Here is the second installment of the explanations of what I dream to do with my life:
The dream: To open a socially conscious, environmentally friendly coffee shop near my house.
We would buy the coffee directly from coffee farmers in El Salvador and ensure that the farmers are paid a fair price for the coffee. We would also sell freshly baked goods, simple café food (sandwiches, soup, salads), and non-coffee drinks. The coffee shop would do everything possible to be kind to the environment.
I envision a place where a diverse group of people from the community could gather together, get to know each other, develop a sense of community, talk about the problems of the community and the world, and then go out and actually do something to make the community and the world a better place.
The purposes of the coffee shop would be:
- Supporting coffee farmers in El Salvador
- Supporting local, organic farmers near the coffee shop
- Hiring and training people who many other businesses would not hire such as refugees, immigrants, and former prisoners
- Fostering relationships within the community among diverse groups of people
- Leaving smaller footprints on the earth by using reusable dishes, using biodegradable to-go containers, composting, buying local and organic dairy and produce products and other ingredients for food, growing our own organic fruits and veggies, using energy from renewable sources such as sun and wind, etc.
- Mobilizing staff and customers to volunteer and work for justice in our community, in El Salvador, and around the world
Where this dream came from: One day, my friend Julie and I were talking about ways to improve the lives of Salvadorans. We know that anything that will create fundamental change must be sustainable and empowering for the Salvadorans. Most Americans have too many resources and most Salvadorans have too few resources, so the simple thing to do to improve the lives of Salvadorans is to “transfer” resources from America to El Salvador. Simply giving money isn’t going to do it because this isn’t sustainable or empowering. So, Julie and I were trying to think of things that Americans need or buy a lot of that Salvadorans could produce, and one thing we came up with is coffee.
I have always loved baking and preparing food and I have often dreamed of a place where I could sell the delicious things I bake. So, obviously the coffee show would be a great way to make this mini dream a reality and to make the coffee shop even better.
Here in the suburbs I feel that there are very few places for a sense of community to develop. People live in their homes, and come and go to work, stores, and restaurants, but there are very few common places where people can gather, meet new people from their community, catch up with old friends, be invested in the community. I can’t really think of any places where people go to hang out, talk, have a good time, and be with people from the community that we don’t normally run into (bars might qualify, but not completely). I have often found myself wanting such a place, and I believe that others would welcome a community oriented coffee shop.
What I would need to do to make the dream a reality:
Learn how to make coffee drinks or find people who know how
Buy/rent a place for the coffee shop
Find employees
Build relationships with farmers in El Salvador and get the coffee
Find local suppliers for produce, dairy, etc.
Advertise
Find customers
Obstacles to making this dream a reality:
I don’t know much about making coffee
I don’t even like to drink coffee
I don’t have any experience running a business or doing accounting stuff
I don’t have any start up money to get a place, buy supplies, hire staff, etc.
i.e. pretty much everything
