If I Can Do It – So Can You!Karen Mercer, Co–Founder of My

Coffee Stop

‘The support and guidance that I received on the RSA Trust Inspiring Women programme and from Enterprise Enfield has been invaluable. I know that we would not have been able to start our business without this fantastic resource!'

Just a bit of Background...My Coffee Stop is a little shop at the end of

Platform 1, Enfield Chase Station.Two people run it, myself and Gunter

Hollenstein.We serve quality coffee quickly within 30

seconds from the moment you order.

My Coffee Stop is about more than coffee & cake, it’s about creating a pleasant space in the world and being a positive influence!

My Coffee Stop opened over 1 year ago, in February 2009.

In that time, we’ve been in...The Enfield Gazette, The Enfield Advertiser,

The Enfield Independent & several other North London papers....

On television on the BBC News...On several radio stations, including Radio

Enfield, Radio 2 and Smooth FM.

We are an Award Winning BusinessWe are the winners of the North & West

London Business Award for Innovation, sponsored by HSBC

We are the winners of the Enterprise Enfield Green Business of the year award, sponsored by the RSA Trust

We are the runners up in the Enterprise Enfield’s Start-up Business of the year award

We were shortlisted for the Linked In – European Business Awards for Innovation

Photo by Andy Barnes

And Now!

And Now!On May 7th, we went to Cafe de Paris, for a

glitzy award ceremony and My Coffee Stop was announced as the Silver Winner in the Smooth Radio, Love London Awards.

My Coffee Stop is the most loved, hidden gem of a coffee shop in North London.

How did we do it?Our ethos is....’Heart is at the Heart of our

business, our business without a heart will die.’

This means that every decision we take in our business is made with financial and moral considerations.

We realise that we have a responsibility to our local and global communities.

We made the conscious decision to support two main causes through our business.....

Chickenshed.......We support Chickenshed through our Book

Swapping Service....

Book Swap @ My Coffee Stop...Now regular event days, involving local

businesses!

We also support Fairtrade...We are the first coffee shop in North London

to be awarded membership of the British Association for Fairtrade Shops...

More about Fairtrade...All our Coffees, Teas, & Hot Chocolates are

FairtradeIn our first year we have expanded our

Fairtrade range so that we have the widest range of Fairtrade products of any coffee shop or independent shop in the Enfield area.

We are members of the Enfield Fairtrade Steering Group and actively help to promote Fairtrade within the borough.

We’ve created our own Muffins....So that we can use Fairtrade Sugar & other

Fairtrade ingredients...

& Our Own Cakes...

The work we have done has...Made our business more attractive to

customers...Brought us greater enjoyment & happiness...Recognition of our ideas has increased our

profile...This recognition has given us the confidence

to create even bigger projects, to contribute to the global and local communities...

Fairtrade Fortnight &Chickenshed...Fairtrade Fortnight ran from February 22nd to

March 7th, this year.We organised three exciting projects...

An Art Competition...Enfield Primary School children were invited

to imagine an amazing and special Fairtrade Food creation, using at least one Fairtrade Food ingredient!

The top nine entrants that were shortlisted were invited with their families to have a Fairtrade tea party with the Mayor of Enfield, which we catered for and all the short-listed entries were exhibited at My Coffee Stop, for the whole of Fairtrade Fortnight.

Mayor of Enfield says ‘Yes’ to Fairtrade!

Chickenshed & Fairtrade...Chickenshed Theatre went into Enfield

Primary Schools and presented performance/workshop experiences about Why Fairtrade is so important.

This is a My Coffee Stop initiative connecting & supporting local & global communities.

The Big Swap @ My Coffee StopWe held our usual Book Swap event but with

a twistPeople brought along unwanted books and

bought books by putting money in the tin for Chickenshed.

There were Free Divine Chocolate tastingsAnd Tea with a Tenor, where Enfield Tenor,

Geoffrey Strum sang while we gave out free Fairtrade Tea.

We’re in the business...Of making your journey better....not just on

the train....but through life too....we hope to affect people’s lives for the better, even if they’re not our customers...that’s the ethos of our business.

We’re Not Alone!We have fantastic ongoing support from

the team at Enterprise Enfield....

AND......And I was able to go on the excellent RSA

Trust Inspiring Women Course...

Enterprise EnfieldWe initially visited Enterprise Enfield in

August 2008....We were given spot on guidence.At that stage, we knew we wanted to sell

coffee in the local community but we didn’t know whether it would be from a coffee van, or from rented premises...

Through those discussions our direction became clearer. We were never told what to do, we were enabled to see what we had to do for ourselves.

What about YOU?

If you’re in the process of thinking about setting up in business, then I would advise you to go to Enterprise Enfield as your first stop.

It’s not just the people there that are phenomenally supportive but there’s also a wide resource of information leaflets and they produce an excellent and inspiring monthly newsletter too.

Take those leaflets!When you have that first meeting, take as many

leaflets as you can, get home read them and see what you can find in them....

Through taking those leaflets home, I found out about the RSA Trust Inspiring Women Programme and about the Start Now Programme...

And make sure that you get your name and email address onto their mailing list! It was through one of their emails that I found out about the Archant London Awards for Innovation and ended up winning it.

RSA Trust Inspiring Women This course is an amazing opportunity for any woman starting up in

business to have....

Life Coaching, Business Mentoring, Seminars in Finance, Book Keeping and Marketing, Get your colours done and even have a few weekends away!!!

At all times on the course, I was treated as an individual, with my own needs and requirements.

I’d just had my second baby and had post-natal depression but Enterprise Enfield were very flexible, supportive and understanding.

If you think you cannot do your business idea because of this personal problem or that, you could find that anything is possible with the right support behind you.

What Else?The Course also left me with....An amazing network of

women that support each other and cheer each other on, help in the hard times, brainstorm ideas, network with each other and act like a great business family...

We call ourselves The Business Sisters...

We now have a group on Linked In, ‘The Business Sisters of Enfield’.

I invite you to join that group on Linked In, if you’re a woman and live or work in Enfield, so that we can share that support network with you.

More about the RSA TrustInspiring Women Programme!Are you a woman starting a business in

Enfield?To get a chance to be selected on the RSA

Trust Inspiring Women Programme, get one of the registration forms from the front desk at this exhibition and tick the relevant boxes. The selection process is starting this September for the 2011 programme.

To give yourself and your new business the best chance you can, it’s really important to get onto the programme.

Eligibility Criteria!You need to be either living in Enfield, or planning

on starting a business in Enfield?And you need to attend A Start Right Introduction

to Business for Women.Just make sure you fill in the registration form, here

and now.The next Start Right Introduction to Business for

Women is in July!So, make sure you make the effort to fill in the

registration form and give it back in, to give yourself the best opportunity, for success, that you can.

A Start Right Introduction!Very powerful and inspiring workshop with Desiree

Fraser.The things she said on that workshop still resonate with

me today....like she threw a magical stone into my pond and the ripples keep going.

The session covers the basics of business and helps you to find out if that’s the right way forward for you.

After doing that session and choosing to apply for the RSA Trust Inspiring Women Programme, you’ll then go through the selection process which includes an interview.

Fill in the registration form today and give it back in. So that you give yourself a chance to get on the course.

Did I Mention!The Course is free!It’s run by Enterprise Enfield and fully

funded by the RSA Trust.There’s also some help available for childcare

costs.

So, what’s stopping YOU?Everyone has their own difficulties and

blocks...The RSA Trust Inspiring Women Course, can

help you overcome your blocks...But there’s also one very important

ingredient that you’ll need.....In my opinion it’s a Key Ingredient....

The Key Ingredient to Success?

PASSION

Passion in Business?Yes, believe in what you are doing!Yes, make sure you follow your heart!Yes, do something that you care about!Yes, enjoy what you’re doing!

One Question• What cause do you feel passionately about?

My Guarantee....

• If you choose to support a cause you feel passionately about, through your business, you will feel very much inspired to make your business into your definition of...

A Success!

That’s Why....

If I Can Do It – So Can You!

The End...

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