Welcome to our blog, our crisis and how you can help:)!

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to our new blog. For now I will be posting and Noah and David will, I am sure, join in at some future time. I just read the book WHAT WOULD GOOGLE DO by Jeff Jarvis. I was very inspired to start a blog and follow his advice to embrace the new way of doing business and create an online community around our Fudge Factory as a sister to our already wonderful Cafe community in Bristol NH. Little did I know how vital this idea was going to become to our business and personal well-being. 

As some of you will know, this is a time when more than ever we need community. To update those of you who are not aware of what has been happening, we are in the middle of a crisis! Our building, The Mill Ice Cream Cafe and Fudge Factory, sits dangerously close to a four story building that is in very bad shape. After years of neglect, in October last year, part of the roof started to cave in. By mid-February the building was inspected by the town's structural engineer and it was considered a very real hazard to our building and the house on the other side. A family and our business were evacuated indefinitely. Right now we have relocated to the empty restaurant next door. We face the prospect of carrying double expenses with no resolution either from the town or the owner of the hazardous building for an indeterminate period of time. Clearly our business, young as it is, and not yet profitable, is in danger of not surviving! With the economy as it is this is very bad timing. 

Noah, David and I are committed to doing everything in our power to keep going. We are looking at ways to trim down our operation. We may stop serving sandwiches during the day and stick to our  ice cream. That would cut down on seasonal staffing levels and save money. We want to keep our open mic and concert nights running for sure, the music is the heart of the cafe side of the operation. We could offer a full menu for those evenings. We are considering offering beer and wine, as everyone knows, that adds considerable to profit without prep time. We have to keep the fudge factory operational as it is has the most potential for profit. We sell fudge all over the country from our online shop at www.TheMillFudgeFactory.com. People fundraise with our fudge, we wholesale it to country stores, and sell it at fairs and markets. We have made great inroads with this part of the business, but it is early days and our sales have not reached a level that could sustain the survival of the business.  THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN.  Several people have asked us if they can help. Their care has kept us going. We ask that you stay in touch via our website and blog. We will be emailing everyone on our list in the coming days with suggestions and we welcome any ideas about any aspect of this that you may have. I will be updating the blog with information as it comes in. 

According to WHAT WOULD GOOGLE DO, "Your best customer is your partner." We already knew that, and we are asking you to partner with us and together we can SAVE THE MILL!

Much love,

Linda