Junu’s Coffee House, Up and Running

Our little coffee house has been open for 7 days now. It has been a new and very interesting experience getting our doors open, and learning the ins and outs of starting a business in India. Everyday comes at us with a new challenge, and it was extremely hard just to get to the point where we are now. Oh, it was so much anxiety just to simply open our doors for selling tea and coffee. But we got here, and everyday is getting better and better!!

We already have a handful of regulars that keep our 2 tables full during the mornings. Our seating area right now consists of an inside chilllout area, and one table outside which is a piece of plywood resting on 2 tires, and 4 tire chairs surrounding the table. We also have a very comfortable hammock that Sunil and I seem to use the most when resting our feet and hanging out with the customers. We are working on more tables, and should have more chairs in the next couple of days. Hopefully more tables equals more customers!!

Two days ago was a huge milestone for us! We got our espresso machine up and running, and I think I made over 8 Cappuccinos in 20 mins! I quickly learned when I got here that all the appliances I brought with me would fry very quickly if I plug them directly into the 220V plugs here in India. So, we had to find and purchase a very costly converter that would convert 220V to 110V and have 2000Watts of power. We finally got this converter last night, and now our kitchen is up and running at full service. Well, almost. I still am waiting for my ice machine to arrive from Delhi, which I left in the airport in Delhi due to the stupid Indian domestic airport not allowing it to fly with me from Delhi to Bombay. So, I have spent the past month trying to find someone to pick up my machine from the airport in Delhi, and send it to me by land. I should get it in the next couple of days, and then we will be serving our delicious blended drinks, which should bring in more money!

The past month has been hectic and crazy! We started construction 2 days after I arrived, and have been working nonstop to get our doors open. Now that we are open for business, Sunil and I are in the shop all day from 7am- 7pm, 7 days a week. You can imagine that we haven’t had much time to ourselves, or time together. We use to go for walks on the beach during sunset, and it’s the thing I miss the most. Everyday we take turns going to the beach, but I miss swimming in the ocean together, and enjoying a bit of relaxation with Sunil. But, we are getting down a routine with working and taking breaks for lunch and having time for the beach and taking showers. We are busy to say the least!

So, now even though we are open for business, we have a TON of things to do to get more business. We are still working on advertising, getting proper seating for our customers, and getting our kitchen running in full service. So, any down time we have is spent baking, running to the market, going to the main city, or making furniture and signs.

Basically, things could not be any better!!! We are loving our little coffee shop, and excited that we have customers everyday. More and more tourists arrive everyday, and once we get my oven working (which requires a stronger converter), I will be baking all day everyday!! We got our menu today, and started serving lunch sandwiches as well. Yesterday we broke our daily goal of $25 in sales. If we can make $25 in sales everyday, then we can cover our investment this year, have enough money to live during the off season, and have money to invest for next season. So, things are off to a great start to say the least.

Here are some pictures for everyone! They are before and after pictures, and a couple of our customers hanging out drinking coffee after we finally opened. I also included a picture of our adorable little kitty we named Masala. Everyone loves her, and she totally brings customers into our shop because she is so dang cute!

















I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and is enjoying the Holiday season. It does not even feel like Christmas time around here at all. Life on the beach, hanging out with a bunch of international hippies doesn’t really give me the feeling of the holidays at home. Oh, but I am for sure going to be baking some fun Christmas cookies for all the hippies to get everyone in the spirit. I miss everyone, as well as the smell of Christmas trees, pumpkin pie, and houses decorated in beautiful lights!! Send me lots of pictures of Holiday cheer, I need some reminders of Christmas time to keep me in the spirit.