Update on the Space

I’ve had people reach out and ask for more detail about the space, where we are at, why it’s taking so long etc., so I thought I would write a little (big) update here – from how it started to where we are today. I had an idea of what was involved in finding, designing and building a commercial space, but had you told me I would have started this project when I did and still not be done, I’d have told you that you were crazy! I very much appreciate that everyone is excited and wanting to see updates with progress, and I promise we are getting close to being able to share progress beyond a framed space and an opening date soon! If you know the background you can head to the bottom and read from 2021 on!

July 2015 – November 2018

I started the business – and I’ve talked about this before, with no real goal for the future. I didn’t have a business plan; I was in a fortunate position to be able to start and see where it went. By the summer of 2018 I realized I had outgrown the space I was in (my home kitchen) and that it was actually limiting what I could do – from AHS guidelines to space and of course, the fact that it was a home.

In November of 2018 I drew a very rough version of what I had been dreaming of for years – although I told myself I hadn’t been… A workshop and a café combined and that started me on this next phase of my business.  

February 2019 – December 2019

In February of 2019 I reached out to a realtor and we really started to look for a space. I had quite a detailed list of what I wanted, Chris, my realtor kept reminding me I might have to shrink the list of musts, and that I was perhaps being a bit too picky. In the end after nearly a year, and lots of perseverance we found a space – well Chris found it. I think it was probably September 2019 or October 2019 when Chris first told me that he thought he had found the perfect space… It checked all of the boxes on my “too long” list, I was thrilled… Most of you know where it is – in Lansdowne. A huge thank you to everyone from the community who has reached out to virtually welcome me to the neighbourhood!

So how the heck has it taken from late 2019 to now to get here… Wherever here is, in a limbo phase! The pandemic has obviously played a huge role in the slowness of this expansion, but more than that, it’s also a process.

When we found the space, it was occupied, there is a back story that I won’t go into here, but it was a bit of a process and took some time for the landlord to tie some loose ends up. The lease took some took some time to sort out too, of course. I signed the first offer to lease in December of 2019 about 5 minutes before I started to teach a class – I remember doing it then so I wouldn’t have to focus too much on the huge thing I had just done!  

2020

Early 2020 was busy planning and dreaming and waiting to get the green light from the bank but also the landlord, it was so exciting, and the momentum was growing! We all know what happened next in March 2020. I have posted a bit about this on social media, but I learned more early in 2020 running a business than I did in the previous years combined – every turn faced something new. Running a business through the pandemic has been one thing but expanding it has been full of challenges, but also some really positive experiences and lessons.

Banks stopped loaning as the economy was shut down, I was worried my business wouldn’t survive. I was defeated, I was scared, I was worried, I was stressed… But I also took that time to really put my head to the ground and plan, dream and set goals in a way I never had before. It is time I will always be grateful for in a weird way – it was hard of course, but it also gave me an opportunity to get some things done I wouldn’t have been able to do if I was busy.

Through most of last spring and summer we’d get the momentum going through meetings and planning – with the builder, the landlord, the realtor etc., and then there would be some new change and we’d be back to a limbo state – a state of doubt.

I was weeks away from signing a formal lease and loan when the pandemic hit – and although it would have been hard to build a space through a pandemic, in hindsight, I wish we had been in a position to move ahead sooner because being a home-based business has limited me more through COVID than ever before – and hey, we’re still living through a global pandemic!

Once the banks started to loan again it was time for me to really put pen to paper and do a formal business plan (something I had never done!), an exercise people kept telling me was really good and would benefit me in so many ways… I was a bit like a child stomping my foot and crossing my arms – how could this be a beneficial exercise? But I called my accountant as I finished it and said, “you know Jake, you’re right, it was a good exercise,”… It forced me to look at things – especially from the point of view of trying to keep a business going through a pandemic in a different way. I applied for the loan – and without tooting my own horn, I am so damn proud of my business for being strong enough, resilient enough, to get a loan amidst a global pandemic.

Once the loan and lease were signed, the landlord had some work to do – the previous tenant had two bays, I was only using one, so a wall had to be built and the demo of the previous space had to be done. Then the real work started…

There was planning to do and permits to apply for, appliances to spec, design to be sorted, etc. through the limbo phase that was most of 2020. The plan had been set in stone for quite a while – I knew what I wanted, a space that was one but was two, a café and workshop, both spaces could work independent to one another, but could also have some flexibility. Before the pandemic I had applied for development with the city – which ensured I could open the business in that space (it was previously zoned for fitness), we had plans complete, a good vision for the interior and most decisions had been made. When it came time to move forward some of this work had to be re-done as quotes had expired, things had changed etc., it was of course easier the second time around!  

2021

This year has been frustrating, disappointing, exciting and stressful. I’ve felt more gratitude for the small things than ever before and I realize now more than ever how lucky I am to do what I love and am more excited than ever to open the doors to this space – to share more of Awn Kitchen with you, to be with you all in the kitchen again and to see your smiling faces in the café.

I will be honest, since taking possession it’s been a frustrating process of hiccup, hurdle and road block after hiccup, hurdle and road block. I thought January and February would be full of news to share and exciting posts and photos of progress, but the reality is it’s been extremely slow and to date there isn’t much to share with you. We will get there, and I am ever so hopeful that everything changes, and we start to see progress and the hiccups, hurdles and road blocks are behind us.

The building process is just that, a process. There was loads to be done – a yoga studio is very different from a cooking school and café. A cooking school and café a very unique space in itself. Hopefully soon things will pick up and what has been a frustrating experience will turn around to be an exciting and positive one. In the end, I know we will get there, I know it will be worth it – but it’s been hard especially tied to the unknown and restrictions that the pandemic of course pose. But my business is strong, as am I, and it’ll be that much better when those doors open.

Thanks to everyone for reaching out, asking questions, being so excited and welcoming me to the neighbourhood. I promise we will get there and my promise still stands true of what this space will be – more than ever as we come out of this pandemic the foundation of what my dream for this space is holds true – a community space for us to enjoy good food together whether that be in the workshop or café, or both!

The opening date will be announced when I know, till then, I will let you know that due to these delays the original plan to open in April has been pushed and opening will be sometime in May.