Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Melissa Hughes, owner of The Copper Bean Cafe, located in Bruce Mines, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
The Copper Bean is a small unique cafe that focuses on supporting local food producers, coffee roasters, and artisans. We have fabulous decor using treasures that we have repurposed. I feel like we are a society that disposes of things quickly, so we try to reuse as much as we can in our little cafe. Our customers are local supporters, ladies that lunch on their way to or from Forestland for local shopping, couples out for a drive for lunch in Bruce Mines, cyclists taking the cycling trail from SSM, and everyone from far and wide for our live music on Friday/Saturday/Sunday during the summer months on the patio.
Tell us about yourself
My first position was as a dishwasher at the Red Top Inn in Iron Bridge. I worked myself up through the chain from kitchen helper to manager through the years. I worked all around the world in the hospitality industry and later when back to college and university, getting a diploma and degree in business. I worked at Algoma University for many years as the First Generation Coordinator and really missed the restaurant lifestyle. I moved back to my hometown of Bruce Mines, found a niche market, and here I am today! I love to make people smile, love to see them enjoy a warm panini, my homemade soup, or our freshly roasted coffee. We joke that we put love in everything we make at the cafe!
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I often mention that if I can make it three years as a brand new business during COVID and all of the construction in Bruce Mines, I can do anything!
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The hardest thing is the external factors that are beyond my control, like I mentioned with COVID and construction. I just find new and innovative ways to bring people through the door, it keeps me on my toes, and my brain is always figuring out something new to try.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Make sure you write a Business Plan! Even if you never look at it again, it forces you to touch on every aspect in a realistic way. Location, location, location! Find a mentor in the business, either with business plan writing, opening a business, a cafe owner. Pick everyone's brain that you feel could offer you some advice.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Always be looking for that niche market. What is missing in that location that people are looking for but cannot access? It is hard work but so worth it when you can say, "I created this" It is not work when it is your passion!
Where can people find you and your business?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bmcopperbeancafe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/copperbeancafe/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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