business plan: flex

So...

after some killer Greek cuisine...

Me, my wife, my daughter...

on a Friday afternoon decide to stop into a coffee shop in old white church...steeple

and everything.


We meet Eric, business owner.

Our first encounter in a place centered around a stage...a stage centered around a local artist's portrait of Jesus... leather couches everywhere...local art decorating the 20' tall walls, floor to ceiling

The whole place was a celebration of pure human expression centered around Jesus.

I couldn't help but reflect briefly:

art...around couches...around a stage...around Jesus

I say to Eric, "Eric, I've been to a lot of coffee shops in my day, but yours really typifies the coffee shop culture to a tee!"

Eric: "Thanks, I'd love to take the credit but it kind of evolved on it's own..."

Then he defined business in a way the blew my mind: "...A business plan is a declaration of flexibility. You make your plan, then it makes itself as the community evolves in it."

His coffee house is named "Espresso Yourself" ...smart...



Rewind....

This past fall, My wife and I were sitting in a huge auditorium with about 7,000 other people listening to Rob Bell talk about Jesus as a crux, or core of human expression.

"Some people paint a picture, some people write a song, some people give their time and affection..."


Well... I'd like to personally thank Eric for giving his local community a gift...

a business plan, that filled and old church building, that made itself as the community evolved in it , that became what it was on a friday afternoon in April:

a celebration centered around a Jesus.