I Want to Bake Free

A Tea Room is Brewing

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:19:00 +0000

Introducing '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Tea Rooms'

Bute Park is in amazing hands

You may say that I am biased as I am soon to directly benefit from the restoration of this stunning historic park land with the chance to turn my dream into a living reality. I hope that if you have gleaned anything from this blog it is that I am honest and open.

I have found all those connected with Bute Park, both working there daily and assisting in the careful and considered restoration, to be professional, passionate, intelligent, considered, leaders and doers. You will not find people more concerned with the welfare of the park itself, for the benefit of the users now and for those of the future. This is not some faceless bureaucracy, but a live and exciting family who have gone over and above their work remit donating hours upon hours of their own time to breathe life into community projects they help create and believe in.

If you have been to the Park recently hopefully you will have experienced this yourself too, if not Spring is a perfect time to visit and you should definitely go and see the new Education Centre!

I turned to this family for inspiration for a name to bestow on this new use for an historic building opening its doors for the first time to the public. My own ideas along with those from the custodians of the Park have been at the forefront of my mind for weeks.

Giving Birth

I have heard that deciding a name for your child can be difficult.
Do you wait until after the birth, look at your child, live with it, try and understand its personality?
Do you even know someone who was born without a name?

I believe that the greatest compliment for naming may be to inherit a family name or to bestow a title upon the next generation that has great personal resonance. With this in mind a wonderful name soon came to mind along with a superb opportunity to inform and educate today's park visitors about its history.

The Pettigrew Family

Many people know the Title of 'Marquess of Bute' and many people know the famous architect of Cardiff Castle, William Burges, but arguably less popularly well known for his contribution to Bute Park is Mr Andrew Pettigrew.

Andrew Pettigrew and his three sons William Wallace (‘WW'), Hugh and Andrew Alexander (‘AA') all contributed to a legacy of public owned gardens and parkland in Cardiff that is second to none in the UK.

Andrew Pettigrew (1833-1903) was Head Gardener to the Marquess of Bute at Cardiff Castle between 1873 and 1903. Originally from Ayrshire, he and his family moved to Cardiff from Dumfries House in Ayr, another Bute property, to work with the Third Marquess of Bute and William Burges on the layout of the Castle Grounds at Cardiff (re-named Bute Park in 1947 when it was gifted to the city along with the Castle and Sophia Gardens by the fifth Marquess of Bute).

The Marquess, who also came from Scotland, made all his money by sending coal and iron from the South Wales Valleys all around the world. What we now know as Cardiff was then a collection of small villages before the Marquess created a busy port, where hundreds of ships sailed every day. Cardiff became the largest coal exporting port in the world.

Many people came to live in Cardiff and it soon became a large city, but many of them lived in crowded houses with poor facilities and no gardens or space to relax and play in. The city needed parks and gardens.

So the Marquess and other Cardiff landowners gave land to the people of the city, so that they could have pleasant places to walk, to sit and listen to bands playing, to play or to watch sport such as bowls and cricket.

Introducing 'Pettigrew Tea Rooms'

In homage to his superb work in developing Bute Park into the recognisable space that thousands of visitors enjoy today, I feel it is appropriate to commemorate Mr Andrew Pettigrew's work by naming this business 'Pettigrew Tea Rooms'. I am passionate about sharing the history of this man, his family and the lasting legacy of their work with new and future generations visiting Bute Park and Arboretum.

Now for your say...

I have maintained from the start of this project that you would be involved. I value your thoughts and opinions. So now I turn over to you lovely people one of the biggest decisions I face. This is a traditional Tea Rooms and the Logo will be in pride of place on the menus, website and throughout. Please make your choice wisely.

Option a.)

Option B.)

Option C.)

Place Your Vote...

<a href="http://www.sodahead.com/fun/which-is-your-favourite-pettigrew-tea-rooms-logo/question-2474389/" title="Which is your favourite Pettigrew Tea Rooms Logo?">Which is your favourite Pettigrew Tea Rooms Logo?</a>

Public Opinion Poll Results

P.s. constructive criticism is great and always welcome, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then come and sit next to me.

Pettigrew Tea Rooms - Bi-Lingual Website Under Construction Coming Soon

Thank you. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates and maybe maybe maybe a competition some time soon...

David

Without Prejudice & Subject to Contract

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:30:00 +0000

I ONLY WENT AND GOT IT

So all the waiting is over and the hardest part of starting my Tea Rooms business so far is concluded. I am proud, delighted, elated, humbled and jubilant as I tell you that I have been successful in my tender for the operation of a Tea Rooms as part of the West Lodge redevelopment within Bute Park in Cardiff City Centre. If you are unfamiliar with the building please read my introduction HERE.

Here is a snippet from the first ever post that I made to 'I Want to Bake Free'

Dreams and Talents - taken from 'Somewhere in the Middle Part One' 25th July 2010
"Really cool dreams, the ones that make your heart feel light, chest tight and pulse race are great for weekends and holidays. My dreams are simple, making, baking, creating. I am surrounded by talent, beautiful inspiring talent that over the past two years has made our home and made my life. It takes a holiday usually to step out of the one track work mind and explore your dreams. My dream is for a Tea Room, that sells good tea and home made perfect cakes. My dream is to make drift wood art works and learn other artistic skills. My dream is to grow a garden of ingredients for use in my business. My dream is to support my family and spend time together doing the things we love."

The really really cool thing, aside from making it this far, is that the dream is not over. This has been a long introduction and I am so humbled by the interest and support that you have all shown me, but there is more to come; a lot more. Most excitingly we now have a place in reality outside of this blog to meet and you can truly become part of this project.

So today's post covers the following;

1.) Working timeline*
2.) Where I will ask for your help
3.) A COMPETITION
4.) Where this blog goes next
*this is my working timeline which almost certainly will change, but I will do my best to stick to it!

1.) Working Timeline
The building work on the West Lodge is due to finish in the first week of March 2012. I am aiming to get on-site and fit out the Tea Rooms to my exacting standards from around this time.

If all goes well I will spend the next 14 days lovingly decorating, cleaning and laying out systems for how the business will operate.

I am aiming to train up my new team mid March, with a view to opening the doors to trade around the end of March beginning of April. I will keep you updated and no doubt make a lot of noise about opening nearer the time.

So you will need to get telling every single person you know, in work, at school, in the hairdressers, everywhere that the new place to be is the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Tea Rooms at the West Lodge.

2.) Your Help
Logo - As you are all so fabulous and opinionated I have decided to put the choice of the final logo design to you. I am finalising the name of the Tea Rooms business at the moment and will be asking for your help in the next week or two.

Recruitment - The time has come to find the very best waiting staff who want to work in a challenging but rewarding quality catering outlet. A passion for tea, coffee, cake, service and the beauty and history of Bute Park will be preferred. If this is you or someone you know then drop me a line, david@victoria-rooms.co.uk various positions will be available from full to part time.

Takeaway - I have an amazing Welsh coffee supplier lined up who roasts coffee in South Wales to order. So all of you folks who wander past the West Lodge/Castle Street in the morning need to divert and pick up your morning coffee from me. I will be doing some opening promotions and will of course reward loyalty! Takeaways coffee will be served from opening in the morning until around 09:30am. More details and exact times to follow... BUY LOCAL!

3.) A Competition
I am finalising the details of a FABULOUS competition in conjunction with a brilliant local Cardiff business. The full details will be up on the blog this weekend or early next week so come back and check it out. The more times you enter the more chances you have to win and will you be supporting me and them, you have nothing to lose.

4.) The Future
I hope that this post has shown you that there is a lot further to go in this journey. I still want to bake free, having the venue is only the first piece of the puzzle. Anyone who knows small businesses knows that the first 6 to 12 months are crucial. Now I will need your support more than ever, I will try to give you the very best quality experience I can, so please come and be part of it and join in online here. This story is just starting to get interesting...

David

Now share this post if you will, using Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or just old fashioned talking to humans in real life. Thank you.

Introducing the West Lodge

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:31:00 +0000

VENUE ANNOUNCEMENT

The day has finally arrived after what seems like an age. Today I get to share with you the venue that I have been working on securing to make my tea room dreams come true. I should find out in the next few weeks if I have been successful in my tender submission and I will share that with you as soon as I can.

Bute Park is located in the heart of Cardiff's City Centre. The West Lodge is the main gateway from Castle Street into the Park, located opposite the Holiday Inn Hotel Cardiff. This is a stunning building completed in 1863 by the architect Alexander Roos.

Bute Park is currently undergoing a £5.6 million restoration project, supported by a £3.1 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). This will restore some important historic features, provide new facilities and help tell the story of Bute Park.

Construction work began on the 1st of November 2011 to transform The West Lodge into a gift shop, a tea room and an art gallery. Read more about the West Lodge and the HLF Bute Park Restoration Project HERE

The Future
I hope to hear in the coming weeks whether I have been successful in my application. If I am then I will be hoping to open the tea rooms in late March 2012 or early April.

Over the coming weeks there will be a lot to do! Join me in my adventure. If you are new to my adventure then check out this handy blog post to bring you right up to date HERE.

Did you guess this venue? Do you know Cardiff and recognise The West Lodge?

High Time for High Tea

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:17:00 +0000

On my epic adventure to open a Tea Room in Cardiff, I have spent some time looking at the origins of High Tea. By understanding what it has been and where it originated, I can decide what I want to serve. My intention is to preserve and revive, but who knows I may end up re-inventing High Tea for the future.

Points About This Post

If you disagree with any of the following account, let me know in the comments.

I realise History isn't every ones cup of tea (sorry).

If it isn't yours hit the '[SKIP]' button below to get right into my Essential Tea Etiquette Tips

What is High Tea?

High Tea is often a misnomer. Most people refer to afternoon tea as high tea because they think it sounds rather regal and lofty. High tea, or "meat tea", originally referred to the meal we call dinner. Afternoon tea was known as "low tea" because it was usually taken in a sitting room or withdrawing room where low tables were placed near sofas or chairs. So we know High Tea as what was originally Afternoon Tea. There are three basic types of Afternoon:

Cream Tea - Tea, scones, jam and cream
Light Tea - Tea, scones and sweets
Full Tea - Tea, savories, scones, sweets and dessert

The traditional time for tea was four or five o'clock and no one stayed after seven o'clock. The menu has also changed from tea, bread, butter and cakes, to include three particular courses served specifically in this order:

Savouries - Small sliced sandwiches
Scones - Served with jam and clotted cream
Pastries - Cakes, cookies and shortbreads

A Brief History of High Tea [SKIP]

Prior to the introduction of tea into Britain, we enjoyed two main meals a day, breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was ale, bread, and beef. During the middle of the eighteenth century, dinner for the upper and middle classes had shifted from noontime to an evening meal that was served at a fashionable late hour. Dinner was a long meal at the end of the day.

17th Century

1600 - Queen Elizabeth l (1533-1603) granted permission for the charter of the British East India Company (1600-1858), also known as the John Company, on December 31, 1600 to establish trade routes, ports, and trading relationships with the Far East, Southeast Asia, and India Trade in spices was its original focus, but later traded in cottons, silks, indigo, saltpeter, and tea. Due to political and other factors, the tea trade didn’t begin until the late 1670s.

1662 - King Charles II (1630-1685) while in exile, married the Portuguese Infanta Catherine de Braganza (1638–1705). Catherine's dowry was the largest ever registered in world history. Portugal gave to England two million golden crusados, Tangier and Morocco in North Africa, Bombay in India, and also permission for the British to use all the ports in the Portuguese colonies in Africa, Asia and the Americas thus giving England their first direct trading rights to tea.

As Charles had grown up in the Dutch capital, both he and his Portuguese bride were confirmed tea drinkers. When the monarchy was re-established, they brought this foreign tea tradition to England with them. Her influence made tea more popular amongst the wealthier classes of society. Soon tea mania spread swept across England, and it became the beverage of choice in English high society, replacing ale as the national drink.

18th Century

By 1700, tea was on sale by more than 500 coffee houses in London. Tea drinking became even more popular when Queen Anne (1665–1714) chose tea over ale as her regular breakfast drink.

During the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the Victorian Period, working families would return home tired and exhausted. The table would be set with any manner of meats, bread, butter, pickles, cheese and of course tea. None of the dainty finger sandwiches, scones and pastries of afternoon tea would have been on the menu.

19th Century

According to legend, one of Queen Victoria's (1819-1901) ladies-in-waiting, Anna Maria Stanhope (1783-1857), known as the Duchess of Bedford, is credited as the creator of afternoon teatime. Because the noon meal had become skimpier, the Duchess suffered from "a sinking feeling" at about four o'clock in the afternoon. Who doesn't?

At first the Duchess had her servants sneak her a pot of tea and a few breadstuffs. Adopting the European tea service format, she invited friends to join her for an additional afternoon meal at five o'clock in her rooms at Belvoir Castle. The menu centered around small cakes, bread and butter sandwiches, assorted sweets, and, of course, tea. This summer practice proved so popular, the Duchess continued it when she returned to London, sending cards to her friends asking them to join her for "tea and a walking the fields." The practice of inviting friends to come for tea in the afternoon was quickly picked up by other social hostesses.

Essential Tea Etiquette Tips

Holding a Tea Cup:

In order for one not to spill the hot liquid onto oneself, the proper way to hold the vessel of a cup with no handle is to place one’s thumb at the six o'clock position and one’s index and middle fingers at the twelve o'clock position, while gently raising one’s pinkie up for balance.
Tea cups with a handle are held by placing one’s fingers to the front and back of the handle with one’s pinkie up again allows balance. Never wave or hold your tea cup in the air. When not in use, place the tea cup back in the tea saucer.

If you are at a buffet tea hold the tea saucer in your lap with your left hand and hold the tea cup in your right hand. When not in use, place the tea cup back in the tea saucer and hold in your lap. The only time a saucer is raised together with the teacup is when one is at a standing reception.

Pinkies Up:

Originally, all porcelain teacups were made in China, starting around 620 A.D. These small cups had no handles. Pinkie up does not mean straight up in the air, but slightly tilted. It is not an affectation, but a graceful way to avoid spills. Never loop your fingers through the handle, nor grasp the vessel bowl with the palm of your hand. Ghastly.

Teaspoons:

Do not stir your tea, with your teaspoon, in sweeping circular motions. Place your tea spoon at the six o'clock position and softly fold the liquid towards the twelve o'clock position two or three times. Either place the used teaspoon on the side of another plate or ask the server or hostess to remove the spoon from the table. Never leave the spoon in the tea cup, especially when actually drinking your tea.

Serving Tea:

Tea is served with milk, not cream. Cream is too heavy and masks the taste of the tea. Although some pour their milk in the cup first, it is probably better to pour the milk in the tea after it is in the cup in order to get the correct amount. Remove the tea bag from the cup and place it on a side saucer or in a slop bowl. Never squeeze the tea bag.

When serving lemon with tea, lemon slices are preferable, not wedges. Either provide a small fork or lemon fork for your guests, or have the tea server neatly place a slice in the tea cup after the tea has been poured. Be sure never to add lemon with milk as the lemon's citric acid will cause the proteins in the milk to curdle. Ghastly.

Drinking Tea:

Finally, do not use your tea to wash down food. Sip, don’t slurp your tea and please swallow before eating.

A Tea Room without a room is just tea. I must continue to tease you a little longer, venue news will be coming very soon...

Stay tuned and keep the faith.

Much love

David

P.s. you can now follow me on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/iwanttobakefree/

A Tearoom Without Cake...

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:55:00 +0000

...is like a year without Summer

December 2011

This is my farewell to 2011. I am sure you will be relieved to hear that this is not a sentimental round up of the year that's been. Instead I am striking at the very heart of any good Tea Room and talking today about Cake.

Cake Dreams

I am opening a tea room next year in Cardiff, South Wales. This is now a statement of fact. Whether it be in one venue or another remains to be seen [venue news FINALLY coming around January 14th 2012].

My earliest memories of a traditional British Tea Room begin and end with the cakes, bakes and delicious home makes. In our World where we now try to move away from excess and live within our means, this may upset you. If you feel so inclined please now imagine that I am a Bootmaker and my trade means a fantastic shop window filled with every kind of ~~mouthwatering~~ shoe you can imagine.

The Dark Arts - Cake-Craft

There is a magic to creating something that not everyone can do. I meet two kinds of people in this World; those who say they can bake and those who are adamant that they cannot. It is us in the baking fraternity with our private language of genoise, folding and multiple spelling of Macaron that are perceived as magicians to the Muggles.

Baking is an art, a science an evolved and evolving tradition. From simple to ornate, visually pleasing or a bit rough round the edges the output is the same. That is a consumable experience to excite the Human senses made by hand with passion, knowledge and importantly with love. Well gosh, there it is, that last sentence sums up my feelings on cake and hopefully expresses to you what I mean when I say that the art of quality home baking will be at the very heart of my Cardiff Tea Room.

A Little Announcement

If you live in South Wales, have nodded your headed while reading the above and are interested in a baking adventure like the one I have described, drop me a line HERE. I will be looking to take on a baker to help us create our wonderful home bakes and will be auditioning in January/February 2012. If you know of someone who may be interested then send them this blog post and ask them to get in touch with me.

So, I leave with you for 2011 with some Cake Quotes

Please give your favourite a little Tweet if you are so inclined...

A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece.

Ludwig Erhard - via @want2bakefree

A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.

Benjamin Franklin - via @want2bakefree

A lot of movies are about life, mine are like a slice of cake.

Alfred Hitchcock - via @want2bakefree

A page of my journal is like a cake of portable soup. A little may be diffused into a considerable portion.

James Boswell - via @want2bakefree

All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.

George Harrison - via @want2bakefree

Always give them the old fire, even when you feel like a squashed cake.

Ethel Merman - via @want2bakefree

Merry Christmas and a very very Happy 2012

to you and your loved ones

David x

Tea Room Adventures - Picture Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:44:00 +0000

December 2011

This is a live web gallery of tea room related pictures. Enjoy!

Introducing the Clandestine Cake Club - Cardiff

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:56:00 +0000

December 2011

Cardiff – Cake without the sin

Date and time: 19th January 2012 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Location: Canton area of Cardiff
Theme: Cake without the Sin

Theme

New Years Resolutions – Cake

Without the Sin (or at least less!)

Date

Thursday 19th January 2012

7:30pm – 9:30pm

only 28 Spaces Available

Lift your spirits this January with the official launch of the Cardiff Chapter of the Clandestine Cake Club. For our first theme we’re picking cakes without (or at least less) of the sin. So get researching or bring along your tried and tested recipes that help you shift the Christmas pounds but still indulge your love of baking.

Venue

We will be meeting in the Canton area of Cardiff at a brilliant location with free parking! and a great social atmosphere. More details of our clandestine location will come nearer the time… Tea & Coffee will be provided for you to enjoy while tasting all the cakes and sharing tips with other home bakers. The total cost for the evening is just £5 per person, to be paid on the day, don’t forget you get to take cake home, so bring Tupperware!

Book a place

If you as a baker/and a non baking guest want to attend this event, please complete the contact form below with an indication of the cake you will bake.
Allow 24 hrs for confirmation of your booking. Your place/places are not guaranteed until you receive this email.
Points to remember. Each cake must be large enough to slice into around 8 – 12 good slices. Sorry, but No cupcakes, Muffins, Brownies, Cookies, Pies or Tarts.
Home-bakers and professional bakers can join in. It’s not a competition, no judging, just a lot of fun. And you get to take cake home!
Read what Clandestine Cake Club is all about and have a mosey on over at the disclaimer page before you book. Then register as a member and it will be even more fun.

Remember
It’s all about Cake

if you know someone who's interested then share this with them

places are limited

To book your place click HERE
ONLY 2 SPACES LEFT BOOK NOW
I WILL BE OPERATING A WAITLIST IF YOU MISS OUT

COMPETITION TIME - Now Closed

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:30:00 +0000

Win BOTH Great British Bake Off cookbooks

Series 1 [2010]

and

Series 2 [2011]

Plus EVERY entrant gets a prize

READ MORE...

I can exclusively reveal that I have a stand at the Fabulous
Cardiff Chapter Arts Centre 'Festive Food Fair 2011' on
Saturday 10th December 2011 @chaptertweets

with all profits from sales on our stand going to the charity LATCH.

I Want to Bake Free will be selling cakes, bakes and gifts, putting a festive twist on some old tea room favourites!

Not to mention meeting all of you in the flesh, come say hi!

Read on for the event details...

What you can expect... to munch on the day

Mini Festive Victoria Sandwiches - mouth sized tasty treats

Mini Christmas Fruit Scones - stuffed with jam and Welsh clotted cream

What you can expect... to take away and munch

Celtic Yellow Man - A bag of traditional honeycomb from a secret Celtic recipe

Christmas Peppermint Creams - A little bag of Christmas

Mini-Mug Gingerbread Houses - Let this little festive house warm over your coffee or cocoa

(the perfect treat on a wintry night)

What you can expect... to buy your loved ones for Christmas

Aprons - extremely limited edition 'I Want to Bake Free' aprons.

Teatowels - not quite so rare but still the envy of all your friends...

Cotton Bags - save yourself all those 5p's and invest in an 'I Want to Bake Free' shopping bag

Badges and Stickers - show your support for my dream to open a traditional tearoom in Cardiff

COMPETITION

YOU CAN WIN... all you have to do is enter anytime on

Saturday 10th December 2011

TOP PRIZE A Copy of the Great British Bake Off Series 1 and Series 2 Cook books

along with an exclusive 'I Want to Bake Free' apron, teatowel, cotton bag and pin badge!

3 Ways to Enter: (TIP: Increase your chances by trying each one)

IN PERSON

Visit my stand

Leave your email address

AND

ON TWITTER

Follow @want2bakefree and @urlastmouthful

Tweet "I Want to Bake Free! so do you? Follow @want2bakefree & RT"

AND

ON FACEBOOK

Like me on Facebook http://facebook.com/iwanttobakefree

Share my COMMENT, which will appear at 8am on

Saturday 10th December, to your page

The Winner:
I will be writing down everyone's names and putting them into a hat to be drawn on Sunday 11th December by an independent adjudicator. The winner will be notified on Twitter/Facebook/Email on Sunday 11th Dec. the prizes will be posted out on Monday 12th Dec by Parcelforce 48 hours so should arrive by Wednesday 14th Dec (Well in time for Christmas).

Runners Up:
The top 5 runners up will get an EXCLUSIVE & SIGNED 'I Want to Bake Free' Teatowel posted to them

Everyone Else:
If you enter you will get one 'I Want to Bake Free' sticker! As I am raising money for charity (and trying to save money to set up a tea room) all I ask is that you send me a SAE [Stamped Addressed Envelope] I will DM you my address on or around Saturday 10th Dec.

Event Details
Date: Saturday 10th December 2011
Time: 11am until 6pm (get there early to avoid disappointment)
Location: Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff
Website: CLICK HERE

View Larger Map

Your One Stop Catch Up Shop

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 09:35:00 +0000

November 2011

I have been writing 'I Want to Bake Free' since June 2010. Some of you are new to the story and many of you have been following since the early days; either way thanks for taking part.

This post is a quick guide to everything that has happened so far for to bring you up to speed. I have taken the introduction to each post so that you can decide for yourself if you are interested in that part of the tale.

Ideally you should be able to read this one post and have an idea on the story so far...

Contents:
1. An Introduction
2. An Apology
3. How I Source Things
4. Business in Focus Business Support
5. Writing my Business Plan
6. Projects
7. Leasing a Commercial Property
8. Loving & Losing a Property
9. Learning About Coffee
10. What Makes a Great Tearoom
11. Finding a Fabulous Secret Venue
12. Videos of our Baking
13. My Personal Re-cap of the Story so Far
14. Why I Loved the Great British Bake Off
15. My Ethics My Passion
16. The Results of My Poll
17. My first Radio Interview
18. Finding a Coffee Supplier
19. Finding a Tea Supplier
20. A Great Radio Interview with Jamie Owen

1. An Introduction
Sunday, 25 July 2010 Somewhere in the Middle - Part One
Like all stories you have an introduction, conflict and resolution. This is a simple story being written in real time. Today is the introduction, to come is the conflict and fingers crossed for the rest...

For my sanity and yours, here are some intro facts; last time I wrote any kind of story was over 12 years ago, I have done no research into writing methods. This will be spell checked, read once then published so if you spot any SPAG errors turn your rage inwards and keep it. For my part I will keep to short sharp points (where possible) to keep it brief and punchy, with at least weekly updates. This is an open forum so comment away I won't edit you if you don't edit me!
Read More...

2. An Apology
Thursday, 14 April 2011 To a Mouse ... about that weekly update ...
For the more observant of you, my last post was 263 days ago.

I certainly remember feeling, as I was composing my introduction to this story, that it was something best communicated live as a weekly Blog and despite the effort involved that this was indeed an interesting enough life gamble which merited documentation in my own bungling, bumbling, this, that and the other way.

I did not however write my story weekly. Looking back I can not think of an excuse although I do have an explanation for why I missed the first week. Upon finishing the introduction and hitting PUBLISH POST, I realised that in telling you what I was going to do I also risked telling my employer my plans before time. After flamboyantly venting my intentions in a blog I had a vision of my story going a bit too public a bit too quickly. It was then very easy to not write, with the thought in the back of my thinking space *blog? yes very important, must prioritise this, no wait, time not right, besides time better spent writing business plan/eating/sleeping/distracted ooh a pretty flower*. Missing week 2 meant missing week 3 and I could go on, but promised not to, you get the picture?
Read More...

3. How I Source Things
Thursday, 14 April 2011 Procurement Fun - 1. The Welsh Dresser
This little beauty came courtesy of Anthemion Auctions of Cardiff who provide a rather fantastic general auction on every 1st Wednesday of the month. This is a traditional Welsh Dresser. There are two things I was determined to have in my tea room which I was prepared to splash out on. A beautiful Oak Welsh Dresser was one and now I own it.
Read More...

4. Business in Focus Business Support
Saturday, 16 April 2011 Captain Janeway Lives in Wales
I realise that a blessay about Star Trek is likely enough to make one half of you beam with joy while the other half leap to force close your browser. This is about my story and nothing to do with increasing power to the pattern buffer, inverting your tachyon beam through the deflector array or ejecting the warp core.

This is not a picture of Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Intrepid-class USS Voyager. The devout amongst you will know that this is a photo from the filming of the pilot episode of Voyager featuring the actress who got the gig before Kate Mulgrew made the role her own and that this character played by the French Canadian actress Genevieve Bujold was named Captain Nicole Janeway. Luckily for the series she walked out after day one of filming.

16 years later I took it as a sign of divine providence that my newly assigned Welsh Assembly Government business adviser is named Jane and that this Jane married a gentleman named Way.
Read More...

5. Writing my Business Plan
Monday, 18 April 2011 How to Right a Business Plan Wrong - 10 Top Tips
For the regulars visiting this blog you will know that I am in the process of setting up a traditional tea room business in Cardiff, South Wales, that celebrates home made, fair trade, fabulous cake, coffee and loose leaf teas. I started this mission in June last year (2010) and am focussing the next few weeks on bringing you up to date on the story so far as I build up to open at the end of 2011.

August - October 2010

Anyone can start a business, you see that happening every day. I notice usually when I think that someone is doing a bad job of running a business particularly bad tea rooms, café's and coffee shops. When you sit down to a sticky table, or get told to clear your own tray, or people there to provide a service to you are plain rude, I just think how do you people make any money? I could do that better! Have you ever had the same thought?
Read More...

6. Projects
Tuesday, 19 April 2011 Procurement Fun 2. Pretty Tables
I have two main methods of acquiring furniture for my tea room at the moment. As I have the luxury of time and a spare room to cram full of goodies, I am trawling two main sites;

1. Free Cycle - Cardiff
2. Gumtree

Each of these sites have their pro's and cons but used together they can be a powerful tool for finding the greatest bargains on Earth! I will be giving my top tips to navigating such free ad sites at a later date. This occasional table came to me from Free Cycle - Cardiff. Yes someone was chucking this out...
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7. Leasing a Commercial Property
Sunday, 1 May 2011 How to Find and Lease the Perfect Commercial Property - 10 Top Tips
Yes this is one of the most exciting titles for any Blog post. I toyed with punning my way into this subject, but it is just too important to make the subject line any more exciting. I shall endeavour to make the content a little more interesting than the title!

Just Looking I am Not Buying

I have been looking for a commercial property to lease in South Wales of the UK for the past ten months, to become the perfect home for my Tea Room Business. The writing of my business plan was one of the first steps in creating my venue requirement brief. You probably have a pre-conception in your head for what a traditional tea room looks like. I am coming at this from a different angle, I can picture several types of buildings that may suit, but actually it is the content and subsequent functionality that helps me stay open minded to a venue. Jane Way advised me that it may easily take over a year to find a venue, when we met in July 2010 and here I am ten months on with no signed lease agreement. It may be very easy to find the venue you want, but the majority of small business' rely to a crucial extent on finding a venue that is actually quite unique. To me it feels like finding a needle in a haystack.
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8. Loving and Losing a Property
Sunday, 8 May 2011 Diary Excerpt – The Birth and Death of the Old Coach House Tea Rooms
27th August 2010 – Business in Focus Advice
“Today I met with Jane Way at her offices in Cardiff Bay. Amongst several of the things that we discussed were how to go about finding the perfect venue for my new business. I have quite a specific idea in my head for what sort of shop I want for my tea room, this is based on good places I have been to in the past and also what shops I think are in Cardiff in areas that I think will work. For my first tea room and indeed my first business, I have decided to rent a property to minimise the risk involved and also keep my start up costs down. I figure that a good street facing unit on a busy shopping street area is the way to go. With this in mind I am targeting Wellfield Road, Albany Road, Roath, Pontcanna, Penarth, Whitchurch Village, Llandaff Village, Cyn Coed and Cardiff City Centre to start with. I will need A3 planning consent to operate my tea room, however getting this kind of planning consent where it does not already exist is really tough. It turns out that in the recent past Cardiff has been very free with handing out A3 consent, so takeaway outlets and restaurants have popped up all over the city. As a result Cardiff has now developed the opposite attitude and won’t hand out A3 easily. Scarily Jane also pointed out that it could take over a year to find a venue, she has had some clients where it has taken several years to find the right place…”
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9. Learning About Coffee
Wednesday, 17 August 2011 How Starbucks make the Bigbucks
This post is about working for Starbucks, judging them, learning to love coffee and working out to what extent I need coffee to have a successful tea room business in 2011/12. Here is the next instalment in my journey.

The chances are that you are reading this segment of my tea room journey, while drinking a lovely hot beverage. I can confidently make this statement because 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day and with the Worlds population currently estimated at 6.94 billion, that's a lot of coffee!*. As I haven't drunk my quota for the past decade and quite a few people on the globe don't own kettles I feel quite confident that you people out there must be guzzling coffee all day.
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10. What Makes a Great Tearoom
Tuesday, 6 September 2011 AAA Business Rating -‘A’ View, ‘A’ Brew & ‘A’ Loo
This blog post is rather exciting for me as it finally brings you up to date with where my tea room plans are at right now! From writing my first entry well over a year ago it has taken me this long to fill you in on the trials and tribulations of the past 18 months. I am now inching closer to achieving my dream and this blog paves the way for the radical news that I may have found the venue of my dreams.
This is bittersweet news for you as I need to remain rather cryptic about the details, but read on and in the coming weeks I promise it will become clear.
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11. Finding a Fabulous Secret Venue
Tuesday, 13 September 2011 Bring Back Don't Ask Don't Tell
Project X - Venue 2012
Welcome to all my new readers as well as you regulars. After last weeks lightning bolt revelation that I may have found a venue for my tea room, which is available in Spring 2012, I feel it is only fair to give you some background. I will intentionally remain cryptic because this venue is SO very good I cannot risk someone else swooping in and gazumping me. When I reveal all on the 1st December take a look back through these words and reminisce but for now as long as you don't ask I won't be tempted to tell all. On with the story...
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12. Videos of our Baking
Sunday, 18 September 2011 Bake the Menu - Video Blog
Early in a start up business you need to decide what to deliver to your customers and the most cost effective way to do that. This decision making process is crucial and must take into account, consistency of delivery, quality and pricing to name but a few. I will deliver a high quality product in a comfortable and classically vintage tea room.

There are three excellent reasons to 'Bake the Menu'. Firstly for quality control; to ensure that menu items are of the best quality and recipes can be tweaked where necessary. Sadly this also means that i'll have to eat the menu too. Secondly I need to work out the exact costings of each menu item, to set a fair price and identify the cost of sale for each menu item. The third reason to 'Bake the Menu' is so that I can keep a video log to update the website with all the mouth watering and delicious home baking that my tea room will serve.
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13. My Personal Re-cap of the Story so Far
Thursday, 22 September 2011 Somewhere in the Middle – Part Two
I wrote my first blog entry on Sunday 25th July 2010 in order to chart the progress of change in my life through leaving my career to starting my own business. Now 15 months later it's time to recap, review and update you.

I wanted to feel free. This feeling lurked in the pit of my stomach nagging at me particularly when I took a break from work. The nagging would get even stronger as the creeping dread of going back to work became real. This was often brought into sharp focus when spending time with successful friends and family who from my perspective managed to incorporate their genuine interests into their careers.

The nagging voice would ask a simple question; you are successful and hard working, so why can’t you apply the same work ethic to something you enjoy and make a living from it? We all face self doubt and fear, but the simple answer to this question is that there is no reason not to try. For me the tipping point came from asking another question, if I don’t do this now will I regret it for ever?
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14. Why I Loved the Great British Bake Off
Wednesday, 5 October 2011 BBC Great British Bake Off - Who Cares?
There is an important clichéd rule to writing which I have decided to invoke today. I am using this loop hole to veer away from my scheduled plans to write about Business Ethics in Baking (new Blog to follow soon).

They say ‘write about what you know’ and I know about #GBBO @BritishBakeOff (The Great British Bake Off for those not on Twitter).
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15. My Ethics My Passion
Thursday, 13 October 2011 How to be Ethical in Business
I need you. One of the big challenges in starting this venture is decision making. It is like taking a journey and knowing the destination that you want, but not knowing if the path you pick will take you anywhere near. One of the big decisions from the outset is reconciling what you care about, what I care about and what is commercially viable; in other words business ethics.

So this post is a musing on all things ethical in business, DON'T tune out! I need your input. I promise you a little discussion, a space disaster and some questions to get your thoughts flowing.
Read More...

16. The Results - What You Said
Tuesday, 25 October 2011 Ethics - The Results!
Not all of this starting your own business lark is a barrel of laughs. But the majority is!

I make the choices, I have written about how hard it can be to make an informed choice and the fear of committing to a course of action. At some point though, decisions have to be made to get the business going.

My last post touched on the importance of ingredients, quality and delivery as I was mulling over the ethical considerations. I am delighted to share with you the results of my 7 question survey [if you haven't taken it yet click HERE].
Read More...

17. My first Radio Interview
Thursday, 3 November 2011 BBC Radio Interview
I randomly ended up on BBC Radio Gloucestershire this week. I am still not entirely sure how this happened, it was great fun though. I am now available for weddings, funerals and Bah Mitzvah's
Read More...

18. Finding a Coffee Supplier
Tuesday, 8 November 2011 Coffee Controversy - A Matter of Taste and Trust
The Man from Del Monte, was from Bolton

Today I want to share with you how I am sourcing suppliers. I have given a lot of thought as to how I want to do business and who I should partner with. I don't believe that you have to travel around the World to personally inspect suppliers unless you actually are the man from Del Monte. As I do not have a panama hat or white suit I have decided to find suppliers who can do the job for me. The people that I am dealing with work very hard to source their ingredients from the best suppliers, for me they must also be...
Read More...

19. Finding a Tea Supplier
Wednesday, 16 November 2011 Tea to WI For
The Great Tea Taste Test - First and Foremost a Tea Room

At the point of conception, the idea for this business was the the combination of tea and cake. This is a very simple and very crucial point. As you read this and follow my journey around all the nitty gritty in setting up a business, it will all be for naught if you and I cannot sit around a table in March next year and enjoy a hot cup of your favourite tea with a stunning slice of fabulous cake. [Yes I am that deluded that I still believe I will have time to sit around and take tea at leisure, where as in reality I will be doing my headless chicken impression]
Read More...

20. A Great Radio Interview with Jamie Owen
Sunday, 20 November 2011 BBC Radio Wales Interview - Friday 18th November 2011
On Friday I was lucky enough to be interviewed by the lovely Jamie Owen on his and Louise Elliotts' week day magazine show. Listen along by clicking the play button below.
Read More...

To say that the pace of this project has taken me by surprise would an understatement! I love the Blog to share my ideas and explore thoughts, I love Twitter to chat with people daily, however I wanted to document more daily facts as they happen which is where my new micro blog 'Dear Diary' comes in. If you want a daily fix then go read my diary HERE.

As ever thank YOU for your interest, topical comment and support.

See you for tea... ...soon

David x

BBC Radio Wales Interview - Friday 18th November 2011

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:18:00 +0000

November 2011

On Friday I was lucky enough to be interviewed by the lovely Jamie Owen on his and Louise Elliotts' week day magazine show. Listen along by clicking the play button below.

NOTE: The link above is HTML5 if it doesn't show in your browser click HERE

Jamie and the team are going to stay in touch on a regular basis as the tea room opens in the coming months which is awesome!

Tea to WI For

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:23:00 +0000

November 2011

The Great Tea Taste Test - First and Foremost a Tea Room

At the point of conception, the idea for this business was the the combination of tea and cake. This is a very simple and very crucial point. As you read this and follow my journey around all the nitty gritty in setting up a business, it will all be for naught if you and I cannot sit around a table in March next year and enjoy a hot cup of your favourite tea with a stunning slice of fabulous cake. [Yes I am that deluded that I still believe I will have time to sit around and take tea at leisure, where as in reality I will be doing my headless chicken impression]

Tea is a ritual that for many of us forms part of our daily routine. From a traditional 'Breakfast Blend' to a fine 'Oolong' and taking in those great herbal infusions; we know what we like and how we like it served. As with the search to find a coffee supplier that I wrote about HERE, I need to trust a supplier who has done the leg work in sourcing the finest selections of teas and can bring the World to my door to share the best with you.

The best advice I have had to find a great supplier is to speak to someone else selling what you want and flatter them into sharing their source. In the case of tea, from all of my research there is no finer tea importer than the one that I am now in touch with. Having tracked down such a brilliant blender it's now time to take the tea to the people and confirm that what I consider is the best passes the taste test.

Finding coffee taste testers was no problem. I rounded up some very special people that I knew would give me their honest and balanced opinions. As my raison d'être I felt that this tea needed to face the ultimate scrutiny. A bunch of tasters who would make Craig Revel Horwood and Gordon Ramsay look like pussy cats, but also understand the importance of the tea ritual, its refinery and quintessential Britishness.

Who You Gonna Call? The Women's Institute of Course!

On the 12th November 2011, myself and 22 ladies with over 1000 years of tea tasting experience between them road tested my favoured tea supplier. We tasted our way through, Assam's, Ceylon's, Lapsang Souchong's, China Green Tea's, Earl Grey and Breakfast Blend's. Each tea was judged on it's look, the feel of the leaves, the smell of the brew and of course the taste.

Fortunately these ladies brought with them, a Victoria Sandwich, Fruit Cakes, Cupcakes, Scones, Lemon Tart and a rather delicious Austrian Apple Tray Bake. With three giant platters of mixed sandwiches and some glorious Autumn sunshine the stage was set.

The Results - Best In Show

I am delighted to say that the WI [unofficially] have given their seal of approval to my tea supplier. Every tea was well received. There was a momentary scare over the China Green Tea which we were finding quite bitter. With a change to the brewing conditions, slightly less leaf and a lighter brew, the Green Tea fans [myself included] were back to raving.

3rd Place - Assam
2nd Place - Earl Grey
1st Place - Lapsang Souchong

Best in Show Rosette

Best in Show - Lapsang Souchong for its smokey depth, gorgeous colour and balance.

Conclusions

I have found my tea supplier. I am so very excited about this, being such an important piece in the puzzle. Today really is a milestone. You have seen the cakes in the Gallery section and now you can see the tea. It is becoming real. Roll on March 2012. Keep an eye out over the coming weeks, more venue news coming very very soon...

NEWS
Get your hand on my buns! @ Chapter Festive Food Fair 10th December 2011

I can exclusively reveal that I Want to Bake Free has a stand at the Fabulous Chapter Arts Centre Festive Food Fair 2011 @chaptertweets. Even better, just for you lovely people interested in tea, I will be selling some of the fabulous Earl Grey and Christmas Blend tea at this event so you can taste at home and let me know your thoughts!

Event Details
Date: Saturday 10th December 2011
Time: 11am until 6pm (get there early to avoid disappointment)
Website: http://www.chapter.org/24783.html
Location: Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff

More details to follow SOON! Including what you can expect to see on sale.

Coffee Controversy - A Matter of Taste and Trust

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 06:30:00 +0000

November 2011

The Man from Del Monte, was from Bolton

Today I want to share with you how I am sourcing suppliers. I have given a lot of thought as to how I want to do business and who I should partner with. I don't believe that you have to travel around the World to personally inspect suppliers unless you actually are the man from Del Monte. As I do not have a panama hat or white suit I have decided to find suppliers who can do the job for me. The people that I am dealing with work very hard to source their ingredients from the best suppliers, for me they must also be...

Passionate about their product
Trustworthy and ethical
Strive for the very best quality
Reliable and sustainable

If the man from Del Monte can say yes, to the above then that's the decision made.

I do not make hasty decisions and for my coffee and tea suppliers this has meant a rather lengthy process in sorting the wheat from the chaff.

Tasting - November 2010 - November 2011
Research - Reading List, Blog Sites, Experts - On-Going
Consultation - Mr John Richardson and Mr Hugh Gilmartin
Supplier Research - Twitter appeal, research, contacts - June 2011
Supplier Contact - Approach for initial screening - August 2011
Shortlist - Screen to Potential 10 suppliers - September 2011
Samples - Collect samples for taste testing - October 2011
The Great Taste Off - 4th November 2011
Face to face meetings - November and December 2011
Supplier Nominated - January 2012

Coffee is King

It is coming up to one year that I began my coffee adventure. I ignored coffee for years and then threw myself in at the deep-end working for Starbucks for three months training as one of their Barista's. I was the oldest person there, including the manager who was 28 years old! I felt much like the car sales man character Ol' Gil' from the Simpsons. Aside from that it served to quickly get me over my coffee ignorance meaning that I could actually taste the difference between good and great coffee.

I know from my background in sales that some very good sales people can sell some real crap. It is as much a talent to purchase as it is to sell. To help me learn how to buy coffee I turned to a couple of experts; John Richardson and Hugh Gilmartin, co-authors of several very good books about how to run coffee shops.

Hugh's advice in a nutshell was to speak to people who serve coffee that you like and ask them who their suppliers are. This made for a very good starting point.

The Great Coffee Taste Off
I've decided to shortlist some of my favourite suppliers before I go out to visit them by taste testing their Espresso Beans and some of the filter coffee that they produce.

On Friday 4th November 2011 with the help of some of the best coffee critics in the business I taste tested samples from some of the best roasters in the UK.

The Contestants

North Wales, Mid Wales, South Wales, London and South West England

5 espresso shots, 5 Lattes, 5 Americanos & 5 Lattes later...

Conclusions

The coffee samples were all varied in the way that they were produced, where they were sourced from, when they had been roasted and what they tasted like. The brewing factors were kept under strict control to ensure that every sample had a fair go. The results however were very clear. Of the five beans on trial, the two that shone out were the two freshest [with one roasted the Tuesday prior to the tasting]. The worst two were at oposite ends of the spectrum, one being so weak you could barely taste it over the milk and the other so oily, bitter and strong somewhat reminiscent of when I used to smoke!

The next step is to decide between my two favourites, now it comes down to quality, price and above all trust.

My SIX Tasty Trading Tips

DO NOT RUSH INTO A DEAL
DO NOT BELIEVE ALL SALES MEN
QUESTION, QUESTION, QUESTION!
LOOK THEM IN THE EYE
LISTEN AND LEARN, THEY ARE THE EXPERTS
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT BUT BE FLEXIBLE

Next Week .... I have some RATHER special guests helping me to taste test some very special teas. Mmmm

If you have any questions or comments make yourself heard!

BBC Radio Interview - November 2011

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:43:00 +0000

November 2011

I randomly ended up on BBC Radio Gloucestershire this week. I am still not entirely sure how this happened, it was great fun though. I am now available for weddings, funerals and Bah Mitzvah's

NOTE: The link above is HTML5 if it doesn't show in your browser click HERE

Ethics - The Results!

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:53:00 +0000

October 2011

Not all of this starting your own business lark is a barrel of laughs. But the majority is!

I make the choices, I have written about how hard it can be to make an informed choice and the fear of committing to a course of action. At some point though, decisions have to be made to get the business going.

My last post touched on the importance of ingredients, quality and delivery as I was mulling over the ethical considerations. I am delighted to share with you the results of my 7 question survey [if you haven't taken it yet click HERE].

The Survey

How important are the following when visiting a tearoom/coffee shop?

1.) Price

Price is important but for many people it is the overall visitor experience that counts and price is just one consideration in that.

2.) Flavour

Flavour is king! I am glad that you all agree.

3.) Quality

Quality is Queen! You are an unforgiving bunch and I agree with you.

4.) Fairly Traded

Ok I was surprised on this one, Fair Trade is clearly a contentious issue. For 1 in 4 people it isn't important at all and the majority only find it quite important. Clearly some more research for me when meeting my suppliers.

5.) Locally Sourced

I have a passion for supporting local producers who have real talent and passion for their goods. I was expecting to see more people classing this as a really important consideration.

6.) Organic

I have read that Organic food has taken a real dive in terms of public opinion, clearly you agree.

7.) Special Dietary Provision

No big surprise here. If you have a special dietary requirement it is important to you, if not it isn't. 1 in 4 people care and that is more than enough for me. You can expect cakes, bakes and light lunches that cater for a range of dietary requirements and a team trained to understand and help.

Thank you again to everyone who has taken part in this survey. The results have been fascinating, although the questions are simple and may seem obvious I feel reassured not to take anything for granted.

Now on to find some suppliers who care and I can trust.

How to be Ethical in Business

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:38:00 +0000

October 2011

I need you. One of the big challenges in starting this venture is decision making. It is like taking a journey and knowing the destination that you want, but not knowing if the path you pick will take you anywhere near. One of the big decisions from the outset is reconciling what you care about, what I care about and what is commercially viable; in other words business ethics.

So this post is a musing on all things ethical in business, DON'T tune out! I need your input. I promise you a little discussion, a space disaster and some questions to get your thoughts flowing.

What You Care About

Over the past five years I have made changes in the way that I shop. Telling you this isn’t intended to show off about how super I am, I am not. I know that I could do an awful lot more. I noticed myself becoming paralysed into not changing my shopping habits because our awareness has become cluttered with causes and campaigns. For instance I try to buy ‘happy’ chickens, free range eggs, fruit and vegetables that haven’t flown further than I have that week. We tend to pick a cause so that we can put a mental tick in the box saying that we are doing our part. Outside of our shopping habits, this may be a donation of money or time to charity, any way that you live to reinforce your ethical beliefs.

There is so much to consider as an informed shopper and we have more choice than ever. From food miles to use of pesticides, preservatives to artificial flavours, GM’s to MSG’s, Fairtrade to Rainforest Alliance, Organics to the brand ethics of your cholocate bar. Then of course there is your budget, how much money have you got? And how does this impact your choices? I am exhausted just thinking about it. We make choices all the time based on what we care about.

I would like to know what you care about, so please take 2 minutes to do my little survey!

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

What I Care About

I have had many bosses over the years who have had different principles. Staying true to your principles in business is a challenge. I believe doing this separates a good Manager from a great one. My dad is one of the greats and became respected in the building industry by following his moral compass and reconciling his beliefs with a good way of doing business. This is not the easy option and some people just could not understand why he would make decisions in the way that he did. It was the people who asked about his thought process who were amazed. You may not think there is a place for honesty in modern day business, if you under charge me for a delivery do I tell you? If you hand me too much money do I stop you? if I have the choice between sugar that has been fairly-traded or the same brand that hasn’t because it is cheaper do I buy it?

For my own business, I want to ensure that the things that I am passionate about are alive in all aspects of what I do and that importantly my team believe it too.

Challenger Disaster

If you are unfamiliar with how this disaster occurred please read on the link after this short clip.

Conclusion

Roger Boisjoly made a number of choices in the months leading up to the Challenger accident. He consistently took an ethical course of action, often risking his job. Nevertheless, he was unable to avert the January 28 launch. In 1988 Roger Boisjoly was given the American Association for the Advancement of Science Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility for his extensive and well conceived efforts to avert the shuttle disaster.

"The Explosion of the Challenger" Online Ethics Center for Engineering 5/21/2006 National Academy of Engineering Accessed: Thursday, October 13, 2011

This disaster always intrigued me. It was a horrible human tragedy and following the investigation it became clear that normal people with high ethical values made decisions that in retrospect seem utterly unethical. What made them change?

Ok ok so I am opening a tea room and not flying people into space (yet) but I find this fascinating and want to ensure that I make my business sustainable and responsible maybe not all in the first week of trading, but I have a plan and can develop these values as I go. Ensure that my business is safe and then work towards making it better and better and the best of the best. I am used to the concept of under promise and over deliver as a sales person, but again there has to be a balance.

My Choice

When you start your own business you get to bring into it the things that are important to you, it is one of the perks and many people use it as a tool for differentiation from large corporate companies. Take a look at Starbucks who use fair-trade coffee for the UK, they say they can’t worldwide because there is not enough supply for their demand. So are you glad that Starbucks use Fair-trade or does it make you angry that they have jumped on the bandwagon are you that cynical?

Things that I care about and want to bring into my business from day one include;

Where is Wales? There is Wales!

Welsh language
Welsh culture and heritage
Local quality suppliers
Fairly-traded commodities
Communication – there is nothing more exciting than sharing knowledge.
Cost control – successful business sense must underly everything that I do, or there is no business.

This is where I would really like to hear from you, now I have some people reading my words and joining me in this adventure I want to know what is important to you.

What do you do to reinforce your principles & how does it make you feel?

What more could you do?

What makes you choose somewhere to go eat and drink?

Is ethics important in business or do you just not care?

Be honest and anonymous if you are shy.

*N.B. CLICK HERE to join the Debate*

Thanks David

P.s. Here are ar few topical comments on the subject of whether fair trade is as good as it seems. What do you think?

whatithink

4 November 2010 5:30PM

Fair trade isn't about 'workers' getting 'fair' wages. It's about big wealthy NGOs extorting money from the powerless in developing countries.

"Pay up to have our logo on your product, or we'll make sure the stupid middle class punters refuse to buy it," is a disgusting threat. Anyone who really wants to be an ethical consumer should avoid 'fair trade' like the plague.

sparclear

4 November 2010 6:06PM

I'd like to send anyone who believes blindly in the pointlessness of Fairtrade abroad to work in plantations and clothes factories and for a year and discover what 'ordinary' wages and 'ordinary' terms of employment mean for millions of people. Then they can return and take up their cushioned seats as dons again, and we shall be most interested in their reports of all they've seen and heard.

huttis

4 November 2010 6:18PM

@LeeJones

...to Fair Trade, you would see that there are some very valid arguments against the practice.

Yes, there are some arguments, yet you did not bother to tell us any? Main arguments against are about market ideology and do often originate from think-tanks, rather than from scientific studies.

Actual, scientific comparative studies and case studies have shown a lot of good effects to the communities.

There are some examples of these studies listed in wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade_impact_studies

Before you say it, yes, the French study was done to an NGO.

BBC Great British Bake Off - Who Cares?

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:14:00 +0000

October 2011

There is an important clichéd rule to writing which I have decided to invoke today. I am using this loop hole to veer away from my scheduled plans to write about Business Ethics in Baking (new Blog to follow soon).

They say ‘write about what you know’ and I know about #GBBO @BritishBakeOff (The Great British Bake Off for those not on Twitter).

DON’T PANIC this is not some FANBOY rant but I feel the need to describe what the show means to me and why I care. This is seriously important to my own project and will help you understand how this television programme has impacted on every part of my plans to open a tea room. From inspirational baking, to meeting the contestants as their stories unravel to finding fabulous new friends on Twitter who share my passion and enthusiasm for all things #GBBO, who cares? We do!

What on Earth is he talking about?

As you probably know by now, I made my decision way back in June 2010 to ‘bite the bullet’, quit my job and open a tea room. In August 2010 along came Season 1 of the Great British Bake Off which I watched (offline from Twitter) and loved. Season 1 came and went with at least two new shining stars in the baking World born, The Pink Whisk @thepinkwhisk & The Boy Who Bakes @TheBoyWhoBakes.

What I have in my head which I call ‘tea room’ can be described as all those quirky little things that make Britain Great. There are many parallels between my tea room idea and what this TV show shows and these are my top ten;

History of food culture in Britain
Unexpected origins and accidental classics
Mel and Sue
Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood
Superstar bakers
Theatre and the joy of food
Little treats
Indulgence and creativity
Artistic flare
Inventive re-interpretations

Oh Mel and Sue!

Many of us still remember and love this paring from the heady days of Light Lunch. What brilliant presenters with awesome comedy talent, surely the embodiment of British Quirkiness. Yes I realise some people don't like them, but this is my Blog and in my book they are HILARIOUS.

Giant Global Cyber Knitting Circle

One of the great joys of this years’ Great British Bake Off has been in having a wonderful open dialogue with contestants, viewers, presenters and producers from the launch of the show to the last nights unmissable final. I hope for many of us as kindred baking spirits we will now keep in touch for the future. It is a brilliantly unique situation to have this personal connection to what is ‘just a tv show’.

Through Twitter you have access to talk to the real stars of the show about their successes and failures while the show is on air and after. It has been like a giant global cyber knitting circle (or the GGCKC as we shall from now on be known) gossiping, giggling, sharing knowledge and baking, baking, baking! This could only happen with a reality TV show. Take a look at the swelling followers of each of the contestants as the show has progressed, these finalists have great futures in baking and I hope we stay in touch.

For now I would like to write about my experiences of the people who have been on our screens. This is nothing but my personal thoughts and ramblings for a bunch of lovely people who have brought joy to my life and helped me move my dream along a little further...

I Bring You - The 2011 Contestants

The Winner of The Great British Bake Off 2011

Joanne Wheatley

Blog – Jo’s Blue Aga

Twitter – @joannewheatley

My Bio – Jo is truly a superstar mother. Jo has developed through the show on screen, maintaining a modest and demure lady. Jo’s passion shines through and that has made her so popular with viewers. Jo has been lovely to chat to on Twitter and her Blog reveals more of the baking talent that she demonstrated on screen. It is unusual to have a universally loved winner on this type of show, but Jo has managed it. What a lady! Jo good luck with your Patisserie plans, so very exciting!

My Favourite Jo-ism – Showing her passion to learn and Joan Rivers tweeting @leep84 and Jo in reply to a tweet saying that she "doesn't bake much!"

Holly Bell

Blog – Recipes from a Normal Mum

Twitter – @HollyBellMummy

My Bio – I have felt a real affinity for Holly, from pretty much day one of the show. There are many personality traits she has with which I can identify and many I can not but admire. Mostly I have really enjoyed Holly’s sense of humour and playful side. I think Holly has experienced the most envy and jealousy from random cowardly critics which is a real shame. Holly there is a LOT of love for you out there!

My Favourite Holly-ism – Holly is a perfectionist and very competitive, her joke comment about all the contestants smiling at each other but secretly wishing each other dead is exactly the sort of thing I would say and it was very funny. Ooh and of course the penchant for matching her wardrobe to what she was baking in the early episodes (you know what I mean!)

Mary-Anne Boermans

Blog – Time to Cook Online

Twitter – @wotchers

My Bio – Mary-Anne is an experimenter like the mad scientist of baking! It is fascinating seeing how different people bring their own talents to baking. Mary-Anne has a passion for reading and is clearly an educated lady; researching and trying out new things. This experimentation took her all the way to the final and brought us some memorable creations and creative inspiration. As @wotchers Mary-Anne is a past resident of Cardiff so we share a bond!

My Favourite Mary-Anne-ism – What I love most about Mary-Anne is that it is her kind of experimentation that gave us the recipes we love today. Cooks from years gone by had to get creative and overcome food shortage, trends and fashion. It is one thing to make something that someone else has brilliantly it is quite another to re-invent it entirely.

Janet Basu

Twitter - @janetbasu

My Bio – Janet is the Grandmother we all want. (Sorry Gran I want you too) A real lady and a real star. Janet has come to Twitter only in the last few weeks and as you would expect is articulate and funny when she tweets.

My Favourite Janet-ism – Janets facial expressions are legendary on this programme, her surprise at her own success has been SO endearing.

Yasmin Limbert

Blog – Yasmin Limbert Pieces of Rainbow

Twitter - @YasminLambert

My Bio – Yasmin is a great baker and a lovely lady. It has been a pleasure to chat to her online and follow her blog escapades. Yasmin is also one of the only #GBBO stars so far to have won one of my VERY exclusive ‘I Want to Bake Free’ pin badges (it is in the post Yas honest!)

My Favourite Yasmin-ism - Asking "is it sad to be excited to win a pin badge!"

Robert Billington

Twitter – @robertbillingto

My Bio – Well the minute Rob popped up on screen the #GBBO twitter feed became a long list of swooning ladies of a certain age! It was actually hilarious. He was forgiven for any on show baking lapses by those little dimples. Rob is also on Twitter and chats back to most people who send something more than a *wave*.

My Favourite Rob-ism – HAS to be ‘CakeontheFloorGate’ If you didn’t see it, check it out HERE 5 minutes into the clip OUCH!

Jason White

Blog – Preheat the Oven

My Bio – Jason was brilliant fun and had some amazing skill.

My Favourite Jason-ism – Piping cream into his brandy snaps (which were awesome) his facial expressions and the ‘OH!... oh NO!...’ brilliant.

Ben Frazer

Blog - Cupcake Artisan

Twitter - @cupcakeartisan1

My Bio – Ben was our feisty fiery contestant who unashamedly made the campest creations using all of his skills as a graphic designer. He clashed with Paul’s abrupt manner and criticism wasn’t easy for him to accept on screen. My Favourite Ben-ism – That pink cake. I mean WOW, that was PINK.

Urvashi Roe

Blog – The Botanical Baker

Twitter – @botanicalbaker

My Bio – I don’t have favourites… HONEST but this lady was a joy to watch and I really hope to stay in touch. Urvashi made some beautiful bakes in her time on the show and wowed Mary by researching her edible flowers. Urvashi’s love of nature shines through on her fabulous blog and her talent will surely allow her to put these skills to use in the future. Urvashi sums it all up as "challenging, but fabulous"
My Favourite Urvashi-ism – #replacefilmtitleswithscone!

Ian Vallance

My Bio – Charming and funny chap who we didn’t see much of but clearly had a passion for his work.

Simon Blackwell

Blog - Simons Pies

Twitter – @buff_baker

My Bio – Simon has had and is enjoying brilliant success with his Pie business off-screen. We didn’t see him for long but his talents ensure a star in business.

My Favourite Simon-ism – "Keep Calm & Carry On" & not to forget his FABULOUS wife Callie Blackwell @inner_pickle and this Tweet “I once saved a young mans life by clutching his penis....fact!” Check out her blog HERE. BRILLIANT xx

Keith

My Bio – Banker turned house husband. Lovely chap too short a time to get an opinion on him.

The Fans

The show has been such fun and sales of baking equipment have gone through the roof in the UK. So along with dragging us out of recession the show has inspired us as a country to get creative.

The most amazing revelation for me has been all of you bonkers people out there who have been watching each week and chatting back and forth. This is not some bunch of TV weirdo fans but some hilarious, witty, interesting, intelligent, inspirational …. I could go on, but I promised myself I wouldn’t gush! Yes YOU LOT you Twitter folk. By episode 3 of this years series I no longer had to search #GBBO to discuss the show as there you all were on my Newsfeed and oh boy how it came alight each week!

{GBB[O}M{G]BB[O}M{G]BB[O}M{G]BBO}

Here are SOME of the Twitter followers that have made it special for me, I advise you to follow them all!...

@Badgerbakes

@Fabbakerboycouk

@Beesloveteas - "One of the most creative shows recently on TV, throwing together a talented group of amateurs bakers from across the UK!"

@Debswelshcakes

@katecakeandbake
@weeklybakeoff

@kateindorset

@modestus2011

@inner_pickle - "@Buff_Baker and his 'keep calm and carry on' quote. :-)"

@Nellyscupcakes

@Ginandcrumpets

@wannabefoodie76 - "GBBO makes baking accessible to all .. it brings what ppl only drool over in shops into their own homes & kitchens"

@Supersizer1

@Want2bakefree

@amandais79 - "fave bit #GBBO was last night when Mary &@Hollywoodbaker argued on @wotchers alcoholic petit fours. Mary loved the alcohol!"

*WITH MILLIONS OF VIEWERS THERE ARE NO DOUBT MORE OF YOU. I AM SO SORRY IF I HAVEN’T NAME CHECKED YOU MAKE A COMMENT BELOW AND I WILL ADD YOU ON, I PROMISE*

In Summary

Well the series is over for now and it has been brilliant, some real friends made and I am feeling a little more confident about my own plans. Needless to say you will ALL be invited to my opening celebrations and we will have a good old #GBBO party! Xxx David

Of course Special mention has to go to the subject of Squirrels. This bemused me for a long time but here you are if you didn’t spot it… WARNING don’t click on the link if you are easily shocked! #SQUIRRELGATE

*Don't forget all of the above comes from myself with no prejudice, thanks for reading.

Somewhere in the Middle – Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:35:00 +0000

September 2011

I wrote my first blog entry on Sunday 25th July 2010 in order to chart the progress of change in my life through leaving my career to starting my own business. Now 15 months later it's time to recap, review and update you.

Nagging Niggling Voices

I wanted to feel free. This feeling lurked in the pit of my stomach nagging at me particularly when I took a break from work. The nagging would get even stronger as the creeping dread of going back to work became real. This was often brought into sharp focus when spending time with successful friends and family who from my perspective managed to incorporate their genuine interests into their careers.

The nagging voice would ask a simple question; you are successful and hard working, so why can’t you apply the same work ethic to something you enjoy and make a living from it? We all face self doubt and fear, but the simple answer to this question is that there is no reason not to try. For me the tipping point came from asking another question, if I don’t do this now will I regret it for ever?

The first question was easily answered. The things that I really enjoy are baking, growing, sales, people, creative craft. The freedom that I wanted to feel was not about being less busy or feeling less responsible. It was about the freedom to make your own choices and decisions and to work hard for yourself creating something that you love.

This is what so many people with whom I have shared my experiences about this project identify with. Many of us, myself included, fall into jobs that pay the bills and offer a career path which is so far away from the dreams we have for ourselves when growing up. There is nothing wrong with this, unless you are unhappy in your job and know that you could do something else that would improve your life in all aspects. When you feel like this, then surely you need to listen to the nagging voice in your head and be brave enough to plan your own change.

I found myself in awe of creative people such as artists, craftsmen and bakers enjoying what they do for a living. To me these people made their own decisions each day about what they would do and were able to work truly self motivated.

My business motivation is not to make the most money I can. It is about creating something beautiful, dare I say magical*, that provides a service people love and fulfils my life.

Feelings

Part of this blog is to share with you how I feel as well as what I am doing. I am allowing myself to feel excitement, speaking with you on Twitter @want2bakefree and on this blog helps that excitement grow every day. I am also worried about the possibility that my latest venue is not secured and won't be until early 2012. There is so much work to do in the coming months and I know from bitter experience last year that it could not work out in my favour. I have put those fears aside, knowing that January will either be bleak or the best month of my life.

Up to Date Update

On a lighter note (enough of the feelings mushy stuff!) here is a quick look at what has happened since I posted in July 2010 and what you can expect to read coming up in the next few weeks and months. For a more in depth look check out my interactive timeline HERE it's marvellous.

PAST - A brief run down of the key moments in the past 15 months that have brought me to this juncture;

Decision - June 2010
Resignation - August 2010
Coach House Hope - September 2010 (read more HERE)
Business In Focus Advice - September 2010 (read more HERE)
Purchasing - 2010/2011 (read more HERE)
Starbucks - November 2010 (read more HERE)
Coach House Doom - January 2011
Brighton - March 2011 (read more HERE)
Project x - February 2011 Onwards (read more HERE)
Bake the Menu 1. - Victoria Sponge Video (watch the movie HERE)
Today - Thursday 22nd September 2011

FUTURE - What you can expect to see and hear from me on the blog, via Twitter, Google+ and Facebook in the coming weeks and months;

Bake the Menu – New Video Episodes: Lemon Tart, Scones, Meringue, Carrot Cake, Treacle Tart, Chocolate Cake, Fruit Cake, Biscuits
Supplier selection – Tea tasting, Coffee choices, eggs and butter anyone?
Much more procurement fun
How to setup and run a website truly for free
Project X – Venue 2012 announcement
Marketing with social media

All I can ask is that you stay in touch, comment on my posts, get in to discussions and be part of the fun. See you in the future, somewhere forward of the middle.

*the term 'magical' is not owned by Apple despite the best efforts of their marketing department

Bake the Menu - Video Blog

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 12:32:00 +0000

September 2011

Early in a start up business you need to decide what to deliver to your customers and the most cost effective way to do that. This decision making process is crucial and must take into account, consistency of delivery, quality and pricing to name but a few. I will deliver a high quality product in a comfortable and classically vintage tea room.

There are three excellent reasons to 'Bake the Menu'. Firstly for quality control; to ensure that menu items are of the best quality and recipes can be tweaked where necessary. Sadly this also means that i'll have to eat the menu too. Secondly I need to work out the exact costings of each menu item, to set a fair price and identify the cost of sale for each menu item. The third reason to 'Bake the Menu' is so that I can keep a video log to update the website with all the mouth watering and delicious home baking that my tea room will serve.

My rules for this film series are simple and I will guarantee you the following:

Films will be kept short and snappy
I'll highlight our favourite tips
Everything is 100% home made where practical
We always wash our hands!
Recipes are available on request, unless they're family secrets

In return:

If you have something to say, post it on the blog or subscribe to my Channel on Youtube
If you have some of your own top tips, then let us know
Get involved & be inspired

Without further ado I bring you Volume One...

ALL VIDEOS AND GALLEY CAN BE FOUND IN MY GALLERY HERE

Bring Back Don't Ask Don't Tell

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:58:00 +0000

September 2011

Project X - Venue 2012 How it Happened and Some More Hints

Welcome to all my new readers as well as you regulars. After last weeks lightning bolt revelation that I may have found a venue for my tea room, which is available in Spring 2012, I feel it is only fair to give you some background. I will intentionally remain cryptic because this venue is SO very good I cannot risk someone else swooping in and gazumping me. When I reveal all on the 1st December take a look back through these words and reminisce but for now as long as you don't ask I won't be tempted to tell all. On with the story...

March 2011

Saturday nights in your late twenties onwards seem to revolve more around either being away at weddings, birthdays, christenings, other social occasions or at home having an early night so that you can enjoy the perfect Sunday. So a night out to a bar in central Cardiff on a Saturday is certainly not the norm for me. A very fabulous friend who writes a very fabulous blog, moved away from Cardiff earlier this year. To see her off we had a party! It was one of those weekends where events collide; most importantly my very dear school time friend was due to visit from Exeter. After a little cajoling my partner and I convinced her that she really did want to go to a Lesbian farewell party in Cardiff on Saturday night. Fortunately for me neither the X-Factor or Strictly Come Dancing had started on the telly yet!

It is important to give you an insight into my frame of mind at the time. Almost every person in my life, both personally and professionally has some idea that I was planning on starting a business opening in Spring 2011. As I make no secret of this fact, indeed I am actually promoting the journey right here, so I certainly cannot complain when every person I meet asks how it is going and more importantly why I am not open yet. The novelty of the introduction “Oh my Gosh, Dave is starting a tea room…” wears a little thin, even when you are as passionate about your project as I am. Having had a few knock backs this year in March I was still struggling to be enthusiastic 24/7 particularly when you don't have much news to update with.

One of my traits as a sales person is the need to tell a story in detail leading to a poignant climax. When people ask about the tea room, I usually base how much detail to go into by judging how interested they appear. On Saturday 5^th March 2011 I wasn’t up for going into much detail particularly as the majority of guests were strangers. One of the guests at the party was particularly interested in the tea room and so myself, my partner and my best mate ended up chatting through the Tea Room saga from the initial decision right through to the loss of the Coach House a few weeks earlier. It is always nice to meet someone who seems genuinely interested in finding out about my project and, despite my negative frame of mind, it was a really lovely evening discussing the stresses of being back to square with my venue search.

Out of the Blue

I didn’t think anything else about that evening as I trundled off to Brighton the next day; into week two of my corporate filler job. Tuesday morning that week I received a call from my other half telling me to check my Facebook private messages of all things and there it was. On Tuesday 8^th March 2011, about 10 minutes before I was due to meet a very important client in my new job as Director of Sales, I had this message…

“Dave!!! Great News! ... has got a potential place for your tea shop!! In the ... , it’s being refurbished so you wouldn’t have to pay for that and they might want a traditional tea room!! Call me if you’re interested” Megan

Back in the Game

It isn’t in my nature to be mysterious however over the coming months I am going to be a bit shy with information. The reason for this is simple: this unit is not in the bag yet. In fact I won’t know if I have it until about the 23^rd December 2011. I am entering a process that is competitive and for that reason I have decided to keep quiet about some of the details. Because I am actually dying to tell the World about how much I love this option I have decided that it should be safe to go public on Thursday 1^st December 2011. On that date I will reveal all. The site is being developed in the coming months and I intend to record this transformation in several formats, including photos and video. This serves the purpose of documenting the process and, if I am successful as I pray I am, will serve as a great way to look back in a years time and recall the struggle.

Next Time

As 2011 is rushing past at a pace, it is time to start turning my attention to all the fabulously exciting jobs yet to do. Including researching suppliers, procurement, writing the menus and most importantly Baking the Menu! Stay tuned for updates and if you are a potential supplier or can recommend one drop me a line. You can expect new images soon in the gallery along with my very own Youtube channel coming soon!

AAA Business Rating - A View, A Brew, A Loo

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:50:00 +0000

and An Exciting Update Too

February 2011 – Today (September 2011)

This blog post is rather exciting for me as it finally brings you up to date with where my tea room plans are at right now! From writing my first entry well over a year ago it has taken me this long to fill you in on the trials and tribulations of the past 18 months. I am now inching closer to achieving my dream and this blog paves the way for the radical news that I may have found the venue of my dreams.
This is bittersweet news for you as I need to remain rather cryptic about the details, but read on and in the coming weeks I promise it will become clear.

NOTE: Later today I will add a timeline which will provide a chronology of the journey so far and some key upcoming dates, including my new target opening date! UPDATED Timeline is HERE

February 2011

When you set up a business you find that people want to give you advice, after all your friends and loved ones usually like to be helpful. We all like to impart knowledge and we all have exciting ideas that we just love to share. Don’t worry this is not going to be a rant about how well-meaning folk stick their noses in to your business, as I learnt a long time ago to listen carefully to advice. Surprising information can come from sources you never thought likely to help. It is the helpful sayings and clichés that I particularly love and the best that I have heard relating to what makes a successful attraction for tourism came from a chap working for Visit Britain;

“The goal is to get people to spend their time and money with you’; their needs are few, a view, a brew and a loo.“ Visit Britain

This may seem a little coarse but the sentiment is truthful; to fulfil the basic Human needs, both spiritual and physical. Our spiritual needs are personal and subjective, however our physical needs are simple and yet so easy to get wrong. Many of my friends myself included will, regardless of how good a venue is, site the condition of the water closet as the make or break for a positive review. Suffice to say to find the perfect tea room venue this is stella advice.

So by February I was feeling rather low and dejected having lost the Old Coach House and not having any other venue options I had to snap out of the Winter Blues and get on with finding the perfect venue. The results were frankly disappointing, they included waiting for an Italian Restaurant to go out of business near Cardiff Castle and a possible Starbucks venue pulling out of Penarth. Suffice to say for many reasons neither property was suitable despite ticking various boxes. Sometimes no matter how hard you push you just cannot get a round peg in a square hole!

During this period I found my very worst character traits coming to the surface. I found myself glaring at other people with nice business and lovely properties with jealous envy. How did they find that? Don’t give me any of that right place right time RUBBISH!
Captain Jane Way did say to me last September “David, be prepared that it could take over a year to find the right venue” at the time I was fired up about the Old Coach House with a quiet confidence that my plans would just slot into place. Sadly they didn’t but you know what?, it turns out that some things do indeed happen for a reason.

“…for a reason”

This phrase may come up in your life several times, usually shortly after break ups or the loss of that stunning house you were trying to buy or rent. It is usually used to comfort and reassure you that although you feel rejected and ready to give up on everything, actually something better will come along. Then when things turn out fine, you have to find the person who comforted you and allow them to sit smugly and say “there, I told you so”. Well-meaning people and their well-meaning advice! But this is not a rant about that.

The Old Coach House was a costly experience, however it was vastly valuable in procurement terms. I have gained knowledge and tea sets. In fact I have about 83% of what I need to open a tea room tomorrow… all the tea just no room!

March 2011 to the Present Date

Never Leave on Bad Terms

While continuing the venue search earlier this year I took on 8 weeks of consultancy work as Director of Sales for a four star hotel in Brighton for the company that I left full time employment with during 2010. The brief was straightforward enough, the Regional Director for this company asked me to work 3 days per week on a rolling basis to be extended as agreed by both parties. So on the 1^st of March 2011 I found myself not ‘Baken Free’ as I had envisaged but back in the corporate world of hotel sales and you know what… I love it. Having had an adventurous few months there is nothing like doing a job you know you are good at, but with none of the stress that made you hate it before. My terms were simple, to be given the ability to work as I wanted closely with the General Manager to bring business to that hotel by whatever method I saw fit. 8 weeks has become 8 months.

So here I am in Brighton now working 4 days of the week leaving me Friday to work on my project. The summer months have flown by and you know I have somewhat wished them away. This is not the corporate trap that I felt tightening round my neck last year, this is somewhat different. It has not been easy I have been away from home away from my partner and wondering will I ever make it? Will I have to go back to hotels full time? Do I have the energy to see this project through? Well something happened at the start of April 2011 that changed the game, I think I accidentally found THE venue.

Note my strategic use of the word ‘THE’ above in front of venue. I have decided that everything is going into this venue, no half measures, no plan B. This partly feels reckless and against my business instinct to have plans B, C, D and E lined up but with the journey I have been on I am now taking a longer term strategic view. I know that I need to dedicate everything at securing this venue, it is perfect. I can supply the Brew it will come with a brand new Loo and OH WHAT A VIEW.

You have to wait a little while longer though… I will write about the venue, how it came about and tell you why I have to be so tight lipped!

But for now, keep the faith! I am, and I will get there, soon.

Next update is due this time next week and will introduce you to “Project X – Venue 2012” for more of my ramblings before then follow me on Twitter – @want2bakefree

How Starbucks make the Bigbucks

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:59:00 +0000

November 2010 - January 2011

This post is about working for Starbucks, judging them, learning to love coffee and working out to what extent I need coffee to have a successful tea room business in 2011/12. Here is the next instalment in my journey.

The chances are that you are reading this segment of my tea room journey, while drinking a lovely hot beverage. I can confidently make this statement because 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day and with the Worlds population currently estimated at 6.94 billion, that's a lot of coffee!*. As I haven't drunk my quota for the past decade and quite a few people on the globe don't own kettles I feel quite confident that you people out there must be guzzling coffee all day.

Coffee to me is a mystery. Like many people who work in offices I started drinking coffee because everyone else did and it was part of my induction alongside how to operate the photocopier. Unlike most people though my day became shaped by the effects of my morning cuppa, which looked something like this;

9am (9.15am ish) - Arrive at desk log on, emails etc
9.30am - Morning Coffee
11am - Caffeine driven productivity madness ensues
1pm - Lunch
2pm - Afternoon energy crash begins
3pm - Dangerously bored and sleepy now, best to just have another coffee
4pm - Caffeine mania returns productivity goes through the roof
5pm - Final end of day crash, the last 30 minutes drag...
6pm - Pass out

Suffice to say that I stopped drinking coffee in 2006, no real surprise that this is also the year that my career really started moving forward at a pace.

So hopefully the more observant among you will have spotted my dilemma. If not, well then let me make it very clear. I am opening a tea room; a fabulous provider of stunning loose leaf teas from around the globe. However many many billions of you drink coffee and will expect coffee. So as a business man, there is actually no dilemma. A lot of people will want tea, coffee and will be willing to part with their money.

You could say that I have a coffee blind spot. This is actually one of my worse personality traits, if I don't understand/like/find interest in something I will ignore it. However, I can clearly no longer avoid coffee. It is time to make amends with the money making black stuff. I need to understand it fully so that I can make informed strategic decisions on how best to generate revenue while finding out how I can integrate it into my tea room vision.

At about this time (Nov 2010) it had become clear that I needed to get some part time work. To recap I left my full time job in August 2010 and by November I was in need of filling my time with a distraction as the Old Coach House project ticked along with a February schedule for opening.

Back to the Floor - Starbucks

This leads me to the point of this update as I continue to bring you up to speed with the developments of my tea room project.

I walked into the Cardiff Bay Starbucks around mid November 2010 to get myself a part time job and met the LOVELY assistant manager Helen who gave me the appropriate forms and confidence that I had made the right decision in picking this store.

Before I tell you about my experience there I have to add the following provisos;

The content of this blog is purely my own opinion based on my time working for the 'Bucks
Any comment I make is without prejudice and I hope nicely balanced
The people that I worked with were great and work blooming hard
Everything I discuss here is readily available online or in the public domain

Onwards.

Working for the big 'Bucks

Despite my coffee free life, I walk around with a Starbucks card in my wallet loaded with credit. Mainly due to the prolific number of outlets in the UK, their often free parking and free wifi and my life as a sales person travelling the country this little card was a must. Besides which I figured who else knows more about coffee? The store I chose happened to be a great choice for my experiment as Cardiff played host in 2008 to Europe's first drive through Starbucks.

This was a busy store, in fact this store was phenomenally busy and proved that us Europeans were absolutely ready to adopt the practice of staying strapped into our cars to get a coffee on the go. Shortly before I joined the CDT (Cardiff Drive Through) store it had become the biggest revenue generator in the region, pipping the City Centre flag ship Queen Street store. I took on a 15 hours a week working pattern which consisted of 3 x 5 hour shifts. I must say I haven't physically worked so hard in years it was a back to the floor experience taking me back a decade to my early days in hotels. This in itself wasn't a surprise, I know that running the tea room will be manual, fast paced and pretty tiring. However taking 18K a week in selling coffee at the CDT shows quite how busy the joint is.

How are they so Busy?

From my time at Starbucks I learnt a phenomenal amount, the easy part was about coffee the rest was about the brand. Starbucks is successful because people believe in the brand. It doesn't take a genius to see that the chipper SB employee who serves you your Latte will use your first name and ask about your day because they're trained to. There also isn't really anything wrong with that, yes you may feel sometimes that it isn't very genuine but almost everyone I worked with actually enjoyed their work and felt that Starbucks cared about them as a 'Partner'. So for me as a soon to be 'independant' retailer I have to give it to the chains, they train their teams well and they train them to make you feel that you are getting a personal service. SB's use the term 'The Third', this is the ambition for your local Starbucks to be the third place between your home and work. A very bold ambition and a very lucrative one too.

My Make-up with Coffee

I lasted with Starbucks through the busy Christmas period, the red aprons, the slightly sickly American Corporate take on the commercialisation of Christmas all the way through to mid January 2011. I am somewhat proud to say the I am officially a trained Barista and I have great pride in being able to not only know the difference between a Cappuccino and a Latte, but I can also make a pretty darn good Flat White too.

So here is my run down of the Top 5 things I will and the Top 5 things I will not be using from my Starbucks experiment in my tea room;

The Good

Great coffee is about the entire process, from the best beans, ground fresh and used immediately with milk at the perfect temperature served professionally.
There are many types of coffee our there along with many ways of serving it, one pot of filter sat on a hot plate all day won't satisfy the savvy coffee connoisseurs of the UK.
Some people actually cannot get going in the morning without caffeine.
Customer connection is important whether you are an International Chain or a one man band, but it must be genuine.
There is good money to be made in serving great coffee.

The Bad

One style of mug cannot possibly suit all, I will need coffee vessels that match my tea room ambience.
Whilst it is nice to be busy and make money, people need space, time and service at their table.
Fresh food made on site from local ingredients and local suppliers simply cannot be beaten or indeed replicated by the big brands.
Mainstream dull popular music. Ick!
Corporate colours and brand values have a place, but a place needs to have a soul.

In Summary

Working for Starbucks was eye opening. I wanted to hate the company and despise the corporate experience. This simply wasn't the case in fact I was moved by the amount of community engagement that the boys and girls of these stores get involved in. Yes it may be a PR directive from head office, but the real people who work hard in the store take that idea out to the community and make it real.

I have learnt about coffee, I drank some excellent beverages and tasted for the first time subtle flavours I never thought to find. All of this was a million miles away from my early office experience of a caffeine infused energy roller coaster all from bad instant coffee. I think I can say, I love coffee and my business will be all the better for it.

*NOTE the majority of my figures are sourced from the first page of the relevant Google search results and are therefore potentially, neh probably, entirely inaccurate or at the very least completely misleading. I however have never let the truth get in the way of a good story/or emphasis of my point.

Diary Excerpt–The Birth and Death of the Old Coach House Tea Rooms

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Sun, 08 May 2011 18:57:00 +0000

August 2010 – January 2011

August 2010
27th August 2010 – Business in Focus Advice
“Today I met with Jane Way at her offices in Cardiff Bay. Amongst several of the things that we discussed were how to go about finding the perfect venue for my new business. I have quite a specific idea in my head for what sort of shop I want for my tea room, this is based on good places I have been to in the past and also what shops I think are in Cardiff in areas that I think will work.
For my first tea room and indeed my first business, I have decided to rent a property to minimise the risk involved and also keep my start up costs down. I figure that a good street facing unit on a busy shopping street area is the way to go. With this in mind I am targeting Wellfield Road, Albany Road, Roath, Pontcanna, Penarth, Whitchurch Village, Llandaff Village, Cyn Coed and Cardiff City Centre to start with.
I will need A3 planning consent to operate my tea room, however getting this kind of planning consent where it does not already exist is really tough. It turns out that in the recent past Cardiff has been very free with handing out A3 consent, so takeaway outlets and restaurants have popped up all over the city. As a result Cardiff has now developed the opposite attitude and won’t hand out A3 easily. Scarily Jane also pointed out that it could take over a year to find a venue, she has had some clients where it has taken several years to find the right place…”
Tuesday 31st August – First Impressions of a Seemingly Expensive Property
“There are so few commercial properties listed on the internet in Cardiff that aren’t huge warehouses. It is really frustrating especially as it is now so easy to find residential properties online through third parties. I am stuck with www.findaproperty.com and www.primelocation.com neither of which have very much choice for my narrowed down search. From looking around so far properties of the size and in areas that I like range from £10,000 to £50,000 per annum. I have budgeted in the region of £15-£20,000.
Mike has seen a property near Sophia Gardens which is pretty close to Cardiff City, however it is over my rent threshold and is one of the first properties i have found.”

September 2010
Thursday 9th September – The Drive Around
“I have spent hours during the past fortnight driving around areas of Cardiff and posting my contact details through the doors of empty shop units. So far nothing! The venues that are suitable are too expensive. I have called every estate agent and given them a full brief to help me find my property. From this initial research I can see that I should take a closer look at the The Old Coach House which I first spotted a few weeks back. With this in minds today I picked up the phone and introduced myself to Ross from Jeffrey Ross. After a short conversation it became clear that the Coach House is still available and Ross would happily send me the brief.”
Friday 10th September – Jeffrey Ross
“I know I have to be cautious, but I LOVE the Old Coach House, Sophia Close, Cardiff.

I have put the venue details here, Old Coach House Specifications. At first I thought this venue was expensive but actually there is a great square footage here. I have spoken to Ross this morning and have my first proper site visit on Monday with the owner, Spencer. I must admit that I am very excited.”
Monday 13th September – The Old Coach House Site Visit
“This is an unbelievable property and I am going to have to move quickly on this. Incredibly another tea room business is interested and have been in conversation with Jeffrey Ross for the past 8 weeks. I am sitting down tonight to run the forecasts to work out what sales revenue I can achieve from the covers at the Coach House. Then I can work out what a fair bid will be.
The Coach House is currently derelict so the owner has drawn up the following plans which he will spend his own cash on to realise for the successful tenant”

Wednesday 15th September – The Old Coach House Bid Submission
“This is a fantastic venue, it is located in Pontcanna which is an affluent residential area in the heart of the city of Cardiff. The Coach House overlooks Sophia Gardens and backs on to the park, so there is some scope for outdoor seating in the park itself!. About fifty yards from the Coach House is the main coach parking for Cardiff City for all tourist groups. Over the road is the Welsh Institute of Sport which attracts thousands of visitors per month, along with the new SWALEC Cricket Stadium which again is a huge draw for crowds to Cardiff.
Today I sat outside the Coach House for most of the day people watching. There is a great mix of business people cutting through the park to the city centre and working in the surrounding offices on Cathedral Road. There were surprisingly more people walking by than I would have expected for a Wednesday morning but Sophia Close appears to be a real favourite cut through.”

Thursday 23rd September – The Old Coach House Re-submission
“Grrrr! The other tea room business has come back today with a better bid than me. Ross wants me to come back with my best and final bid. I have decided to submit part of my Business Plan along with the bid to give Spencer a taste of what I will do with the Old Coach House. I have sent everything over to them and hope to hear back at the earliest by the start of next week. This waiting is rubbish, i keep thinking I should just up my bid and agree to pay more rent.”
Wednesday 29th September – The Old Coach House Bid result
“Today is my last working week with my previous employer so the result of whether I will be the successful occupier of the Old Coach House seems more crucial than ever.
At 09:34am today I received this email;
Hi David,
My apologies for the delay in my reply, I think I did mention that I am in Portugal this week. I have however managed to speak with Spencer re: the 2 offers we have received. They are both very similar and that has also caused a delay in this response.
Based on your business plan and timescale Spencer would prefer Victoria Rooms to take the lease, if you are prepared to offer £*** with the 1st six months being half rent. The rent deposit would be the same. Spencer would like to get legals instructed ASAP so I would be grateful if you could reply at your earliest convenience.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards
Sent from - JeffreyRoss Estate Agents
WOOHOO I cannot believe how fortunate we are to have the Coach House, it is ideal for my tea room needs and Spencer is keen to tweak the construction plans to fit in with my requirements. I have contacted my Solicitor Darren and asked him to get on with the legal side. Meanwhile I am off to celebrate that I do not have to put my life on hold anymore in property searching hell!”

October 2010
Monday 4th October – Farewell Victoria Rooms
“In creating my Business Plan I came up with a brand ‘The Victoria Rooms’ and have used this to focus planning. Today I decided to bid farewell to that brand. I met Jane today at a competitor tea room in Cardiff, Waterloo Gardens. We had a good loose leaf tea and I introduced Jane to the Old Coach House. As you may expect Jane had many questions about the venue and so we decided to take a trip to Sophia Close and take a look around. Spencer has given me a key to the venue now that I am going to be his tenant.
Jane loves the Coach House! It is such a relief when a professional like Jane gets excited to see a venue. Jane knows my business as well as I do so to get her confidence in this venue has given me a great boost! However her first question for me was why not call it the Old Coach House Tea Rooms. She is right and so I lay to rest the Victoria Rooms brand.
In practical terms we should be in and trading by Spring 2011. Today I wrote a full procurement document including all of the fit out items, furnishings and fixtures. Having this long lead in time is such a relief meaning I can plan in advance.”
Wednesday 20th October – The Solicitor Site Visit
“Today I met with Spencer on-site at the Old Coach House to draw up the construction schedule for the work to be completed on the building. My solicitor Darren joined us to get a feel for the property and help him draw up the legals. Spencer is going to give me a full schedule next week and has agreed to start the initial clearing work of the debris inside the building during the first week of November. The full work will take 12 to 16 weeks so we will be opening in Spring 2011 probably the first week in April.
It is brilliant to have such a close relationship with the owner of the property that we are going to rent. I will be responsible for installing the floor throughout the lighting throughout and the kitchen.”

November 2010
Tuesday 9th November – Clearing Work?
“Spencer has not come back to me with his schedule of works as yet. I have started chasing him today, particularly as no skip has arrived to start clearing the site. It is 10 weeks since I found this venue now and I still haven't signed anything as yet. Speaking to Darren he has also had real trouble getting hold of Spencer’s solicitors to confirm the legals.”
Thursday 25th November – What is Wrong with the Old Coach House
“I have not heard anything from Spencer in weeks… until today. Having left 3 voicemails per week since the start of the month, I finally forced a meeting with Spencer by calling Ross today telling him I have to know what is happening. Something is clearly wrong, I meet Spencer next Wednesday.”

December 2010
Wednesday 1st December – Meeting Spencer
“Spencer has the wrong mortgage. Believe it or not when he bought the Coach House in 2007 he was going to turn it into apartments. The bottom of the property market fell out and so he decided to let the Coach House and went after A3 planning consent. So in November when he went to his bank to borrow against his mortgage in order to convert the Coach House he realised that his mortgage is a residential one. Banking has changed in the past few years and now it turns out that banks do not want to lend on commercial mortgages.
Thankfully all is not lost, if Spencer and I can come up with a plan then we can save this project although clearly my spring deadline is looking highly unlikely. I sat down today to go through my accounts with a view to a.) purchasing the Coach House myself or b.) paying the rent upfront for the first year. Either way there is clearly much more to discuss with Spencer and our solicitors”

January 2011
Wednesday 19th January – The Final Nail
“I never heard back from Spencer. Today I managed to get Ross to return my call after calling him 3 times per week since the New Year. Ross confirmed that without a miracle my chances of being the tenant for the Old Coach House are now over. I am left with a Solicitors bill in the hundreds and four months worth of work on a property for nothing.
Jane warned me that this could happen with any venue. I will continue with my dream so will keep on searching. I currently have nowhere else in mind so it really is back to the drawing board, exactly where I was in August 2010. I have to say I doubt that I will find anywhere to match the Coach House.”

March 2011
“What a horrible start to 2011! However I am back on the trail with finding a venue and now have three likely places in mind. Without the property nothing else can happen, with the hard work put into the Coach House I am now in a unique position; I have everything to run a tea room just no place to put it in…yet. Watch this space for an update…”

How to Find and Lease the Perfect Commercial Property - 10 Top Tips

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Sun, 01 May 2011 20:55:00 +0000

Yes this is one of the most exciting titles for any Blog post. I toyed with punning my way into this subject, but it is just too important to make the subject line any more exciting. I shall endeavour to make the content a little more interesting than the title!

July 2010 - May 2011

Just Looking I am Not Buying

I have been looking for a commercial property to lease in South Wales of the UK for the past ten months, to become the perfect home for my Tea Room Business. The writing of my business plan was one of the first steps in creating my venue requirement brief. You probably have a pre-conception in your head for what a traditional tea room looks like. I am coming at this from a different angle, I can picture several types of buildings that may suit, but actually it is the content and subsequent functionality that helps me stay open minded to a venue. Jane Way advised me that it may easily take over a year to find a venue, when we met in July 2010 and here I am ten months on with no signed lease agreement. It may be very easy to find the venue you want, but the majority of small business' rely to a crucial extent on finding a venue that is actually quite unique. To me it feels like finding a needle in a haystack.

When I sat down to find my perfect property I started by creating a brief that would allow me to rule in, or rule out certain venues quickly. There are many things to consider when making your venue brief here are a few good questions to ask yourself particularly if you are looking for a retail property;

Who are your customers?
Where are they coming from? get on Google Maps and narrow down prospective areas.
Do they need to drive?
Is there parking?
Will your customers pay to park?
Who are your neighbours? Go and knock the door.
Are there tenants above your venue if so who are they? find out if there have been any planning objections or issues with neighbours in the past.
What is the competition like? look who is trading in the area, then look again. My competitors are not just other tea rooms, but café's, restaurants, coffee shops, deli's, community centres, department stores...
What are the plans for future development surrounding your venue? you may have a lovely park surrounding you, best to check if there are any plans to build a council estate on it!
What size venue do you need? many estate agents talk in terms of unit square footage, check whether the square footage on their brief is all usable floor space or if it includes non customer facing areas.
What type of planning consent does your property need? you may find you need A3 planning consent for your business.
How much are you willing to pay? do you pay more money to be in a busy spot and therefore take more cash? Every time you seriously consider a property I would recommend you run a full cash flow projection taking into account the lease and all associated costs against what sales you could make.
What are the Business Rates for your venue? find out how much the local council charge you to operate your business in their area and what you get for your money.
What are the utility rates for your venue? find out how much you can expect to pay to run your venue this may help you decide on really how much space you need.
What comes with your property? make sure you ask exactly what is included in the property when you view it, what fixtures and fittings. You can make great savings by negotiating in existing fittings on commercial properties.

I split my brief into two, the things my venue must have and things I want it to have;

Must Haves

Located in a well populated area
Good footfall
Minimum 20 seats
A3 planning consent
Lease price in budget
Kitchen
Toilets
Within South Wales - ideally Cardiff

Would Likes

Outdoor seating
Good views
Unit with character
Free parking
Easy access

No Phil and Kirsty for Folk Like Me

I am still utterly flabbergasted by the lack of support that there is in locating commercial property to lease in this day and age. Someone will make an awful lot of money when they get there act together and make it easy to find up to date commercial property listings on-line. Something similar to findaproperty.com or rightmove.co.uk At the moment there is no such listing, where are the Phil and Kirsty of commercial lets?

Here are my top ten tips to finding the perfect venue, just remember there is no magic trick you just have to keep going and try not to lose heart, especially after the knock backs that will no doubt come.

My Top 10 Tips to Find a Commercial Property to Lease

1. Tell me what you want, what you really really want - Think about what you want from a property and then think outside the box. Start with a good brief so you know the difference between what you want and what your need in a property.

2. Location location location - This is a brilliant cliché but it is so important so think about where your customers are and where you need to be. I hit Google Maps then printed out South Wales and surrounding areas; then to help my search I looked at locations of post offices to help me find small communities.

3. Agents, make a nuisance of yourself - Do you want to buy a warehouse? No? then you are NOT a priority. It is painful but the majority of agents will not be interested in helping you find a small commercial property to lease. It is very rare you will find an agent who will actively look for you. The best advice I can give is to introduce yourself to as many commercial agents as you can find in your area and make sure they have your brief, then email and ring them at least weekly if not more.

4. Look for empty lets - Drive around areas that you like and look for empty units. This is one of the best ways to find a property so do it regularly!

5. Get a solicitor - Unless you happen to have a law degree take legal advice on finding your property. They can help you understand important matters including, boundaries, security of tenure etc

6. Find an existing business and buy it - You may be inspired by a particular business that you love, which is perfect. Have you thought to ask them if they want to sell?

7. When you find somewhere you love pick it apart - You may fall instantly in love with a property, always shine a bright torch on all of the negatives. What is happening near by? Who are your neighbours? Where are your customers coming from? Who do they have to walk past to get to you?

8. Planning - What planning consent do you need on a property? Check what the law asks of you and ask the agent what the property has. In some areas it may be very simple to get a change of usage, but it is not guaranteed and may lead to heart ache and cost down the line.

9. Network, you never know who you know until you know - Crazy as it may seem, the World is a small place and you may know the person who owns your perfect venue so tell everyone you can what you are looking for.

10. DON'T DESPAIR and DON'T GIVE UP! If you don't get the first place you want then it isn't meant to be. Be prepared for let down, it may be hard to find your perfect venue and it may take time. I found the perfect venue in September 2010 after ten minutes searching on line from a selection of about 10 properties, and I mean perfect.

Procurement Fun 2. Pretty Tables

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 22:17:00 +0000

October 2010

Wombling

My favourite two methods of acquiring furniture for my Tea Room make use of the on-line organisations Free-Cycle and Gumtree. +I currently have the luxury of time and a lovely large spare room to cram full of goodies.

Free Cycle - Cardiff

Gumtree

Both of these sites have their pro's and cons but used together they are a wonderful tool for finding the great bargains.

Occasionals

This occasional table came to me from Free Cycle - Cardiff. Yes someone was chucking this out...

I have a strict 'Kill or Cure' policy when it comes to free furniture. This beautiful table was damaged on the surface with scratches so I gave it a light sanding to remove the top layer of varnish. I then applied a layer of protective wood stain with a light oak colour. I finish off furniture like this with several layers of pure Bees Wax.

Tip to apply wood stain evenly, use a sponge, the kind you use for doing the dishes cut up is great!

How to Right a Business Plan Wrong - 10 Top Tips

noreply@blogger.com (David LM) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:51:00 +0000

For the regulars visiting this blog you will know that I am in the process of setting up a traditional tea room business in Cardiff, South Wales, that celebrates home made, fair trade, fabulous cake, coffee and loose leaf teas. I started this mission in June last year (2010) and am focussing the next few weeks on bringing you up to date on the story so far as I build up to open in Spring 2012.

August - October 2010

Anyone can start a business, you see that happening every day. I notice usually when I think that someone is doing a bad job of running a business particularly bad tea rooms, café's and coffee shops. When you sit down to a sticky table, or get told to clear your own tray, or people there to provide a service to you are plain rude, I just think how do you people make any money? I could do that better! Have you ever had the same thought?

Watching Mary Portas giving what seems to me like pure common sense to people in business always ignites the entrepreneurial fire in my belly. Why do these people go into business?

So two interesting points here, anyone can go into business and do it badly and most of those people don't seem to have a passion for what they do. To make my tea room business a success I would need to be thorough in the start up and entirely committed to seeing the vision through.

Writing the Business Plan

I love spreadsheets! Spreadsheets were my first stop in getting organised. I opened an Excel sheet sometime in June last year, saved it as "Business Plan" and put it in a shiny new folder named "Tea Room". This was not my final business plan but more a document (currently running at 13 tabs) which held content on all of my ideas, to do lists, research, website links, legal documents, contact details, properties more to do lists etc etc. One of the most inspirational professionals I have had the privilege to work with in my corporate career taught me the importance of being thorough. For many people being slightly OCD about thoroughness is an ingrained personality trait, for me it is a learned behaviour that I now cherish. Using my spreadsheets I intend to get from vague dream to smoothly operating profitable business with as few hiccups as possible!

During the period of August to October 2010 I wrote, edited, re-wrote, reviewed, peer reviewed and developed the tea room Business Plan. Jane Way, my Business in Focus adviser, was a fantastic resource in tweaking my plan and helping me find my way. As I have laid out in past posts, the best business plan is a tool that helps you make decisions to produce a SMART plan from overview of dream to making your business a cash generating reality. If you Google 'How to write a business plan' you get an awful lot advice. Having trawled this advice and written my own, and if I say so myself rather awesome business plan, here are my top tips to writing the best plan you can.

My Top 10 Tips to Writing a Business Plan

1. Who do you know? - Research is key, go and find some people who have been there first. Email me if you have questions and I shall try to help. I went to two people I know who have started their own business to find out what they did, what they wished they had done better and how they wrote their business plan. If you do not know anyone personally go and meet someone new, I had great fun going to Totnes and meeting the MOST wonderful owners of Greys Dining Room Totnes.

2. Bring some structure to your life - Use a business plan template. There are many free business plan templates out there, here are some free ones to have a look at; HSBC, Business Link, Microsoft Office Business Templates. I ended up paying for a template to help me get started, I found the suggestions and examples of other plans really helpful in understanding what sort of information was suitable; Business Plan Writer. When I completed the template I must admit that I did finish it off in Word after all!

3. Tailor your plan - Many templates are so generic that you do not need half of the sections, or you may need other sections that are missing. Try to find a plan that you know has been used by people in your industry already. I spent several hours discussing the company structure for my business, before I finally realised that it was completely irrelevant. My structure is utterly flat, me at the top and me at the bottom.

4. Keep it real - Be realistic. This is obvious. But really, when you sit down to write and then when you review be critical of yourself. It is so crucial to dream big and be passionate but don't kill your dream before you start, by dreaming too big.

5. Phone a friend - If they are not already entirely bored of hearing you talk about your business idea then make sure you get your friends and family to help you read it. It may be simple for you to write a plan but don't be worried if you find the whole experience frustrating and at times too complicated this is natural!

6. Professional Advice - By the time I met Jane Way, it was a huge release for me to talk to someone who makes a profession out of listening to business ideas. There are discussion forums on this topic so get online, also don't be afraid to talk to your bank or try your local council website to see if they have some suggestions.

7. SPaG - Please spell-check, punctuate (I am exempt from correct punctuation in this blog by the way) and make sure your grammar is spot on. Nothing undoes a beautifully crafted sentiment more than a typo!

8. Financials - Get some figures, this can be another big stumbling block for people writing a business plan, but it is crucial to get your figures right. Even if you aren't going to the bank or other friendly cash lender cap in hand, you have to get your cash flow projection sorted to get a handle on your costs, sales and profits. Good to get some professional advice here too but if you can find your way around a spreadsheet make that do the hard work.

9. Back it up - Go and buy an external hard drive, memory stick or use your smartphone! Back up all your work. No matter if you are an IT genius or a PC novice make sure you make a copy of your work as you go. Don't be heart broken by losing all your hard work.

10. STICK WITH IT! Even if you feel that you are more of an ideas person or a practical person, you have to sit and go through the business plan process. Think of it as one small sacrifice that you only need to make once in order to safeguard your dream.

Let me know your comments, have you written your own business plan before? What worked for you? What didn't?