Anyone for a Chai Latte with Chinese Chili Crisp & Scrambled Eggs?
This one's for my Swiss networks...
If you're anywhere near the town of Zug, please drop by & support Latte Stories, just opened in Cham.
Why am I talking about a coffee shop in a small town outside of Zurich?
Because I worked with its owner, the lovely Christy Ma, last year and have been waiting on tenterhooks to see how she got on!
Christy's founder journey has been a fascinating one...
From a career in corporate finance to global food chains to specialty coffee...
From origins in Hong Kong to a vibrant expat life encompassing Singapore, London, Paris & Zurich...
But, for a long time, Christy has wanted to open her very own coffee & brunch place...
In fact, by the time we first met, she'd already
✔ identified her first site
✔ got knee deep in lease negotiations
✔ commissioned an architect on layout, form and function,
✔ researched her F&B offering, and
✔ developed a tentative brand name
She was clearly a woman on a mission!
yet something still wasn't gelling...
Reaching out to her networks for advice, Christy's long-term friend Hanisha Gianani - a former HK colleague of mine - recommended she talk to me.
Over the course of an 80 Quid Coffee & BrandFAST programme, Christy & I went back to basics together to define her core business & brand foundations.
The resulting clarity on the strategy & positioning gave this fab founder the confidence to resume her plans and run with them at full pelt!
Since then, she's revised her plans for features & fit out, changed the brand name, created a new identity, got a beta site live, and has finally managed to get the doors open to her first site - now, she's even hiring her first staff members!
Latte Stories is inspired by Christy's own experiences of moving across the globe from family and finding a “home away from home” by bonding with the international community in Switzerland over great coffee and food.
Now she's creating her own home away from home.
When fledgling businesses first make it into the market,
they need all the support they can get.
Nothing is ever perfect from the offset.
It takes time to build it all out.
It's a steep learning curve
- no matter how prepared you think you are.
So, if you're anywhere near Zug
- pls drop by and give Latte Stories a swirl...
Hang out, connect, share some stories...
Good luck, Christy Ma and Latte Stories!