Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandra Cagan
Hi Sandra, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In 2015 I was turning 50, and I once heard someone say that when you turn 50 you stop thinking about what to put on your resume, and you start thinking about what people are going to say at your eulogy. My background is in property management/property development, but I wanted to do something that gave back to my community. I had heard about Cat Cafes, which are popular in Japan, and I thought that, as a lifelong lover of cats, and with a background in real estate, it would be something that I could do. I started to work on the concept for Orlando Cat Cafe in January of 2015 and we opened up in September of 2016 as the first Cat Cafe in the State of Florida!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Since we were the first Cat Cafe to open in the State of Florida, there was definitely some educating of local officials that needed to be done. For me, the most important aspects were finding the right partners as far as a cafe operator and a shelter to partner with because you can’t have a successful cat cafe without cats and coffee! There were also challenges in building it out in the proper way to eliminate cross-contamination and cross-allergens between the cafe section and the Cat Play/Adoption Area.
As you know, we’re big fans of Orlando Cat Cafe. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Orlando Cat Cafe is a cozy coffeehouse with premium coffee, savory and sweet pastries and sandwiches and anywhere between 12 and 30 cats and kittens, who are all spayed/neutered, microchipped, up to date on their inoculations and all available for adoption! To date we have welcomed over 180,000 visitors from all over the world and adopted just shy of 3,000 cats to their forever homes. We were the first Cat Cafe to open in the State of Florida, and are the first Cat Cafe in the country to offer a franchise program!
What’s next?
We are very excited to announce our franchise program! We have enjoyed tremendous success with our first location and after 8 years we feel that we have perfected a model that can duplicated all over the country, therefore opening up a new avenue for the adoption of shelter cats and kittens Cats remain the highest at risk group in a shelter environment and our goal is to create a new way for prospective adopters to meet a new friend. The cats and kittens at Orlando Cat Cafe live in a cage-free environment and can really show up their personalities leading to a better match between cat and adopter. Our franchise model is designed to duplicate our success and give prospective franchisees everything they need (including a 500+ page Operations Manual) to open up their very own Orlando Cat Cafe in their community.
Pricing:
- Adults $12 per hour to visit the Cat Play/Adoption Area
- Children $10 per hour to visit the Cat Play/Adoption Area
Contact Info:
- Website: www.orlandocatcafe.com and https://www.orlandocatcafefranchise.com/
- Instagram: Orlando Cat Cafe
- Facebook: Orlando Cat Cafe
- LinkedIn: Orlando Cat Cafe
- Youtube: Orlando Cat Cafe
- Yelp: Orlando Cat Cafe
Image Credits
Orlando Cat Cafe
