- S
- C
- J
COVID-19 pretty much killed the hospitality industry, but we're still (barely) hanging on
We know the situation is the same all over the world. Everyone is struggling, and many people have lost their jobs.
In Cambodia, we're lucky; we've had less than 150 cases of COVID so far, and no recorded deaths. But hundreds of thousands of people are out of jobs, and the government here does not provide welfare for unemployment, which means that businesses have the additional burden of not only fighting to stay open, but looking after their staff's welfare as well.
We've survived the first 6 months. But now we really need help.
We managed to survive the first 6 months since COVID hit in March. But now, as much as we hate to ask, we're taking a deep breath and reaching out to our community for help; we can't do this on our own anymore.
First, we closed our first and original location, in Toul Tom Poung (Russian Markets area). It was pretty devastating, but we had to make some fast decisions, and after losing 80% of our revenue in the space of a week, we closed the doors on our first cafe.
We lost a huge deposit on the building in doing so, and significant investment over the years in renovation costs... but in the end we didn't have a choice.
Picture: moving out of our first cafe. Opened in Dec 2015, "Lot 369" was named literally after the lot number of this property (our owners couldn't stop arguing about what we should call the cafe. Now the name is a reminder of our first ever location, and where we started 5 years ago.)
We kept cafe #2 open, but closed doors to the public and introduced a new delivery service. It helped us scrape by, but just barely.
Most of our staff went to part-time. We ran a small private crowdfunding campaign with our friends and family to help give our employees some money until we could bring them back on full-time again. Thanks to many of you, we did that; our staff remained employed, and they are all back full-time at Lot 369 again (though our owners remain unpaid, and are largely financially supporting the cafes through tough spots).
After a couple of months, and no new COVID cases in Cambodia, we were able to re-open cafe #2 again to the public, with social distancing and other health measures in place. Many of our customers, expats and tourists, have left Cambodia; but we still have a loyal community of both locals and expats who are regulars and continue to support us.
Opening TTP Cafe #2
We needed to make more money to pay the bills, and keep everyone employed; so we opened up the TTP cafe again (Cafe #1), this time in a smaller location, with cheaper rent.
We had approximately $1.75 for renovations, so we learned pretty quickly how to make furniture and basically build a new cafe ourselves.
Pic above: We are experts at building furniture from scrap wooden pallets now
Pic below: The new, finished cafe in TTP ; built with all re-used, recycled, re-everything furniture and materials (including a sofa and other furniture from our own houses...!)
The situation now
When COVID began, we lost whatever cash-flow we had; no one can really prepare for losing 80% of revenue in one hit. We cut as many costs as we could, and we've tried to keep doors open, mostly for our staff more than anything else.
Since March we've been managing week by week. The problem now, is that we need to bring in more customers to increase sales (and we need more space to do that). In recent weeks, things have also started to break down, which we can't afford to repair. We were doing ok before; but now we're operating with an esky instead of a fridge, unpaid management staff, broken blenders, and various pieces of equipment and furniture which desperately need repairing.
In short, and to be brutally honest, we're not sure how much longer we can keep going unless we change something.
Our idea: We need your help to launch a new rooftop space, and help us survive
Our idea is to open up a new rooftop space, which is above our new cafe space in TTP. Currently it's an open, empty space filled with junk... we want to turn it into a new community space where we can host more customers, events, and activities to get our local community re-engaged again. We're thinking live music, live art evenings, a mural wall, group gatherings, and overall more seating so we can have more customers at any time.
The specifics: what we'll actually spend money on:
1. Renovating the rooftop
These costs include:
Fixing the concrete floor: $250
Paint the walls: $500
Renovate the kitchen and walkway (for safety): $300
Lighting: $300
Plants for the rooftop: $150
Materials to build furniture (tables & chairs): $800
Install fans (Cambodia is HOT): $100
Small fridge (or esky if we don't raise enough): $450
Total renovation budget: $2,850
Pics: The current rooftop is a bit of a junk pile right now, but use your imagination! We think it has awesome potential, and an excellent view of the markets below
2. Actual, WORKING equipment (or, if we don't quite raise enough money, then repairing the existing broken equipment)
Fridge: $850
Blender: $250
Plates, cups, glasses: $150
Total equipment budget: $1,250
3. Health insurance for our staff
We're managing to keep everyone employed, but we need help to be able to provide them with additional support. We can't raise salaries anytime soon, and we struggle to pay overtime or benefits because of COVID.
What we CAN do is provide our staff with basic health insurance, so that if they get sick, they can access (usually unaffordable) medical care, and not put additional financial burdens on themselves and their families.
Health insurance for 25 staff: $275 per month ($3,300 for 12 months)
How we'll say thank you
Other than a (potentially tearful) massive THANK YOU message, we'd love to show you how much we appreciate your support (literally; you will be saving our business, and giving Lot 369 and our team a future).
Perks include:
$5 - $50: Your name painted on our "wall of fame" (otherwise known as "the legends that saved Lot 369 after COVID")
$51 and over: A Lot 369 t-shirt mailed to your house
$250 and over : A new menu item named after you
We hope that you'll consider supporting us to open the new rooftop space. Believe us; we hate to ask. We're a business, not a charity, but after 6 months of sleepless nights we've decided that it's finally time to reach out and let you know that we really need support if we're going to get the cafe (and most importantly, our staff) through the insane year that has been 2020.
We know the situation is the same all over the world. Everyone is struggling, and many people have lost their jobs.
In Cambodia, we're lucky; we've had less than 150 cases of COVID so far, and no recorded deaths. But hundreds of thousands of people are out of jobs, and the government here does not provide welfare for unemployment, which means that businesses have the additional burden of not only fighting to stay open, but looking after their staff's welfare as well.
We've survived the first 6 months. But now we really need help.
We managed to survive the first 6 months since COVID hit in March. But now, as much as we hate to ask, we're taking a deep breath and reaching out to our community for help; we can't do this on our own anymore.
First, we closed our first and original location, in Toul Tom Poung (Russian Markets area). It was pretty devastating, but we had to make some fast decisions, and after losing 80% of our revenue in the space of a week, we closed the doors on our first cafe.
We lost a huge deposit on the building in doing so, and significant investment over the years in renovation costs... but in the end we didn't have a choice.
Picture: moving out of our first cafe. Opened in Dec 2015, "Lot 369" was named literally after the lot number of this property (our owners couldn't stop arguing about what we should call the cafe. Now the name is a reminder of our first ever location, and where we started 5 years ago.)
We kept cafe #2 open, but closed doors to the public and introduced a new delivery service. It helped us scrape by, but just barely.
Most of our staff went to part-time. We ran a small private crowdfunding campaign with our friends and family to help give our employees some money until we could bring them back on full-time again. Thanks to many of you, we did that; our staff remained employed, and they are all back full-time at Lot 369 again (though our owners remain unpaid, and are largely financially supporting the cafes through tough spots).
After a couple of months, and no new COVID cases in Cambodia, we were able to re-open cafe #2 again to the public, with social distancing and other health measures in place. Many of our customers, expats and tourists, have left Cambodia; but we still have a loyal community of both locals and expats who are regulars and continue to support us.
Opening TTP Cafe #2
We needed to make more money to pay the bills, and keep everyone employed; so we opened up the TTP cafe again (Cafe #1), this time in a smaller location, with cheaper rent.
We had approximately $1.75 for renovations, so we learned pretty quickly how to make furniture and basically build a new cafe ourselves.
Pic above: We are experts at building furniture from scrap wooden pallets now
Pic below: The new, finished cafe in TTP ; built with all re-used, recycled, re-everything furniture and materials (including a sofa and other furniture from our own houses...!)
The situation now
When COVID began, we lost whatever cash-flow we had; no one can really prepare for losing 80% of revenue in one hit. We cut as many costs as we could, and we've tried to keep doors open, mostly for our staff more than anything else.
Since March we've been managing week by week. The problem now, is that we need to bring in more customers to increase sales (and we need more space to do that). In recent weeks, things have also started to break down, which we can't afford to repair. We were doing ok before; but now we're operating with an esky instead of a fridge, unpaid management staff, broken blenders, and various pieces of equipment and furniture which desperately need repairing.
In short, and to be brutally honest, we're not sure how much longer we can keep going unless we change something.
Our idea: We need your help to launch a new rooftop space, and help us survive
Our idea is to open up a new rooftop space, which is above our new cafe space in TTP. Currently it's an open, empty space filled with junk... we want to turn it into a new community space where we can host more customers, events, and activities to get our local community re-engaged again. We're thinking live music, live art evenings, a mural wall, group gatherings, and overall more seating so we can have more customers at any time.
The specifics: what we'll actually spend money on:
1. Renovating the rooftop
These costs include:
Fixing the concrete floor: $250
Paint the walls: $500
Renovate the kitchen and walkway (for safety): $300
Lighting: $300
Plants for the rooftop: $150
Materials to build furniture (tables & chairs): $800
Install fans (Cambodia is HOT): $100
Small fridge (or esky if we don't raise enough): $450
Total renovation budget: $2,850
Pics: The current rooftop is a bit of a junk pile right now, but use your imagination! We think it has awesome potential, and an excellent view of the markets below
2. Actual, WORKING equipment (or, if we don't quite raise enough money, then repairing the existing broken equipment)
Fridge: $850
Blender: $250
Plates, cups, glasses: $150
Total equipment budget: $1,250
3. Health insurance for our staff
We're managing to keep everyone employed, but we need help to be able to provide them with additional support. We can't raise salaries anytime soon, and we struggle to pay overtime or benefits because of COVID.
What we CAN do is provide our staff with basic health insurance, so that if they get sick, they can access (usually unaffordable) medical care, and not put additional financial burdens on themselves and their families.
Health insurance for 25 staff: $275 per month ($3,300 for 12 months)
How we'll say thank you
Other than a (potentially tearful) massive THANK YOU message, we'd love to show you how much we appreciate your support (literally; you will be saving our business, and giving Lot 369 and our team a future).
Perks include:
$5 - $50: Your name painted on our "wall of fame" (otherwise known as "the legends that saved Lot 369 after COVID")
$51 and over: A Lot 369 t-shirt mailed to your house
$250 and over : A new menu item named after you
We hope that you'll consider supporting us to open the new rooftop space. Believe us; we hate to ask. We're a business, not a charity, but after 6 months of sleepless nights we've decided that it's finally time to reach out and let you know that we really need support if we're going to get the cafe (and most importantly, our staff) through the insane year that has been 2020.