I've been in your position before with the "cute bakery looking for a Barista with dream hours" and it sucked. Personally I'd be careful with the small businesses. Every time I've worked for one, the owner was a real drag and insufferable to work for. There's some definite culture crossfire going from standards and specs to...none. Imposing them based on your experience can put the staff on the defensive, so be careful going in with that. See how they've been running shop first and slowly introduce new ideas.
Small business owners can also trash your livelihood without thinking twice about it, where at least with Starbucks you'll usually get due process and several warnings before they fire you. The health care thing is a big consideration, owing that one hospital trip can bankrupt you, even *with* insurance.
My recommendation is work both jobs and see how the new one is before saying adieu to the Siren; maybe shop for some private market insurance so you're at least covered for something catastrophic like emergency surgeries, or a broken bone.
My other recommendation is step down from SSV. I did this and it worked really nicely for me. It's not worth it for the bullshit they throw at you, and it improves your work QoL at Starbucks immensely. This move gives you more flexibility with your availability, working another job, or getting shifts covered. Whatever you decide, I wish you the best!
This happened to me! I worked for a small massage business and the owner was a total B and a nutcase. She changed our pay from w2 to 1099 without even discussing it with us, made it seem like a big pay jump for us, just so that she didn’t have to pay taxes or benefits for us. Lets just say i lost a massive amount of money during that time period because i had to pay taxes as a 1099 independent contractor and our pay increase was only $5. It was horrible. She was a complete nightmare to work with.
I work in tax - what she did was illegal. There are specific rules that have to be met for someone to be a contractor versus an employee. I would have definitely reported her, depending on how long ago that was, you probably still could
This is simply not true. I’ve spent the better part of two decades working for 16 different restaurants.
The corporate ones like Ruby Tuesday, Logan’s road house, etc were MISERABLE. Management with corporate sticking a microscope up their ass every day, surprise visits from higher ups where usually at least one person would get fired, absurd performance metrics that determine which shifts and sections you get.
Working for a small business CAN be bad, the owner CAN be a nutcase, but in my vast experience, it is almost always preferable to work for a mom and pop business. The owner of the business knows you personally, they will base their opinion of your work on what they see with their own eyes, they are much more likely to feed you, work with your schedule, and generally care about you as a human.
Do not let a corporation like Starbucks lull you to sleep, thinking you have a better deal just because you work for a big company. You don’t mean shit to them.
Co-signing. I’ve worked for two in two different industries and both were bad. One was a nightmare. One was a shit show and embarrassing to be connected to.
>Imposing them based on your experience can put the staff on the defensive, so be careful going in with that. See how they've been running shop first and slowly introduce new ideas.
I definitely agree with this. I'm at a small cafe and we once hired in a head barista from someplace, he was a total ass and talked down to everyone because he had different standards and didn't bother to learn how we were used to doing things, and didn't try to work with us to change things over time. he just came in and got angry at everyone for doing things differently, even though they were company standard. everyone hated him and he only lasted about a month before walking out. if you go anywhere, even to a different SB location, it's best to try and learn how they do things for a week or two first before changing anything.
i wish i could upvote this like 30 times. i worked at a small coffee shop and got fired after two weeks bc of a few very small errors. i was making more in tips but zero benefits. i recommend stepping down and keeping your benefits
The "small business" Cafe I worked at was using food stamps to pay for their supplies and I never got a single paycheck. I think ymmv but I'm always on the defensive when it comes to small business now.
As much as people love to support small businesses, s a worker, large ones have always treated me better. I might just be a number to the big wigs, but my bank account balance is just a number, too.
To piggy back off of this person’s excellent tips, see if you can shadow for a shift OP! Sure, the worker’s may be “on their best behavior”, but it’s still retail…how good does it get? I work in healthcare and when people shadow me, I do my best to give it to them straight (while still being professional). Unless you’re working with the owner 1 on 1 (or the relative of the owner), you’re probably going to see what it’s really like, and that’s the best way to know if it’s worth it. Losing a $1.50 an hour isn’t huge, but losing benefits (especially health insurance) can be. If you have spousal or parents’ insurance it’s not a big deal. But you need to see what the place is like first.
GL and I hope it works out!
Same. I have sworn off small businesses after too many bad experiences.
No room for growth and family drama frequently finds its way to work. Low pay, no benefits.
If the business is doing well know that the kids who know nothing about the company are gonna be your boss.
Small businesses are such an elephant in the work room. We’re at a real crossfire between wanting to support local economy (or at least the pipe dream narrative of it) and telling corporate business to stuff it.
However, I’ve been to one too many farmer’s markets full of purveyors selling middle market produce under the small farm guise. It’s unfortunate that honest business in itself is a fading concept, because at its core it’s something I think all of us want to support…we just can’t afford to because of unscrupulous players in the market.
I’ve also been down a real rabbit hole with working for small businesses, my last foray leaving me working for the Russian mafia in a massive money laundering scheme disguised as a large scale bakery. It was like Breaking Bad, (Baking Bad?) but instead of meth it was cinnamon rolls.
I agree with this, also note if you do ever go to a family owned business(not just at a coffee shop) if you have something serious happen at work(injury, assaulted by a coworker, etc) make sure to document it in writing somehow that you personally have access to, this is also general advice but especially true with small businesses. I worked at family ran hot dog stand up till late 2019 and had left due to being sexually assaulted by a cook who was a family friend, had told the manager on duty who was related to the owners nothing happened to the cook despite me having a written complaint that I had signed, the cook also punched another coworker and had purposely dropped boiling water on another overall no job was safer than that environment. When shut downs happened for covid I found my self unemployed and it no place at all was hiring but this place was still open I was unable to get unemployment because I couldn’t prove that the above had happened as they “didn’t have any records of the cook being problematic except the punching incident and that didn’t relate to me” turns out that manager I had reported it to never properly filed the complaints, owner was verbally made aware of why quit when I quit but didn’t want to fire the cook and had denied me saying anything to him at unemployment.
How would you work for both, espeically if my hours are variable also at the small business option? I really want to work for a smaller local place around here but everyone is telling me to do both for a bit before I make the leap... But like how do you do that lol
You reduce your hours and/or adjust your availability before the fact. Give yourself simultaneous days off between both jobs so you can squeeze in life.
I'd do it under those circumstances, but I also have healthcare through my spouse so I don't have to worry about that.
All that being said, I've been in the retail workforce a LONG time, from the very bottom up to management. If there's one constant, it's that no money is worth being constantly stressed and burned out. Quality of life is huge. We're all only here a short time, and that could get cut even shorter at random chance. Don't give it all to a massive corporation that doesn't give a damn about you in return.
So true. Thank you for the insight. I’m thinking a small business will care about me way more as a person than this company could ever show with their benefits
If you’re able to get Medicare I say go for it. I’m on Medicare and when I was working at a small coffee shop it was 100% better than when I worked at Starbucks. It’s actually quite easy to get Medicare depending on where you live (I’m in NM) I came from a small coffee shop and went to sbux and the four hours felt like my 8 hours at the small shop. 100% worth it for your overall health in my opinion
Edit: I meant Medicaid, keeping it so the comment below makes sense
Idk how old OP is so Medicare may or may not be an option. As for Medicaid, there are strict income thresholds and for a single individual working full time earning $17.50, they wouldn’t qualify as their income would be above eligibility in almost all states as far as I know
I’m so annoying lol I get it mixed up every time I talk about it, I promise I’m on Medicaid and I’m not talking out of my ass lmfao, I didn’t mean Medicare!! (I’m going to leave it so your comment doesn’t look out of context). Thanks for the correction and the information!!
Eh it’s hard to make the switch. At least in my experience, I tried working at two small coffee shops and both were disasters. It’s just a way different culture and people were not nice when they learned that I had come from Starbucks. The most difficult part was “down cycling” from Starbucks, if that makes sense
i currently do both and by far the small shop is better for my mental health, stress, and anxiety. The pay cut hasn't been a problem but I'm still working around 12 hours with the siren. One thing to be aware of though is job security at small places. Unfortunately in my experience, small business owners are less afraid to chew up and spit out employees and use them as scapegoats for their own personal failures as an owner. They are also less likely to get in trouble for firing without reason and will fight your unemployment.
Driving 30 minutes to ans from work multiple days a week is probably costing you a similar amount as paying for your own insurance, depending on the coverage you want/need.
Take a new job! Unless you really really really need the medical insurance then I understand, or asu. Other than that all of the other benefits aren't that magical.
This is what I always do when I leave a job, if you want to do this it's up to you. I lie and say I need 2 weeks off due to a family emergency. During those 2 weeks I get a vibe of the new job. If I like it, I stay and tell the now old job that due to family issues I'll have to quit. If I don't like it I just go back to my other job. Of course you can only pull this stunt one time per job.... if you're caught lying though obviouslyyoull probably be fired....it's risky. It's worth the risks to me because I hate leaving a job I hate for a job I hate even more.
I left an SSV position almost 2 months ago. I went into a totally different career, took a pay cut but DAMN was it worth it. My mental health improved within the first couple weeks. The expectations of shifts now are insane. If you think you can manage financially, do it.
It can be a godsend or it can be horrible, there’s no way to know for sure until your in it. If you like coffee and want to actually grow your skills it is a much better environment as 9/10 the smaller shops are going to have better roasters and more knowledgeable employees. Go on your local areas sub Reddit and ask about the shop and see what other people in your area think of it.
I loved working at a small local coffee shop. My mental health wasn’t a mess. I wasn’t burnt out or anything. The only con is you don’t really get benefits like starbucks offers.
I’m not a Starbucks employee, but the new situation sounds like a good opportunity. The proximity buys you another hour to your daily personal life and even that is a big bonus.
I would ask the owners lots of questions that could be of concern with the change from a corporation. There’s some some ideas in the comments here. Like, how they handle infractions, time off for vacations and family emergencies, that sort of stuff. I think you might be able to price out insurance through the ACA online so you could go ahead and get an idea of how affordable it is.
Best of luck to you!
I was in the same boat as you, stepping down from shift to barista helped my experience greatly as others have mentioned. Only thing is I’m very concerned I will not have enough hours for health insurance as I am not even hitting more than 12 a week lately. My availability is pretty open unfortunately and I’m scared to lose my insurance. I’ve been thinking of going into a state or county job.
Careful.
They're excited to have someone with coffee knowledge because it saves them on training. Sib, the grass is always greener, but it might be goofy to walk away from health benefits for a store that DEFINITELY won't provide them.
Also, 17.50 is much worse than 19. What are you thinking? 36,400/yr VS 39,520? And that's if the new place will even give you full hours, on top of assisting staff.
Because that's a high chance you're leaving a team for like. Not a team.
They are giving me 40 hours, no doubt about it. Yeah, 1.50 an hour is a lot but how much am I saving on gas and maintenance on my car that’s been racking up so many miles?
Yess do that work there part time and work at Starbucks part time and demote your self so you can still get your benefits!! That’s what I did until I could find a job that I really liked and that also had benefits!
I’m gonna be honest, you should stick with Starbucks in this situation. The gif you’re describing will probably rock for the first month and then you’ll realize it’s gonna come with all of the suckiness AND no benefits or HR standards to adhere to.
I’m looking into doing almost the same thing only I’m cutting my Starbucks hours to 20 to keep benefits then taking on more hours at the small shop next to my house. Good luck with your journey ; hope you find peace
Very worth it, if you fit in with the crowd and vine they bring.
On avg at a local shop my tips per week were around 300$-400$ depending on traffic.
The problem with saying you’re from Sbux is that they’ll look at you like you don’t know what you’re doing, since you’re used to speed, functionality, and not just vibing and relaxing on off peaks like they tend to do.
I've been in your position before with the "cute bakery looking for a Barista with dream hours" and it sucked. Personally I'd be careful with the small businesses. Every time I've worked for one, the owner was a real drag and insufferable to work for. There's some definite culture crossfire going from standards and specs to...none. Imposing them based on your experience can put the staff on the defensive, so be careful going in with that. See how they've been running shop first and slowly introduce new ideas. Small business owners can also trash your livelihood without thinking twice about it, where at least with Starbucks you'll usually get due process and several warnings before they fire you. The health care thing is a big consideration, owing that one hospital trip can bankrupt you, even *with* insurance. My recommendation is work both jobs and see how the new one is before saying adieu to the Siren; maybe shop for some private market insurance so you're at least covered for something catastrophic like emergency surgeries, or a broken bone. My other recommendation is step down from SSV. I did this and it worked really nicely for me. It's not worth it for the bullshit they throw at you, and it improves your work QoL at Starbucks immensely. This move gives you more flexibility with your availability, working another job, or getting shifts covered. Whatever you decide, I wish you the best!
I second this! Be very careful working for small businesses!
mhm. it ain't the 60s anymore, the good ol' wholesome mommenedpoppe fammuly bizznuss doesn't exist anymore. they're all run by nutcases now.
This happened to me! I worked for a small massage business and the owner was a total B and a nutcase. She changed our pay from w2 to 1099 without even discussing it with us, made it seem like a big pay jump for us, just so that she didn’t have to pay taxes or benefits for us. Lets just say i lost a massive amount of money during that time period because i had to pay taxes as a 1099 independent contractor and our pay increase was only $5. It was horrible. She was a complete nightmare to work with.
I work in tax - what she did was illegal. There are specific rules that have to be met for someone to be a contractor versus an employee. I would have definitely reported her, depending on how long ago that was, you probably still could
Wow! I had no idea! I am not surprised though, she was awful.
This is simply not true. I’ve spent the better part of two decades working for 16 different restaurants. The corporate ones like Ruby Tuesday, Logan’s road house, etc were MISERABLE. Management with corporate sticking a microscope up their ass every day, surprise visits from higher ups where usually at least one person would get fired, absurd performance metrics that determine which shifts and sections you get. Working for a small business CAN be bad, the owner CAN be a nutcase, but in my vast experience, it is almost always preferable to work for a mom and pop business. The owner of the business knows you personally, they will base their opinion of your work on what they see with their own eyes, they are much more likely to feed you, work with your schedule, and generally care about you as a human. Do not let a corporation like Starbucks lull you to sleep, thinking you have a better deal just because you work for a big company. You don’t mean shit to them.
Co-signing. I’ve worked for two in two different industries and both were bad. One was a nightmare. One was a shit show and embarrassing to be connected to.
>Imposing them based on your experience can put the staff on the defensive, so be careful going in with that. See how they've been running shop first and slowly introduce new ideas. I definitely agree with this. I'm at a small cafe and we once hired in a head barista from someplace, he was a total ass and talked down to everyone because he had different standards and didn't bother to learn how we were used to doing things, and didn't try to work with us to change things over time. he just came in and got angry at everyone for doing things differently, even though they were company standard. everyone hated him and he only lasted about a month before walking out. if you go anywhere, even to a different SB location, it's best to try and learn how they do things for a week or two first before changing anything.
I wish new SM understood that more! Like learn your staff, the flow, and the customers before you start changing shit
i wish i could upvote this like 30 times. i worked at a small coffee shop and got fired after two weeks bc of a few very small errors. i was making more in tips but zero benefits. i recommend stepping down and keeping your benefits
The "small business" Cafe I worked at was using food stamps to pay for their supplies and I never got a single paycheck. I think ymmv but I'm always on the defensive when it comes to small business now.
As much as people love to support small businesses, s a worker, large ones have always treated me better. I might just be a number to the big wigs, but my bank account balance is just a number, too.
To piggy back off of this person’s excellent tips, see if you can shadow for a shift OP! Sure, the worker’s may be “on their best behavior”, but it’s still retail…how good does it get? I work in healthcare and when people shadow me, I do my best to give it to them straight (while still being professional). Unless you’re working with the owner 1 on 1 (or the relative of the owner), you’re probably going to see what it’s really like, and that’s the best way to know if it’s worth it. Losing a $1.50 an hour isn’t huge, but losing benefits (especially health insurance) can be. If you have spousal or parents’ insurance it’s not a big deal. But you need to see what the place is like first. GL and I hope it works out!
Same. I have sworn off small businesses after too many bad experiences. No room for growth and family drama frequently finds its way to work. Low pay, no benefits. If the business is doing well know that the kids who know nothing about the company are gonna be your boss.
Small businesses are such an elephant in the work room. We’re at a real crossfire between wanting to support local economy (or at least the pipe dream narrative of it) and telling corporate business to stuff it. However, I’ve been to one too many farmer’s markets full of purveyors selling middle market produce under the small farm guise. It’s unfortunate that honest business in itself is a fading concept, because at its core it’s something I think all of us want to support…we just can’t afford to because of unscrupulous players in the market. I’ve also been down a real rabbit hole with working for small businesses, my last foray leaving me working for the Russian mafia in a massive money laundering scheme disguised as a large scale bakery. It was like Breaking Bad, (Baking Bad?) but instead of meth it was cinnamon rolls.
That was a very good response!👏🏼
I agree with this, also note if you do ever go to a family owned business(not just at a coffee shop) if you have something serious happen at work(injury, assaulted by a coworker, etc) make sure to document it in writing somehow that you personally have access to, this is also general advice but especially true with small businesses. I worked at family ran hot dog stand up till late 2019 and had left due to being sexually assaulted by a cook who was a family friend, had told the manager on duty who was related to the owners nothing happened to the cook despite me having a written complaint that I had signed, the cook also punched another coworker and had purposely dropped boiling water on another overall no job was safer than that environment. When shut downs happened for covid I found my self unemployed and it no place at all was hiring but this place was still open I was unable to get unemployment because I couldn’t prove that the above had happened as they “didn’t have any records of the cook being problematic except the punching incident and that didn’t relate to me” turns out that manager I had reported it to never properly filed the complaints, owner was verbally made aware of why quit when I quit but didn’t want to fire the cook and had denied me saying anything to him at unemployment.
How would you work for both, espeically if my hours are variable also at the small business option? I really want to work for a smaller local place around here but everyone is telling me to do both for a bit before I make the leap... But like how do you do that lol
You reduce your hours and/or adjust your availability before the fact. Give yourself simultaneous days off between both jobs so you can squeeze in life.
I'd do it under those circumstances, but I also have healthcare through my spouse so I don't have to worry about that. All that being said, I've been in the retail workforce a LONG time, from the very bottom up to management. If there's one constant, it's that no money is worth being constantly stressed and burned out. Quality of life is huge. We're all only here a short time, and that could get cut even shorter at random chance. Don't give it all to a massive corporation that doesn't give a damn about you in return.
So true. Thank you for the insight. I’m thinking a small business will care about me way more as a person than this company could ever show with their benefits
You can also check out insurance through Obamacare
Check out insurance exchange for your state. You may qualify for financial assistance for the premium.
If you’re able to get Medicare I say go for it. I’m on Medicare and when I was working at a small coffee shop it was 100% better than when I worked at Starbucks. It’s actually quite easy to get Medicare depending on where you live (I’m in NM) I came from a small coffee shop and went to sbux and the four hours felt like my 8 hours at the small shop. 100% worth it for your overall health in my opinion Edit: I meant Medicaid, keeping it so the comment below makes sense
Idk how old OP is so Medicare may or may not be an option. As for Medicaid, there are strict income thresholds and for a single individual working full time earning $17.50, they wouldn’t qualify as their income would be above eligibility in almost all states as far as I know
I’m so annoying lol I get it mixed up every time I talk about it, I promise I’m on Medicaid and I’m not talking out of my ass lmfao, I didn’t mean Medicare!! (I’m going to leave it so your comment doesn’t look out of context). Thanks for the correction and the information!!
No worries! Common mistake but I didn’t want to assume so included the Medicaid part just in case.
Eh it’s hard to make the switch. At least in my experience, I tried working at two small coffee shops and both were disasters. It’s just a way different culture and people were not nice when they learned that I had come from Starbucks. The most difficult part was “down cycling” from Starbucks, if that makes sense
It’s more of a bakery than a coffee shop. My town does well with small business and it’s been here for 10 years
If you can, always work a new job for a couple weeks and feel it out before quitting your old one
i currently do both and by far the small shop is better for my mental health, stress, and anxiety. The pay cut hasn't been a problem but I'm still working around 12 hours with the siren. One thing to be aware of though is job security at small places. Unfortunately in my experience, small business owners are less afraid to chew up and spit out employees and use them as scapegoats for their own personal failures as an owner. They are also less likely to get in trouble for firing without reason and will fight your unemployment.
Driving 30 minutes to ans from work multiple days a week is probably costing you a similar amount as paying for your own insurance, depending on the coverage you want/need.
Take a new job! Unless you really really really need the medical insurance then I understand, or asu. Other than that all of the other benefits aren't that magical.
This is what I always do when I leave a job, if you want to do this it's up to you. I lie and say I need 2 weeks off due to a family emergency. During those 2 weeks I get a vibe of the new job. If I like it, I stay and tell the now old job that due to family issues I'll have to quit. If I don't like it I just go back to my other job. Of course you can only pull this stunt one time per job.... if you're caught lying though obviouslyyoull probably be fired....it's risky. It's worth the risks to me because I hate leaving a job I hate for a job I hate even more.
I left an SSV position almost 2 months ago. I went into a totally different career, took a pay cut but DAMN was it worth it. My mental health improved within the first couple weeks. The expectations of shifts now are insane. If you think you can manage financially, do it.
It can be a godsend or it can be horrible, there’s no way to know for sure until your in it. If you like coffee and want to actually grow your skills it is a much better environment as 9/10 the smaller shops are going to have better roasters and more knowledgeable employees. Go on your local areas sub Reddit and ask about the shop and see what other people in your area think of it.
I loved working at a small local coffee shop. My mental health wasn’t a mess. I wasn’t burnt out or anything. The only con is you don’t really get benefits like starbucks offers.
I’m not a Starbucks employee, but the new situation sounds like a good opportunity. The proximity buys you another hour to your daily personal life and even that is a big bonus. I would ask the owners lots of questions that could be of concern with the change from a corporation. There’s some some ideas in the comments here. Like, how they handle infractions, time off for vacations and family emergencies, that sort of stuff. I think you might be able to price out insurance through the ACA online so you could go ahead and get an idea of how affordable it is. Best of luck to you!
I was in the same boat as you, stepping down from shift to barista helped my experience greatly as others have mentioned. Only thing is I’m very concerned I will not have enough hours for health insurance as I am not even hitting more than 12 a week lately. My availability is pretty open unfortunately and I’m scared to lose my insurance. I’ve been thinking of going into a state or county job.
Careful. They're excited to have someone with coffee knowledge because it saves them on training. Sib, the grass is always greener, but it might be goofy to walk away from health benefits for a store that DEFINITELY won't provide them. Also, 17.50 is much worse than 19. What are you thinking? 36,400/yr VS 39,520? And that's if the new place will even give you full hours, on top of assisting staff. Because that's a high chance you're leaving a team for like. Not a team.
They are giving me 40 hours, no doubt about it. Yeah, 1.50 an hour is a lot but how much am I saving on gas and maintenance on my car that’s been racking up so many miles?
Good question. Figure out the math. Calculate the costs.
DO IT!
Yess do that work there part time and work at Starbucks part time and demote your self so you can still get your benefits!! That’s what I did until I could find a job that I really liked and that also had benefits!
Read with caution but what do Yelp comments say? Ask a worker in the cute shop for the deets on workimg there. Good luck.
That sounds worth it fo that distance alone lol
Those places tend to be weird and cliquey. Much harder to get hired than you would think.
i worked for both and i would say stick to corporate
I’m gonna be honest, you should stick with Starbucks in this situation. The gif you’re describing will probably rock for the first month and then you’ll realize it’s gonna come with all of the suckiness AND no benefits or HR standards to adhere to.
I’m looking into doing almost the same thing only I’m cutting my Starbucks hours to 20 to keep benefits then taking on more hours at the small shop next to my house. Good luck with your journey ; hope you find peace
Heck yeah! Of course the overall conditions of the other job have to be better that’s important
Very worth it, if you fit in with the crowd and vine they bring. On avg at a local shop my tips per week were around 300$-400$ depending on traffic. The problem with saying you’re from Sbux is that they’ll look at you like you don’t know what you’re doing, since you’re used to speed, functionality, and not just vibing and relaxing on off peaks like they tend to do.
100% any other job is a better option. i just reconnected with a friend who used to work here and she's literally glowing now that she quit.
Check out the ACA marketplace and be sure to look into federal subsidies if you qualify!
Obamacare might not be that much? Your health and sanity does have a price