Journal

My 2024 business plan changed dramatically, but I still think it was a good plan. The model moved; the reason for Filgap did not, and the planning still matters.

A useful opening timeline is more than a list of dates. I work backward from real deadlines, map what depends on what, and leave buffer where one delay can move everything behind it.

Before I worry about sales, I need a product worth selling. For Filgap, risk starts with quality and keeping enough room to learn when an assumption is wrong.

Profit and cash answer different questions. I look at what the business earns, what the cash already needs to cover, and what should stay in the bank for the next stage.

Before I trust a sales forecast, I want to know what assumptions are creating it. For Filgap, that means looking from the top, building from the bottom, and replacing guesses with what actually happens.

I do not start with a budget and fill in a shopping list. I start with the product, trace what the business really requires, price the setup as completely as I can, and only then put a cap around the total.

A coffee business can stay small without depending entirely on memory. I am thinking about the few records, handoffs and feedback loops that need to connect before the room itself.

I do not want to choose a headcount first. I want to understand the work, what can happen at different times, what must happen at the same time, and when another person actually solves a real operating problem.

Before opening, I want more than a list of supplier names. I need to understand how price, inventory, lead time, green coffee, packaging and supplier relationships will actually work for a small roastery.

I have opened coffee stores before, but never in Canada. Before signing a future Filgap lease, I want to understand what the property, menu, roaster and building will actually need to be approved.

Before I decide where the espresso machine goes, I want to know how customers, staff and coffee will move through the room. A few unnecessary steps become a lot after a full shift.

A coffee shop can buy a long list of equipment. I would start with the quality and work the business actually needs, then add machines only when they solve a real problem.

A busy corner can be a great coffee shop location and still be wrong for Filgap. I would also look at parking, building fit, rent and whether I could stay there for years.

If Filgap promises freshly roasted coffee, I want customers to see some of the work behind it. But a visible roaster also creates real questions about staffing, storage, air, noise and space.

Before choosing furniture, colours or materials, I would first decide how the room should welcome people, support conversation and make coffee feel easy to approach.

A sustainable coffee price has to work for both sides: the business must be able to make the product properly, and the customer must be willing to come back.

Before choosing lattes, flat whites or signature drinks, I would first decide what the coffee should taste like, what customers need to understand, and what the bar can make consistently.

Whole-bean coffee is more than one product in my plan. It is the part that keeps roasting, freshness, repeat buying and the future tasting room connected.

A bigger menu can serve more people, but every new item also brings equipment, storage, training, cleaning, waste and attention. So how much choice is actually enough?

I made a tidy SWOT analysis for Filgap in 2024. Looking at it now, some strengths were still plans and some weaknesses were warnings I had not yet allowed to change the business.

It is easy to find reasons your own business idea should exist. The harder question is whether customers care enough about the same problem to change what they already do.

Visiting good coffee shops gives me ideas. The harder part is understanding why those ideas work there before deciding whether any of them belong in Filgap.

A map and a spreadsheet can tell me where to look. Before signing a lease, I also want to see how the cafés, customers, streets and buildings actually work in everyday life.

Squamish is growing, but it already has plenty of places to buy coffee. Population and competition can tell me whether another coffee business is plausible. They cannot tell me whether people want Filgap.

Selling coffee once would be encouraging. Seeing people come back, while keeping the coffee consistent and the business healthy, would tell me something much more important.

A useful customer profile needs more than age or income. I’m learning more by asking how people make coffee at home, what they buy, and what changes when convenience matters.

Filgap did not begin with a café or a floor plan. It began with a habit: turning over bags of coffee to check the roast date and wondering if other people in Squamish were doing the same.

Before floor plans, square footage or seating, there is a simpler question: what should a future Filgap roastery and tasting room actually be for?