The Plastic Audit

Milk From Horrington Milk Hut, just one off the changes we are making to reduce our plastic usage.

We are a humble coffee and health food shop in a little town in Somerset called Shepton Mallet, people live here, people pass through here and people visit here. The footfall in our little town is low, with Mendip District Council refocusing the centre of town up by the retail park. The retail park is crammed full with well known brand names, whereas the high street still retains a certain innocence, there is still a bakery, some really good places to hang out for coffee and some cool vintage shops. The high street is worth a visit for it's quirkiness and character. It is a very different shopping experience and I would say it is a cheap place to shop, cheap and friendly. We also have a little market on a Friday, with fruit, vegetables, bread, meat and other local traders and we have a much bigger Sunday Market on every 3rd Sunday of the month, this is when the town really comes alive and all those people that were so busy working on the other days of the week are able to come and enjoy spending their money in their local community. It's so special that people even make the effort to visit from further afield.

So, that's a bit of a background to the location of our shop, just an independent shop on a very independent high street, driven by the passions and obsessions of the owners and what has captured my imagination is the challenge to reduce our reliance on plastic and to reduce the amount of it that we send out into the world as post-consumer plastic.

When we first opened 9 years ago, originally in Enfield on a train station platform, one of our main aims was running a sustainable business and we have stuck to that ethos and we hardly produce any waste. Gardners love to take our coffee grounds, we recycle or reuse our cardboard boxes, we make sure that we recycle our bottles, compost our food waste and so on, it takes weeks to produce a bin liner of rubbish but wouldn't it be great if there was no bin liner of rubbish and wouldn't it be great if the world saw everything as resources rather than rubbish?

Reducing Plastic in our Business and Post-Consumer waste

I have been going through the items that we sell and working on reducing our plastic and day by day making little changes. It is a matter of slowly transferring and changing but some things have been cut with no transition. So here is a list of the things we have done so far recently to try to reduce plastic usage in our business, or to reduce the amount of plastic that is released into the world post-consumer.

Washing up liquid is available on tap for you to fill your own bottle with and reuse.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is available on tap for you to refill your own bottle with.

Dr Bronner's Castile Soap Bars are in stock, they have up to 18 different uses from washing your hair to even, if you are brave enough, brushing your teeth.

We don't use plastic straws, we use stainless steel straws in people's smoothies and fruit juices.

Stainless Steel and Bamboo Straws are available to buy.

We sell Bamboo Reusable Coffee Cups, with a 20p discount off your hot drink when you use your own cup.

We recycle any of our paper cups that have been used and left with us and we will be using plant made cups in the future, if people still need take out cups and lids.

We recycle any tetra packs that we use and make sure we pass on information to our customers, where they can recycle theirs after use.

We have stopped buying in products that have the misleading arrow symbol on them that looks like you can recycle the packaging but actually you can't and it just means the company has paid a subsidy.

We have sourced local milk that is supplied in refillable glass bottles and are phasing out our milk in plastic bottles, if this goes well.

We are committed, in future, to buying items in bulk that we usually store on our shelves in small packets and refilling your jars and packets with them instead. We are transitioning at this time. Lentils and buckwheat flour are already available like this.

Herbs and spices are now available for you to fill your own jar for 50p (Unless it is a very expensive herb or spice, then the price will be higher), or you can use one of our jars and it will be 70p. If we haven't got what you want, we will order it in.

We used to buy flapjacks in wrapped in plastic, they are now made by us everyday. They are vegan, gluten free and have no sugar in apart from the dates and bananas used in the very simple recipe.

We have teabags that don't have plastic in BUT they still come presented with a plastic film around the cardboard carton. Yogi Tea have been brilliant and don't have plastic in their teabags or around them.

We sell Toilet Rolls in home compostable film, made with plants.

We have If You Care parchment baking paper, that can be used again and again and can be home composted.

Our take out bags for cakes and toasties are paper bags with a home compostable film window.

Our customers are expected to use their own bags, or use a box from us, if we have one to hand, for their shopping.

We will continue to buy in things to order, if you want them but we will contact the manufacturer to remind them to update or change their packaging, if it is made of plastic, especially non-recyclable plastic.

Future Aims to Reduce Plastic in Our Business and Post Consumer-Waste

We want to buy our coffee in sacks, not in plastic bags but I still want it to be fairly traded and organic.

We want more fresh fruit and vegetables for people to snack on spontaneously, instead of wrapped in plastic snacks. The fruit and vegetables must be sourced from local and independent wholesalers, so that we can make sure that more of your pound stays circulating in the local community.

We want to write to the companies where I think the products are good, it's just a shame about the packaging to ask them to change it.

We have written to St Paul's School to ask if they will be come a collector of old writing materials in our area.

We will take responsibility for the plastic that we still have in the shop and take it off for the customer and recycle it, or if not able to be recycled, send back to the manufacturer of the product with a note to ask them to change their packaging.

We will continue to reduce the amount of things we buy which use plastic, especially once use plastic.

We will continue to research the best way that old plastic can be used and look at the details of what we are doing through internet resources and information.

We will continue to be transparent in this subject and to share with our customers what we are doing and the blocks we are experiencing in making changes.

We will stop buying hand towels wrapped in plastic and will either use kitchen rolls in compostable film if we can find some,  or we will use old but clean rags for spillages and cleaning.

Instead of plastic sponges we will source loofah sponges for cleaning, from our supplier and we will also stock them in the shop.

We are looking to find a wholesaler for tiffin boxes, so that you can use them for take out food, not only from us but from other local outlets.

Turning Back the Plastic Tide

It is hard and it is challenging, to make these changes. When I look around me at the world we live in and I see the amount of plastic we are surrounded by in our everyday lives, I feel very sad and upset and I really don't know how we can make a difference, when even as I write this, there is a factory somewhere, churning out plastic things. I think the people that have seen the light and know that this just can't go on feel very passionately about this and we do have to do what we can as each individual do, to reverse the plastic tide! So, whether you take one step, or several steps, it is worth doing. We have to do it, this is the only way we can communicate to the decision makers, to the manufacturers, to the factory owners. Our little actions together, will make big changes. Sometimes it can feel hopeless and it can feel futile and it can feel very overwhelming, especially as a business owner to try to make those changes but in it's turn, it can also feel empowering.

I have been inspired by other people in my community to make bigger changes and more focused changes, so hopefully, we can keep inspiring each other and sharing ideas and good practices. I am not saying it is easy, it isn't and it can feel very challenging in a mental health kind of way, like an I'm turning into a crazy woman type of way and the worst thing is the guilt but we just have to keep thinking positively and thinking about what we can do and what we have done to make things better and that is why I have done a plastic audit in my business and my home.

Please let me know about the changes you have made and the solutions you have found to the plastic problem.

Thanks for reading. xx

Our Veganuary Journey.

I am really enjoying a group on Facebook, called Veganuary, it is the official Facebook Group for Veganuary itself. There are conversations, recipes and inspirations. In fact this blog post is taken, with just a few tweaks from an original post that I was inspired to write on that group, to try and help others on their journey understand that they don't have to be so harsh with themselves and they don't have to fall out with their friends and family over what they are doing. 

I admire Vegan people but didn't think I could ever be one but Veganuary has given me the opportunity to have a go with no pressure, just one meal at a time. I decided to write about my decision on my blog and whilst I was writing inadvertently ate some milk chocolate coins, without thinking about it, so I just started again.

I actually thought I would find it hard but I am finding it delightful and interesting. I am in a situation where my partner is a 100% meat eater, one of our sons is the same and our other son has chosen to be pescatarian.

We run a family business, which is a coffee and health food shop. Right from the beginning we decided that our business would be 100% vegetarian, as we wanted to embrace all members of our community and not let religious dietary laws get in the way of socialising and feeling comfortable, we also knew that this would be a greener option, less damaging to our environment.

We have some very special customers who are vegan and very non-judgemental. They are inspiring, rather than challenging and we have a very special relationship with them. They have had us over for supper and we have even had a film evening in our shop showing Cowspiracy, with them bringing in amazing Vegan food. I respect them and their life decision so much and somehow or other they manage to respect us, despite our eating habits. They are away at the moment, so I am not even sure if they know that I am doing Veganuary. I call them 'My Vegan Family' and I am sure if they knew that I was doing this they would feel proud and be very supportive.

I feel the need to let you know what my story is because everyone doing Veganuary is at different stages and I know some of us are struggling with negative comments from family and friends, some of us have a meat eating partner, some of us have a whole vegan family, some choose to eat locally produced honey, some of us are wearing leather shoes maybe but as we are all trying.

In my story there are major areas of conflict, I am in a coffee shop pouring out cow's milk, buying cows milk but all our cakes are vegan, most of the products on our shelves are vegan. My partner eats meat, I don't (I am pescatarian normally). How does this fit together? How is this logical? Well it isn't logical and it isn't perfect but I am doing the best I can in these circumstances. If I were to reprimand myself for every imperfection, I wouldn't get very far but if I am kind and gentle to myself and look at all the positives, the chances are that I will get there in the end. My vegan friends haven't preached to me and they haven't been aggressive with their views, they are as kind and as delightful to me as they are to all animals and that is why I look up to them so much and find them so inspirational.

What I am trying to say is that if you find that your partner doesn't support you, if your friends challenge you, if you are judging yourself harshly, please don't get grumpy and argumentative. Build bridges, not walls. Be patient, be kind, be understanding and remember your choice may make other people feel uncomfortable with themselves. You do NOT have to justify yourself, or have intellectual debates, just as you will not ask others to justify themselves and their choices. Please don't let others upset you. I know it is hard, just remember this is about having a peaceful and kind existence, not about getting ourselves all emotionally upset and arguing with our nearest and dearest. 

Sending love and goodluck to you, no matter where you are in your journey. Xxxx

Veganuary

Oh! I have just spontaneously signed up to this: VEGANUARY I am a pescatarian but I really admire the Vegan friends that I have made through our shop. They seem to me to be the most ethical of all the people that I know. When we first opened My Coffee Stop, nearly 8 years ago now, we made a commitment for everything to be 100% suitable for vegetarians. The reasoning behind it was inclusive eating and drinking, so that people could meet with their friends and all enjoy the same things without having to worry. A vegetarian diet leaps over many boundaries to eating communally that religious food laws may set up and we want people from all sorts of backgrounds and beliefs to enjoy coming together and we want to embrace people from all different backgrounds into our coffee shop community. We also had it in our minds that we wanted our business to make a positive contribution to our local and global community, so this meant being as green as we possibly could and eating meat and using animal products is just not good for the earth on any level.
Over the years, I have devised my own recipes for Vegan Cakes, Vegan Pizza and have a whole range of delicious Vegan hot drinks for people to enjoy and I am proud that just recently, we made the decision NOT to charge extra for using a plant milk, instead of cows' milk in a drink. That is a massive step forward for veganism, as logically why should we charge people extra for making an ethical choice, even when almond milk and the such like are more expensive to provide? Well, yes, looking at it on a business level, it's obvious we should charge more but taking a more holistic and worldly view, we shouldn't charge more for a decision that is a much better choice for the planet and for everyone. In fact, maybe we should be charging more for cows' milk maybe and putting people off it?

On a personal level, attempting to do Veganuary could be hard! I love eggs! I find them a really handy snack and surely, if they are unfertilised and the chickens are running free, then they are ok, aren't they? If you are going to comment on this blog post and correct my way of thinking, please be gentle, I am an animal too. I have just found out that I will be visiting my Mum and Dad next week, something to do with my extra work career, that I have just started recently, after having a break from the world of entertainment for a few years, whilst concentrating on our children and our coffee shop! Now, that is going to be full of pitfalls! I might have to bring along my own meals. What about protein, how do Vegans get their protein? I am scared of being hungry and then eating loads of sugary crap things. How do you prepare for that? On the other hand being Vegan and Gluten Free is easy isn't it? I mean, there's plants and vegetables and most dark chocolate is Vegan and Gluten Free! that should be ok then. Oh no! I have just glimpsed two gold coin wrappers on the side, I have just mindlessly put them into my mouth, whilst chatting to a customer and not even thinking about what I am doing, I have just EATEN MILK CHOCOLATE! NOT VEGAN and NOT GOOD! Ok, I am going to start again.....from NOW. Right NOW! I can see that doing Veganuary is going to be a FULL time occupation and I am going to have to be EXTREMELY mindful of what I am putting into my mouth, even more mindful than usual. I think that I am going to find this HARD! How about you? Will you join me on my journey?

Vegan Chocolate Cake topped with a Ginger and Chocolate Ganache.

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!

There's a price to pay, for free coffee!

As a coffee shop social entrepreneur, I realise the value of the freebie giveaway, as much as anyone, be they consumer or business owner. I've used the lure of a plain and simple free coffee promotion to introduce new customers to our business, to make sure they know of our existence, to let them experience the taste, atmosphere and service first hand. I used part of my marketing budget to pay for the free coffees that we gave out to promote ourselves and found it a very successful campaign. The free coffee is a great way to welcome new faces into your business. However the Waitrose scheme of giving out free coffee is finally resulting in a backlash and comments. I've held my tongue for a longtime about the free coffee offer from Waitrose, for fear of promoting it, however now that it has hit the national headlines, I'm confident that the comments I have to make can only do some good for communities across the UK.

A business based on giving away free coffee for months and months on end, devalues the product and is not sustainable. Waitrose get the money from somewhere to pay for that free coffee and sorry to say, if you shop there it's from you and if you work there, it's from your payout!

I have made the conscious decision not to shop at Waitrose or John Lewis anymore, I prefer to support local independent businesses any way, as they are the backbone of our economy but I have in the past shopped in Waitrose because I believed it was a business with high values and high ethics Every member of staff in Waitrose is a partner, each one of them is responsible for the decision to give out free coffees.

I suggest:
1/ If you work in Waitrose, campaign to change the benefits that are offered to customers.

2/If you love your local coffee shop, go there for coffee and DON'T shop at Waitrose!

3/ If you are an independent coffee shop owner, support your local shops and do not shop in Waitrose. Tell your staff, your friends and family to boycott Waitrose.

4/If you are the Mum, Dad, family, friend of an independent coffee shop owner, boycott Waitrose.

5/ If you work in an independent coffee shop, please don't shop in Waitrose or John Lewis, their free coffee shenanigans, might mean you don't have job!

Waitrose present themselves as an ethical company that support the community, you can see for yourself that they are destroying the infrastructure of the community.

If you care about consumer choice and variety, if you care about ethics, then please boycott Waitrose and John Lewis and any other associated business.

Whilst you have money to spend, you still have a choice, hit Waitrose where it hurts, their profits.

They say they give free coffee as a reward, only to shoppers who do a majority of their grocery shopping with them, this is a lie, get a MyWaitrose Card and claim your free coffee everyday, without spending a single penny.

In fact, I would encourage you to go to Waitrose every day, for your free coffee, don't buy anything. Drink the coffee, or pour it away, especially if it tastes nasty, then go to your local independent coffee shop, and get them to fill your cup with their almost certainly better tasting coffee, made with experience, love and care and breathe in the smell of feeling good, breathe in the delight of being able to say NO to Waitrose and having the choice and power as a consumer to make your views known about unethical business practices.

The power of the pound in your pocket is a wonderful thing!
And nothing can replace a great tasting cup of coffee.

I hope you will support me in my Mindful Shopper campaign and use your free cuppa to help your local independent coffee shop to thrive!

There's a price to pay for coffee and if Mark Price the head of Waitrose prefers to ignore that, then he will ultimately pay the price!

I wonder what John Lewis, the founder of Waitrose, who came from Shepton Mallet, where I now have my second shop, would think about all this.

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.