| In 1997 I was making a
career move. I had taught high school theater and coordinated
school events for six years. It was time for a change. Looking back on my thought
process, I often ask myself, "What drew me to tea as a business?" I do not know.
Perhaps it was my love of all things British. Maybe it was my interest in etiquette
and fine dishes.
From early childhood I had been fascinated with business trends.
I loved to sit at the dining table and dream up business ideas with
my mother. In 1997 I could see the tea train starting to roll by, and
decided it was time to hop on.
I soon traveled to Cape Cod to begin my tea training with
“New England’s Tea Couple.” I had hired them to give me three days
of one-on-one consultation. During our time together, I received
a great introduction and appreciation of tea. Unfortunately, what I needed was a
crash course in restaurant management.
My original tearoom opened a few
months later. The location for the tearoom had fallen in my lap, and I had been fortunate enough
to strike a deal with a local crafter’s mall. The mall provided the kitchen and tables
along with beginnings of an instant clientele. The rent was very affordable, and although the tearoom was upstairs, I was fairly
confident we could successfully make a go of it. And so the journey began. When my first
customer came in on that warm Saturday morning I had no idea what my life would be like from that moment on.
I guess I was slow. It was the night before opening when I realized that someone was going to
have to serve the food. I had never really thought about it. I had been so busy getting the licenses
and the china that I had completely overlooked the issue of serving. As chief cook and bottle
washer I realized that I would also be taking the orders and doing the serving.
Oh well, how hard it could be? (If you have ever been a waitress, you will
laugh!)
They say that hindsight is 20/20. I think that is true. Personally, I knew that I did not want a fulltime tearoom within the first hour of business. Unfortunately I had a lease.
During my first year of business I had a crash course in tearoom management. I cried nearly
every day. Sometimes I cried from exhaustion and other times I cried from joy. At the time, I
would have given anything to have gotten out of that lease early. Today I look back on the season
as one of the very best training periods of my life.
For me, a full-time tearoom
was exactly like owning a restaurant, and that was not my vision or my dream. At the end of our
lease I revamped my tea business into a by-reservation "events" teahouse. This was a much
better fit for my personality. When I had my full-time tearoom it was successful, but I was
unhappy. I longed to be shown my other tea business options.
 It is now 2005, and I feel privileged to help you avoid my mistakes.
If you desire to own a tea room, take a good look at your personal
strengths and weaknesses. Research your options to find the perfect business fit for your personality, finances, and family.
A full-time, traditional tea room is never the "lace and china" fantasy you have imagined.
Shake off your expectations and face reality head-on. Then and only then can you asses your true
options and find the perfect tea business for you.
Copyright
© 2005 by Dawnya Sasse. All rights reserved.
Lady Dawnya
Sasse is author of the world's first online tea business program entitled
Start a Tea Business. To learn more about Lady
Dawnya's seminars and CDs visit her website.
Part
2: Make your tea dream happen
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