Welcome to Let’s Talk Business, where Square business owners share their stories, the biggest lessons they’ve learned, and their plans for the future.
Today we’re talking to Kat Alarkon (@QuokkaCoffee) from Quokka Coffee in Perth, Australia. It’s a small takeaway coffee shop opened in 2020, focusing on high-quality coffee, attention to detail, radical empathy, ruthless kindness, and doing what they can to change the hospitality industry for the better. In the last year Kat has decided to take a step back from the day-to-day management and start a separate full-time job. She shares why she decided to make this change, how she balances the work and responsibilities, and what she sees as her next steps.
Watch the 40-minute video interview and read some highlights from our conversation.
Can you talk us through your current role in the business and how you’ve ended up in this position?
"I still own the business, but I also now work for Customer Success at Square. I ended up moving across Australia to Melbourne, and I’ve been wearing even more hats since. I have a shop manager in place who is wonderful and is basically my clone. It’s given me a sense of freedom that I didn’t have and I didn’t realize I was craving.
"A lot of the seeds were planted before the business even opened. Being very into paperwork and systems and procedures, I have a very specific way that I want the shop run, and I was able to train other people to be clones of myself. That freed up my time to pursue other things, because I don’t like sitting still and staying in the same role. I went in with the intention of making myself obsolete. I was super burnt out less than a year in and the alarm bells started ringing, so it became more critical because I was starting to conflate my sense of identity with the shop. It’s still a work in progress, but it allowed me to become far enough removed that it’s a lot better for my mental health, and that included pursuing a full-time job."
What have been your responsibilities in the business now?
"It is very much just checking in with my staff throughout the week. I log in on Saturday and Sunday mornings to go over the numbers, do the bookkeeping, reconcile all of the orders, pay them on time, set up the rosters, and address their emotional needs as well. I’ve been far enough removed from day to day operations since last year, even before I was considering the move. My big litmus test was when I started making mistakes behind the bar and I would get corrected, and the regulars would be surprised to see me. But it was very clear that I was not needed, and I love that, because it is the complete opposite of early days at the shop. I was there seven days a week, eight or nine hours a day. Not sustainable. And so to get to this point where no one’s looking for me at all, happy days."
What does that feel like to have that different role, to be removed from something that you created and still own?
"Frickin’ amazing. It’s such a double-edged sword. For a while I was the brand, and I hate that term, but it is true. Most small businesses that are owner operated, it is very much the person behind the counter that you see 24/7 that you associate with the business. And to get to this stage where I haven’t been back, I don’t have to do anything when I’m there, and I can just watch this beautiful ballet of my staff just running the show in a super efficient but friendly way. It feels good not being needed."
What's next for you in the business?
"I have been kind of trying to sell the business. Mainly because I recognize that it’s probably not sustainable for me to be working a full-time job, running a business, addressing the emotional needs of a couple of people, plus having a personal life and exercising and feeding myself. But I think the reason why I haven’t been trying too hard is because maybe I’m not ready. I’ve entertained a few buyers, and they just haven’t quite been the right fit. I could just sell it to the person who offers X amount of dollars, but at the same time, there is that little voice in the back of my head going, ‘Well, you worked really hard to build it up to where it is.’ I enjoy working maybe a little bit too much and I’m okay with where I’m at at the moment."
Watch: Let’s Talk Business with Kat Alarkon
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Aylon Pesso is the Square Small Business Evangelist, helping sellers run their businesses better. Based in the U.S., he is a former small-business owner, consultant, and Square seller.
This article is only for informational purposes. The information provided in this article solely reflects the speakers’ views and are not endorsed by Square. This article is limited in scope and is only intended as a high-level overview of the topics mentioned.