Idea Napkin Round Two!

In continuing from my first Idea Napkin, I am going to sum up everything about myself and the WHY behind starting The Mount Coffeehouse! It’s wild even how much can change within a few weeks of developing this idea! 

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

My name is Juliana Ryan, I am a first year student from Lakeland, FL. I am currently an Exploratory major but my dream is to start a coffeehouse one day so whatever major prepares me for that, I am down for! I am considering majoring in Family, Youth and Community Sciences and or Business Management with potential minor(s) in Entrepreneurship, Non-Profit Management, and maybe even Leadership! I am especially passionate about my faith in Jesus Christ which where most of my involvement stems from. Most of the organizations I associate with outside of faith deal with leadership and youth development. I also absolutely LOVE coffee! I aspire to combine all of these interests with my gift for hospitality to create a space like The Mount for anyone to come to invest in relationship building or scholarly study. 

I started crafting this idea based on my desire to create a space where believers in Christ can come in the mornings to a sacred and quiet space to spend time with God while enjoying good coffee. I firmly believe in starting the day off right by redirecting our focus on God. I’d like to clarify that The Mount would be open to individuals of all religions but is founded on Christian principles. I’d like to have quiet hours in the morning from 7am-9pm where both tiers are quieter and then after 9am the bottom floor would naturally get louder. I would also love for The Mount to be a place for organizations to use for events or small level conferences dealing with faith or youth development. 

Additionally, even within the past month, my dream is going stronger! I am highly considering—not sure WHEN—doing a YWAM program. YWAM, or Youth With a Mission offers multiple Discipleship Training Programs where anyone can is taught and equipped to do global missions. The program I am interested in has a BARISTA track and it’s in AUSTRALIA! So who knows what will happen but I feel like this would be a great experience for me and help me contextualize how I want to use coffee to spread the gospel!

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

I aspire first to offer quality, craft coffee to all my customers, studiers and socializers alike. Coming to Gainesville, I have loved exploring all the varying types of cafe culture. Some coffee shops are more modern, others more homey and lodge-like. Personally, I would like to create a more homey, lodge-like space. Now, I keep a running list of what I want my coffeehouse to have and look like. For example, I want there to be lots of windows for the sunrise or sunset to be well seen from my coffeehouse. I also want the location to be within walking distance from campus for the convenience of students. 

Uniquely, my coffeehouse will be a space that operates on a elevated volume control system which means the higher the floor, the quieter it gets. Presently, I imagine The Mount having two levels: 1st level will operate like a normal cafe (people talking and meeting up) where the 2nd level will be a quieter, independent study space that creates a focused and productive space. This will resolve customers needs of coming to a coffeehouse where they can socialize collectively and or study productively. 

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

Last post, in my Customer Avatar, I went VERY specific on what kind of customer I am serving, however there are various characteristics of my customers. I have developed about five types of individuals, mu various market segments, who will come to The Mount Coffeehouse: 
Studious Students 
Business Peeps 
The Socializers 
The Bible Studies/Group Projecters 
The General Hipster 
Among all these market segments (customers), they all have a need for COFFEE (and or tea). 

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe it's valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

I believe that customers will come to The Mount Coffeehouse to enjoy craft coffee, study, and also socialize. I am always coming up with new ideas but I have a few strategies to make The Mount fun and enticing. I want to have fun latte flavors, provide great connection to wifi, use the space adequately. I think having couches and more open atmosphere would be great for the socializing area whereas the study space will have more desks and tables to work at. Ultimately, coming to The Mount will be more than just getting a quick cup of coffee. I think people will enjoy it for the productive and fun experience that they can have.  

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

My core competencies include my gift for hospitality, genuine altruism, and the determination and follow through in accomplishing my dreams. I am a very organized individual and have perfected the ability of taking on responsibility while balancing the duty of delegating tasks. I also believe that I am a very reliable person. When I say I’ll do something or commit to an organization, I give all my intention to making great relationships within it. 

I believe what sets me apart is my intention in starting this coffeehouse. As I am learning through discipleship and in the bible, everything good I have—every gift I have been given, even life itself—is a gift from God. Therefore, if it is a gift that is freely given I have no authorization to boast. I know God has given me this dream and I want to use coffee to connect people of all backgrounds to the light of Jesus Christ that I believe is shown so evidently in hospitality. 

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 

I confidently believe that these business elements fit together well because I will use hospitality and my desire to foster genuine relationships to fuel the interactions and transactions in my coffee house. In my last Idea Napkin, I was struggling to see if the floors would conflict but I think with good branding, adequate use of space, and just time adjusting to a new type of coffee house, customers will enjoy the different ways they can interact at The Mount. I believe that it’s important to find balance between relationships and study. 

Feedback Memo 
Most of the feedback I received was very positive; not much was “room for improvement” was given. However, they did remark that “by making each floor quieter, your idea is able to appeal to different segments, making its chances of success much higher” as well as my “core competencies, because those are extremely important for opening any kind of business (especially a coffee shop).” My feedback highlighted that I know myself well, or at least am actively trying to figure that out, and aim to capitalize on the best parts of me to successfully run a coffee shop. Seeing that there was not MUCH constructive feedback, I kept a few parts the same but also changed some aspects which I thought needed improvement.