My coffee business will be two years old in September, and as the month approaches I'm struck by the differences and similarities of my situation now compared with then. I had to stop writing at the beginning because I couldn't bear to share my misgivings, hopes and fears outside of myself.
Those first six months were a Herculean trial, I was standing in a desert of onlookers, who each day wondered if I would still be there the next day. Their remarks would burst out when they saw me.
"Oh you're still here then?"
"Can you afford to come here every day?"
"You didn't give up then?"
It was a test, as commuters walked by, and then eventually when I had a customer it was an instant pass or fail the test. Take the order, make the coffee, talk to customer, money, smile goodbye, next. I love how a customer today remarked my life is in blocks of 15minutes. No, less. Those few hours when I'm working stretch and contracted, and the rest of my life before and after was merely preparation for those few hours when I'm standing outside the station.
The first winter was the toughest, and I used to come home frozen and take hot baths to defrost. No one can know the hard way I came to learn how to dress to work outside. The second winter was better, but I still couldn't find the right clothes, and I've decided to buy some dress patterns and material to make my own winter clothes for the third winter.
I love my faithful and loyal customers. They are dear to me as they have been along this journey, and if I can find ways to repay their trust and the hope they pass to me, I will.
I have tried to listen to others, only the good ones, and I have built an armor against the negativity. I managed to pass the first test, to survive beyond the first 18months, but now growth is bringing it's own set of challenges. I have got momentum, and if I can't keep up with it, I risk falling down. And if I fall down now the cost will be greater then if I had fallen down at the beginning.
Those first six months were a Herculean trial, I was standing in a desert of onlookers, who each day wondered if I would still be there the next day. Their remarks would burst out when they saw me.
"Oh you're still here then?"
"Can you afford to come here every day?"
"You didn't give up then?"
It was a test, as commuters walked by, and then eventually when I had a customer it was an instant pass or fail the test. Take the order, make the coffee, talk to customer, money, smile goodbye, next. I love how a customer today remarked my life is in blocks of 15minutes. No, less. Those few hours when I'm working stretch and contracted, and the rest of my life before and after was merely preparation for those few hours when I'm standing outside the station.
The first winter was the toughest, and I used to come home frozen and take hot baths to defrost. No one can know the hard way I came to learn how to dress to work outside. The second winter was better, but I still couldn't find the right clothes, and I've decided to buy some dress patterns and material to make my own winter clothes for the third winter.
I love my faithful and loyal customers. They are dear to me as they have been along this journey, and if I can find ways to repay their trust and the hope they pass to me, I will.
I have tried to listen to others, only the good ones, and I have built an armor against the negativity. I managed to pass the first test, to survive beyond the first 18months, but now growth is bringing it's own set of challenges. I have got momentum, and if I can't keep up with it, I risk falling down. And if I fall down now the cost will be greater then if I had fallen down at the beginning.
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