Experience and Business Development have been a Recipe for Success at Boho Café.

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Jeanine Gribbin and Mace Cook brought an ‘eclectic’ mix of background experiences to their business Boho Café located in Awapuni, Palmerston North.  Mace is an IT Business Analyst and Jeanine has a large helping of experience, from working as a customs broker, lashings of hospitality work (here and overseas), to fundraising and management in the not for profit sector.  In amongst this Jeanine completed a master’s degree in creative and performing arts management.

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Jeanine and Mace spent fifteen years together with their children in Auckland but always wanted a lifestyle they felt they couldn’t achieve there.   Six years ago, they moved to Carterton, Mace and Jeanine knew they still had a move to make.  Mace wasn’t keen on the daily Wellington commute for his work as an IT business analyst and switched to commuting to Palmerston North. This put the opportunity to move to Palmy and set-up a café in motion.  After six months at home in her semi-rural property, Jeanine felt there was a lot of opportunity in the food scene and decided to set-up a suburban café where she could slot into a cosy community environment which is her happy place.   With good infrastructure already in place (the building had previously been a restaurant and later a pub) Jeanine had had her eye on the place for a while and jumped at the opportunity to set-up her café.

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Jeanine’s style suits her ‘Boho’ café.  There is an eclectic display of items from typewriters, teacups, artworks, plants and mismatched furniture in an ever-evolving style.  It blends the old and the new for a one-of-a-kind, life-well-lived look, that expresses their personalities.

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Jeanine feels their business is going from strength to strength.  Two years down the track Boho is a licensed café that makes most of their products in-house.  The café is open six days and two nights, can cater for functions both in-house or as out catering, and run their own always sold-out themed nights and events where they partner with a dynamic sommelier to bring some amazing food and wind matches.

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While Mace had owned a business before, this is the first business for Jeanine and she recognises the challenges that owning a business presents. Through attending the taster event to the Business Development Group (BDG) Jeanine’s interest was piqued and it appealed to her life-long learning philosophy. She knew that the Business Development Group could be an ingredient for success and was grateful that funding from CEDA assisted her to take part in the ten-month course. Advanced Accounting’s Business Development Group helped Jeanine confront issues she knew she should be dealing with that get put aside in the busy-ness of day to day running of her business.  Through spending time together once a month Jeanine felt invigorated by the group.  Support gained from Aaran McLeod and other business group members has kept Jeanine feeling more buoyant and equipped to get through challenges—business ownership can at times be an isolating occupation.  Jeanine feels the content provided offers an ongoing opportunity to improve her business and is a great resource.  Advanced Accounting’s Business Development Group has had a massive impact on the way Jeanine runs Boho Café.

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She has learned to delegate more, feels empowered, has imbedded core values for employment and has encouraged innovation amongst her team. Systemisation strategies were a great takeaway lesson as well as gaining insights around her own personal development.  While Mace, being a business analyst, is very detailed in his planning Jeanine has more of a ‘get it done’ kind of attitude and has found the BDG provides a good foundation for approaching tasks in a methodical way, providing structure and food for thought.

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Jeanine recommends the BDG to other business owners as it allows time and space to work on and grow their businesses. Everybody knows that successful businesses work on their businesses and she has found it rewarding to see growth and development amongst the team.  Watching other businesses achieving key developments through taking part in the course had been exciting.  She feels there was great comradery amongst the group and found the new insights and dynamics refreshing.  They were able to share downtimes, offer encouragement, sometimes find simple solutions, and importantly have a laugh. While their businesses were all unique it was heartening to realise that other businesses have their own challenges.

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With their vision firmly in mind Jeanine and Mace have set to work on their long-term plans.  They’ll be growing the events and catering side of their business as well as making sure they keep their existing customers happy. Jeanine’s ‘boho’ attitude lends itself to being agile and able to respond to customer needs.  She knows that there is always much more to do but feels they have made a solid start, and strategies offered by the BDG have contributed positively to their overall vision.

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