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Ramblings of a roaster

Copenhagen here i come…

8/3/2023

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It’s almost time to go…
On Sunday I fly to Copenhagen to spend a week at the Coffee Mind academy.  I’ve always been a person who performs better if I am motivated.  Five and a half years ago I trained at London school of Coffee where I passed my course and exams to become a Speciality Coffee Association certified roaster.   I’ve just celebrated a big birthday and I’ve been running my small business, The Garden Roastery, for 5 years,  so now feels a great time to press the injection pump.​

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So what’s in it for me?  I am going to refresh and learn new skills, review new roasting equipment, network with fellow roasters, fill my brain with coffee geek facts and start the next chapter of my coffee story….. and I can’t wait! 
What’s in it for you? Loads of great stuff!  If you’re a customer, you will have a roaster who’s at the top of her game, seeking out new and exciting coffees and roasts for you to sample.  If you like to keep up to date with life at The Garden Roastery, I’ll have loads more content and interesting stuff for you to access through my social channels and you can take a look at beautiful Copenhagen as I experience it for the first time. ​
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Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark with fabulous Scandi style.  As well as great coffee, there is beautiful architecture, canals, gardens and fabulous food! I will have some time to explore whilst I am in Denmark, as well as attending my training course and exams, so I’ll keep you posted along the way.   
So what happens when I’m back? Well, watch this space.  After returning from my course I’ll be planning updates to the Roastery offerings and then we are into festival season with London Coffee Festival kicking off at the end of April.
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I can’t wait to take you on my journey.
Lisa xx 
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2022 Year End Report - Small business imposter syndrome?

31/12/2022

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Firstly, I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and some well earned rest ahead of the New Year onslaught...

At this time of year, I usually write a year-end report.  So, I sat down this week to think about what I would share with you through my experiences of running The Garden Roastery in 2022, what were the nuggets of things that really stuck in my head that might be of interest?  If I’m honest, I really wasn’t sure whether I wanted to write a year-end report because it’s been an up-and-down year.  With the last few months being more stressful than usual.  There have been some challenges but there have also been some real highs.  So don’t stop reading at this point, it gets better I promise.  
 
Having mulled it over, I started to wonder, is there such a thing as Small Business Imposter Syndrome?  Why is it that we often think that we need to be perfect before we are legitimate in business?  Surely, it’s the journey that’s the thing that we should be enjoying rather than search for that elusive, perfect business.  Surely, it’s those lows and challenges that we overcome, the items that were unexpected that, when we finally look back, will be the ones that we remember.  Of course, business is about sales figures but it’s about so much more.   It’s about fulfilment, providing amazing customer service and giving something back.  It may be a single customer being delighted with their purchase, a snippet of unexpected positive feedback, or being able to support a local supplier, which gives you a sense of achievement. 

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Imposter Syndrome
​ –The persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills
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​So here is the year-end report that I wasn’t planning to write for 2022.  For me the year has really been a game of two halves. Following my delight at the end of 2021, when I had doubled the sales figures for The Garden Roastery, I felt that I was already delivering a high quality and consistent service.   The first half of 2022 started well, building on that joy and really feeling like I was getting somewhere with a significant increase in regular customers and wonderful feedback from customers who have been shopping with me for many years.  

The Lows?

Then in July 2022 something not related to the business really had an impact at home, we came back from a few nights away to find a swimming pool on the floor in the kitchen. Well, not a real swimming pool of course.  The hot water tank in the loft had kindly decided to leak through to the upstairs of the house, through the bathroom and into the kitchen before depositing itself onto the downstairs floor.  To be honest in the scheme of things it’s a very basic problem and should have been relatively easy to fix.   The volume of water, compared to some leaks or floods was insignificant, but what followed felt like six months of constantly being let down by suppliers which meant by Christmas we had just concrete floors and no furniture in the downstairs of the house and no confirmed sign of resolution.   
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Daisy, my beautiful retro coffee roasting machine, was really starting to feel like she was reaching her twilight years. ​
​Trying to sort out the repairs in the house at the same time as running a small business along with my busy corporate role wouldn’t usually phase me, but in addition unfortunately my wonderful Daisy, my beautiful retro coffee roasting machine, was really starting to feel like she was reaching her twilight years.  She started to show signs of needing a lot more TLC and on several occasions, I was unable to roast due to break downs.   Hopefully all the issues for Daisy are solvable, but they’re not the sort of things that you can do in half an hour squeezed between other priorities.  You really do need to allocate time in any business to plan in those maintenance schedules, make sure you’ve got every part in stock, make sure that you’ve got additional stock in case of a breakdown.   The good news is that Daisy has been receiving some much-needed TLC in the Christmas shutdown with some shiny new parts on order.  

​“But what about the highs for 2022?” I hear you cry!

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​Well great news, The Garden Roastery customer base has grown, with orders being dispatched across the UK.  Local customer awareness has spread, and I regularly find myself being greeted with ‘oh you’re the coffee lady’ – that always makes me smile.  There have been new product launches – the latest being the sell-out Coffee Travel Can and for the first time ever The Garden Roastery coffee and gifts are available for purchase at another local business.
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So, what’s next? ​

Those of you who are fans of The West Wing will recognise the phrase… 'What's next?'

What do
es 2023 hold for me and The Garden Roastery?  Well, it’s onwards and upwards.  I have been qualified as a Coffee Roaster since 2017, through the Speciality Coffee Association.  But it’s time to refresh and top up.  So, this year I am planning to travel to Copenhagen for the next stage of professional roaster training, exams and qualifications.  I can’t wait!
I will also need to start looking at new equipment, and I will be using my training trip to scout out the best roasting machines before considering an upgrade to help increase capacity and let Daisy start her well-deserved retirement.
Product development will definitely be on the cards with consideration of a range of subscription packages.  
Support and networking – I really want to spend more time networking with and supporting other local businesses.  It provides such a boost to meet others in a similar situation and share great ideas.  I have a business degree and 30 years experience which I hope can help others.
Last but not least, I want to give more back and support worthy causes where I can.  Whilst The Garden Roastery does not have the funds do make large corporate donations, I will absolutely be looking for opportunities to support worthy causes and reduce environmental impact whilst providing the best service possible to my customers.

Keep the faith...

I’m really looking forward to this year.   I’ve got a big birthday coming up and that is a big reason to focus on my passion.  For all small business owners out there I do believe there is such a thing as a Small Business Imposter Syndrome.  I think all small business owners at some point wonder whether they’re actually doing it right and forget how much they have achieved and how far they have come.  There have been so many small businesses close with the recent economic challenges.  But keep the faith! You do know more than you think, all the effort is worth it.  Yes, it’s very very hard but don’t give up.  Keep your passion, keep celebrating the journey, support each other along the way and together we will all keep small-business alive. 
 
Thanks so much for all my customers and all those people who have supported the Roastery through 2022.  Let’s look forward and have a wonderful 2023.  Happy New Year!

Lisa xx

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'a heartfelt THANK-YOU' - year end review 2019

29/12/2019

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Hi Coffee Lovers 
Whenever I get to this time of year between Christmas and New Year, I always find myself in a reflective mindset.  For me it’s a time to think back on the year past, before launching myself into the New Year with as much gusto as I can muster.  

So what of 2019?  The headline for me and The Garden Roastery is Wow!  This was my first full year since the Roastery was established and I can’t tell you how pleased and happy I am about how things have gone.  As many of you will know, I started roasting as a hobby, after training as a specialist coffee roaster a few years ago.  Within a few months, the friends, to whom I was giving my surplus roasts, insisted on paying for them and so that was it, The Garden Roastery business was formed.  
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This year, with more experience and understandingly of my customers, I have focussed on recognising what people want.  I have been so pleased to offer more eco-friendly options, like refillable tins and larger bag sizes, give better flexibility for customers with my new secure out-of-hours collection point, and a broader range of gift products.
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I have reached out to a wider customer base and at the end of the year, I diversified with my new CoffeeSpa beauty boxes, providing innovative homepsa skincare, which harnesses the amazing benefits of coffee.  All of these aspects have resulted in 3 times as many sales in the last quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year.  No wonder it has felt so busy, and the need for Noelle The Elf - Christmas Intern.

​​As you know I’m always keen to give something back, and I have been so pleased to be able to support a number of charities through the year, including Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Primrose Hospice and the Alzheimer’s Society. 
As I look back on 2019, I have to say that by far my top reflection is all the wonderful people who have supported my business.  Along with those closest to me, my family and my wonderful friends, the customers of The Garden Roastery have made my year!  I can’t tell you how blown away I have been with the amount of support that both I personally, and the Roastery, have received.  From customers who I have met in person, to those who I have met online, I have been blessed with many pieces of positive feedback, support, referrals and recommendations.  When you run a small business, with sales on-line, it’s so powerful and empowering to receive that support.  So I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you who have supported me.  From those who choose the Roastery as their coffee supplier, to those who are supporting a local business, to all the social media likes and shares from further afield, as well as the biggest form of feedback by personal recommendations.  I couldn’t do it without you.   

​From the end of a great year to the start of the next chapter I wish you all the very best for a happy and healthy 2020.

​Lisa x

Roaster by Passion
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Autumn ramblings...

1/11/2019

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Well, an autumnal hello from The Garden Roastery. I love this time of year, the schools have gone back, the autumn weather has set in and the colours are amazing. The Roastery is warm and toasty, with rich smells of coffee and spice. I always think it’s a time of year for planning. When I was in school I would have bought a new pencil case and organised my stationery. Even though those days are long gone, I still have that underlying feeling of preparation and the nagging feeling of ‘what next?’.
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Those of you who know me will be aware that it’s not as though I have plenty of time on my hands. With a busy business career, that has periods of international travel, a long commute and running The Garden Roastery, there is plenty to do. In amongst all of that I also try to fit in family time and exercise.

However, as always this autumn, I’m in planning mode. So what’s next? Where will my passion take me? One of the things I love about having my own business is the ability to be agile and try new things. When you own the risk, the possibilities are endless! So my latest musings are on new coffees and new products but as always, without the hype.
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Christmas is around the corner, and this year is the first time I will be offering gifts in beautiful baskets for sending direct to the recipient. This is in addition to the beautiful gift sets already on sale. I’ve just ordered Christmas boxes for stocking fillers and Christmas gifts, plus product development continues with vanilla and pumpkin spice coffee in the offing.
So, I’m sending you all a coffee filled, autumnal, hug in a mug. Keep watching The Garden Roastery on Facebook and Instagram for the launch of the new products and to see life at The Garden Roastery.

Lisa x
Roaster by Passion

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What a difference a year makes

22/4/2019

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I don’t know where the last year has gone. It’s almost 12 months since I officially launched The Garden Roastery and sold my first bag of coffee. To be honest, like a lot of these things, it kind of happened by accident. Having found a true passion in coffee, I trained as an SCA coffee roaster at The London School of Coffee and started to roast on a second hand industrial roasting machine in my garage.
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When I got to the point of not being able to drink as much as I had roasted, I started to give away bags of roast coffee to friends and family. Boy, were they kind, always great feedback but I worried when they said that they wouldn’t take any more coffee from me - was it really that bad?? No, they said they really enjoyed the coffee but didn’t feel comfortable taking any more for free, they would like to buy some! I thought they were crazy. So the business was born. My first official sale was when one off my friends posted an envelope through my door with a £5 note in it. The message on the envelope said that my friend’s colleague had liked the coffee so much, he had sold them the bag and now he wanted to use the cash to buy some more. I might frame that envelope, it made me smile so much.
If you believe in something, take the first step, otherwise you will never know ...

So things have moved on. Having been evicted from the garage (apparently they are meant for cars ..), the wonderful Roastery was built and I’ve not looked back. I’ve learnt new skills, designed and built my website, created products, launched my on-line store, and with the help of a designer friend created the Garden Roastery identity.
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What many of my customers don’t realise is that I have a day job. I have a busy role in a engineering company, with a fabulous team and daily positive challenges which I love, but roasting and my coffee business are truly my passion. I found a hobby later in life and now it’s taken on a life of its own. From day 1, with a £5 note in an envelope, to a growing client base, both local and further a field. I am truly humbled to have my speciality roast coffee recommended by my customers to their friends, and I regularly receive new enquiries and orders. From one off gift purchases, to over one third of my business from repeat customers, I love what I do. I get so much pleasure from chatting to customers and understanding what type of coffee they like to drink. Importantly I also get to support local people and charities which is close to my heart.
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The biggest lesson that I have learnt from all of this is the importance to go with your gut. Life is short, don’t get hung up on ‘what-ifs’ and ‘maybes’. If you believe in something take the first step, otherwise you will never know.

Check out the awesome Roastery build video on The Garden Roastery Facebook page. Follow my progress and coffee updates on Facebook and Instagram @thegardenroastery

Love Lisa, Roaster by passion x
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Back to basics...

8/7/2018

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So I’ve taken a bit of time out over the last few weeks, and it’s got me to thinking. I set up the Garden Roastery after I became increasingly interested in speciality coffee, I learnt a lot, and I am still learning. But before all that training and developing my knowledge, what did I know? I knew that I loved coffee, I was fascinated by the hundreds of ways that you could make and drink it, but I didn’t know the difference between a latte and a flat white, the difference between commodity coffee and speciality, and I’d certainly never heard of an aeropress! I guess that is the same for the majority of folks, so I’ve decided over the next few blogs to write about some of those things. I make speciality roast coffee in a micro-roastery, and I want people to not only be able to drink my coffee, but to know how to make it the way they like it #yourcoffeeyourtime, so let’s learn about coffee together...
#yourcoffeeyourtime

Hey coffee lovers, add a comment to the blog if you have any questions or interest areas, and I will try to include these in future blogs... e.g. ways to brew your roast coffee, what’s the best grind size to use? when do you press the plunger in your cafetière? how much coffee should you use?....


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    Lisa - Roaster by Passion

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