During a recent visit to the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), I sat down with Margo Coleman, a theatre major and the current student CEO of the campus’ Saxbys, to learn about their experience running a business and hear how financial literacy skills help them be successful.
Saxbys is a national education company where every location is operated solely by students. The company offers an Experiential Learning Platform (E.L.P) which helps students enhance their education and build on their skills outside the classroom. Each location is led by student CEOs who take on the responsibility of managing the day-to-day operations to ensure the café serves its customers appropriately.
At CCP, the Saxbys location is situated in the old U.S. Mint building, which is shared with the library. I asked Margo, “What makes this location special?”
“We picked the optics for the library because it’s the one thing that our guests are going to be coming to and from,” they continued.
“They’re going to see us over here and they’re going to think ‘I want something that’s going to help me study.’ So, the library was the best choice for us to be in, and we are constantly wanting to help better our engagement for our guests.”
Margo has been the student CEO for the last year, overseeing all aspects of the business such as staffing, ordering supplies, managing the menu and marketing new products. They shared that they wouldn’t be as successful without the help of their team.
“I have a team that I facilitate and a team that facilitates me,” Margo said. “I have an operations manager who essentially manages all the operations of the café on a more technical aspect. So, making sure that our coffee roaster is up and running consistently, making sure that if I’ve ordered something for the café, it’s going to get here on time or that I’ve actually finished placing the order.”
Noticing Margo’s passion and desire to see Saxbys succeed, I asked, “How do you do it all?”
“I have my motto that I live by. Tomorrow is always a new day. And so, we always try, or at least I always try, to live in today.”
Financial Literacy and Running a Business
As our conversation progressed, I decided to ask a few questions about financial literacy and how having a strong understanding of finances helps their business.
As I mentioned earlier, Margo is in charge of ordering supplies for the café. That includes things like coffee cups, napkins, bagels, bags of potato chips— anything that the customers or the staff need. Margo shared that they do weekly inventory on every single product. They use a service called Extra Chef, which lets them know how much they are spending on supplies and Cost of Goods Sold, or COGS. After their inventory and COGS are calculated, they’re left with a report telling them how much product they used and how much their items cost. Margo then uses that information to plan for the rest of the month.
As they were explaining this process to me, I noticed Margo had a good understanding of financial literacy and budgeting, which really helps them in their role as Saxbys CEO. I asked if that was something they learned at CCP, or if it was something they already knew prior to taking on this role.
“I had a general mindfulness,” Margo said. “I think it’s important to have a general mindfulness of the space that you’re in, wherever you’re working. I kind of naturally just wanted to understand where I was working, what I was doing, my environment. Even though I wasn’t in the management position yet, I was kind of already surveying everything within our stock and thinking ‘we have this, we use so much of this’ or ‘hey, it’s been a week and we still have this stock, and it isn’t really changing.'”
Margo shared that being in the role of Saxbys CEO expanded their thinking further. They must know what products are desirable and decide when to rotate products all while keeping their guests happy and making a profit. However, Margo shared that you could encounter some challenges no matter how much you plan.
“Throughout my term, there have been many days, many weeks where I think to myself, ‘I have this much (money in the budget) and some days are busy and some days are not,'” Margo said. “You think ‘I’m going to spend more on this item’ but then it completely flips me on my head and that item doesn’t sell as much as I thought it would, or I don’t use as much of it as I thought I would.”
Margo continued, “For most of the items, much of what we have is food and much of it is perishable. So, it’s a lot of waste I have to think about and record because I thought that I got ahead of myself.”
I then asked Margo to share some advice for any student who is working toward becoming a CEO of Saxbys or any other business.
“For something like this, for something that’s very time consuming that comes with a lot of responsibility and comes with a lot of energy, I say be kind to yourself.”
Select the image to view clips from their conversation via YouTube.
“I have had very little time to be kind to myself because I’ve had a lot of things to do, a lot of inner workings, a lot of background stuff I have to do with this job,” Margo continued. “You can walk into a space and be the best within that space, but also, are you really taking the time to breathe and think ‘what about me?'”
At the end of the day, Margo shares that they are so grateful for Saxbys and the experience they have had.
“I just love that especially with this café, it is a space you can come into and chill,” Margo said. “There has never been a day where I haven’t walked in here and I just haven’t felt comfortable.”
If you’re in the Philadelphia area and looking for a place to grab a quick drink or snack, I highly recommend visiting Saxbys on CCP’s campus. And, while you’re there, say hi to Margo for me!
By: Tim DeFoor, Pennsylvania Auditor General
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Watch video clips from General DeFoor’s conversation with Margo on the Department’s official YouTube channel.