joan's first post

I guess I should start my first blog post with a little explanation about why The Missing Piece is such an important goal and dream for me. I have spent the past 2 and a bit years working in an office for a very large financial company and it hasn’t been the rewarding career I had envisioned for myself post- university.
I have always wanted to do something that gives back to the community. I am a bit of a hippie in this regard, where I believe everyone should pitch in and give back and this world will be a better place. (Please note I do not smell, dress or look like a hippie) Andrea approached me with her brilliant idea for a cafe that employs at risk and homeless youth and I was immediately intrigued. I have to admit at first I was unsure about going into business with one of my best friends. I loved the idea, and the more I thought about it the more I realized that this vision was what I wanted in life. I got in contact with a friend who had gone into business with HIS best friend a couple years earlier to discuss the pros and cons and seek some advice. (Shout out here to Daniel Demois of the Fox Theatre in the Beaches) After talking to him, and seeing how successful he has been, while still maintaining his close friendship I decided I was IN!
Andrea and I started having regular meetings, took a small business course at George Brown and here we are really starting to get things done, spreading the word and building the most massive “to-do” lists I have ever seen....
Right now we have two major focuses/deadlines. We are going to incorporate by the first week of August and we are planning our fundraiser for August 21st at The Stealth Lounge, at Yonge & Bloor. The fundraiser is a way for us to build up some capital and start a savings account in the name of our corporation that we can continue to build on over the next year. It will also be a way for us to let everyone know about our plans, and show how organized and driven we are towards our end goal. And of course, throw an amazing party where everyone can let their hair down and hopefully come away with some goodies from the silent auction. So far the support has been unbelievable.
I was talking to my mom earlier today about the whole process and how much work is involved. Right now it seems almost insurmountable but I don’t think anything worth having comes without a lot of hard work and sacrifice. Right now I am sitting in my apartment, by myself, on a Friday night working away on research for the business and planning of the fundraiser (unheard of by most who know me) while my girlfriends are out on the town... This is for those of you who have doubts about how serious I am about this! Haha. But seriously, it’s not like I didn’t realize this endeavour would be a mind numbing amount of work. I am thoroughly enjoying it and keeping my eyes on the prize.
We’ve already come so far since we started seriously talking about this in February. Today I went to Enterprise Toronto at City Hall (http://www.enterprisetoronto.com/) and talked to someone there about incorporating and as I was leaving I realized how much I have learned about starting a small business since Andrea and I decided to move forward with our plan. It made me feel better about the progress we are making.
So what’s next on the table? We’d like to have our full business plan completed by October 1st so we can start looking for financing and narrowing down a location. This means a lot of research, networking and building connections in both of our futures. From what I have seen so far there are tons of organizations in Toronto aiming to help at risk youth find employment. I have been volunteering at a great youth shelter in Etobicoke, Youth Without Shelter (http://www.yws.on.ca/) that helps at risk and homeless youth by providing shelter, as well as finding an apartment and stable work. They also support at the youth after they leave the shelter through many different initiatives. There are also organizations that will help us connect with local farmers, and others that supply fair trade coffees and teas. It’s exciting that there are so many other people out there that share the same goals and ideals as us.
Thank YOU for taking the time to read my first blog installment. I am looking forward to see you all on the 21st!

The Missing Piece Cafe :

An independent community based cafe in the heart of Toronto. Our main objective is to hire at risk and homeless youth while serving fair trade coffee and teas as well as healthy and delicious breakfast and lunch options. Our cafe will display local artists' paintings and photos, play local musicians' music and support our Ontario farmers by only buying Ontario grown meats, vegetables and fruits.

This is a place that I, Andrea Lloyd and my business partner, Joan Milway want to create. We are in the very preliminary stages of doing so and feel that writing this blog is a good way to take you on our journey and to keep you posted on how we are doing along the way.

I guess I should start from the beginning :

I came up with the idea for 'The Missing Piece' in my kitchen while I was making dinner and talking with my partner in December 2009. I was having major anxiety about what the hell I was doing with my life and decided that I needed to figure it out. I wasn't completely unhappy with the job I was doing at the time, (and still am doing) I just knew that I would definitely not be happy doing it forever. I needed to feel passionate about something for longer than a month. I knew that I had potential and I knew that it was time to start acting like it.

So I made a list. The top two things on my list were :

1. Help people who need it.

2. Open up my own cafe.

3. Become a world renowned broadway musical star.

I decided that I could marry the two ideas together and be doing exactly what I saw myself doing. (I'm still trying to see how I can fit the third one in..) I thought about it for a little while and thought about who I would want to enter into this endeavour with, and I came up with my good friend, Joan Milway. I wanted someone who would feel as strongly as me about this idea and who would want to enter into it full throttle. Someone who would compliment me and who I would compliment. Someone I knew would be a good business partner. I also knew that Joan, like me, did not see herself happily working away at her current job forever and wanted to do something greater.

So I asked her. She said yes (quite enthusiastically). We talked. And talked. And talked. And about a month and a half later came to a strong agreement that this is what we wanted to do together and that we were going to DO IT. End of Story.

So that brings us to today. We have finished our small business course, are currently planning our 1st fundraiser, and are starting to write our finalized business plan.

It has been way longer than a month and I am happy to say that I feel as strongly and as passionate about The Missing Piece as I did from the beginning (maybe even more so) and feel that I have finally found what it is I am supposed to be doing. I am confident with all the choices we have made thus far and am looking forward to the process we have ahead of ourselves. I know that it isn't going to be easy and that it we have an abundance of work ahead of us, but I am looking forward to the process and what will come out of it.

We are hoping to have 'The Missing Piece Cafe' up and running by May 2011.

As I mentioned above we are throwing our first fundraiser. It will be on Saturday, August 21st at the Stealth Lounge at Yonge and Bloor. Doors open at 8pm. We are going to have great music, great food, silent auctions, raffles, and just fun stuff all around. We hope to see you there and will keep you updated as the day grows nearer.

Thank you for reading the very first installment of our blog, and it will only get better from here on out!