Bring tasters outside to them on a platter, bring coffee out to them leaving the sugar and so on in the shop, so they have to come in to use the sugar.

What would one of your top tips be to start up a coffee shop?

Please let me know by commenting here.

Is Facebook Boring?

Honestly, I did NOT want to go on Facebook ever, I viewed it as low cultured, a time drain and addictive. All that insight, without even holding an account!

It was in 2008 when colleagues at LBC Radio kept nagging, or suggesting to me that I 'should really' get onto Facebook but I resisted.

In August 2009, after about 6 months of running My Coffee Stop, with my partner, Gunter Hollenstein and several suggestions from my peers that it would be good for my business, I reluctantly set up a Facebook account and a Twitter account.

I have enjoyed an amazing amount of success using these two and other social media platforms to raise the profile and the profits of my business, resulting in great press, tv exposure and translating into real cash, with sales increasing too. I was frustrated that other businesses didn't know these secrets, so I set up a forum for an exchange of ideas about how best to use social media for your business called, The Ideas Station. A once a month meet up in my shop in the evening for free, with coffee, tea and cake provided.

Attendees said it was so good, I should charge, then a few months later, they said I should charge more. Individual business owners started coming to see me for some spot on free advice and help for their business, so I could train them in how social media would help them. I wanted every independent business in my local area to be able to have the choice to use these different platforms to connect with their customers, potential customers and their community. I had to start charging for the one to one sessions after being let down by some no shows.

So, I had now grown from a coffee shop owner into a social media trainer too and the two businesses feed off and support each other.

I have now successfully applied for funding from the Enfield Residents Priority Fund, to teach business women in the Edmonton area, how to successfully use social media in their own businesses.

However, just recently, I've had a niggling doubt about the effectiveness of Facebook, it's becoming less personal and more corporate every second.

Forget about my business for the moment, looking at this as a personal user, I just looked at my newsfeed and rather than seeing lots of lovely updates about what my friends have done, I'm seeing lots of business updates, I'm invited to some 83 different events at the moment, some of which I have no interest in whatsoever, why did they invite me? I know I can change my settings and change what is shown but I'm feeling dissatisfied and turned-off of Facebook.

It's been so successful and worked so well, for a time, that it is now crowded, noisy and just UNCOOL! I'm saying this despite the fact it has helped me so much in my business and even helped me to run a very successful campaign to increase the profits and profiles of local independent businesses, through SHOCK Cash Mobs.

My original view that it is addictive and a drain on your time still stands true but I feel I've had a reluctant love affair with the Facebook beast and now it's time to find something different because conversely, what was working for my business on Facebook isn't so powerful anymore. The dilution of each post becomes more apparent, each time we crowd our Facebook connections with inappropriate invites and randomly add them to new groups that we don't even really know if they have an interest in.

So, yes, I'm admitting it, I AM BORED WITH FACEBOOK! I feel jaded and worn out with it. That exciting ping as I'm notified of an invitation to a local event, has deadened into an unwelcome thud, a drain on my resources, as I decline again and again, or can't decide between 10 great events in one day.

Then there is the responsibility of being a publisher, each and everyone of us is publishing when we press that 'post' button and sometimes the decision to post something that seems informative, can actually just stir up anxiety and Chinese whispers style speculation.

Facebook has maybe become the red topped, tabloid equivalent of the social media world, loads of people love that style of journalism. I don't.

What do you think?

What did very small-businesses get from this #Budget13?

Picture by Anne-Marie Sanderson

After the excitement of ITN News coming round and filming us for the budget and our 10 seconds of Prime Time TV, once at 6pm and then again at 6.30pm, let's look at what the budget really brought for small businesses.

1/ £2,000 NI relief

Businesses can claim relief for NI contributions of £500 a year for up to four employees. This is something that the Federation of Small Businesses have fought for and they are really pleased.

However for small business owners, like myself there are already massive financial barriers to employing someone, or even taking on an apprentice. The budget has not changed that situation.

2/ £10,000 threshold before tax.

This could help people feel like they have a few extra pennies for spending in their small, local independent businesses, so this could trickle down to the small business owners.

3/ Corporation Tax brought down by 1%

Some small businesses are run as a Ltd company, so this could help them, many micro businesses are not Ltd and have a different trading style, so this won't help them directly.

That's It!

I'm not an economic expert but they are the only three things that I can find.

So, seeing as the really small businesses of Britain have NOT been particularly highlighted or helped by this budget.....

I pledge to keep up my SHOCK Cash Mob Campaign, to help small businesses boost their profits and profile.

#Shock #CashMob #Enfield!

Pam, Owner of Ma Battley's with Cash Mobbers and North London Brass!

I'm still on a high, after taking part in the latest Shock Cash Mob! 'What is a Shock Cash Mob', I hear you question.

Well, it's an idea imported from America, the first one I heard of in the UK, was done at Harringay Market. The ones in Enfield have built on the original idea and added a few enigmatic twists.

The main idea is to boost local independent businesses. Around 10 people arrange to meet up and each one of those people brings a tenner. They then descend upon one lucky shop and each person spends their tenner, or even more!

It's a way to inject cash into our local economy and make an independent retailer's day!

Ten CASH MOBS are being arranged in Enfield, in the run up to Christmas. Two have already been done, the first was at The Village Wholefood Store, the second one which was today, was at Ma Battley's a really cute Sweet Shop, with a very quaint tea room above it.

People pledge their tenners but don't get to know the location of the independent shop, until the night before.Which makes it all very enigmatic and exciting.

Oh and it's a shock for the shop owner, who doesn't know it's happening, until it's happening.

Sweet Sensation!

Today, there was an extra special twist, which was to have North London Brass playing outside the shop. We walked from the fountains outside Enfield Town Library into Enfield Town itself and as we came onto the High Street the brass band struck up some happy tunes! Passers-by were smiling, our tenners were waving and Ma Battley's owner Pam and her staff did not know what on earth was going on!! I don't know who explained but somebody must have done, as she was looking very happy indeed. I was taking photos and telling people outside to go in and spend some cash! The press were there too, taking pictures and Pam must have felt like a star for the day, or at least like it was her birthday.

The special moment for me, was when I looked at Pam's shop and saw all the people browsing and holding onto things that they would buy, prettily packaged confectionery in cellophane, tied up with colourful ribbons, or pick and mix sweets, items that looked like they must be for presents and chocolate and sugar-free sweets,browsing, shopping and chatting, all with jolly music playing outside the shop!

Cash Mob Below, Calm in the Tea Room!

I made my way to the back of the shop, away from the crowd that had now grown with some extra people joining in. I saw the stairs hidden away at the back, you won't notice them if you don't look for them, no flashing neon signs here and climbed up and up, into the Tea Room, that is just above the Sweet Shop. Coming to this place feels just like you're on a seaside holiday, with the olde worlde atmosphere of the sweet shop below and the calm oasis of the tea room above. Pretty pinks and flowers dominate and it just looked so tempting to sneak up there and relax but I thought it would look a little rude, leaving my friends below spending their cash without me! I turned back on myself and prepared myself to shop! Oh Yeah!!!

Permission to Act Like a Kid in a Sweet Shop!

Everyone in that shop had a smile on their face, the owner, the staff and especially the Cash Mobbers! Knowing that we had to spend £10 in this local independent business and that it was a good thing to do, made me feel like a child that had just been given a wedge of pocket money and a free-reign to get what I wanted. This is what I ended up buying:

Two packets of sugar free sweets for Gunter, my partner.

A little chocolate animal for my youngest son.

A packet of Mint Poppets, for my oldest son.

A very cute indulgent chocolate heart, as part of my Mum's next birthday present.

Wine Gums for Nick de Bois because he couldn't come and hopefully when he eats them he will feel encouraged to come to the next one and give Westminster a miss!

2 Halloween bags of Chocolate.

And for me!!! Guess what! I found an incredibly healthy item to enjoy, Liquorice Wood!!!! And it's absolutely delicious.

Ok I admit, I spent a bit over a tenner but that's good, isn't it!!

The reward for doing this, is the buzz you get and seeing the happiness that is spread, the morale being boosted and the profile of the business being lifted, with some press coverage too and plenty of Twitter and Facebook action!

A very big thank you for the Cash Mobbers that pledge their tenners in this way and make this all possible and to the press for coming down to photograph it and also to North London Brass, for making it all extremely entertaining!

If you support this idea, then please show it and let everyone know about it by using the Share buttons below and letting our community know about it, via Facebook, Twitter and the such-like.

Find out when the next one is, here.

Press Coverage!

A big thank you to the following for supporting this campaign, through covering the story!

Click on the links, to read the articles.

The Enfield Advertiser

The Enfield Independent

The Evening Standard

Independent Retail

Business Mum Week!

SHOCK Cash Mob at The Village Wholefood Store!

Did you know...

That from October 1st to October 7th, it was Business Mum Week 2012?

I don't know about you but I'm a Mum and if you're a Mum too, you're probably very busy, if you're a working Mum and especially if you run your own business, then you're probably extremely busy.

That particular week was for me, extremely busy indeed! It's one of those weeks, where I didn't realise, until at the end of the week, when I could relax and allow myself to rest, I looked back and thought, 'That was a busy one!'.

Art Exhibition!

For a start, we had a new art exhibition going up, by Love Light Art, on Monday. The old exhibition had to come down, the new one had to go up, more space had to be made, as there are so many brilliant pictures, just so many of them, there are cards and prints and at the same time a new delivery of goodies came into our shop, that all needed pricing and labelling up.

SHOCK Cash Mob!

At the same time, I was secretly organising a mob of ten people to go into a great health food shop, The Village Wholefood Store, to shock the owner by all spending £10 each and giving a brilliant local independent retailer a boost with finances and some great PR, with the press coming down to cover the story and highlighting Jill Simpson's business! You can find out more about this story by reading my guest blog on Clare Rayner's The Retail Champion Blog, or by taking a peek at the coverage by The Enfield Advertiser!

New Skinny Me Meet Up!

In the same week we were hosting a special event for the participants, or potential participants in the New Skinny Me programme. It was at that point, on Friday, the end of the week that everything seemed like it was colliding together.

Collide!

My 3 year old wasn't feeling his normal self, not ill but just not himself, let's say, not ill....yet! I was meant to be concentrating on the New Skinny Me meet Up but couldn't, everything was coming together, yet colliding at the same time! A lady that I had connected with on Facebook arrived at the same time as the New Skinny Me meeting was still ongoing, with clothes and toys that I was buying from her in preparation for my 3 year old's next birthday and all at the same time as trying to pay money to the lady from the Enfield Preservation Society, for some picture cards of our local area, for the shop. My phone was beeping and bleeping with people responding to posts and pictures of the Cash Mob event and the art exhibition, oh and asking if they would like to vote for me in The Top 100 Mums, Business Mum Awards, by The Mum's Club! And at the same time, I was trying to get an Enfield contact for a journalist, for a story, just to help them out because I reckon, that's what Mums do, isn't it! At the same time, I'm trying to meet up with my brother from America, my sister-in-law and new baby nephew but haven't got not one second to spare, to communicate!

My 3 year old got his cuddles, New Skinny Me ladies, got their guidance from Amrit, The Enfield Preservation society got their money, as did the lady with the clothes and toys and guess what! The journalist even managed to get his contact!! I even got to see my brother and the rest of the family, then my car broke down, with 3 year old in it too. Just remembered that I was covered by my insurance policy, as an added extra to have breakdown cover! 

We were rescued, then I got home and oldest son was very pleased to see me, I was exhausted and needed to clear up the lounge ready for the weekend, whilst Gunter, my partner cooked for us all.

So, that definitely was one busy and exhausting week!

Top 100 Mums!

Today, Sunday, life was a bit calmer, after I had put in a food order to arrive at the shop, for the next day, we all went to and enjoyed the new weekly Crews Hill Market! Towards the end of the evening, I got the children ready for bed, with relaxing baths and washed and combed their hair, got their things ready for school and nursery the next day. At around 9pm, I get onto facebook and get distracted for a few hours, then decide to wind down and get ready to go to bed, as it's 10.30pm. I decide to finish up by reading my emails and deleting the ones I don't need. I open my email up and right at the top, in big capital letters, where I can't possibly miss it, there's an email with the subject starting, 'CONGRATULATIONS!' My heart started thumping, was I one of the Top 100 Mums in the UK, or not?

I opened the email and, read through quickly and this is what it said....

'CONGRATULATIONS! You have been voted into the Top 100 of the Mums Club 2012 Awards!'

I read on and the email told me that it had been Business Mums Week the whole of my very hectic week and the irony wasn't lost on me, that I completely didn't realise purely because I'm a busy Mum!

So to everyone that has voted for me in these awards and made me feel loved, valued and appreciated, I say a mighty big thank you and I will always do my best to share our success, with you! 

How to Grow Your Business!

Peter Lovell, from the North London Credit Union and myself!

Something incredible has happened for My Coffee Stop and it took just 4 weeks and a change of attitude.

Despite the recession, we have secured a loan in order to help us to open up a *2nd My Coffee Stop unit, enabling us to have the chance to grow our business and increase our profits.

Yes, times are really difficult economically out there, one business after another is folding but it is still possible to nurture and build your business.

These are the steps you can take to help grow your business.

1/ Get involved with your local community.

An easy way to do this is by becoming a member of relevant local groups on Facebook such as Enfield's Fit, or Your London, places where you can post for free and be welcomed as an individual and a business person.

In fact if you are the owner of an independent food business in the Enfield area, you are invited to join my Foodies Enfield Group, where you can exchange tips and collaborate with other independent food businesses.

By becoming involved, as a person, in your community, others are more interested and open to hearing about your business and you too will find out more about the amazing independent businesses, in your local area.

2/ Join a strong networking group that places value on a support network, inspiration and business education.

I'm lucky enough to belong to We Network, they are based in North London and arrange events, where you can sell and shop and hear talks and monthly meet-ups, where you get support, create friendships and listen to a business speaker.

At one of their meetings, I listened to speaker Mark Rhodes, who just happened to be a millionaire but I'm not money motivated, so that didn't impress me and I sat near the front noshing on delicious Thai food and then listening to Mark but with my arms folded right across myself!

It was when Mark explained the way that he challenged his negative thoughts about a situation and consciously imagined positive outcomes and described how these positive thoughts actually effected the final outcome, that I found myself concentrating on every word he said. 

Mark used to hate public speaking, he kept imagining all the things that could go wrong but when he challenged himself to imagine all the things that could go right, it started to go right in reality! 

It was then I realised that I was really scared of employing anyone, I was worried about them letting me down, or me letting them down, or not being able to pay them, or them having an accident, so this is why I couldn't employ anyone! I challenged myself to think about the positives of employing someone like, a new job would be created, we could grow our business, generate more income and be able to contribute even more to our community and we'd be once again able to change an empty, unused space into a vibing, thriving, inspirational hub!

Oh! What a turnaround in my thinking. I went home that night and told my partner Gunter, that I wanted to open another coffee shop. He said, 'I've been saying that for ages.' I told him that I'd been really concerned about the responsibility of employing someone but now I had overcome the negative thoughts that had held me back. Gunter was delighted.

3/ Get in contact with your local business support agency.

That night I couldn't sleep, imaginations of a wonderful, vibing little place enriching the platform of another railway station, creating a new job and enabling us to increase our profit, to provide for our family, were very exciting things to be thinking about. So, I looked up stuff on my phone about growing your business and getting funding to do it. That's when I came across The Investing for Success Programme at Enterprise Enfield. I quickly sent off an email. Next day, I received an email with some forms to fill in. I filled them in, sent them off and a meeting was arranged for me to meet with Business Advisor, Liz Gjoni, who will always in my mind, from now on, be known as the financial fairy-godmother!

At one of the meetings I asked Liz Gjoni how many people that came to her for help with funding were successful in getting it, she replied, '1 in 3 people, get it.' I said that I didn't feel that was very high, Liz looked me right in the eyes and told me that included the people that didn't follow through the steps they were told to take, such as presenting the correct documents and helping with the figures. I knew then that if I could just concentrate on fulfilling the steps, I'd be in with a pretty good chance of being one of the successful ones.

Liz Gjoni was just as focused as I and supported me throughout the whole process, not only that but she created my everyday working figures into a proper 5 year forecast and presented projections 10% above and 10% below the expected forecast. Just brilliant. She was encouraging and confident and the perfect person to guide and support me through this process.

5/ Follow the advice you are given, still keeping true to yourself.

Everything Liz told me to put into action, I did. I knew that her business experience was extremely valuable but I just could not bring myself to wear a business suit! For me, it is really important for me to wear clothes that I feel comfortable in and let my personality and integrity do the talking. Luckily for me, the meeting was going to be taking place in My Coffee Stop and I felt it would be just about ok to wear my most favourite woolly coat/jacket type thing. Although, I must say that if we wouldn't have got to a 'Yes', I would have blamed that woolly thing!

6/ Use social media as part of your marketing strategy. Particularly Twitter and Facebook. 

Our business has raised it's profile in the local Enfield area and across the UK because of our social media activity. There are people that walk into the shop and say, 'I saw you on Twitter, I just had to come and visit in real life.'

Knowing how to use social media effectively is cheap, especially if you are focused and use your time wisely.

If you don't know how to do this come to The Ideas Station, on every 2nd Thursday with a session available in the morning, or in the evening.

If you're just beginning to get into social media, then go to the morning sessions and if you need more ideas and challenges, go to the evening sessions. 

7/ Keep supporting and sharing the advice you have learnt with other businesses around you!

We need to keep supporting each other as a community. yes, I will share my suppliers with you, yes, I will share my tips on how to get into the paper with you, I love to share our success and feed it into the community around us. Yes, I'm even telling you how you can grow your business in the recession!

Most of us need to change our attitude and change our twisted-up thinking! Did you know when your business is profitable and sustainable you are contributing in a really positive way to our hyper-local economy!

I love that.

8/ Stick to your ethics!

We've changed our trading style to a limited company, we're still in the process of that change. I got a shock when I phoned up my bank to change the name to My Coffee Stop Ltd and they said I would have to change the whole account and pay more fees and so on. This has given me the needed push to actually choose an ethical bank to do my business with instead, which is actually in keeping with our whole attitude to business anyway. 

Not only that but the first organisation we were introduced to, to arrange funding with was The North London Credit Union, when I read about their ethics on their website, I knew that I wanted them to be the ones to say 'Yes'.

Although it might seem counter-intuitive to stick to ethics and morals in the recession, I see that the successful businesses are the little ones that are filled with soul and care, the ones where the customers get more than they physically paid for, they leave with a smile on their face and a good feeling in their heart.

9/ Appreciate the Power of Love and Money in combination.

Money is a powerful energy, if you use the energy fairly and with integrity, your business's energy will stay vibrant. Give to your community, live your passion and share your wealth on every level, financial and emotional, a truly good business needs to be run with your heart and your head!

10/ Say Thank You.

I hope in a small way, through the writing of this blog and sharing these steps, that I'm giving something back to the community around me. I want you to be successful, as much as you do.

This is my way of thanking the supportive community around us. I hope that you take these steps if you feel they are right for you and focus on what you have to do to follow through to completion.

Thanks for voting for us in the EN Magazine Awards, as the Best Local Coffee Shop and may our success be your success and vice versa.

****************************************************************

I'd love to hear what you feel, how inspired are you?

What are the next steps that you will take to grow your business and support your local community?

Please let me know through commenting here, on this blog. xxx

Wishing you focus, energy and a strong heart,

Karen, xxx

*Update: 26/10/2012
Another opportunity has arisen and we are using the loan to help us capitalise on the unit we already have by working with First Capital Connect, to make extend into the Waiting Room and make the space into a shared community space, cosy, comfortable, warm and inviting and grow our business that way!

You should see building works start in the next few months.