Secrets of Success: Cafe queen paid to socialise

Owners Sandra Johnson and Roger Norton in the new section of Dry Dock cafe on Wharf St. Photo/ JOHN BORREN

Secrets of Success highlights local businesses at the top of their game each month. Rosie Dawson-Hewes visited Dry Dock cafe.

It's 7.30am on a weekday and there are already three baristas working the machine at Dry Dock cafe on Wharf St, just to keep pace with the flow of customers.

For Sandra Johnson, the woman behind the wildly successful business, it's all about people. The key, she says, is building relationships with every customer.
"Right from the start, my saving grace was being able to talk to people."

Sandra left a career in advertising to buy Dry Dock in May 2010.
"When I bought this I had no idea what I was doing. That first year, I had no experience at all."

The cafe next door changed owners four times between 2010 and September last year, when Sandra and her partner Roger Norton decided to buy it and knock the wall down. Their seating capacity has gone from 35 to 90.

"Once that wall came out... it was like the floodgates opened. What I didn't realise is how much business we were losing because we couldn't fit them in."

Since expanding their physical space, they've added weekend hours and a full kitchen menu. Dry Dock now employs seven fulltime staff and two part-timers.

"I would never work in any other industry now," Sandra says.
"This is like being paid to socialise... Every new person that walks in here, I want to make sure we get them back."

Sandra says they now have talented people approaching them for jobs.
"As long as people have got passion, they can learn anything... But I don't want anyone working in here that doesn't want to be in hospo. This is a career option."

Training is a big focus, Sandra says, as is playing to people's strengths.
"Aces in their places" is the team's motto.

Sandra says their location is superb and businesses in the CBD are responsible for the city's success.

"I think we, as a business, are contributing to encourage the growth [of Tauranga]," she says.

"There's a few changes happening in this area, aside from Eat Street, and it's going to be great. But everyone needs to be at the top of their game."

So what's next? Sandra wants to grow the catering side of their business, extend their coffee offerings to include different brewing methods and possibly open a second cafe elsewhere in the Bay.

They're also deep in planning for the Wharf St Dining Precinct launch.

Dry Dock will open till 9pm three nights per week, with a small dinner menu and a focus on dessert and coffee, while remembering first and foremost it is a cafe.

"We're not going to be a bar... that baby [coffee machine] is our bread and butter. We will never deviate from there."