Want to hear more from Jeff? Every Friday, he shares a blog packed with stories, insights, and all the incredible things happening here at Bigmoose over the week. It’s a chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at the impact we’re making together, the lives we’re changing, and the big dreams we’re chasing.
subscribe here
good morning dear blog reader.
thanks for opening and reading today, apparently my recent reveal of our open rate of 50% has caused quite a stir, with one reader suggesting i should monetise the blog, and charge for it, which i’m never going to do, i enjoy writing, and as long as you read and enjoy it, it will remain free, it’s not about the money, it’s never about the money, it’s about making a difference in some way, possibly opening up to new ideas, new opportunities, and new ways to improve and grow.
which got me thinking.
last saturday bigmoose coffee co, our coffee shop in cardiff for new readers, had its best day of trading ever in five years.
https://www.bigmoosecoffeecompany.co/
also, last month, we had our best month ever, cool huh, especially for a little back street coffee shop in a dead end street with zero passing trade, and no signage outside to even tell you it’s bigmoose.
and yet they come.
i put this partly down to pum pum, a little backstreet coffee shop in an edgy area of madrid.
six years ago, when our coffee shop was just a dream, we researched, and we researched, if we were opening a coffee shop, we wanted to be the best, and we needed to learn, quickly.
tania and i headed to spain for a weekend break, and also used the trip to gather intel, data is power as they say.
we turned to steve jobs dream, our computer in our pocket, and sought out ‘best coffee shops in madrid’ with trip advisor directing us to calle tribulete for our top ten experience.
as we wound our way around the thin cobbled backstreets with small delivery vans restocking the commercial enterprises, and the sound of vespas filling the morning air, we arrived, or did we?
no large visible signage, except a small spray painted tag, small, but indelibly etched into my brain, i loved this.
it was early but they were full.
“can i help?”
the beautifully styled pum pum head guy enquired with his beaming smile that shone in the morning sun that bathed the doorway.
“table for two?”
i wimpishly enquired, almost like i was requesting him to do something terrible.
“of course, no problem, 30 minutes wait, what name?” as he poised to write our name on the glass door with his big white pen.
this was so frickin’ cool. (being made to wait 30 minutes for. breakfast, i am sobritish)
“bigmoose” i said with a new air of confidence, knowing that seeing our new coffee shop name up on their door was gonna lead to something special.
or was i just dreaming?
as we were led to our tiny table, with a cacophony of chatter being sung by our fellow diners, there was only one chair at the tiny wooden table, which resulted in our waitress producing a blue plastic crate like a member of the catalonian magic circle.
i sat on my wobbly crate, and laughed inside at the absurdity of the situation, the food was stellar, and the coffee still makes me salivate now, and we left having fallen in love, with pum pum, and the sum of its parts.
we built bigmoose coffee co ourselves, from our vision, and we have never caved to popular opinion, “it’ll never work without signage, it’ll never work without having wifi”, we were constantly told by ‘experts’ but today we are number one coffee shop on trip advisor in cardiff, which we are all so extremely proud of, so if you’ve ever dined with us, or been to an event with us, and left us a review, thank you, because your reviews are our lifeblood.
whenever out of town visitors arrive to experience our city’s many cultural offerings, they often reach for trip advisor, as tania and i did, and navigate their way to 4-5 frederick street, and hopefully fall in love with us, and all we do.
so this got me thinking.
we love 5 star reviews.
we live for 5 star reviews.
we strive hard for 5 star reviews.
so.
what if there was a rating system like trip advisor for us as humans?
where would we be rated?
5 stars i’m sure right?
but if we’re honest, maybe 4.7 or after that thing that happened this week, you know ’that thing’ maybe even a 3.9, maybe we can imagine our own human rating system, and strive really hard for a rock solid 5, and even if you have quite a few 1 star ratings to date, if you move forward with multiple 5’s your overall rating as a human goes up, and the world will seem a sunnier place, smile at that person in the lift, say good morning to your grumpy coworker who just might be shy, start to operate in our world as a 5 star citizen, and you know what, if you spread more joy, it’s infectious, you just need to be brave enough to start.
one of my mates reads this blog, and as a result of it has introduced giving his whole workforce a day off a year to volunteer for charity, a 5 star review no less, well done neil, we salute you.
what will you do that gets you more 5 star reviews, let me know, i love hearing your stories.
to wrap up today, if you are looking for a great crimbo present, we have a monthly subscription model where you can sign up, for yourself or someone you love (or just like a little bit) and donate an amount you can afford, which will go directly to pay for therapy sessions for someone that needs it, and you can unsubscribe at any time really easily, here’s a link.
thanks for reading, see you next week, and keep getting those 5 star reviews,
blue skies,
jeff
pum pum in madrid
