“That’s where I need Junie and Maileah,” Jo replied. “Junie has been through the custom product process with her Crown Island Princess brand. She has talked about bundling gift boxes. I could offer my new premium coffees in gift sets with special mugs. And Maileah is the marketing brain. She can build the campaign and get the word out.”
“Sounds like you already have the team.”
“Sort of. Maileah designed the new Cuppa Jo’s logo for me.”
“How do you plan to handle order fulfillment?”
She took another sip of tea. “You ask a lot of good questions. I would send them out myself.”
“If your campaign is successful, that might be overwhelming.”
“If it is, maybe I could hire local moms or retired women to do the packaging and shipping.”
Rocky lifted a small glass of sake. “I think you should prepare to line that up.”
Another thought struck her. “From the beans to the delivery, every step would be handled by women.”
Rocky sat back, steepling his hands. “You’re bringing jobs to the island, and that would keep the whole operation consistent with your brand.”
The picture sharpened, and the more she turned it over, the more she liked it. “It would be women-led from farm to doorstep.”
Rocky raised his eyebrows, his excitement evident. “That’s great. That’s part of your brand story.”
Jo laughed. Imagine, she had a brand story. She could envision it all now. “No more manufacturer who swaps out my beans for cheap robusta and thinks I won’t notice. I’d like that.”
The edge in her voice surprised her. She’d been fighting for so long, she was tired. She wanted to run her business on her terms now.
Her life, too.
Rocky nodded slowly. “To make that work at scale, you’ll still need some working capital upfront. You can’t wait for the crowdfunding money to come in before you order beans and supplies. Have you talked to your bank about a line of credit?”
“Not yet. I have that second mortgage, so I don’t know if it would be approved.”
“Do you have a lot of equity in the diner?”
“It’s nearly paid off.” Jo was proud of that.
“That’s good. With your track record at the diner and the preorder numbers, you’d have a strong application once your funding level is reached and locked in. A line of credit would let you order what you need to fulfill the crowdfunding campaign without dipping into your operating cash, and you wouldn’t need the funds for very long. I can help you create a cash flow report if you don’t already have one. Managing cash flow in a business is critical.”
“How well I know. I’ll have to plan more carefully.”
Even though she’d taken a bookkeeping class, she still estimated her cash flow because it didn’t change all that much. The summer months were better than the off-season, but otherwise her business was predictable now. Jo made a note of his idea in the margin.
She was about to ask him another question when she saw a couple arrive at the restaurant’s front entrance. It was Ryan Kingston, dressed casually, with Junie’s mother, April, beside him, wearing a turquoise wrap dress.
“You wanted to see the owner of the Majestic Hotel?” Jo said under her breath. “He just walked in.”
Rocky glanced over his shoulder and straightened in his chair.
Ryan and April followed Kaito toward a table on the patio. When April spotted Jo, she waved and changed course.
“Jo, how lovely to see you.” April kissed her cheek. “It’s good to see you outside of the diner. And Rocky, what a surprise to see you on Crown Island.”
Jo introduced Rocky and Ryan. “Rocky is from Summer Beach. He’s one of April’s new Bay cousins.”
“Of course,” Ryan said, brightening. “The Bay family connection. I’ve met Ivy and other family members at the hotel.”
“My father is Ivy’s brother, Forrest Bay,” Rocky offered.
