CASSOPOLIS — At the start of almost any business venture there are going to setbacks, missteps and obstacles. It is how the business handles those adversities that determines how successful they are going to be.

This is the exact lesson students at Ross Beatty Jr.-Sr. High School learned recently.

Earlier this year, the school administration, in conjunction with the Village of Cassopolis, applied for a grant to help fund a student-run coffee shop. Earlier this month, the school found out it was not going to receive the grant.

“It’s just like any other business, right?” said Emilie Sarratore, the Cassopolis Village Manager. “Sometimes things don’t go the way you want, and part of the learning process for the students is how do we overcome this? How do we move forward? What is our next step so we can still accomplish our goal? And I think while it is disappointing to not get the grant, I think it is very indicative of what being in business is like. I think it’s a great learning opportunity for them right out of the gate.”

Even without the grant, the school district and the village are intent on moving forward with the coffee shop.

“I think the village and the school are both committed to this project and finding ways to fund what we need to, so I don’t know exactly how that looks as far as dollars from the school,” Sarratore said. “The village is very restricted in how we can spend money, but we’re both very committed to this project, so I think we’ll do everything in our power to find the funds one way or another.”

Going forward, the village and the school district intend to apply for a few other grants that they qualify for, including one through AARP. They are also open to looking for funding through a crowdfunding campaign or a community fundraiser, which will be discussed at the next business and education roundtable with the students on the coffee shop committee on May 8.

When the initial grant was applied for, the student committee was not formed yet, so they were unable to participate in the process of applying for it. But when it comes to future grants, the student body will be involved with all applications.

For the most part, plans for the coffee shop will continue to progress. The students are going to tour independently owned, local coffee shops, such as Brew Ha Ha in Niles, to learn what it take to run their own. This is tentatively scheduled to happen Friday.

An aspect of the plan that not having the grant could impact is construction. Last month Sarratore and the Cassopolis Public Schools superintendent, Dr. Angela Piazza were hopeful that construction for the coffee shop could start this summer. Now that is not a guarantee.

“Some of that’s going to depend on where we end up going and how much construction is required,” Sarratore said. “That may dictate where we go because that may mean we choose someplace where we have very minimal construction to be able to get up and running. But I don’t think it will 100 percent delay us — no.”

Determining how much construction the coffee shop could be determined after the village and CPS receive the building assessments from Wightman and Associates, and the students decide where to put the coffee shop.

“That will take care of a few of the buildings and kind of give us an indicator of what some of the village-owned buildings — what it would cost to rehab them, renovate them and turn into a coffee shop,” Sarratore said. “We also have a few other buildings around town that we may be looking at. … We’re not tied down to anything. We’re trying to make sure we make the best fit possible to move forward and then also keep in mind budgets and the costs of renovations and all those kinds of things you consider when you’re starting a business.”