Classic Vanilla
On June 17, 2025, Fort Thomas Coffee at One Highland turned three! Three is a milestone. They say it takes 3-5 years for a new business to become profitable. So, June 17th has been an important goal post for us to reach sustainability. Boring, I know. I should shoot higher than sustainability. I mean, I want to make money now, but I’m realistic and a bit of a threat forecaster. I listen to many business owners who have gone before me. They wouldn’t be repeating the “3-5 years to profitability”rule if it hasn’t proven tried and true for most. I once heard a business coach say he tells his mentees who have bright shiny business ideas that if they are willing to sacrifice like they’ve never sacrificed, live on next to nothing for others to benefit, invest every bit of their time and energy enduring some of their greatest challenges for five years straight before seeing any return, then pursue it. He's weeding out those who may have a fantastic idea, but not the grit or endurance to stay in the game long enough to gain traction and eventually thrive.
These first three years of expanding our business to encompass a full kitchen, cocktail bar, and business center at One Highland have had my head barely above water. But at the end of this third year, I’ve at least learned to float on my back, catch my breath, and make strides occasionally. It feels like we could be on the brink of a turning point and with another year under our belt, we may just freestyle into year 5 to add another vote of confidence to the statistic. So, it’s not glamorous. But I’m hoping to pay every bill and every employee in every month of this next year without having to invest more money into the business. Woohoo! Shooting for the stars.
We’re performing as would be expected, but a funny thing is happening. We’re completely normal, quite vanilla as business success would go, just paying the bills. And yet others perceive us as knocking it out of the park. It’s messing with my head a little bit because their expectation of our business success doesn’t match reality. As they rub their fingers together eyeing a room full of customers and say, “Wow, you all are doing fantastic! You’re making money, baby!” I smile and thank them while dying inside. I think, Yeah, this room is full. We should be making money, baby. And if we’re not, it’s not because people aren’t showing up. It’s because WE’RE doing something wrong.
We’re doing plenty of things wrong. But, hence, the 3-5 years until profitability. We’re not wrong, we’re normal. It takes time to figure out the best working model. We daily work and re-work the plan. And honestly, it’s a wonder our team sticks with us through it all. We’re learning and growing together, and the team sacrifices too. I hear they can make a lot more money just to show up as a cog in a big moving wheel somewhere else. Here, they’re watching us fumble through new challenges and make amateur mistakes. Our hope is that they believe us when we tell them they’re essential, we’re proud of them, they’re highly valuable, and doing meaningful work. And we hope it’s a fun adventure for them to build something together that we believe is important and will add immeasurable value to the world around us. And they must believe us because they keep bringing their best selves and they sure do have fun together.
We’re also doing a lot of things right. We’re still in the game, for one. We’re humble, we’re learning, and we’re growing. The year prior to our team and business expansion, we brought in $322,440 in net sales with 48,987 transactions at a $6.58 average sale. This past June ‘24- June ‘25 we brought in $1,061,550 net sales with 107,504 transactions at a $9.87 average sale. We've more than tripled our revenue, more than doubled our customer volume, and raised our average sale significantly. It may not be enough, but holy moly, it’s quite significant.
I’m grateful that we’re presenting as a knockout. It’s better than the alternative… I think. Although assumptions of a business having high financial success can mean higher expectations of the business, more asks for support from the business, less empathy for the hard work that’s put into it, more public scrutiny, and the cavalier “they’re doing fine, they can afford it” mentality leading folks to swipe a handful of mustard packets, abuse our property, or bring their own food & beverage to use the perks of the business as cheaply as possible. However, the benefit of a business being perceived as having high financial success can lead to admiration and inspiration, increased foot traffic and clout for the surrounding businesses, increased trust, higher engagement, pride in association, and more opportunity. So yeah, it’s been really nice to look good for our community. I’m just looking forward to the day when the interior and exterior match. It’s going to happen.
Are we “faking it until we make it?” Nah, I’m being pretty honest with everyone. But we are “dressing for the part we want”. Aside from whatever is happening on the inside, FTC is putting on a full face of make-up, styling the hair, dressing on point, and showing up as strong as possible with success in sight each and every day. And what’s so wrong with being vanilla anyway? It just so happens to be a favorite, our top-selling flavored latte.
This blog post pairs great with an Iced Vanilla Latte. Not piping hot, but a fan favorite for sure. Vanilla is by far the top selling flavor. One might entertain a riskier parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme cortado. But when all else fails, they go with the trusted, tried and true, Vanilla Latte.
Recipe: .5 oz Monin Natural Vanilla Syrup, 2 oz Alchemy Espresso, 10 oz ever so slightly steamed Whole Milk poured over ice.