I saw this story earlier in the month about Panera, a chain of 'fancy fast food' restaurants. They have started a non-profit concept called "Community Cafe" that lets people choose what to pay for their food. It's meant to work as a soup kitchen, without the stigma associated with it. And their goal is to have enough customers that pay full price (or more) to have it be self-sustaining as a business.
They've received an overwhelming show of positive support, but I think the real test will be in the months to come once the shine wears off. Can they make this work? I hope they can, I love the idea.
This made me think not just about GBP but about businesses that help others in general. It's not enough to have good intentions, you need to provide a product that people actually want and, more importantly, you need to do it in a sustainable and self-sufficient way. You can help more people by surviving as a business for ten years than if you do a large volume of donations in one year but go bankrupt because your expenses are above your income. Hopefully their model works out and it expands.
They were profiled on USA Today.
Check it out.
-Daniel
