This is a “pay what you think it’s worth” restaurant.

Regardless it’s so great to see that the majority of comments on this appear to be supportive of the karma concept.

“Be the change you want to see in the world” Mahatma Ghandi

You know, in many cases, people do rise to the expectations set for them.

I go to our neighbourhood cafe (Starbucks only because it does not smell of food and takes ‘plastic’ – yes it is in the UK so we are different that way) to work on my thesis. One coffee (£1.69 short, £1.89 small – look Mama, no use lingo!) and I sit for 6 hours or so. They sell one coffee, do not bother me and do not rely on my “honesty” to leave that £10 note in the drop-box.

In any case I do not carry cash, prefer to pay for the privilege and do not like the warm-n-fuzzy afterglow when my business brain is asking – why have this in a ‘rich’ neighbourhood with more laptops per home than people? why not offer this to homeless people when they want a shelter from icy rain on some days and let the rich neighbours pay into the drop-box to sustain it? I see a disconnect..

I think it was something Malcolm Gladwell wrote. About how this which started as business was also a bit of a measure of honesty – and that apparently it was cultural – some businesses were very honest – others extremely not. (there was much more, I’ll see if I can find the link – or perhaps someone with more time can search it).

I think it is also very well worth noting that there is NOTHING inherent in this model that requires it be in an “affluent” environment. (for one in a less affluent environment the starting costs – such as the space lease – might be lower). Rather what it requires are:

- trust in your clients (which has historically be much higher than it is mostly today – recall the idea of “tab” which you could run up at most neighborhood stores?)

- communicating with those clients as to what you as a business need

- providing great service that inspires people to pay for it

What this type of business does assume – which I do think is a good starting point – is that people will keep coming back to their cafe on a regular basis – and that those same people will want to support that cafe and pay for the services they get there (think of it like a modern form of a private club – but one open to anyone who walks in the door)

I actually think this model might work BETTER in “less affluent” environments. There the impact of assuming trust will be very high – not to mention the value of the space on a community (I spend a lot of time in cafes all over the city – currently San Francisco but also in any city I visit – it is very very clear that locally owned cafes play a role in revitalizing neighborhoods.

On bit of advice – he shouldn’t be afraid of giving customers lots of opportunities to pay for the services – i.e. not just a space/box which assumes people pay on a weekly basic but also a space right at the counter. I’d also suggest that there be TWO boxes. One “for the cafe” and one a “tips for the employees”. This would allow for a direct signal of the value of those employees, something potentially missing if people aren’t easily dropping their change in a tip jar etc.

He will also have to figure out a reasonable and valid approach to the local sales tax (not sure about Seattle but many cities have sales taxes on coffee & pastries). Likely this is somewhat new ground for the sales tax authorities – I’d suggest that he figure out something and err on the side of paying too much (and the karma is not negligible to keep in mind here – sales taxes support very directly all the services of cities and states which in turn allow – hopefully at least – for the success of businesses and communities)

Shannon

I agree that in the current day, this concept would have a hard time working in an urban, low-income area-yet might succeed in an affluent area. However, I also remember a time when a man had dignity and integrity even if he worked at a gas station or other non-sexy job, he did his job with enthusiasm and hard work. I believe that that time may be gone, but we can slow the process of our degradation by revamping small ideals of honesty and contributing to the greater good whenever or wherever we can.