HBW as a social space.

When I was getting started on the path to opening my own business I tried a lot of different things.

I remember regularly asking the guys at Glen Lyon whether I could borrow equipment, asking Caffeine Fix how expensive an espresso machine would be, and seeking out spaces I might be able to occupy to try and make a name for myself.

The help I received was at the discretion of individuals, those that either believed in me or could be compensated for having done so.

I recall discussions with Made in Stirling didn’t go far because, at the time, there was not enough space in their Murray Place store, though the discussion was available and the assistance offered.

I recall approaching agents about council owned properties or empty shops, and being told fairly flatly that a pop up was unlikely to be offered, due to ongoing conversations with other potential letters, and that my occupying the space in the interim was essentially not worth the hassle.

I think I must have hit enough walls that running a series of pop-ups seemed an awful lot more work than the cash I’d have made would have been worth. In retrospect, it would have been worth a lot more than the cash I’d have taken.

What’s more, I was certain in that time that I was going to start and run a social enterprise: a business that is owned by the community and run to the benefit of some sort of social cause. This is still something I think about regularly.

Looking back, it’s clear to see my goals were much too grand and my focus much too broad for my experience or budget. I hadn’t really sussed out what business I was going to run, or how that would be able to feed myself and some other social cause.

I recall a time that a handful of business-oriented people’s cast doubt over my proposed business and told me that I was creating a series of barriers to business that would make it unviable.

And when I had finally grown my turnover, I remember scoffing and saying how I’d proved them wrong. Whether or not I had remains to be seen.

My main takeaway from that experience was how I needed a mentor, someone who was in it and making it work. STEP and the University business folk are helpful to a point, but without having some real hospitality insight their place is only to help develop a business plan and get you access to funding.

I don’t begrudge the experience I’ve had, I think I’ve learned so much in this crash course than I would have any other way. But the mistakes I made were expensive, and I know that the availability of a cheaper option would have been essential.

I should have taken the time to test the waters and see what people wanted before I was tied into a lease on the eve of a pandemic.

Stirling is a small town, but it has a lot of talent that, I think, haven’t got access to business either in the form of starting capital or support in the form of space or mentorship. Moreover, now might be the worst time to start any kind of hospitality business, but the best time to be collaborating and sharing things like rent and rates.

There’s been loads of business opened in Stirling in the last few years that have had to pivot a hefty vector due to their original plan not working. I’ve had to do that 2 or 3 times myself.

I think we could all benefit from more small scale business, more variety, and sharing of the big bills.

I want to be able to offer that platform to people who have talent, want to test the waters, and don’t want to lock themselves into a lease (quite rightly) but still want to contribute to Stirling’s hospitality scene.

I want to open HBW to being an event space for chefs, bakers, cocktail bartenders and more, to aid in the development of businesses, and to begin a new chapter for HBW, one of collaboration, event, and community.

In my vision, a chef could come around the time our brunch shift ends, prep anything they haven’t already, and open to the public for an evening service that I never quite managed to find time for. They could sort out an occasional license with the council and run a bar for the evening to compliment the food.

The following morning a baker could let themselves in and pop up their bakery, with the aid of one of my baristas, and go until sell out, without sticking themselves with a lease and, in so doing, a very sudden change in lifestyle.

We now have a very capable kitchen space, a bar space that includes an ice chest, speed rails and gastronorm slots, and really lovely lighting in the darker hours of the evening.

HBW could be a shared home for a handful of great hospitality businesses, all promoting one another, developing with one another, and developing Stirling’s food and drink scene in slow but sustainable way.

And if someone out-grows the space, well that’s just great news for us all.

In my opinion, Stirling is a town that is changing, but it is doing so very slowly. Businesses are opening and closing before the market has matured enough to really need them, or before they have really figured out the space they want to situate themselves. It almost feels like a city-sized high street dropped into a little town; there’s plenty of everything, and I’m not sure the people here really need all of it at the same time.

I believe there is a want now for the variety and event of pop-ups, and I think my little shop will be a great spot for it.

This post is to reach out to those who might be interested in working for themselves but are currently unable to take that plunge, have the creative talent to make something unique, the discipline to work to their own schedule and in a shared space, and the elbow grease to get absolutely stuck into something that is utterly theirs.

It won’t be for everyone, but to be honest, that’s the perfect situation for me, hbw, and without a doubt, for the community around us.

If you know someone that this might interest, point them our way…

Conor