Understanding the significance of your coffee shop

 

The coffee shop is a symbol of your persona.

​

What you create expresses in a metaphor of who you are in the world, what face or mask you show the world,what your social/public values are, who it is you wish to attract to yourself and what you are putting out there to attract those people and, more broadly, your value proposition – what you offer the world.

​

Images & Ideas.

​

Consider the various symbols in your coffee shop and how they comment on who you are and what you are putting out into the world.

​

It is also helpful to try and invert your vision – see your coffee shop form a customer’s perspective, what are they encountering and how do they feel upon entering your coffee shop.

​

Your opening hours might be the times that you function at your best, or are you favourite times of day.

​

The location may be a place in the world where you feel a kinship or an interest in their culture. If local then it may be a place you experienced some peace or contentment.  Location is significant – this says a lot about where your soul longs to be, where your real home is.

 

In doing this exercise with around three dozen people during the course of last year, the author noticed how frequently their location is frequently either literally or metaphorically where they spent their childhood or very early adult hood.

​

​

Your Role might represent HOW you want to be when you are around other people.

​

The customers are very revealing, presumably this is the type of person you want to socialise with, I think that is a reasonably intuitive inference to draw. Who are these people for you?

​

How selective are you in your customer type – how is this reflected in your actual life?

​

If there is a real contrast between the customers in your coffee shop and the people you are mixing with in the real world then this bears further reflection – why the contrast?

​

​

Your Coffee Shop Values

​

What dominates: aesthetics, quality, profit,the fare, the standard of the coffee, the type of customers, the atmosphere, is it about connectedness, communication, elegance, etc.

​

This can give a clue as to what you offer other people in your life.

 

​

​

The image of your coffee shop is obviously an idealisation, that is to say it is aspirational, not necessarily indicative of your current status quo or life position.

​

So what it brings to light are your ideal rather than lived values, but once again any contrast here is worth noting and reflecting on.