I'm Not Just Going to Talk About It

Or dream about it.
I'm gonna do it.
I'm going to touch people through tea.
Seriously. I'm going to open a tea shop.

Tea is the new coffee. (But not really--tea's actually been around a lot longer). The health benefits of tea are amazing. A good, strong cup of black tea actually has over 1/2 the caffeine (60mg) as a cup of drip coffee (115mg). And a shot of espresso (100mg) has even less caffeine than drip coffee. So that means those fancy schmancy lattes and cappuccinos are kinda more fluff and less caffeine. Obviously someone at Starbucks was a marketing genius.

Anyone can brew a cup of tea at home though. That's why I want to create a place for people to come and relax. I want to give that homesick college student a place to chill away from campus that is a little less like a "coffee shop" and more like home. I want kids to come in with their parents because a small portion of that month's profit are going to buy books for their school library (seriously, I think this donation thing could work and still make a monthly profit). The more I think about it, the more giving just makes sense. Give to the people who give to you. It might sound corny. It might sound too idealistic for the "business" world but I think I can make it work.

With that said, I still don't know a thing about running a small business. So I'm going to do what I do best, I'm going to go back to school and learn how. I don't need a full-on degree to do this. Montana State University offers a minor in Small Business and Entrepreneurship. 30 credits (and some outside research of my own) and I think that I could pull this off. I'm even thinking an online university might offer the same classes . . . still researching this . . . any ideas? :-)

Even though I don't know a thing about running a small business, I do have experience in this area of the industry. For example, one of my favorite childhood pastimes was playing "restaurant". Read about this here: "Taste Test". I promise that I won't serve bullion cubes to anyone in my tea shop.

Then as an 11 year old I had several very lucrative lemonade stands. By the end of the summer, I collected enough UPC's plus $15 dollars to purchase a cardboard lemonade stand, complete with a blazing yellow awning, from a popular summertime lemonade company. Life gave me lemons and I squeezed 'em, sold 'em and bought the damn stand.

Finally, I worked all through High School at a small independently owned espresso shop. I was recently on a job interview and was asked who my favorite boss was and why. I hadn't really prepared for this question, but I still knew the answer right away. It was my first boss. I respected this woman because she showed me the value of genuinely caring about each customer. For example, she stressed how important it was to not only greet a customer, but to tell them goodbye when they left. She knew how to delegate, was fair, and faced problems instead of ignoring them. Plus, she didn't take bullshit from anyone.

So it's with these experiences under my belt that I begin my journey of touching people through tea. I have a lot of ideas (community involvement, wi-fi, comfy couches, no espresso maker--quality drip coffee only, tea parties for kids, etc.)and I have a long way to go. I'm literally starting with only an idea. And I know that it's not going to be easy. It's not going to happen tomorrow . . . but someday it's gonna happen--this is the goal.

Hopefully nobody opens one before me, but if that's the case, at least people will get the experience--and that's what it's all about--not the money (well, I do have to make a profit) . . . but it's never really been about the money for me (well, not anymore e.g. "Writing Again") . . . If I was worried about making tons of money, I wouldn't have an English Literature degree for goodness sake. :-)

Peace & Love & Tea,
Nik