Helping a local business reinvent itself

My name is Carmen Manea, and I co-own a small bistro in Iasi, Romania, the place where I practice my barista skills, among others. I have two dogs, which I love, I enjoy traveling (most of my trips have been solo rides) and I am newly engaged (said yes on our last trip to Amsterdam).

I started the bistro-business almost three years ago with zero knowledge and experience in what they call the Horeca industry, so everything (I think) I know now, I learned in these past three years.

During this time I cooked, baked, made coffee, tea, waited tables, painted walls, assembled pieces of furniture, hosted parties, cleaned the toilets, held job interviews, written text for social media posts, worked 16-hour shift many days in a row, been the supply-person from day one, and negotiated contracts. 

And, the most important of all, for which I am truly grateful, I’ve discovered a lot about myself.

A couple of failures and some amazing “AHA!” moments, both personal and professional. A major episode in my life has been my mother leaving abroad for work. It was the moment when I actually understood that I am responsible for myself.

Being kicked out of the exam room by one of my professors, back in the first year of my master’s degree, was one of the best things that have happened to me. It made me take the big decision to quit and start fresh all over again. When I look back at this specific event, I am really proud that I dared to go against the flow and quit.

Fast forward a few years, I started my first business, which worked well in its first year, and then collapsed. Why? Because I worked alone and I realized too late that I can’t do everything by myself. It was a valuable lesson that still gives me occasional headaches since I enjoy being the lone wolf. 

I think I am a creative person. I’ve always loved doing stuff using my hands. After creating furniture for my last rented house terrace, I realized that this is something that makes me happy: creating things that make other people happy. This can be either a piece of furniture, a piece of pie, or a good cup of coffee.

Thinking about it now, I believe I helped understand what it takes to create a safe and hip environment for people, where they can get together and cultivate their creativity.

This was my life partner’s idea, to take over a pub that wasn’t working and turn it into a small bistro. I had zero experience at the time, and because I had no idea what I was getting myself into, it was easy to say yes. There wasn’t much of a plan; it was something that we decided to do overnight. 

It all started to feel real when we knew we had to change the interior. That was the moment when I began to create a plan in my head. I knew was that I want to create something different: a slow-paced spot, a Romanian gastro-bar among all the pizza places around us.

I still remember the first day. I know I didn’t get any sleep the night before; I was so nervous and excited. The bistro’s first day went better than expected.

We opened early in the morning, at 7:30 am. I can’t remember how long it took for the first client to come in, but I still remember the feeling after cashing in our first order. At the end of the day, when we realized that people did come in and we managed to sell something, it started to feel real. 

The place didn’t have any personality yet, no story, no glue between the employees, the whole atmosphere was a bit strange, but somehow, clients found their way into the bistro, and something made them come back the following days. 

At that time, I was very concentrated on the Facebook mirage, that our very own website just wasn’t a priority, although I was thinking about it.

This is something that I’m still trying to figure out. I will always be the owner, but I’m an active person, so I get involved in whatever is going on. People often see me as the host because I’m the one that talks to clients in most days, letting them know what’s happening in the bistro’s life. Of course, that frequently changes, in other days I might find me behind the counter making coffee.

Anyhow, I’m most of the time there, doing something, working at the bar, or maybe putting a plan together for an event. So, I will call myself an entrepreneur and a host, because of how the bistro turned out and how I manage to organize its activity and trajectory.

It’s a combination of good people, good service, and good products, in a good place. I’ve learned that you can not have one without the others. In the almost three years since we opened, our best moments have been when we’ve managed to master all. 

The key to getting people to visit us and return is having good employees, people that work for the good of everybody, an excellent service, and top of the line products, everything put together in a chic, clean and neat bistro, a place filled with beautiful energy. 

I think that the bistro’s energy attracts people. It’s small, we serve food and coffee, like many other places around us, but we have this vibe that clients describe as being Mediterranean, or french, like somewhere in Paris, even german, hip in uptown Berlin, or sometimes Jewish. 

The place looks nice, we serve high-quality products, and love treating people well, so I guess all of these combined with our location in the city center make our bistro a little special place.

It was really comfortable. You guys know what you’re doing. The plan that you’ve put together, with realistic deadlines and helpful notes, gave a good flow to the entire process. When we started, I didn’t know what I was going to write; there was no plan from my side, just ideas that were not connected.

This whole package is immensely valuable. We’ve put together a website that will be online for what I hope to be, a very long time. Also, in these past few weeks, the entire team has been here, for whatever issues arose. So, I guess your call on Facebook was essential because that started all. Thank you!

Also, the plan that you’ve put together helped a (huge) lot, because I could easily decide where to start. It’s incredible and satisfying to work with people that communicate well and have solutions. Loved it!

I liked the fact that your product, Rosa 2, is very easy to understand and customize. The words that best describe it would be user friendly. You can let it lead your throughs during the entire process.

While playing with it, I visited other websites that use the same WordPress theme, and it’s amazing how different one is from another. 

The way this WordPress theme was created truly helped me put the bistro’s story in the spotlight. A simple thing like uploading the perfect picture on the home page inspired me to write a compelling story.

The single thing a bit annoying was the fact that it seemed hard to make the right choices from all the resources I gathered along the way: what to keep and what to let go?

It’s attractive. The design pleases the eye. The first time I saw it, I thought to myself that it looks great, and it would be perfect for a foodie business, just like ours, because of the prominent display of photos. I also loved the fact that it’s effortless to customize with the help of the cool blocks that you can use to build 100% personalized pages. While playing with it, I visited other websites that use the same WordPress theme, and it’s amazing how different one is from another.

This product offered everything I wanted. I played around with the original version because I loved it. I appreciated that I can change colors and fonts as I please to make my website unique.

When it comes to what I didn’t like, that would be the Google Maps integration. But then again, the Google protocol was a bit too complicated for me (at that time), so I just decided not to add the interactive map for now. I’ll get back to it. Overall, it was a pretty smooth experience with Rosa 2.

We’re pretty active of social platforms, talking to people about what we do. However, there is something we plan on doing, that we were talking about for a couple of months now, and that is filming a behind the scenes, what people don’t see in our beautiful pictures.

I kept on talking about my beliefs and what I think, but the bistro is alive thanks to a big team of cool people with bold ideas. So, sometimes soon, we’ll have a VIDEO tab on the website, as well, where you’ll be able to see more of what this place is all about.

Looking at my own experience, I would say that a break from my daily routine was exactly what I needed. Being too concentrated on the business, it became challenging to see what it lacked: a voice of its own and a tool to help it stay alive.

People might love this bistro, but in the end, they will forget about it if I don’t do something about that.

It took a global pandemic to make me realize I have to change, improve, and be available online. The bistro needed a website.

If I were to give a piece of advice, I’d say ask yourself a simple question: “Is there anything I can improve?” Take a break, have a coffee, and the answer to your question will come. Who knows, maybe you’re missing a website, just like I was.