If you've been around Wildflower for a while, you probably know the story. If you're new, this one's for you.
In early 2018, Jack and Ri (us) were 24 and 26. We'd never run a business before. We had no real money. And we decided to build a cafe in 100 days and blog every single day of the process.
(Looking back at this version of us, we're honestly impressed.)
Why 100 days
Because it was insane. That was the appeal.
We knew if we gave ourselves a year, we'd take a year. We knew if we let "when it's ready" be the timeline, we'd never start. 100 days was tight enough to force decisions and slow enough to actually be doable.
The 100 days started the day we got the keys. From there, we had to build out the fit-out, sort the equipment, get the council approvals, hire staff, source the coffee, source the food, design the brand, build the website, and somehow open the doors before day 101.
Blogging every day
We blogged daily because we wanted to share the realness of the process. Not the polished marketing version. The version where we cried in the empty shell of the cafe at 11pm because we'd just realised we'd ordered the wrong size benchtops.
Some of those blog posts were 2000 words. Some were a single photo and a sentence. They were all honest.
Looking back, those posts are some of the best content we've ever made for this business. They built a community before we even opened.
What we learned
A lot. Way too much to fit in one post. But a few things stand out.
You can do more in 100 days than you think you can. Most projects expand to fill the time given. Tightening the timeline forces clarity.
Showing your work matters. People don't connect with finished products. They connect with the journey. Our customers in those early days became regulars because they felt like they'd been on the build with us.
Coffee is the easy part. Building a brand, a community, and a business is the hard part. We spent way more time on Photoshop and council emails than we did on espresso.
Wildflower today
It's 2026 now. We're still here at 71 Cowper Street in Wallsend. We have an apparel brand next door. We've grown a team, a community, an online store, and a vision that goes well past where we are now.
But it all came from those first 100 days.
If you ever want to start something and it feels too big, take the leap and give yourself a tight timeline. Tell people about it. Make it impossible to not finish.
That's how we got here.