Crusoes Coffee Shop is the creation of local artist Roger Robinson. With a love for good food and local produce,
Roger spent time travelling across Europe and to New Zealand to find the very best recipes for his coffee shop, which he established in Castlerock over 12 years ago. At this time, Roger was seen as leading a new movement of artisan food and coffee in the North Coast and known for serving more famous customers such as the Queen and the Prime Minister! But, the last few years has witnessed a significant increase in the number of coffee houses in the area and the market became somewhat saturated.
Roger recognised the need for renewed focus for the business in order to grow financially. He embarked on the leadership programme as a ‘time out’ from and for the business. He said: “I had lost my way in paperwork so revisiting the past and remembering what was important to me when I created the business, was part of my journey in rediscovering the distinct ethos of Crusoes in a crowded marketplace”.
Owing the programme to improving his leadership ability, confidence, and ambition to grow, Roger decided to send his manager Marchelle Honer on Lead2Grow. Not only did Marchelle see the business through a leadership viewpoint, beyond daily staff and operations management, she identified key bottlenecks causing problems and preventing growth. Taking the principle of marginal gains, together Roger and Marchelle implemented a new strategy to buy the best produce for best price by implementing a new supplier account system. The results speak volumes. Only 3 months after finishing the programme, the business has seen a 15% improvement in costs from last year, which will in turn bring a greater profit by the end of this financial year.
So, time out on Lead2Grow has paid dividends for Roger in rediscovering his leadership purpose the artisan way but with greater profitability and success!