Step through the front door of The Witty Whisker Cat Café, one of the best small businesses in Florida, where as soon the door shuts so does the noise of the outside world. That, after all, is part of the magic of spending time around cats, whether you sip a hot drink and watch their antics from afar or cuddle with a new furry friend. Each cat at the café is searching for a forever home and their own fairytale ending. But that happily ever after might not have been possible if Angeli Rodriguez hadn’t taken a leap and followed her dream, pushing forward despite what might have seemed like insurmountable obstacles, including a worldwide pandemic.

Before Angeli Rodriguez embarked on her entrepreneurial journey, she worked in the corporate world, a fast-paced environment that’s known for long hours and inevitable burnout, for nearly two decades. But, she felt like she wasn’t getting anywhere. Then she read the story of a woman who began a cat café. Rodriguez knew she’d found her dream.

“I fell in love with this story and knew that it was something I wanted to try, especially since in the U.S. the cats are also available for adoption,” she said. “So I started visiting cat cafes all over the U.S. to come up with ideas for my own.”

As anyone who’s considered starting or who has started a business knows, a solid business plan is essential to its ultimate success. Statistics from the Small Business Administration show that half of all small businesses fail within their first five years. Rodriguez began with a business plan, her vision for how she would turn her dream, of providing a safe haven for homeless cats and helping them find their forever homes, into reality.

But even a solid business plan can’t prevent unexpected obstacles. The bank denied her a loan. Accounting and taxes became overwhelming. She struggled with how to decorate the café and cat lounge. And, the biggest barrier of all, COVID hit.

Rodriguez noticed something, though.  

“Once I started taking steps towards making the vision happen, opportunities miraculously appeared. For example, when my loan application was rejected by the bank, my parents stepped in with a generous monetary donation that saved my project,” The Witty Whisker Cat Café owner said.

That got the ball rolling. Her husband helped with the finances, and a stranger reached out with an offer to assist Rodriguez with decorating ideas. The Witty Whisker Cat Café then partnered with Feline Canopy of Care. The cats at the small business in Florida have been rescued by and are adoptable through the cat rescue.

The Witty Whisker Cat Café opened, near the St. Augustine Historic District, in June 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and has been going strong ever since. Rodriguez’s success inspired her to write “Drinks & Whiskers: How You Can Open A Successful Cat Café,” a guide that provides aspiring entrepreneurs with a blueprint for starting their own cat cafe.

If you’ve never been to a cat café, the concept is simple. The space, which offers views of the cat lounge, serves a generous assortment of drinks, from coffee and tea to wine and beer. Pair your drink with a pastry or a brunch bite, like a bagel or a made-from-scratch biscuit.

While you can watch the cats from the café, you can hang out in the "cat lounge," too. All guests to the cat lounge pay $11 for an hour-long visit (children under two are free), and that fee goes toward the ongoing care of the cats. During your time in the cat lounge, you can pet and play with the kitties. If you find a cat you’d like to adopt, you'll fill out the Feline Canopy of Care's adoption application.

Reservations to the cat lounge are recommended.

The Witty Whisker Cat Café hosts a variety of events, including yoga sessions and painting classes. You can also host your own events at the café.

As The Witty Whisker Cat Café continues to grow, Rodriguez’s goals remain the same:

 “My business' mission is to provide a safe, clean, cozy, and comfortable environment for people and cats to enjoy the benefit of each other’s company; and find their furr-ever friends,” she says. “And our vision is to make the world a better place for orphaned cats by working, along with local shelters, to help find cats furr-ever homes in a relaxed, no-kill, cage-free environment. Those two statements are my daily inspiration.”

Many thanks to owner Angeli Rodriguez for sharing The Witty Whisker Cat Café history and story for the 2024 Small Business Spotlight. Learn more and support this iconic Florida cat cafe by visiting the official website of The Witty Whisker Cat Cafe or its Facebook page.

Of course, The Witty Whisker Cat Cafe is one of many amazing businesses in Florida that’s doing great things in the state. If you have another business you’d like to see profiled on Only In Florida please nominate them for a chance to be featured. And be sure to follow Only In Florida on Facebook and Instagram to stay in the know on the state’s events, restaurants, local businesses, and hidden gems.