Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. Now it is time for the AFLAC BusinessMakers Flashback brought to you by AFLAC, ask about it at work. And for this mornings flashback we are going to roll back to episode 193 from back at the beginning of this year from when Katie Laird interviewed both the founder and the managing partner of Coffee Groundz. Which is a real happening coffee shop bar that has built a thriving community of fans using social media. We enter the discussion where Katie had asked the founder Jonathon Zadok and the managing partner, J.R. Cohen, how did this cool idea for a coffee shop happen.

Jonathon: It was one of those ideas that, you know, just starts brewing, and it wasn't an overnight thing. It actually takes a long time and a lot of planning to try to get an idea where we wanted to be before we opened up, and it's actually consistently moving in the direction that it is today thanks to J.R. here. He's taken us to a whole new level.

Katie: Excellent. So now, J.R., you are the managing partner of Coffee Groundz, so what the heck does that mean? Are you the barista, or are you the guy that's running up and making sure everyone's caffeinated, or what's that mean?

J.R.: Yes, yes, and yes. I'm like the super barista. I'll jump behind the bar, I'll mingle, I'll talk to the vendors. I do a little bit of everything right now.

Katie: Excellent, excellent. So how did you get roped into this well percolated, no pun intended, idea of this Coffee Groundz?

J.R.: Thanks to Jonathan and Pritish and everyone else involved in creating Coffee Groundz, it's a concept that I firmly believe in. Offering a full bar, wine, liquor, great unbelievable local roasted coffee, all that tied into one place. I was like, that's exactly what I want to do. When I went to talk to Jonathan in his office, within 2 minutes, we're just like, okay, perfect. So I started with them, and it just took off. I love the concept, so. If you're really happy in what you do, you're going to excel.

Katie: Absolutely, well it sounds like you guys are. So I mean, beyond having a variety of beverages, is there a different feel?

J.R.: Well, we're very tech-friendly at Coffee Groundz.

Katie: Really?

J.R.: Yes, ma'am, we are.

Katie: So, coffee nerds and geeks.

J.R.: Besides having electrical outlets throughout the inside and the patio as well for everybody to use for their laptops--

Katie: Very nice.

J.R.: And free WiFi--

Katie: Very nice.

J.R.: Uhm, there's a little thing called Twitter. Pritish actually turned me on to Twitter. He's like, here, try this, I'll be your first follower. Immediately at the end of the day, I was in Jonathan's office and I said, "Okay, so Pritish wants me to do Twitter."

Katie: So, now, are you on Twitter as yourself, or what is it that you're doing on Twitter?

J.R.: I represent the Coffee Groundz. Our sign on Twitter is @CoffeeGroundz together. I just speak for the company, but it's slowly turned into, you know, making friends. It's like, I'm talking with customers, but most of them have become my friends. That's what Twitter is about because I like to call them Twitterites. They help me, I help them. I try to keep it local because a lot of the people I deal with locally, they help me with charities and they promote my business. In turn, I promote them, whether they be an artist or something they have that I can help achieve a goal or market.

Katie: Excellent. You're not just talking about drinks and some munchies and hanging out at a local cafe, I mean, you're almost changing the world here.

J.R.: I hope so. We really are trying to.

Katie: That is really very exciting. So, tell me other things that happen through Twitter.

J.R.: One quick story about Twitter, how it's really changed for us, and how we really started growing. This guy, Maslow Bier, on Twitter. I was reading the feed one day while I was working on some paperwork, and it said, hey, Coffee Groundz, can I get a breakfast wrap, I'm running late. And I open replied, I said sure. And I gave him the list of ingredients on Twitter, and everybody was reading this, and I wasn't really paying attention to that part, but I was like, oh quick, I better get this order together so he actually gets it on time.

Katie: So he made an order on Twitter.

J.R.: Yeah, we got the order ready, and I said okay, it will be in the drive through when you're done. So, the whole moment that I was in when that happened, it was so amazing because it was just like, wow, I'm taking a Twitter order, okay, that's really cool. So he came in the drive through, his wrap was ready, his cup of coffee was ready, and he was on his way. It saved his time, and everything was good.

Katie: Seriously? Customer for life, yeah.

J.R.: It was, it was great. And then, that's when Twitter in my face exploded. Everything was Coffee Groundz, Coffee Groundz. I can't believe what I just saw. Our first order to go.

Katie: So, what I really love about this story is just seeing how you can bring the online world, these relationships you have, and connect it to just real world situations whether it's breakfast burritos or friendships. That's wonderful.

Jonathon: I look at this whole transformation of the coffee shop itself and what Twitter has done for the coffee shop, what Twitter has done for networking, it's absolutely amazing, and we've seen amazing growth in our business and in the traffic in the store. I mean, we have Twitter parties-

J.R.: What's great about the Coffee Groundz is the fact that we don't just serve coffee, so we have all of these other things that they can use, and the great thing about the first tweetup is that everybody was tweeting while they were there, and they had the electrical outlets to do it, and real connections were made, real friendships were made. And it was all through Twitter.

Katie: Yeah, it's like everyone's kind of a part of something, and it's all centered at Coffee Groundz.

Jonathon: It's weird to say, but the Coffee Groundz is maybe not as much of a coffee shop as it's become almost a lifestyle.

J.R.: Exactly.

Katie: So, guys, just to wrap up, do you have any suggestions for other businesses, whether they be coffee shops, wine bars, restaurants, any suggestions for a small business owner thinking about diving into the social media world?

J.R.: If you're going to do Twitter, don't do it just to do it. There's passion behind it. It's people speaking freely. They're saying what they really feel. I know it's 140 characters, but you can say a lot in 140 characters.

Katie: Guys, I want to thank you so much for coming in and sharing your tremendous Coffee Groundz success using social media, and again, thank you for being on the show with me today.

Russ: Okay, and that concludes Katie's interview with J.R. Cohen and Jonathon Zadok of Coffee Groundz. To hear the whole interview just go to thebusinessmakers.com and search on Coffee Groundz. And now it is time for another Advantage Point so lets welcome back Katie Laird.

[Advantage Point]

Russ: And that wraps up this this mornings AFLAC BusinessMakers Flashback, brought to you by AFLAC ask about it at work. Stay tuned in for the interview with Robert Vu, founder and CEO of SoloBrew. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com