2008 New Year’s Day Vox Pop Vision Statement

Dear Vox Pop Coworkers,

Dear Andy, Holley, Andrew, Gabriel, Kristen, John, Lindsay, Michael, Melissa, Naava, Sam, Tom, Zen, and Lauren,

2007 was a big year for Vox Pop. Vox Pop is now the best it’s ever been. The operation has really come together.

Here are the highlights:

Tom Barr came aboard as Operations Manager. He revamped the menu, and helped implement better procedures here. He’s the kind of assistant Manager I’ve always needed and wanted. He believes in this place.

Sam Pennix came on as Machinesta, i.e. our new espresso expert. She led efforts to improve quality of espresso drinks here. I’m really proud of the quality we’re offering now, and I’m grateful for the tricks of the trade she’s taught us.

Kristen Felicetti as Office Manager is a big help to me with the administrative work of running this company. She takes initiative and solves problems.

John Hagan is a barista/co-host of open mike who was just promoted to “art director” here to help re-vamp the interior of the space, and to curate more art shows.

Michael Cramer and Gabriel Stuart are now running Publish Yourself!, Vox Pop’s media services operation, in the adjoining storefront. This helps them, and us, as it opens up space upstairs for Vox Pop’s new “prep kitchen” and it adds a new revenue stream for the company.

We have a strong crew in the weekday mornings, with Melissa Sanfiorenzo and Holley Anderson, and her fellow “sunshine sister” Lindsay Saunders on weekend mornings, alongside Sam.

Yesterday, New Year’s Day, I took the day off and watched football. But I couldn’t totally stop working, I love this business too much. I wrote down these thoughts on what Vox Pop is, what it is worth, and where it’s going to go in 2008. I eagerly await your response, so please comment, below.

In 2007, Vox Pop did a bunch of great things for our local community, the kinds of things that only Vox Pop can do. We hosted several candidate forums for the local City Council race, and published several issues of the New York Megaphone. We added more coffee choices, and made it clearer to people that our coffee is “Fair Trade.” We did experiments in BBQ all summer, and the response was strong. Overall, we doubled our sales compared to the summer previous. Sales in November 2007 were up 40% compared to November 2006. When Connecticut Muffin opened in early October, I was worried. Our sales did dip that month. But we’re back on top, with the November and December numbers. (We doubled our sales again in December 2007). Connecticut Muffin under-estimated us. We’ve got fierce customer loyalty, and it’s growing. Meanwhile, they are struggling to find the right product mix, price list, and niche. I wish them luck. It took us three years. Cortelyou Road can be a tough nut to crack.

I’ve looked over our financials for the past 12 months. We average a nominal profit of about $2K, cash. It’s more like a break-even when you factor in the cash expenses from paid-outs. But we’re poised for serious profitability now.

I realize Vox Pop Inc. has a few debts, but I am managing them. In 2007, I paid down $18K in various debts.

The thing I want to discuss with everyone on this blog is how we, as a company, think about money. I have been working on this in 2007, with books like “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” and work with consultant Ken Stark. This is the most important point in this statement. I’ve had to confront the “damaged financial blueprint” I was raised with. Harv Eker says we all have the brains and creativity to learn to think the way millionaires do. Well, the word, “millionaire” is problematic—sounds idle and luxurious. I respect other terms like “wealth-generator”, “socially-responsible investor”, “job-creator”, “enterprise launcher”, cagey, hustling money-raiser, or shrewd, sparse money manager. That’s my experience—what a hustle, what a hassle it’s been to manage all the different money needs of vendors, creditors, employees, tax collectors, professional consultants, attorneys, accountants, and New York State and City government agencies. These are all “stakeholders” of Vox Pop Inc. and this network is the nervous system of Vox Pop Inc.

Recently, Ken Stark asked me “What’s the first thing you think about when I say ‘money’?” I said, “It’s annoying. There’s never enough of it. I feel bad when I pay people late.” He suggested that that negative outlook was contagious—that that spread, culturally, throughout the company.

So, in 2008, instead of “money is annoying,” Kristen and I, as the financial managers here, are going to have a new motto:

Employees Come First. We make payroll, every Monday, every week, on time, every time.
We have great people on staff, and we want to keep you happy. And we are going to do this with joy.

Money should be a source of joy. It expresses the energy and joy that customers have with us. I’ve got political biases against money that I have to work through. Is it fear of corruption? You look around, and see a world obsessed with money. Capitalism teaches consumers to think of products as alive. This is what Marx called the “fetishization of the commodities.” In this system, people lose sense of what’s real. They accept big lies. The two-party system doesn’t produce any leaders willing to challenge the big lies. Just the opposite.

But Vox Pop is a form of resistance to those big lies. We’re about fair trade economics. We’re about uniting people, and improving the way we communicate. For just one immediate example, I was on stage in the final hour of 2007, getting the audience to talk about their goals and resolutions for 2008. We had everyone from Zionists to Democrats to radicals. Vox Pop isn’t a place obsessed with the same old political sectioning, we’re becoming an inclusive place for free intellectual exchange. We’re a place for political cross-fertilization, for ferment, for issues that span “Right and Left”, and for community organizing.

The numbers in coffee are great. The profit margins on beer and wine are wonderful. With the new menu we’re offering even better food, at fair prices, that make sense to our bottom line. The Vision of Vox Pop has to be that all of these numbers feed the more important bigger picture: we’re here to be a consciousness-raising community center, a place for dialogue, and ideas. We want to be a seedbed of social change.

At the same time, we’re a going concern. I studied numbers last night. We dropped our latte prices too low. In 2008, all prices are up for constant review, at all times. Management’s job is to always ask: What prices should be dropped to maximize volume? What prices could be raised to maximize revenue? This is not arbitrary, or capricious. There’s a way to do it by studying cash register data, first. Let’s do it with joy, and tie this into the joy of being able to make payroll every Monday.

In “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” Harv Eker asks a provocative question. To paraphrase: What if, instead of “money is annoying,” or “I’m poor, I have poverty on my mind all the time,” I could say, “Sander, you have a millionaire mind. Wealth-generating people have certain habits. You can learn them. You can learn that you’re already doing some of them.” Yes, class, race, etc. have a big impact on your chances to become successful in life. And Harv Eker recognizes that in his book. But what’s insightful is that he doesn’t limit himself to the assumptions of liberal stereotypes. Let’s face it—a majority of people are interested in personal development. Poor and working-class people especially are interested in discovering which of our own internal thought-processes could be contributing to all the other social constraints we are dealing with.

As Publishers Weekly wrote, “Eker puts a positive spin on stereotypes, arguing that poverty begins, or rather, is allowed to continue, in one's imagination first, with actual material life becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. To that end, Eker counsels for admiration and against resentment, for positivity, self-promotion and thinking big, and against wallowing, self-abnegation and small-mindedness.”

Part of my own “small-mindedness” is my statement that money is a source of negative, bothersome annoyance, when it should be seen as joy, as a sign of positive energy coming into my life, and yours. My “concept” about money needs work. All the great thinkers of history, Jesus, Kant, Gertrude Stein, all sought to get us away from descriptions, from concepts of things, and closer to the “thing itself.” Step closer to what is real. Forsake the false representation. (In contemporary times, I would argue this demands we forsake the distorting lens of corporate-controlled, ruling-class-biased media.) My concept about money needs work, and I’m like most of the country.

Here’s what I took from the book:

I do have a millionaire mind. I start companies. I create jobs. I’ve contributed to the turnaround of an entire neighborhood. Eker says: "Rich people focus on opportunities/ Poor people focus on obstacles."

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about money? (Comment on this below.)

Vox Pop Valuation
Ken asked me what I’m worth, in terms of money, and political/philosophical value. Well, financially, I’m worth about 1/2 million dollars right now. That’s what the stock I own in Vox Pop Inc. is worth. Shares sell for $1,000 a share now. I own $481,000 worth of those shares. (And I’ve worked my butt off for the past three years!) I’ve gotten closer each year to raising the $1 million I need to expand Vox Pop. We will sell 1,000 shares in 2008 to do this. This new $1 million is called a “seed round” and it will amount to new investors owning about 48% of the total stock in the company.

Valuation is also all about the future. Look at the path we’re on: the sales growth, the brand awareness, the publicity, the media exposure, all the catalysts that went off for me this year like a chain reaction from God…the value of owning stock in Vox Pop is going to continue to go up. We are loved. America needs us. America needs more community. It’s a healing place we’ve created.

In 2007, David Capece and I re-wrote the Vox Pop business plan. We have a going concern, with great customer loyalty (the customer comments are my favorite part of the plan!) With $1 million, we can open five to six more Vox Pops with that money, focusing, laser-like, on the NYC metro area. On a separate but parallel track, I recently hired attorneys to draft a “UFOC” or uniform franchising offering circular, our first big step to having a franchising contract. I’m touring the West Coast in February, to meet venture capitalists, fellow-9/11 truth researchers, fellow peace activists, to meet potential franchisees and partners. There are many folks out there who connect to Vox Pop’s vision of peace, truth, and really great coffee!

Despite my mixed up feelings about money, I’m confident in the value of Vox Pop Inc. stock. While you working here, it’s easy to work to own a piece of it. It’s something I recommend. I want to share the wealth we’re creating together here. I have a Walt Whitman sized “love of comrades” and plus, it’s just good business. I want you all happy and motivated and feeling connected.

Every single cup of coffee we have sold for three years has been “fair-trade certified.” Compared to other coffee shops, we already share more coffee sales wealth with the coffee farmers who grow our beans. Now, it’s time to share this blog entry, and get some dialogue going about Vox Pop, money, and what it all means.

Before I go, here’s a list of my specific goals for 2008:

1. Processed payroll weekly, and internally, using a new time clock computer system. We will process every Monday, on time, every time. Coworkers come first. Checks issued at 5 PM Monday.

2. Book monthly profits of $5K (gross sales minus expenses).

3. Collect and pay NY State Sales Tax on time, every quarter.

4. Raise $50K immediately to pay down debts.

5. Raise $1 million, to start expansion.

6. Hire a “Publisher” to delegate some responsibilities at New York Megaphone

7. Sell first Vox Pop franchise, in LA, SF, Seattle, Portland, or Denver.

8. In Store Sales Goals by product category:
Coffee: raise cappuccino and latte prices
Add another drip coffee flavor
Put urns in self-serve

Food
Increase sales through marketing (full color flyers, Megaphone interview, online interview with Tom)
Refine menu and raise prices

Beer/Wine
Raise pitcher and growler prices
Add bottle beer to go biz with new fridge

Books
NY Times Best-sellers of note, in our niche, always in stock, front and center
New book display near bagel case
Process Returns! Through Ingram

Events
More hip-hop shows, like last Friday, 12/21
More indie rock shows, booked by Greg Hoy, and Sharon Blythe and others.


Politics
More 9/11 ballot initiative activism
Encourage inter-faith organizing at Vox Pop
Local candidate events
Encourage third party alternatives to Prez. Race

Publishing:
Publish book on Giuliani

Publish Yourself!
Google Adwords campaign
Work on blogger outreach?
NYC schools?

Author Events
Better-known authors (mailing to publishers, email campaign and phone?)
Revise Events Strategy.

Interior
Continue constant improvements to interior
Fix floor
Fix banquette
Paint bathroom
Install deodorants in bathroom (just ordered)

Art
Sell Art! Do art openings, develop this new revenue stream

OK, that’s it.
Please post your responses in the Comments section below. Even if you don’t have a huge response, please let me know you read this, with a comment.

Finally, thanks for reading the WHOLE thing! THANKS for being a big part of Vox Pop. We’re going to have a great 2008!

Sincerely,

Sander Hicks
CEO
Vox Pop Inc.

PS
Click here for more info on
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

Click here if you want to go to the page on Vox Pop Net where you can download
the whole Vox Pop business plan.