Coffee shop stories of people who learn from lessons

She came to the cafe to learn from me. She is a friend of a friend. Soon after giving birth, she wanted to do something easy, fun, profitable and able to take care of the children. Because she loved baking and learned some ways to make coffee, she thought of opening a small specialty cafe.

She came before two o'clock in the afternoon because she had to get home for breast-feeding at four o'clock. "I don't want to go to work from nine to five anymore. I want to be free so that I can accompany my children to grow up. Of course, I still have to make money, even if women have to make money." She spoke straight to the point at the pace of an interview with a big company.

"something leisurely but self-worth can be realized", her description of the cafe cause me to have an overrated sense of fear.

From the cost of opening a store to the location, operation, and matters needing attention, she asked very carefully, and I naturally talked endlessly. The biggest difference between a cafe and any other business is that it has few trade secrets, and even mistakes that are easy to make can be avoided or even corrected in the process with a little care. If there is any core secret or core competitiveness in a small cafe, it is by no means purely commercial, but more inclined to the unique spiritual connotation and a certain way of life created by the shopkeeper. The characteristic cafes hiding in the depths of the streets all attract like-minded people with their special taste, prompting them to cross the streets, ignoring the high-end Starbucks and COSTA of the commercial street. Find a quiet shop, push the door and encounter what they think they can encounter.

Even if all this is told to others, it is impossible to copy and copy it completely.

"how much money do you make in this store every month?" Finally, she threw out a question that embarrassed me. Although she kept glancing at the store door, watching every passer-by and checking the eyes of every guest eating on the table, I already knew that other conversations were laying the groundwork for this issue.

"how much money will you be satisfied with?" I asked, and she said, of course, the more the better.

"if it's just to make money, cafes may be the least cost-effective option."

With a look of disappointment on her face, she struggled to say a word, but at least it was more leisurely.

"it depends on whether you need money or leisure. At the very least, you must recognize that leisure itself is an expression of self-worth."

She fell silent. Looking around, I suddenly felt that after sitting for so long, it was inappropriate to drink only free lemonade. I asked the waiter to bring the menu and order a cup of coffee.

Then we talked about the flowers in the yard, my own unique taste of rose tea, my writing, my book, etc., and finally, when she finished her coffee, the gossip of coffee time came to an end, and she quickly got to the point again.

"I took a look. A lot of people here order a cup of coffee and sit all afternoon, and they don't feel like a crowd. If it were me, they would be worried to death. I am a person who doesn't have sense of security. " I looked at her with a smile, glad that the conversation this afternoon did not help to advance her business plan.

I almost always pour cold water on everyone who comes to learn lessons, because people who can really open a dream cafe usually don't learn from anyone. They just keep tracing their dreams and thinking carefully in their hearts until the baby is full-term and give birth naturally. This is a process from love to practice, a process of developing interests to full-time, a process of choosing a state of mind and way of life, rather than a grand business plan.