I am just about in place when Hurricane Tara hits Starbucks. She is a therapist and fashion designer who pulls off the additional trick of appearing to talk to myself and Martin Bowe at the same time and on different topics before plumping for Martin. Sensible choice – particularly if you are setting up in business for the first time, as she is. But as what? Fearful of what a therapist crossed with a designer might turn out to be, Martin tries to keep his options open by sticking to the catalogue of requirements from the bank, the Revenue, VATMAN and assorted lawyers and bloodsuckers. He is brilliant and immensely reassuring. Still, he looks hugely relieved when Hurricane suddenly decides she has heard enough, veers round like a Tennessee Twister and demands of me, “Now tell me how to market my business!”. I look nervously at my watch: I have seven minutes before Starbucks staff stretch the European Working Time Directive to breaking-point. I play for time neither of us have. “Which one..?” I quaver. “Oh,” she says dismissively, “I’ll do the therapy in the gaps between couture commissions.” I don’t know whether to be more gobsmacked by her cheek or her energy. In a headlong dash through the chapter headings of marketing, we touch on market positioning, research, corporate identity, advertising, PR and promotions. And I mean touch. I ask her if she can give me a word-picture of the sort of clients she attracts and she goes off into a diatribe about plastic surgery which puts me in playful mood. Wrong! I am instantly classed as an unreconstructed pervert and chauvinist with the intelligence of a Sun-reading mollusc. Departing in a swirl of designer chiffon, she manages to insult Martin’s dress-sense while praising his accounting savvy. Sounds like we have things the right way round.

Mug Shots, Macmillan and More

Well, it's been a busy few weeks for The Coffee Consultants...

First, we have all been shot by the lovely Caroline Wood in order to have some new photographs for our web site. Caroline had arranged for us to hold coffee mugs for some of the shots - "mug shots" let's call them - as well as individual and group, formal and informal versions. All this with good humour, energy and fantastic results in around a couple of hours. What a professional. Check out our website to see the finished results and Caroline's if you need something similar.

Next was the Macmillan Coffee Morning. We managed to raise a tad under £250.00 with the help of Starbucks and the town hall. A mixture of business people, local shoppers and toursits dropped in for a coffee, chat and a good cause. Thanks to all who came to meet us and support Macmillan.

Finally, our client list grows as does the range of people dropping in to Starbucks for a free consultation on a Tuesday evening in Wells. Next blog is from Chris, about one such session.

Stop Press: Coffee Consultants Shot!

Breaking News: Last Thursday all eight of The Coffee Consultants were shot somewhere around Godney in the Mendips. More news as it comes in...

Blogging For Coffee - Part 3: The Coffee Consultants Go Live

Here's the third and final part of Chris' excellent summary of the birth of The Coffee Consultants:

The Coffee Consultants may sound like an eccentric, even confusing, choice but consider this:

- Coffee is the legal stimulant of choice at work, at home, on the road.

- It is a completely classless drink, appropriate for an almost limitless range of occasions, and – unlike alcohol – devoid of any nuances or obligations beyond “Let’s talk”.

- Some great inventions have been triggered by coffee. The Lloyds Insurance Exchange began in a 17^th century London coffee-house.

The Lloyds example was particularly instructive: merchants meeting away from their offices, discussing the risks of trading with the New World and the Indies without the usual constraints of a professional appointment.

Without its cost, too.

Taking the example on board, we determined that the first contact of prospect with partners would be the antithesis of all the false perceptions and phobias about consultants. It would be on neutral ground, where there would be no feeling of obligation, and after work, so that there was no interference with business. Cups of coffee (or tea if they insisted) would keep the meeting informal – but above all, it would be FREE.

The point that no meter would start ticking until the prospect had met the partners, tested their mettle and received constructive advice for his or her business is central to the concept. So too is the holding of the first, crucial meeting in a relaxed, informal atmosphere, away from the phones and pressures of an office.

Our instinct was to find a locally owned and run coffee-house that was central to the Mid-Somerset area. We found one that was right in every respect except that it closed at 5.30. Starbucks, the default choice, not only stayed open much longer; it turned out to have a policy of support for initiatives that help local business, and welcomed The Coffee Consultants concept with open arms.

We have our own section at the back of the shop, with arm-chairs, a coffee table (natch) and a sign visible from the entrance saying “The Coffee Consultants, every Tuesday, from 5pm”. There is a roster on the website which shows who will be there – and there is always a partner from each side of the consultancy – broadly, marketing and financial – to ensure we can answer as wide a range of questions as possible.

Sometimes the question asked begs a dozen others; sometimes it is so complex or multi-faceted there is insufficient time. If so, the prospect is offered an additional two hours of consulting with the most appropriate partner(s) for a flat fee of £100.

Again, if more time is needed and wanted, The Coffee Consultants put together a fully costed proposal setting out objectives, structures, MO and accountability. This is a team that has sat in the chair, faced the challenges, overcome the disappointments, bought and sold businesses and motivated themselves (and their customers) anew.

To convey some idea of the band-width of appeal, The Coffee Consultants are currently working with a wedding dress designer and manufacturer, a pub, restaurant and hostel business and a photographic retailer making the transition to a fully digitised future.

You could say that they have nothing in common, and on the face of it you would be right. But all are businesses determined to embrace change as a function of growth and all recognise the sense of delegating essentials they do poorly – or not at all – to concentrate on what they do best.

We are here to provide that essential boost to business development, across a range of disciplines rarely found in one place and almost never for free.