Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hey all,

It's been a while, and one hell of a journey, and we didn't give up, and now we're actually opening. Quite a story.

Long story short, we fell into the worker-cooperative movement and became active in that. That's what the cafe is organized as now. We won a 1,000 grant from ReSET: Beyond Business as Usual for our philanthropic business vision. We hired a team of lawyers and consultants to make sure we did everything right. We found the perfect location in an out of business nightclub. We put together a 200 page feasibility study and business plan. We got turned down for financing by every lender. We went to the landlord asking about the next step since we couldn't pay the next month's rent. He said, "Don't worry about it. I don't want anyone but you to take my location, so we'll play rent by ear." Now we're opening with coffee, tea, chocolate and pastries, holding off on smoothies, espresso drinks and soups/sandwiches. We've got live entertainment lined up for the next 3 months. We've secured pool table, foosball table, air hockey table, pacman arcade, pinball, and jukebox - all free - all coin operated. The vendor takes half the income. We're opening with next to 0 expenses barring rent/utilities. I'm taking a 200/month salary, and so is our fourth partner. Our other two benefit from current employment and are working volunteer hours till we're stable.

What matters most is, we actually did it. You remember when I first got here - tried every shortcut in the book. Quick easy money. Shady loan brokers. None of that worked. Took three years of saving and hard work. We'll see how we fare.

~Matt

Wishing you all the best!

Best of luck Matt! - glad all the hard work finally paid off and you are now seeing some of the fruits of your labor.  Its pretty impressive to open up a food business on such a shoestring budget.  Do you have any pictures of the cafe that you can share with us? Where are you located? Again I wish you much success in 2012 and do keep us updated as your store grows.

Hey all,

You can check out www.thesteampunkcafe.com for photos and such. Essentially, just when we thought we were open, the town hall got involved and said otherwise. We didn't resolve it all till June. We were forced by planning and zoning to open as a full restaurant. We were forced by the building inspector to totally rebuild inside. We managed to do what you'll see on our site with no loan. We're probably going to be able to pay our bills, but as of yet, salary isn't a viable option. We're going to be on tv as early as Tuesday, as well as two papers and four radio stations. Hope it helps. I work from 8am till 10pm seven days a week, and haven't died yet. Today was the first real test - my partners were running late and we got a dozen orders. I thinking did okay. I'm proud of what we've done with so little. Come on down.

Steampunk Café

49 Cottage St.

Danielson, CT 06239

860.774.1515

It's fairly official - we've earned enough the first month, to pay everything but salaries. We seem to make 100 more each week than the last. Our ribbon cutting was yesterday. I love my job.