UBean's January Update
January 14, 2018
Since the confiscation of green coffee by the government, UBean has struggled financially. It has affected everything related to UBean business and continued to plague us. We have known that the second branch in the Bella Vista complex has not been as successful as we had hoped it would be. Whenever I was there, there were very few people there and very few coming and going. We had problems with the management of the facility. Little to know ministry was being done. After looking at the income, expenses and profit, we learned that since last January, our profit was less than a thousand dollars. I took the matter to the Board of Directors. They voted to close the Bella Vista branch. December 14th was the last day. We removed our property that night. True to form, Bella Vista tried to get us to pay for a full months rent, however, we had not had a contract with them since October. BTW, we do have green beans, we have ordered twice already and will be ordering again soon. We are staying just ahead, but I would like to refill our storage soon.
Since the confiscation of green coffee by the government, UBean has struggled financially. It has affected everything related to UBean business and continued to plague us. We have known that the second branch in the Bella Vista complex has not been as successful as we had hoped it would be. Whenever I was there, there were very few people there and very few coming and going. We had problems with the management of the facility. Little to know ministry was being done. After looking at the income, expenses and profit, we learned that since last January, our profit was less than a thousand dollars. I took the matter to the Board of Directors. They voted to close the Bella Vista branch. December 14th was the last day. We removed our property that night. True to form, Bella Vista tried to get us to pay for a full months rent, however, we had not had a contract with them since October. BTW, we do have green beans, we have ordered twice already and will be ordering again soon. We are staying just ahead, but I would like to refill our storage soon.
Now that the second branch closed, we have had too many employees and not enough hours to use them. Increasing hours has not helped alleviate that problem. Last week, I had to inform a barista that had been with us since November that in 30 days, we would terminate our contract with her. She was understandably upset, but knew this was a possibility. The 30 days will give her time to find other employment and resign before her time is up. There is a possibility that we will have to let go of someone else. Pray it does not come to that.
In 3 weeks it is the Mongolian holiday of Tsagan Sar which means “white month”. It is the beginning of a new year. It is a time of starting over with a clean slate. The way I think it was explained to me is, that it is a 3-day holiday, where you first day/night visit your elders, then other relatives on the second day and then on the third, if you ran out of time, the rest of your family. We have been invited to at least one families house. It was recommended that we wear traditional Mongolian clothes. It will be interesting if I can find something in my size. I think we are going to look for something green. I am sure pictures will follow.
Employees are celebrating with something like a “secret santa” called “Monita”, but I like to call it Monica. We draw a name and give small gifts for the next couple of weeks. Today, Erka, came up behind me and hugged me. He said my Monica told him to give me a hug. I said, who’s Monica?! He corrected my pronunciation and reminded me of the gift giving. I told him thanks, he can stop hugging me now.
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