[Music]
[Brad Barber]Our story begins in Des Moines Iowa. Angie and I were at a Burgers Bagle and we went in
there to get some bagels, and Angie got her coffee, and at that time I didn't
drink coffee, so I had a Dr. Pepper. And as we were sitting there eating our
bagel and drinking our drinks we thought, you know there is not a specialty coffee
shop or bagel shop in downtown Clear Lake. And so, as we were walking out, we decided
to start begin thinking of some names. And as we were driving, we were kicking
out Coffee Cabin, Coffee Lodge Cabin, and our daughter just sprung out, "How
about Cabin Coffee Company?". So we got to Clear Lake, we arrived at Clear Lake and we,
there was Art in the Park at that time, and there was a lot of artists there that had a lot
of western looking artifacts and pictures. And we thought wow that'll
complement our shot really well. So that's how our story begins. The first
few years of our marriage we really would kind of just joke about the "Just
Be Happy and Have Fun" and how are we gonna have a nice shirts. And so when.. as
soon as we came up with the idea to start a business, we just knew it had to
be our slogan. And, um, Customers have just embraced it. Life is short and
so we do want to just take the opportunities that we can to just
not take things too seriously, have some fun, be happy.
Just be happy and have fun. [Angie]There you go.
[laughs]
Some of our early years of challenges were just securing our first loan. It was quite a
challenge. So, so that was a big challenge that we ran into. Within the first few
years we started working with a franchise attorney and just really
finding the right attorney for us to help us grow our business was
challenging. The first one that we started with just wasn't a great fit for
us. So, so we really look at them as our
partner in this and so you have to have someone.. you know just as it was with the
banking: our banker's a partner in our business, our attorney is a partner in
our business. So, so, just really surrounding ourselves with the people
that had our vision and our best interest in mind
was definitely challenging. [Brad] So the first thing we knew that we had to get another
store opened up, just besides Clear Lake. We knew that we had to get into another
market for people to be able to actually visualize and see that this could work
in other markets. So we intentionally opened up a store in Mason City and a
power strip center on the west side of town. And once we opened up that store, we
saw how well that did, then we knew right then, that this is something that
we can go ahead and take that next step, source, interview, and hire an attorney
for us to be able to franchise agreement started. And you know we look back
we think, we sure have learned a lot through these years, but I tell you what, the
the acceptance and the greetings from Clear Lake, and they're just sheer awe. We
had so many people asking us, "Well, were is Cabin Coffee out of?". And we would say "Right
here in Clear Lake.", "No, where did it start?" We would say, "It started right here
in Clear Lake Iowa." Angie and I started it. So right then we knew, didn't we, really,
That okay, we got a brand that we can send literally in other places across
America. [Angie] So you know Brad and I really from the very beginning, we, we realized
that we don't have a business, we have an income without our customers.
The community that we serve, they really in turn serve us and so we've always
felt that it's very very important giving back to the community. One of the
very early things that we did was doing a fundraiser for the high school band
here in Clear Lake. And at the time we had just a one pound
roaster. And I remember getting those order forms back from the kids at the
band and I'm so excited I'm like, "Oh my gosh! They sold like 150 pounds of
coffee!" And then I'm like "Oh my gosh! They sold 150 pounds of coffee!!" We a, so
you can literally only do about three and a half pounds an hour. So we had to spend the
night there roasting. [Brad] Long hours. [Angie] but anyway it's it was really great to
be able to give back to them and Brad and I really try to look for
opportunities that we can do that. We've, we've worked with YEA out of the John
Pappajohn Center and that was precious times for Brad and I. We just helped kind
of facilitate their, the high school kids as they were developing business plans
and, and the relationships that we still have with many of them students, it's
just priceless. And so we had some challenging times but it was so much fun
and just so so rewarding. [Brad] I tell you what, John Pappajohn Center, NIACC, they just they
add so much value our community. You know, always just
forever grateful for Tim Putnam and his team and and, you know, NIACC and Randy
Smith, we we did a lot of classes with him at NIACC on his accounting and
marketing classes. And what was kind of fun about that was was they didn't have
to take their finals. They could do a marketing plan for Cabin Coffee for
their final. [Angie] So our work with the Papa John's Center on the new
venture competition was, it was an incredible process for us. We'd already
had a couple of stores open and were in the process of another and it really
helped us I think you know we had kind of the basics of our plan, but it really
helped us by doing that business plan in such a detail for a competition like
that. It really helped us think through all of our processes in just such a
deeper way that it was so, so helpful for us as we grew stores in those
following years. [Brad] Now for me too, it is comforting to know that there's so much
out there for us as business owners to network and utilize, like the John
Pappajohn Center, to raise the bar and to have more value and
significance to your business in all and all aspects of it. And overall just,
there's so much out there for the John Pappajohn Center for everyone to utilize.
Utilize those resources because that's what they're there for and they
truly, truly care not only from the head but from the heart too. They really want
to see our community and individuals grow. [Angie] Well, and the thing is, we need
too, as business owners, we need to be surrounded by other successful
businesses and business owners. You can't just have one successful business in a
town. You need to be surrounded by other business-minded, successful people. And so,
that's what's amazing, is having it right in our back door. To have have those
resources available for our community, it's just, it's really great. [Brad] Wouldn't you
agree Angie, that one of the most rewarding things about owning your own
business is the level education that we get. You know the more you know the more you find
out you don't know. And, and so it's just so fun and helpful and enriching to see
other people help you grow.
[Music]
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