June 2025: One Year Later

This week, we reached our one-year milestone. It is hard to overstate the journey over the last year since we first opened our doors. With so much uncertainty and hope; so much excitement and anticipation; and the wonder of where the journey might bring us.

There have been a lot of ups and downs. Some significant, some less so. We have cycled through some staff and we have kept many who now consider this cafe home. We have lost some. We have gained some. We have promoted some.

What we didn’t expect but had hoped for was the impact that our bakery would make in the city. It certainly was our hope that we would bring something different That had never been done before. It seems we have succeeded in achieving this. Many are asking “What will you do next? Are you going to expand? Are you going to try a new venture and product? Are you going to open any new locations? Have you thought about doing another restaurant like BBQ, calzones, or pizza?”

All are humbling questions. They tell us that we have done something right. They tell us that people want more than what they have found in the city. 

On the other side of these outward-focused questions are the inward-focused considerations: the type of company and team we have built. I frequently hear from staff that they have never experienced a company like this, management like this, or compassion from management. When we first opened our doors, I sat with the staff and explained how I will operate this company. I read from the book of Galatians and walked through the nine fruit of the Spirit and told them that my commitment to them is to maintain a company that upholds love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as core values. It is how I am committed to caring for them and how I expect my staff to treat one another. I explained that, if we build a culture just on those values alone, our customers will also feel this and will come to experience something significant.

What I hope to spread through that, although not articulated explicitly to them, was this: That the community would smell the aroma of Christ through the aroma of our baked goods and the aroma of our love for one another.

Our sales also show that we are on to something significant too.

Our projected goal for gross revenue for 2024-25 was 69 Lakh NRS (approximately $51,000 USD), which took into account both our hotel sales and our new bakery sales. But we were not anticipating exceeding that goal by 203% in the first year, leading to a gross revenue of 1.40 Crore NRS (approximately $104,000 USD).

This exceeded our 2028-29 goal – four years ahead of time! And, at the time I am writing this, we still have one month before the end of the fiscal year.

We are on to something significant here and it is very exciting to see what lies ahead.