Job interview after years of sahm, bitten off more than I can chew.

[CletusVanDamme]

Have an interview for a cafe management position within a charity shop. They are expecting new ideas for generating income and want a first 90 day presentation as well as a role playing thing.
I have seen the cafe, it has a domestic toaster/ kettle , a table too 2 ring job and a table top single oven. 10 tables?
It appears to be higher management level interview style for a somewhat primitive operation.
I am flummoxed, I have worked pt in cafes and bars and operate largely on smiles and offering great customer service.
I no nothing of corporate speak and other such stuff, where the feck do I start?

Surely all they want to know is that you will run the cafe at a profit and not a deficit.

So factor in your costs as the outgoing - I imagine if it's in a charity shop the bills are paid regardless.

Show how you would sell items at a profit - not keep too much stock. Have ideas like soup of the week, community table for single guests to sit at and join others, early bird sandwich deal, tea cake and cup of tea in the afternoon etc etc
What charity is it for? - link in with the themes of the charity.

I assume it's run only by one person - so they need to know if that is you that you can cope with the stock management, ordering/provisions, understanding how much trade you need a day etc

They don't want to interview someone who just wants to stand around a make a cup of tea.

Sounds a good move not to go to the interview.

Manager at min wage in a cafe that has limited capacity for turnover with no staff is a lot of red flags - they wanted to give you endless responsibility and very little in return - some weeks perhaps not even a paycheck.

There will be a better job for you.

Who is interviewing you? As this is a charity it may be that someone on the board of trustees is from a corporate background and has suggested this interview approach as that is what they are used to in their profession. I’ve worked for charities a lot over the years and I’ve found that after the initial ‘big ideas’ moment the board of trustees chill out and let you run things, they all have other careers and don’t have time to micromanage if you’ve proven you are capable.

I haven't read all the replies but I did a 90 day presentation recently. I split it into 30, 60, 90 days and covered,
30 days Understand and Learn
60 days Evaluate and Contribute
90 days Optimise and Take the Initiative

I think created a slide for each of the 30 days covering: priorities, learning goals, personal goals, performance goals, challenges and then the success factors for each of the 30 days.

Sorry if this is going off on a tangent and this was for a different role but I had a total panic about doing the presentation but when I broke it down I found it much easier.

Don’t be ashamed - your gut instinct was talking to you and you listened. It sounded cheeky of them to ask for so much - like they wanted free business ideas from people!

Just read more of the updates and agree huge expectations from them.
Oh well hopefully someone might get some suggestions from my tips 🙈

Rather thank thinking that you’ve let yourself down, think that maybe your instinct told you that it wasn’t right. If it was the right job, you would have felt nervous but also excited. It totally sounded like it could have been a nightmare job.