Mugshot:Day 8

ONLY ONE MORE DAY UNTIL OPENING!!! Today Daryl Dunbar came in to talk to us about cost of opening up a new business , accounting, and making a business plan. Then the rental equipment came in and we began to set-up our store. We hung the celebrity mugshots on the walls and put up our chain link fence. We also hung our glass menu in front of the door and organized our merchandise rack (i.e folded tee-shirts and such.) OPENING TOMORROW =]

Mugshot: Day 6

Monday! The start of our last week here at Teen Entrepreneur Boot Camp! We started off the morning by doing final edits and revisions on our Press Release, it was a lot of hard work but we finished it. Then we sent it out to all of the contacts that we had found. After Lunch we split up into research groups and researched things such as licences and permits, payroll, health, insurance, etc. And then to end off the day Lawyer Joseph Levy came and talked about our research with us.

Mugshot: Day 5

Our first week is now over! We still have so much to do, in the morning we finazled our press release. around 10;30 Sabrina Espinal came to talk. She told us about how to brand ourselves and make sure we represent ourselves in the way we want to be seen. She also gave us a format for a resume so that we would know how to make one to give to future employers. We also worked on the sign to put outside of our store and we finished up the sign on the front window. A couple of us went to Jack's coffee house in the Seaport and copied down the layout of the store and the price list. Towards the end of the day, we looked up more names for our contact list.

Mugshot: Day 4

Today we finalized our promo to make our deal "buy a drink and get 1/2 off a cupcake." And we decided that our special drink would be raspberry lemonade and japanese green tea lightly sweetened with honey.
Also today we finalized our equipment list and finished the 1st draft of our press release. Then we found a great postcard company for our promo! =] And Larriss Raywood came in from Perkins+Will and gave us some ideas about the way we should layout our coffee shop. And to all end the day on a good note, we looked for a press contacy and researched the products we could buy and sell.

Mugshot: Day 3

Today we went to the NYPD police museum to conference with the directors to see if we could get a loan of their bratillian cards to exhibit in our espresso bar. We talked to Julie Bose, executive director, Kerri Brockner, office manager, and Beth Spenelli, registar. Elaine and Kimberly gave them our elevator pitch to see if they were interested in joining forces with us. After some negotiation they figured out some options for us. We could either A. make our own mugshots, B. use photo copys of some of there bratilian cards, or C. use celebrity mugshots. We all discussed and we decided to use all of their ideas for the shop. Then we went back to the shop and met Veronica Rosario, producer for Fox 5 News. She gave us ideas on how to start our press release, and write it so producers would want to use our story! Later on we talked as a group about ideas for our merchandise. In the end we opted to use buttons instead of mugs because if we used mugs over half of our budget would be gone. We also looked over a book that Shireen bought called Mugshots by: Raynal Pellicer to see if we could find any good mugshots to display. We ended up finding afew and are now working on blowing them up.

Mugshot: Day 2

We started our day with an overview of blog writing which was followed by a first look at our logo. We had two designs to chose from. One was the word Mugshot with a mug that had bullet holes and the o in "shot" was a cross eye. The second logo was a man with the cup of coffee in a striped black and white jumpsuit with a ball and chain tied to him and the ball as a o in the word "shot" We managed to narrow it down to a guy wearing a black and white striped jumpsuit holding a coffee mug with a ball and chain tied around his ankle, underneath the man was the words Mug Shot in bright orange with the ball of the ball and chain being the O of the word. We also suggested he should be dressed like of a business person.

In the afternoon we had had a guest speaker come in named Tiffany Winbush who is a PR consultant starting her own PR firm called Discover PR. She Talked about marketing vehicles and different ways to market such as postcards and fliers. While Tiffany was there Fuji TV a Japanese TV show came and filmed. At the end of the day JC came in and worked with us to brainstorm ideas and ended up talking about doing some mugshots or even have famous celebrities mugshots up on the wall and made an appointment to go to the police museum the next day.Then we broke up into groups. Sophie and Kimberly worked with JC to start our press release. And everyone else was doing research on cost of mugs and other things we may need.

Mugshot: Day 1

Today was the first day of the last session of Teen Entrepreneur Boot Camp for Summer '09. We got to introduce ourselves and meet one another. We come from so many different places and are different ages but we all shared our interest in business and entrepreneurship. We learned about networking and marketing and their importance. Then, we went out in groups of 2-3 to check out the competition near us, the cross marketing opportunities, and interviewed people to see what age group and what preferences they had for coffee. When we got back to boot camp, we shared what we had learned so that we would know what to market and who we needed to market our products toward.



Then, we spent time brainstorming ideas for names of our new coffee shop, ranging from sports themes to construction themes to prison themes. We got really excited when we did this activity, and people were even coming up with ideas that would fit into the themes. Needless to say, some people were really disappointed when their ideas that they had been so attached to weren't chosen. The general consensus was for "Mugshot" which would have a humorous criminal theme. We even came up with a tag line: "Coffee: Make a break for it!" (Get it? Because of prison break and coffee break....ha ha ha :) Even though not everyone was happy with the name at first, we all came to like the name and we all had ideas for how to make this theme happen.






Come visit Mugshot coffee shop at 127 Fulton St. NYC on Thursday, August 27, and Friday, August 28!


By Austin M., and Elaine K.

Mötley Brüe: Grand Finale

When I look back two weeks, it's hard to believe all the unbelievable feats we have accomplished. Our goal was to open and run a coffee bar in two weeks. With only an empty storefront and a desire to succeed, the odds seemed stacked against us. Yet now, with absolute certainty, we can say we accomplished the impossible. It was a long road to this point, it was hard, stressful, but we always worked to our fullest.
Two weeks, its felt like just two days, we all wish it would last longer, but transience is an essential part of life. Now, as we leave this camp, we take with us memories of the times we've spent here. Here's hoping we'll never forget them.

Bloggers note: Your humble blogger would just like to say, “It was grand, I hope you enjoyed reading them just as much as I enjoyed writing them. And I enjoyed them a lot.”

Mötley Brüe: Grand Opening

Two days is a pretty short time to make an impact in the business world. All the marketing, decorating,and planning all goes in to these two finite seven hour periods. Creating Motley Brue is only half the story. Now we had to run it.
We all showed up early in the morning, ready to make this coffee shop happen. We set up our baked goods, purchased ice, and started our storefront advertising.
Business started out slow, but customers quickly started streaming in steadily. Working behind the counter was a tiring business, as we had to rush back and forth, calculating change, assembling iced limeade and teas, and packaging pastries. The work was especially difficult for our master barista, Alex James. Alex often had to keep up with multiple orders at once, but he gave the same high level of care and skill to every cup of coffee.
Around noon, Fox 5 news showed up, wanting to cover our unique coffee shop. Having Fox news in our shop seemed to bring more people in and soon we had lines which were out the door! The first and penultimate day of our coffee bar's life went very well. We made over 475 dollars, and each received 6.50 $ in tips to take home. Let's just hope tomorrow goes just as well.

Mötley Brüe: Day 8

The dream used to be but a wishful hope. The reality used to be merely an old storefront. Now, despite delays and plenty of obstacles, the dream is the reality. Today we finally finished our coffee bar. A couple of hours ago, we were almost hopeless behind, and we all doubted that we would ever finish this espresso bar. Yet 4 hours later, there it was, lying before us. The work that went into this afternoon was possibly our best yet. Almost everyone worked their hearts out, and wanted this coffee bar to succeed. We hauled heavy equipment into place, sewed a gigantic awning to hang over out bar, handed out an innumerable amount of flyers, and attached giant posters to the ever annoying construction barriers. It was a long and hard journey, but today we can say we opened a coffee bar in just eight days.

Mötley Brüe: Day 7

It's the beginning of the end, and the end of the beginning. Tomorrow will be the last day before we open our doors, and the last day of our long hours of preparation.
The penultimate day before opening was possibly one the hardest yet, as we push ourselves even harder.
In the morning, a lawyer who specializes in working for bars and restaurants came to speak to us about the various legal aspects involved in running a coffee bar. He taught us about all the legal ramifications of our decisions and the many choices any coffee bar owner has to make in order to be successful.
In the afternoon, we resumed our preparations for opening day. We started drawing the menu on our gigantic blackboard, worked on the decor, and ordered our supplies. We are still quite behind where we wanted to be today, but we are working twice as hard to finish in time. At times like these, it's hard not be pessimistic, not to give up in front of the overwhelming amount of work we still have to do. But I still believe that if we work as hard as we did today and yesterday, we can still finish this race against time.

Mötley Brüe: Day 6

Three days from the opening. Three days. Just three days. Today your humble blogger sees great progress, things are falling into place, and we are nearing the end of a long journey.

In the morning we had a guest accountant come over and show us the tremendous amount of money and funds needed to open a business. The staggering amount of money required just to open a small coffee shop was awe-inspiring.

Later, after a refreshing lunch break, our work resumed. Contacts were gathered, excel spreadsheets were filled in, giant press releases were reverently taped to the window. The intensity was apparent in all these tasks. The difference between today and previous days was like night and day. Suddenly our motley crew of teens became a professional team of well trained soldiers. Tomorrow it will two days, and two days after tomorrow, the public will be able to judge how professional we truly are.

Mötley Brüe: Day 5

Today, I have good news and bad news to report. The bad news is that we are really, really behind on our work. The good news is that today, we got quite a bit done. In the morning we had an HR specialist talk to us about getting a job and being an effective worker. After that informative session, we studied the various forms and permits which would be needed to open a real restaurant or coffee bar. The vast amount of permits and rules which one would have to complete in order to open a real restaurant was staggering. After lunch we went into a working frenzy. We finally did what was long overdue and gathered the remaining press contact info we needed and sent out the press release. We also worked on our floor plan, assembled an inventory of paper utensils, painted our sandwich board, created a flyer, and finished a draft of the menu. The sheer amount of tasks we completed was amazing, and so much better than yesterday. However with only three working days left before the public opening of our coffee bar, we are all worried that we won't complete our restaurant in time. But today's events showed that we really could get a lot done, and If we work this hard all the time, we will surely be able to open this shop in time.

Mötley Brüe: Day 4

Today, after hours of arduous and painstaking work, we finally finished our press release. JC really improved what was a lackluster at best press report. Now we actually have to finish our contact list (which we are really, really behind on) before we can send it out.

We also assembled our list of the required items to run the coffee bar. (fridge, dishwasher, microwave, etc) Several of us also painted our logo on the window (and it looks awesome!) and started working on our sandwich board.

In the afternoon we had an architect come in and help us out with our floor plan. We measured the various furniture items, like chairs and table and drew 2d scale models of each to place on a diagram of our cafe space. This helped us visualize what our shop would look and feel like with various furniture configurations.

We got quite a bit done today but we are still way behind what we wanted to achieve by today. We're really going to have to focus and push ourselves to finish the enormous amount of work we still have to accomplish before opening day.

Mötley Brüe: Day 3

Today was brainstorming day for our team. In the morning we discussed the state of the coffee industry. We emailed the companies J&R music world and Harley Davidson motorcycles for cross marketing opportunities. We asked the Harley Davidson company if they would allow us to exhibit one of their motorcycles to add to our ambiance.

Later on in the day we brainstormed a list of media outlets to send our press releases to. The list included various newspapers and T.V stations ranging from the New York times to the South Bay newspaper in Long Island. We acquired the contact information for the various media outlets and business we wish to cross market with.

A small group of us jotted down ideas we thought would be best form our menu and our sandwich board which helps us promote our business. We decided on promotions and specials for our menu and we also came up with ideas for our window display. Overall it was a very productive day and we hope tomorrow will be equally successful.

Mötley Brüe: Day 2

Today we learned three different ways to draw attention to our coffee business. We split up into three groups of three and each had a different task. One group had the task of writing the press release. In the press release, we had to describe the concept of our coffee bar business and why it would interest people. This press release will be sent out to magazines, newspapers, and other media outlets in the hope that they would cover us, which would give us more publicity. The second group had the task of blogging about the days work. This would spread the word about our business throughout the internet. The third group had to write a letter to potential cross marketing partners in order to increase business profits. One such partner was J & R, which is a music and electronics store which could potentially put on a musical event for our coffee business.

All of these tasks are helping us with one main goal right now. Publicity! We learned the value of networking and marketing to spread the word about our business. We will be able to get more customers into the door and increase our profits. Everyone is working hard and a great business is coming.

Mötley Brüe: Day 1

Today we began our first day at camp. The nine of us formed a circle where we learned each other's names and discovered a few traits about one another. While some of us are from Manhattan, some of us are from Brooklyn, Long Island, and even Chicago. Pam explained general ideas on how to begin a business and how even introducing ourselves to each other is a form of networking. We learned that networking is an ideal skill when publicity and customers are needed to start a business. With networking comes cross marketing, when two businesses exchange services to help promote one another.

Our team separated into three groups. Team one's task was to walk around the neighborhood and observe the surrounding buildings to further get an idea of cross marketing possibilities. Team two was assigned to locate our potential competition. Team three interviewed possible customers about their beverage preferences and the various genres of music they listen to, to further get an idea of the type of espresso bar people in the neighborhood would be drawn to.

Later on in the day we met together as a team and decided on a name for our business, a logo, and an ambiance to match. We brainstormed and came up with a variety of ideas from "The Dashing Bean", a club scene, to "Bean It", a play on words based on Michael Jackson's song "Beat It". Eventually our team decided on the Mötley Brüe, a rock and roll themed cafe.