Rise to the Top –with Cedric Sprock of Café Barista

In this issue, Curaçao Business is featuring Cedric Sprock of Café Barista in our “Rise to the Top” feature. Mr. Sprock is a self-made star on our island with a global outlook on business, a philanthropic spirit and is still an island boy at heart. At the age of 41 and in his second career, he was able to fulfill his dream of having THE coffee of Curaçao in less than 10 years. Mr. Sprock gave a few minutes of his valuable time to allow Curaçao Business magazine to ask him a few questions about how he made it to the top.

Text  Heather De  Paulo

Curaçao Business Magazine (CBM): How did you get started? Was Café Barista your first business?
Cedric Sprock (CS): Before starting Café Barista I worked for an offshore company called Schlumberger Limited, the world’s largest oilfield services company. During the five years that I worked there, I started my MBA at UNA. Once you get into working and studying, you start thinking about the future. Taking a look at all I accomplished so far in life, I got the feeling that if I can do all this for an employer being a good employee, why not do it for myself? After finishing my MBA in 1994, I asked my boss at Schlumberger what was the next step for me. It was my goal to be an expat for the company in Houston, TX. However, that was not possible because of a personnel stop due to the effect on oil when Chavez came into power. At that point I thought: if there is nothing else for me, I want to start my own thing. I started looking into coffee because, after petroleum, coffee is the biggest commodity worldwide. I researched the business of coffee and then flew to Bogota, Columbia where I took a coffee course. In this course we went through all the facets of what goes in to making a good cup of coffee, starting with planting coffee seeds to the cup of coffee itself. At that point, I fell in love with the coffee business. I came back to Curaçao and quit Schlumberger on good terms, explaining that since I couldn’t advance further I wanted to start my own company. I believe that if you start something on a good note, you should finish it on a good note and I felt it was best to be truthful with them. Schlumberger is a good company. Their philosophy is that they invest in people and it goes back to the community, so that thought process allowed us to part on good terms. Today, they even have Café Barista coffee machines in their office.

In 2004, I quit my job, sold my car, rented my house, moved to a small apartment and started my company with nothing. With the excess cash I had, I rented the Mahaai location, bought a roaster and coffee machine and used a moneybox with one key as my cash register. I also did some interior changes. At that time I started dating my wife and some of the furniture in the shop came from her apartment.

I was my first employee. Soon after, the management accountant of Schlumberger, Cynthia Leonora, came to work with me as my financial manager and I another person to help us make the coffee. I was in the kitchen preparing food and roasting coffee. I also delivered fresh coffee to various offices for free in air pots, telling  them about us, a new, local company, while offering them the complimentary sample of our coffee.

In 2004, I quit my job, sold my car, rented my house, moved to a small apartment and started my company with nothing.

My nephew, Carlos Chap, eventually came to work for me as operations manager and in 2006, my wife, Nanda Sprock-van Hoven came to work with me as the personnel and legal manager, both from Schlumberger. We are all Schlumberger-minded people working in Café Barista and that’s a good thing because we understand the local business, plus we have a global way of thinking.

In 2006 we won the bid at the airport and opened two locations there. In 2007 we opened the Avila store, in 2009 the location at Baskin Robbins, which has since closed, and in 2012 we bought the Deli France locations. We are currently giving the airport locations a facelift and, if the economy improves, we will do the same for the Deli France locations. It’s always good to update the locations to maintain interest of the public. It’s also good for the competition because they see that you are always busy. On Curaçao people like to imitate, so the moment they try I’m already doing something else.

CBM: How long were you running the business before you started paying yourself? How did you live through those first years?
CS: The first two years of working for Café Barista I didn’t get a salary. Everything I made was reinvested. In the third year, once we opened the airport locations, I was able to start paying myself. In the beginning, it was more about sacrifice than about getting an income, but on the other side, I had much less stress than when I was working in a corporate environment.

CBM: How has your management style changed over the years?
CS: None, it’s the same. I’m still that funny, easily accessible, open guy. I want to know what people think and I want to hear feedback, whether it’s positive or negative. I actually want to hear more of the negative things so I know what I need to change. I want to enjoy what I’m doing and I want my employees to enjoy what they are doing also. I don’t want to become that corporate guy that I used to be. I want to be free, live the island life, and have a good income so I can enjoy life with my family.

CBM: How big do you plan for Café Barista to become? Keep it small or expand? What are your future plans?
CS: Is bigger better? No. I really want to be the best on the island of Curaçao. I’m not interested in going abroad to the other islands, the US or anywhere else. I will be big, but big in the sense of an island company, like what I am now after nine years. I’m not interested in getting bigger than this; my wife for sure is not. The goal now is to be “THE coffee of Curaçao.” It’s not about being big, but about letting the people on the island know that as a local company we can do good things and be professional, all while maintaining an international level of quality.

CBM: How do you balance work and family?
CS: I used to be a workaholic type of guy. When I started the business I was only working, even on Sundays because the airport is open 7 days a week. One year, I was preparing the set up for the Christmas Collection at the WTC and I was overworked and exhausted. I was unloading and fell out of the truck. I got a concussion and for two days I didn’t know who I was. I think that was the wake up call. I thought, why keep on working that hard and at a certain point something happens to me and I can’t enjoy it. I needed to balance my life – mentally, physically, family, everything. At that point, I decided to hire a food and beverage manager, Roberto Alcantara, formerly from Breezes Hotel, to relieve me from overworking. I also decided to not work on the weekends or if I do have to work, it’s only for three to four hours. Little by little, I had to discipline myself to stick to this.

CBM: Did you have a mentor?
CS: Yes, my brother in law, Lilo Sulvaran, and my sister, Mylene Sulvaran-Sprock. It’s very important to have a mentor. Every entrepreneur should have a mentor or someone to talk to, not only accountants, banks, etc., but someone with whom you have a personal relationship.

CBM: What do you think is your biggest accomplishment so far?
CS: First, my wife and kids are my biggest accomplishments. After that, my biggest accomplishments are becoming an employer of 88 people and having a very good cup of coffee for the tourists and everyone on the island of Curaçao – really having something good to offer that people can only get on Curaçao. To see people who live on the island at home drinking Café Barista, our coffee machines at their office, tourists coming to our locations drinking Café Barista and going to the hotels that cater and use Café Barista as their product – it’s a big accomplishment.

CBM: Is there anything you’d like to add?
CS: I still want to add that as a local entrepreneur, the government, the banks and all official, well-established companies on Curaçao need to give more input and support to those who want to start a business on the island. I think there are many people with good ideas who want to be entrepreneurs, but it’s difficult to get started. Perhaps if they get the input and push from the government and banks, there will be more people like me. Maybe I succeeded because I’m a very determined guy and I was very open to sacrifice everything to start my company. The Chamber of Commerce was one of the companies that gave me good advice and pointed me in the right direction when I was getting started. The Chamber is like the center point that can guide you, but still you need to go to the bank, an accountant, etc.

For more information about the coffee, store locations, etc., visit their webpage at
www.cafebarista.net.