Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melodie Betts. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Melodie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The name The Lemon Door was an old password that Yahoo assigned me back in the 90’s ( yes, they did that) and it stuck. I didn’t know what I would ever do with this name, and how could I remember it decades later…but I did.

I moved back to Wisconsin from Montana after the loss of my husband to be near friends. I had no idea what I wanted to do, only knew I wanted the last of my “work resume” to be something of my own and creative. I searched throughout Wisconsin for a building that I could live and work in. When I found this gem in Fennimore, WI my minds raced a thousand different directions for the path of what it would become. I remodeled the upstairs first, and allowed my vision to come after really looking at what the area didn’t have and what I could bring to my community. I believe that you should never take away, only enhance the area around you. That’s where The Lemon Door started to take shape.

Use, reuse, recycle, and repurpose everything deserves a second chance. Those were the words always echoing in my mind as I remodeled the first floor. It’s quirky, and some may feel it’s too busy, but it’s mine and that’s what I wanted. There are doorknobs across the top of a wall, a payphone that hung on our garage in Montana, a disco ball that has been turned on a few times, dishes of my mothers above the door, and stickers plastered everywhere from…well…everywhere! Then came the menu.

This is small town Wisconsin, filled with amazing fish fry’s, cheese curds, and a signature burger in every bar. Salad bars are also included with every wonderful meal they served, but something was missing. Where could I find a fresh made to order deli sandwich or a salad with field greens and spinach? Out of the ordinary soups like gazpacho or African Peanut Stew were not on any menu for at least 60 miles. So this is where it began, do everything no one else is doing and enhance the community.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have worked in the service industry since I was 14. I’ve worked off and on in a variety of restaurants in every capacity from serving to managing, to marketing. Working the BOH (back of the house) was only as a fill in when you were in the weeds on a Saturday night so that was really new to me.

I’ve never been one to sit idle and I wasn’t afraid of change, so I would take a different path throughout my life as long as I could be around the public. Sales and customer service, marketing, event planning, and fun…always fun.

The term “foodie” always cracked me up. People consider those who are adventurist eating food a foodie, but only if it fits their world meaning. Ask that same person if they’d ever eat Rocky Mountain Oysters and they flat out tell you no! Real food people will try it all, so “why not slowly bring that here” I said.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I opened The Lemon Door llc in June of 2019 as a coffee house and pop-up venue. There were no coffee shops on a hwy for over 75 miles and no place in the area for artists to showcase their work without them spending a fortune for rental space. We were on the right path, gaining momentum and building a solid customer base. We have menus that you circle what you want on either a sandwich or salad with fresh house-made ingredients such as pickles, pickled veggies, mayos, and salad dressings. We did our own baked goods, real lemonade, and in an atmosphere parents felt comfortable bringing their kids.

Then covid hit, and it changed everything.

I was closed for a few months, sleepless nights, and trying to figure out my next move. My community really rallied around all of us and I am forever grateful to them. I started to receive checks in the mail, money in envelopes without names to be able to thank them, and gift certificates were purchased but never used.

I then sought out online options, and created a website for ordering. I ditched the dishes and went brown paper bags and recyclable salad containers. We stayed closed for inside dining and carryout only until March of 2021. This was operational with 2 staff, but not for the bottom line.

I then again went looking to see what was needed and cold food catering / grazing tables weren’t offered anywhere in the area. This was something I did all the time for parties in the past, so why not do it on a larger scale? I was offered the opportunity to cater an event for 150 people doing exactly that, wow, was I nervous! It was picture perfect, pulled out all the items I had stored away and made it happen. I had hundreds of recipes and configurations I wanted to do, and they let me run with it.

Catering saved my business, and I continue to be thankful for my growing client base everyday. The choices of themes to the taylored requests, I am now less of a coffee house and more known for great fresh food and display catering.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

When I went looking for a building, I looked for the same things in every area of Wisconsin. Affordability, property taxes, a manageable size, and opportunity. The selling point for this particular building was the highway study. Everyday 1000-10,000 vehicles travel through our small community. My marketing brain told me that if they are traveling, what are the tools I need to really utilize to bring them in. I post every morning on Facebook, I did sponsored ads within a 50 mile radius, I pay for google, I bought 2 local billboards, and I made sure that the standards I set were met.

Each new customer that walks in the door is your chance to find out what type of marketing is working for you. Find out where they are from and how they found you. That’s it, that’s all.

Contact Info:

• Website: the-lemon-door.square.site
• Instagram: thelemondoorwi
• Facebook: The Lemon Door