Coffee at the Barre

This episode has been requested often, we are finally talking about cash flow! Cash flow can be scary and overwhelming when you own a business, and sometimes it can feel like you're living week to week just trying to get a handle on things. Alex and Ashley share some apps, tips and methods that have worked for them over the years. Some big takeaways are doing your own books via Quickbooks, safely paying down business debt and credit cards, and  getting your staff involved in budgeting. We hope you enjoy this episode and we look forward to your feedback!

*Disclaimer - Ashley and Alex are sharing tips that have worked for them over the years. These are in no way professional opinions or advice. It is recommended that you seek the advice of professional attorneys and CPAs when running a business.

This week we welcome Pat Mills of Bonfire Country Bar to the show! Pat has been managing Bonfire since it opened in 2016, and recently purchased the bar with his business partner, Jim Pliakos, of The Shaskeen Irish Pub. Pat takes us through all of the fun offerings at Bonfire, from live country music, to the game room downstairs, to their new drink offerings. Bonfire has everything you need for a fun night in downtown Manchester! We also chat about some of the challenges small businesses run by owner/operators face in our downtown, and some of the amazing connections Pat has made within the downtown community. We hope you enjoy this episode, and be sure to visit Bonfire's Facebook page for updates!

The second episode of our Business Tips Series is all about social media! While Ashley and Alex are not social media experts, they share some of the tips and tricks they have learned over the years to make Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms work for their businesses. Social media is constantly changing and can be overwhelming! Ashley and Alex share some tools they use to make life online a little easier. Reach out to us on Instagram with your favorite tips, and be sure to follow @coffeeatthebarre for new episodes! 

This week we are joined by Erik Lesniak, VP of Business Development for Manchester's Minor League Baseball team, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats! The team is affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays, and Erik has been with the Fisher Cats since the very beginning. When the pandemic began, the MLB stopped all baseball games, so Erik had to get creative to keep the organization afloat. He gives us some insight into what it was like to host graduations, distanced concerts, and other events throughout 2020. Erik also highlights that minor league teams are small businesses, and that it is up to us as a community to buy tickets, attend games, and show our support to make sure the Fisher Cats are a part of our community for years to come! After the year they've had, everyone at the organization is excited to kick off the 2021 baseball season this week. Erik is a champion of downtown businesses, he is always sharing photos of his takeout and travels around town. He is also a long time volunteer at Families in Transition & New Horizons. We hope this episode gets you excited for the Fisher Cats season, and for summer in Manchester, NH! 

This week Ashley and Alex chat with Lauren Perrault! Lauren is in the process of launching Lo Tide Clothing Co., an online boutique featuring surf inspired clothing. Lauren is Alex's sister, which means all three sisters own and operate their own businesses! Lauren started her career in marketing and event planning, and while she loved connecting with people, she felt that something was missing in her work. She is passionate about helping people find clothing that speaks to them and makes them feel comfortable and uniquely themselves. Lauren takes us through the start up process, describes her original plans for the business, and highlights some of the challenges she's faced launching an online business during COVID. Give this episode a listen for some insight into a business in its pre-launch stage. Be sure to follow Lo Tide on Instagram, and enter your email on shoplotide.com to stay in the loop!

After putting out a poll on Instagram this week, we have heard your requests! Ashley & Alex will be sprinkling in some episodes that dive deeper into some topics we have discussed. We'll cover things like marketing, funding sources, cash flow, promotion, bookkeeping, etc. This week's topic is networking! We know networking can be intimidating and a little scary, but with things opening up more, networking will once again become a critical tool to spread the word about your business. Self promotion, while difficult, is key, and we share some of the ways networking has worked for us! DM us on Instagram, let us know what you think of this episode, and send us some topics that you would like to hear us discuss. Thanks for listening!

Bethany Chabot of 444 Hands Innately Integrative Massage & Energy Therapy joins us this week! Bethany is a Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Reiki Level 2 practitioner. After leaving the graphic design world in 2004, she built her business from the ground up and opened in Merrimack in 2007.  Bethany always felt called to heal with energy and touch, and she has been healing in the Southern NH wellness community for the past 16 years. Bethany won Best Massage Therapist in the Hippo Press Reader's Poll in 2018, 2020, and 2021.  She has a passion for helping our community through clothing drives, her work as chair of social media and government relations on the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), and creating online wellness groups like March with Us to Wellness on Facebook. 444 Hands is located in Merrimack, NH. Bethany is currently accepting new clients via direct referral from current clients. We hope you enjoy this episode, thank you for listening!

A day late, but we're here! Ashley and Alex recap the first half of the podcast year. We revisit some of the business owners we have interviewed and how they got started. Some of them are even in the process of expanding! It has been a tough year all around, but we are so impressed and inspired by the resilience and innovation shown by the businesses in our community. We are so grateful to have connected with these businesses and our listeners, and we aren't going anywhere. Stay tuned for next week's episode! 

This week Ashley & Alex talk with Chelsea Stoddard! Chelsea is the owner of Queen City Cupcakes and Pop of Color, both in downtown Manchester, NH. Chelsea is celebrating 10 years of cupcakes this year! In 2011, she opened a bakery on Elm Street called Queen City Cupcakes, and was an instant success. Seeing a need for retail downtown, she opened Pop of Color just a few doors down in 2016. Pop of Color carries their own handmade gifts, as well as locally made items from small artisans throughout the country. We hope you enjoy learning about one of our favorite retail shops! Chelsea and her family hope that downtown Manchester will grow into a place where people can come from near and far to spend the entire day shopping small (and eating cupakes of course)! 

This week Ashley and Alex chat with Tim Pipp, owner of Beeze Tees Screenprinting! Beeze Tees  has been in business since August of 2010 and has grown quickly ever since. What started as a hobby during college, quickly became the place to go for the Monadnock Regions when it comes to custom apparel and promotional items. Tim's first location was in Keene, NH, and he recently opened a storefront at 36 Hanover Street in downtown Manchester, NH! Beeze Tees specializes in screen printing, embroidery, promotional products, and more. Tim's storefront also features NH themed apparel and souvenirs. Although the Manchester storefront is new, Tim jumped right into helping his neighboring businesses through the pandemic with the Shop Local tee shirt initiative.  We hope you stop in and visit Beeze Tees soon!