Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Brogee.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Our business started in 2003 because we had a dream to open a coffee shop. I used a business plan I had started in college, dusted it off, and updated it. My parents and husband joined in the journey, and we solicited startup funds through small loans from friends and family. We bought equipment at auction, found a sympathetic building owner who did some renovations before we moved in, and basically “bootstrapped” it.
We are reinventing ourselves now as more than a local coffee shop by expanding our products to include unique coffee and bakery gift boxes that can be purchased on Etsy and through our website. We support the building we are in, which is a 1917 former Savings & Loan building, through a Coworking Center that we created by reducing the space of our coffee shop. COVID-19 forced us to make many of these changes quickly as we looked for any avenue of revenue that we could find. Now, we seek to expand both gift box collections into even more e-commerce channels. We also hope to one day franchise our Coworking Center business model and partner with other coffee shops and small businesses around the country, providing them additional revenue through the coworking model.
Our mission is: Connecting people through expertly crafted coffee, food, and unique gifts. Our values are: Relationships, Sustainability, Community, Integrity, and Creativity.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Multiple entities and banks told us we wouldn’t last because we were determined to open our coffee house in downtown of Lima, Ohio, poster child of the Rust Belt. We were the only coffee shop in the entire metropolitan area at the time. While we have not necessarily “thrived” financially, we are still committed to our mission after almost 19 years.
In 2008 we faced The Great Recession and saw a 30% drop in our sales. We struggled quite a bit to recover from that, and over time have changed our business model due to increased competition and the changing needs of the market. We started in e-commerce a few years ago by selling gift baskets on Etsy. Watching the rapid growth of e-commerce and the tightening profit margins of local restaurants, we pivoted to focus on that market. Today, we have gift basket clients from across the country, providing gift baskets for corporate events and family celebrations. We have also invested more in the development of our in-house bakery and our gluten-free line of baked goods.
We’ve been impressed with The Meeting Place on Market, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We have a vision to be a national brand known as a woman-owned business that cares about people, provides amazing coffee, baked goods, and gift boxes, and supports women, makers, and small business.
Our differentiators:
* Special occasion gift baskets.
We offer one-of-a-kind gift baskets that are difficult to duplicate. Our gift baskets include premium coffee from independent roasters, our own handmade baked goods, and other products we design in-house. We ship them the next day using fast shipping. Because of this, our gift baskets cannot be copied because we use our own recipes and designs.
* Corporate offerings.
We offer services to corporate clients, customizing gift baskets to meet their event and gift needs through branded mugs, notebooks, the inclusion of their printed materials, and other branding options. We are currently working with the NFL on a custom-designed gift basket for their technology conference coming up in June. We are at the top of their list and are hearing back this week if our quote was approved by their executives.
* Design services and designer products.
Our talented in-house designers create unique designs on products that we include with our coffee, such as our “hug in a mug” coffee mug or our Lima Bean Dream biscotti. We offer the same services to our corporate clients, helping them brand their gift boxes for events.
* Gluten-free baked goods.
We have been creating more gluten-free offerings, such as our new gluten-free blondie from our own unique recipe, in order to enhance both café and gift basket sales.
* Investing in technology.
Our goal is to work smarter, not harder. In order to accomplish this, we continue to invest in technology, utilizing both software and hardware to meet our needs.
* Partnership with The Coworking Center.
We love the big, 100-year-old building that we are located within. However, it is expensive to run. Our partnership with The Coworking Center allows us to use our space more effectively, sharing it with other entrepreneurs. We hope to expand our Coworking model by creating a coffee + coworking franchise that others can join in on.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
We have learned that it is important to be strategic about a work-life balance. We’ve done that by designing our products and services to fit the talents of our team members. We closed to the public for a while and then shrunk our open hours so that our full-time team was not overwhelmed. While we have disappointed some customers, which does make our hearts hurt, we felt like it was more important to protect our team.
We learned that we can’t be everything to everyone – that we need to focus on what we love to do and what makes us different.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.meetingplaceonmarket.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetingplaceonmarket/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meetingplaceonmarket/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/meetingplaceonm
