About
Major corporations have dominance on the high street with simple business models and large revenues – all of which go to shareholders and tax-avoidance schemes and are not put back into the local economy.
The aims of this project is to:
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Generate a sustainable revenue stream and create jobs, in addition to the creation of profits which can then be turned into grants for individuals and organisations local to the café.
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Create a co-working space that is affordable for a start-up who may have no financial backing – pay per minute co-working space is the more comfortable alternative to the freelancer sitting with the same coffee for three hours in order to justify taking a table.
The project's cafés will be built in central high footfall/high-density office worker areas, selling fair-trade coffee and locally sourced foods. The profits generated will go back into the local community as grants to fund education, health and creative ideas. This will encourage consumers to vote with their brew and make an ethical choice of where to spend money.
An additional space will be built to house the pay-per-minute co-working space, which will provide start-up freelancers a working space in the city with no financial commitment - plugging the gap between coffee shop office and hot-desking in a hub space. This space will be open to any member of the public, no membership, booking, or pre-payment necessary.
Regular users of the café will be able to sign up and pay for membership of the space, which will encourage community cohesion and a sense of responsibility.
Scalability
Phase 1 of the project focuses on setting up trade-cart and pop-up events, allowing the team to test our idea, run prototype versions, and engage in conversations with the potential market. This marketing scheme will test the foot-fall of potential areas whilst generating an income through food and drink sales, enabling the team to develop the project through to phase 2: establishing a business model on a permanent location on the prestigious and central King Street in Manchester.
The project requires start-up capital from the RSA Northwest fund and the RSA Catalyst fund, in addition to a Kickstarter campaign. Once start-up costs have been met, the venture will begin trading, therefore becoming sustainable in line with our business plan.
King Street in Manchester City Centre has been identified as being the first space for our honesty café, due to its high-density retail and office workforce during the day and its central location as co-working space.
