Your friend, Alex, was convinced that your neighborhood in the city would welcome a coffee bar that offered high quality, specialty coffee. He decided to leave his great job as an auditor with KPMG to pursue his dream. He rented a nice 50 square-meter space, purchased and installed equipment, developed a supplier network, and sharpened his skills as a barista. Once everything was just the way he wanted it, he announced his grand opening with some advertising in his neighborhood area and waited for local coffee lovers to find him. Getting to this point had required Alex investing all of his personal savings and taking a loan of 8,000 euros from his parents.

His first days were long as he worked hard to get everything just right and serve the first customers well. He noticed that there was an occasional reaction to his prices being somewhat higher than other local competition, but he attributed that to people just needing to understand that a really good espresso requires higher quality, more expensive coffee. Alex was sure that it was just a matter of time, and he would have a daily stream of regular customers enjoying great coffee and happy to pay a little more for it.

Alex’s former boss at KPMG called recently and asked him to come back to his old job telling Alex that this diligence and reliability is really missed. He even stopped into his coffee bar to demonstrate high level of interest. Business had been really slow that day and the bar only had one customer at the time his former boss stopped in. It left Alex really questioning his decisions to pursue his dream and wondering if should seriously consider returning to his old job. The next day, you stop in for an espresso while on your afternoon break and Alex confides in you.

One thing that Alex shares with you is that he is thinking of extending his hours to late in the evening and adding “designer cocktails” to his coffee and tea menu offerings. He believes that high quality “evening drinks” would bring more customers into his bar that he might be able to win as daytime coffee customers as well.

Consider the following:

1. How would you help Alex decide to pivot or persevere?

2. How would you help Alex to evaluate this pivot in strategy?

3. What is the most critical issue facing Alex’s business and how do you help him see it?