Should every new business concept rename itself after 2 years?

When I hosted a table for SadieDey's at the East Bay Moms Preschool Resource Fair this past weekend I was struck by some of the comments that I heard. Misty and I would welcome folks to the table and ask if they had been to SadieDey's. They would either say yes, we love it or no what's that. Luckily we did not get any "yes and we hated it" combos. We did however find that when people who had not heard of us find out our address, a number of them reacted with a little squirm and said "Oh, you mean tumble & tea." This was not said with a smile and we got the message. Our next questions of course was "How long since you've been in?" Every "frown" had not been in for at least a year.-Whew. That gave us our chance to try to win them back. Misty and I looked at each other and realized we had a lot of work on our hands and I thought to myself-thank goodness we are changing names, otherwise the mistakes and growing pains of building tumble & tea may have stuck forever.

When Gina and I started drawing the blueprint for our dream there was no template to work from. There was no other open Play Cafe anywhere in Norther California that we could even look at for inspiration. It was completely trial and error, with a great big audience. Everyday we rearranged, reinvented, re-tasted, and revised. There was no other possible way to create our customers dream other than have them tell us what they wanted once we were open.

I've read that people's first reaction to any change or different concept is negativity. Over time our human nature allows us to try it out and either fall in love with the concept or stick with our initial distaste. People don't like change, plain and simple. This creates quite the emotional mountain to climb for innovators and entrepreneurs who want to bring something new and different to the public eye. Everyone knows what a play center is and how it works and what to expect. Everyone knows how to behave in a restaurant, that the food costs money and that it is cooked on the premises. Very few people knew what to expect from a combination of 2 such businesses, especially us.

After 1.5 years I bought Gina's share of the biz and decided we needed an even bigger overhaul to try to get the model closer to fine. New gates, new tables, new furniture, new POS systems, new menu, new staff, new manager, and as you know-new name.

And so I ask again, does every innovative business model need to rename itself in order to separate it from its awkward infancy. Does the widget factory have to rename once it figures our a better widget. I certainly don't think we are done changing and improving and I don't plan on rebranding every 2 years. Hopefully the first 2 years of lessons learned were the steepest and now we can continue to climb a little bit at a time.

Back to the moms who stopped by the booth...When we asked what kept them from coming back some said that there was no gate-well our new gate is working great. Some did not like the hardwood floors and had not even seen the carpet. Some did not like staff that had long since been fired. When we pointed out all that had been improved based on earlier suggestions they seemed excited to come on back in. I'm glad we may have won them back but for every mom we talked to there were a lot more that we didn't.

Tumble & tea will always be my first business baby and I'm proud of every stage. That we even got the doors open, that we are still open even during this recession, that we never stop and say good enough. I hope other small businesses are granted a grace period to figure out who they are and how they can improve. Otherwise we'll never get innovative businesses that take risks and hopefully provide a service that we didn't even know we needed.

Susan Older-Mondeel is the founder of SadieDey's Cafe . Sue wanted a community place where she could enjoy her children and enjoy herself, preferably with a strong coffee in hand. Where was this common ground for children and the weary adults who love them? Well it was in her head and in her heart and now at 4210 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland CA. Check it out at www.sadiedeyscafe.com or call 510-601-REST (7378) SadieDey's Cafe-You've gotta eat, Kids gotta play!

We're on Eye on the Bay!

I got me a lil' fibber

Dey is now 6 and has always been such an honest little guy. Even when he tried to lie, his half closed eyes and smirk always gave him away and we were all laughing at his attempt at real deception. Well he has gotten better and I'm kinda stumped. The conversation goes something like this. Keep in mind that as any good mommy lawyer does-I don't ask any question that I don't already know the answer to.
Me,"Dey, did you do your work in class today."
Dey, "Yes mommy."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, mommy."
"Really really sure."
Yes, I'm pretty sure. (he's starting to slip about here on my third interrogation)
So did you or didn't you?
"I thiiiink I remember doing it (really losing traction now) I go in for the kill-
"Dey, did you do your work in class or not?"
Dey-"Well maybe I didn't today but I did yesterday."
Seriously? Some days I go straight in -did you do your work in class-yes, did you -yes, did you- yes, For sure-well maybe not all of it..

Must I ask 5 times to evoke truthfulness in a first grader? What is he scared of exactly? We make it clear that lying is sooo much worse than not doing your work. I'm not totally freaking out about this as I'm sure it's a normal developmental phase that he will emerge from, like poopy diapers and spit up, but I saw this show on 2020 on integrity and it was truly shocking and sad. They set up a hidden camera at a local bar and had a guy, very obviously, slip some mysterious powder into his date's drink. Only about 2 people made a scene and confronted the guy. Most looked away. I was so ashamed of humans. Where was their bravery and integrity? When did looking the other way when someone is in danger become socially acceptable?
This is why, although I believe my boy will grow up to be someone who stands up for justice, it is my most important job to get him on the right track right now. Lying is a skill I don't want my kids to master because I personally think that it is a stepping stone to the worse crime of indifference and cowardice.

Dey and I are in a testing phase for now and I just hope that I'm getting my message across, even at his young age. Being honest with yourself is probably the hardest lesson to learn much less teach, but I think this is the right place to start. I welcome any thoughts or suggestions that any of you other parents may have for me.

Susan Older-Mondeel is the founder of SadieDey's Cafe . Sue wanted a community place where she could enjoy her children and enjoy herself, preferably with a strong coffee in hand. Where was this common ground for children and the weary adults who love them? Well it was in her head and in her heart and now at 4210 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland CA. Check it out at www.sadiedeyscafe.com or call 510-601-REST (7378) SadieDey's Cafe-You've gotta eat, Kids gotta play!

What a fabulous way to ring in 2009!

Hey I don't think 2008 was a stellar year for anyone, so all the more reason to bring in 2009 with utter Joy. That's exactly what we did at SadieDey's for our 3rd annual New Year's Pre-Eve party. This may have been our third NY's event but it was the first one I got to truly enjoy and I have my new Event coordinator Misty to thank for that experience. Instead of rushing around as the frantic hostess, I poured some of my secret bubbly stash (shhh) and got to dance to Asheba with my kidlets and catch up with old and new friends. In other words I got to attend my own party rather than run it. I highly recommend this wonderful demotion to any of you hosting big parties in the new year. Try to get a chance to enjoy your party and see if you can find someone else to actually organize it. I'd recommend Misty but she's mine now so you'll have to find your own "party angel".

The best part of the night for me was seeing Miss Sadie, who has yet to participate, even minimally, in any sing-a-long event I have EVER taken her to, step up to the mic and sing her ABC's with her dad and her idol, ASHEBA. I could not even believe my eyes, or ears. This girl is completely nutso around friends and family, but totally shuts down in a crowd. I was so very proud of her for being so brave.

After every kid won a prize, all the meatballs and cucumber cups were gobbled, and the clock neared 6pm, we counted down to midnight (somewhere in the mid-Atlantic ocean I guess) and welcomed in 2009 with open arms and open hearts. Happy and Healthy New Year's wishes to everyone.

Susan Older-Mondeel is the founder of SadieDey's Cafe (formerly known as tumble & tea). Sue wanted a community place where she could enjoy her children and enjoy herself, preferably with a strong coffee in hand. Where was this common ground for children and the weary adults who love them? Well it was in her head and in her heart and now at 4210 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland CA. Check it out at www.sadiedeyscafe.com or call 510-601-REST (7378) SadieDey's Cafe-You've gotta eat, Kids gotta play!