B U S I N ES S P L A N F E B 2 0 1 3

P R E PA R E D B Y: C A I T L I N S H A N A H A N

CRESCENDO ESPRESSO BAR + MUSIC CAFE 1859 Monroe Street, Madison WI

C!pany OverviewCrescendo Espresso Bar and Music Cafe is an entity of Crescendo LLC, a limited liability company established in January of 2013 by Caitlin Shanahan in the State of Wisconsin. The company has one major investor, Paul Sirianni. His contribution to Crescendo LLC is in the amount of $15,000 to purchase an already existing cafe (the future home of Crescendo Espresso Bar and Music Cafe) on 1859 Monroe Street. The purchase amount for the current cafe is $10,000.

VisionCrescendo Espresso Bar + Music Cafe will be a destination for cafe and music lovers across the board. Anodyne Co!ee Roasters (Milwaukee) will be at the forefront of Crescendo’s reputation for impeccable co!ee and the intimate acoustic performances on our beautiful corner stage will be the talk of Monroe Street. Our customers’ experience will be individual and memorable. Exceptional atmosphere, high quality products and excellent service from experienced, informed, energetic and e"cient sta! will set Crescendo apart from its immediate and distant competition.

PRODUCTSOur Co!ee- We will be serving co!ee from Anodyne Co!ee Roasters. Anodyne is a specialty co!ee roaster located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that runs on very high standards for their co!ee and for the people that serve their co!ee. We will be ordering on a “Just In Time” schedule so that we are serving the freshest possible co!ee. Anodyne will also be a vital resource for Crescendo in education, support and training for our sta! and owners at no additional cost.

Our Menu- Crescendo’s menu will be crafted from years of experience. Traditional espresso and co!ee beverages will be at the heart of the menu, available for in house or to-go patrons. Some highlighted options for a specialty items will be co!ee served using di!erent brewing methods (for example: A pour-over station and Chemex carafes) and specialty lattes using extracts instead of sugary syrups (for example: A mocha latte with a drop of orange extract).

We will also be obtaining our liquor license so that we can appeal to our customer base as we transition from day to evening service. We will have up to two micro brews on tap, New Glarus Spotted Cow (Farmhouse Ale) by the bottle and both a red and white house wine option. It is not our goal to be a bar, it is our goal to add products and services that will add to the business as a whole. Alcohol will help increase sales and add to the appeal of the cafe.

In addition to beverages, we will have a selection of scones and cookies from both Gallup!!! Bakehouse and Silly Yak Bakeries. We will receive frozen dough, and bake these items fresh every morning. There will also be mu"ns available from a local baker. As the demand for gluten-free food options grows, Crescendo will do its best to keep up with this demand and keep gluten-free selections as a part of our baked goods menu.

Crescendo will also have a compact food menu. It will consist of pre-assembled breakfast sandwiches and burritos that will be prepped fresh in house and heated to order. The process will be quick and delicious. An example of one of the items is a sandwich called a “TreeHugger”. It starts with baked egg white, topped with pesto, sun-dried tomato and provolone cheese served on a whole wheat English mu"n. All food items will be available during all hours of operation.

BUILDING LAYOUTA big part of the vision at Crescendo Espresso Bar and Music Cafe centers around some build out projects. We are working with a licensed contractor and architect to construct o"cial plans for the following proposed items:

CRESCENDO ESPRESSO BAR + MUSIC CAFE 1859 Monroe Street, Madison WI

The Espresso Bar- We have plans to add a bar that attaches to the existing counter around the espresso machine and future beer taps. Not only will the bar provide 5 additional seats it will also add a sense of community as people can hang out at the bar, chat with their barista and watch their drinks being made.

The Stage- Being a musician and playing at co!ee shops all over the country, something that has the possibly of making or breaking a show is the performance space. Building a stage in the far right hand corner (between the fireplace and windows) of the cafe against the fireplace will give Crescendo an edge and a feeling of completion. We don’t want to be a cafe that has music or a music venue that has co!ee, we aim to be brilliant at both. The stage will be a large built in raised area that will house tables during the day, and a great comfortable space for intimate performances in the evenings.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATIONCrescendo Espresso Bar + Music Cafe will be located at 1859 Monroe Street in Madison, Wisconsin directly across the street from Trader Joe’s. The building, owned by Steve Brown Apartments will be leased for $2500 a month. It is not only in the heart of one of the most desirable shopping neighborhoods in the Madison area, it is located 2 blocks from Camp Randall Stadium and in between the two major Universities in Madison: The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Edgewood College.

STOREFRONTIn my time at the current cafe at 1859 Monroe Street, it has been a battle to figure out why we don’t get as many people through the front door as we should. In doing my own market research, I have found a major factor, is that people don’t know what we are. The shop blends into the backdrop of the neighborhood and we often are overlooked. Crescendo is going to change that. Investor, Paul Sirianni is a graphic designer and will be doing all of the design, branding and marketing for Crescendo, for free. In the image to the right, you will find a mock-up of how we would like to change the storefront in order to grab attention. Once our plans are approved by the management company, Steve Brown Properties, we will be applying for a grant through the city of Madison to make this vision a reality.

HOURS OF OPERATIONCrescendo will be open Monday through Sunday and closed or have reduced hours on all major holidays. Including: New Years Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day, The Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Initially, the shop will be open Monday-Saturday: 6:30am-5:30pm and Sunday: 7:00am-5:00pm. We will keep the shortened hours in the beginning so that there will be time to work on remodel projects in the evenings, this way we will avoid closing our doors for an extended period of time. Starting in April, we will extend our hours of operation to be Monday-Friday: 6:30am-8:00pm, Saturday 6:30am-10pm and Sunday 7:00am-5pm.

CRESCENDO ESPRESSO BAR + MUSIC CAFE 1859 Monroe Street, Madison WI

Start-Up Costs / FinancesOne of the major factors to consider in the purchase of the current cafe, is that everything to operate the cafe is included in the purchase price of $10,000, plus the cost of perishable and non perishable inventory on hand the day of sale, March 1st, 2013 (The cost of these items is projected to be about $700). This means that without any major investment over the purchase price, we will be up and running.

Please reference the image below and you will see the projects and expenses that we find to be the most pressing right away using our $15,000 budget. Our budget is for projects above and beyond the daily operations as the active business already supports itself.

Since we are not planning on closing during the transition from the current cafe to Crescendo, it will be a gradual process that we hope to have take 1 or 2 months. This way we will keep our current customers and smoothly transition them through the changes that will get us to our vision so that the negative impact on sales will be minimal.

Currently, the company is bringing in an average of $16,500 gross sales per month in 2013, an average $550 a day. With additions and subtractions to numbers including payroll, uniform services and cost of goods, we will be at a $2000 profit in the first month, and we hope to use a portion of that profit to fund the $845 deficit in our priority list.

Goals & Projections This number will continue to grow as we add new products and increase hours of operation. Our goal for September 2013 is to be at $21,000 gross sales per month, an average of about $700 per day. (The new products we will be adding are outlined in the “Products” section on page 1 of this business plan).

Crescendo Priority Checklist

Paid Date Amount Task Notes

Tuesday, February 5, 2013 $3,000.00 Ben Roberts - initial payment

Friday, March 1, 2013 $7,000.00 Ben Roberts - final payment

Monday, February 25, 2013 $775.00 Food & Drink permit -inspection of property, food service inspection

Thursday, February 21, 2013 $400.00 Liquor license class B (beer), class C (wine)

Monday, February 4, 2013 $20.00 WI Seller’s permit WI SELLERS PERMIT: 1-633-648-256

$250.00 paint, rollers, tape, misc paint supplies, etc. avg. gallon paint $25.00

$3,000.00 bar construction - Travis stools, materials, labor costs, etc.

$500.00 espresso machine tune up

$300.00 cash on hand change, drawer

$600.00 2-spout kegerator used Kavanaugh

TOTALTOTAL $15,845.00paid to datepaid to date $0.00

balancebalance -$845.00

CRESCENDO ESPRESSO BAR + MUSIC CAFE 1859 Monroe Street, Madison WI

ManagementThe acting manager of Crescendo Espresso Bar and Music Cafe will also be the owner of Crescendo LLC, Caitlin Shanahan.

ABOUT CAITLIN (FROM CAITLIN):Since I was hired for my first cafe position in 2004 at the Jazzy Bean in Firestone Colorado, I have known that my life goal was to open my own cafe. Since getting my feet wet at the Jazzy Bean, I have worked for and held a wide variety positions at cafe’s in Colorado and Wisconsin, from super small independent cafe’s to a “We Proudly Brew Starbucks” location in a football stadium. My most relevant experience comes from my time as the General Manager of Barriques Wine and Sprits in Middleton, Wisconsin from 2008-2011 and now at Gallup!!! Co!ee and Bakehouse (the cafe that will be Crescendo) from May 2012 to present.

My roles as General Manager have taught me the ins and outs of running cafes of various sizes and tra"c flow. I have basically done everything but write the checks. My experience includes but is not limited to: hiring and firing, sta! training, scheduling, inventory control, cost of goods and sta! climate control. Not only do I have experience in the food service world, I also have a passion for co!ee and excellent customer service.

On top of my experience behind the counter, I also have an amazing amount of experience as a patron and performing artist in the type of establishment I will be creating. I have traveled across the United States playing shows in cafes and music venues as a singer/songwriter. I know the type of environment music and co!ee lovers alike are attracted to, and it will be the mission of Crescendo Espresso Bar and Music Cafe to combine the two into a cohesive, comfortable, exciting and progressive cafe.

CRESCENDO ESPRESSO BAR + MUSIC CAFE 1859 Monroe Street, Madison WI