I want to roast & sell from home - why not?

Hey, I know where you might be able to find a really nice, used YM2 not very far from your house! Yes, I am talking about mine! In the next two to four weeks I will be making the decision as to whether or not I am going to upgrade to a larger machine.

Nothing wrong with starting small...that is what I did. I only mentioned the size issue because, even though I never planned to outgrow the YM2 this quick, it happened and now I wish I had bought a larger machine from the beginning. Just as an example, I just received a 165 lb order. It will take me about 16+ hours to roast that. My hourly wage will be in the negatives! On a 15 kilo I could do that in 3 hours!

As far as code is concerned, here in Indiana you can roast in part of your home as long as there is a room that divides the living space from the roasting facility. I actually use an exposed basement. It used to be an apartment and already had stainless steel sinks, a bathroom and all other necessary components. The great thing about it is that my shop is right there so I can work whenever I want or need. I also had no problem passing the organic inspection in this same location and they were more strict than the board of health!

Shep
 
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Used Ambex

Shep - let me know - I was planning a trip to come up and see you anyway. Could be a trip to pick up???

Alun - I read the Post from Ed - Man, I hate that for him. I sent him a request for the list and am very interested. I'm sure he will get lots of inquiries though.

Ed - Let me know...send PM.

lachris
 
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Only One God

Also there is another poster just posted a YM2 plus laptop, 1000lb's beans etc on this site... could be the gods are smiling on your efforts!!!!
Click to expand...
I'm sure that whatever happens, it's becasue "God" the creator is in control...

lachris
 
It would be wise to draw one up, even if you’re not applying for a small business loan. It organizes your thoughts onto paper (or computer disk) and keeps you focused and on track.

There are a number of websites on writing a business plan. I found this one that categorized and briefly outlined the why’s.

Copied from http://www.nolo.com , a website that apparently offers legal documentation and other miscellaneous legal assistance:

Reasons to Create a Business Plan

Writing a well-thought-out and organized business plan dramatically increases your odds of succeeding as an entrepreneur. The benefits of a business plan include:

• determining whether your business has a chance of making a good profit
• providing an estimate of your start-up costs, and how much you'll need to invest or finance
• convincing investors and lenders to fund your business
• providing a revenue estimate (by defining your market -- who your customers will be -- and the percentage of the market you can expect to reach)
• helping your business make money from the start by devising an effective marketing strategy
• helping you compete in the marketplace (through an analysis of what your competition lacks), and
• anticipating potential problems so you can solve them before they become disasters.

So, do you really need to? No.

Should you? Of course, man.

Do it, heh heh...
 
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I guess a point I didn't clearly make in my original post on this topic was that one of the reasons we were taking so long was that we were trying to write our business plan and get it right - not just making it work - but getting the real numbers. 6 versions of it. Each time we got to where we thought we were going to be able to wrap it up, we learned something new that casued us to have to make adjustments. Each time it seemed to really change the outcome of the idea and cause us set backs. Of course one of the main things I learned from a siminar at Coffee Fest in DC this year was about "under captialization". In writing this plan we could see that very fast. We were under capitalized. So...

Then we figured we would turn to the SBA for help. Basically they told us the same thing. Oh - in one of their workshops the guy acutally said at the start of his spill was that he hoped no one was there hoping to open another coffee shop - that this area did not need another coffee shop - so right off the bat I new we were not going to get the attention and help we needed from them - perhaps I did though - our mentor basically said, in his experiance, we needed to have 5 times the capital of what I needed to renovate and get the doors open. He was probably right and we did not - open that is. Probably saved me my home. :shock:

That is what brought us to roasting at home and starting small - very small - learning more about cupping, roasting, relationships, and business.

Should I write another plan - Probably - but now I don't really know how far we really want to go beyond the pure joy of roasting your own and drinking REALLY GOOD COFFEE.

To roast for income, or not to roast for income - that is the question.

lachris
 
Something Different

I started a small roasting business a little over a year ago. I am emphasize the fact that I am roasting in small batches and the freshness (all my coffee is in the hands of my customers within 2 days of roasting). I also encourage my customers to only buy as much coffee as they need for a week or two. This would make shipping prohibitive, so I have opted for selling through open-air markets (farmers, artisan) around town. That keeps my overhead low and allows me to have multiple locations. It also allows me to sell brewed coffee, which adds substantially to my bottom line. Brewed coffee has a higher profit margin and hits a much wider market than beans alone. Cold-brewed ice coffee is a really big seller right now.
 
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Something different

musichound

thanks for the good ideas. as i said, i want to keep it small, manageble and profitable. What you did sounds like what I have in my head. Did you write a plan? What are the requirements for selling in the open air market? codes?? health department? how is it regulated?

Send PM if you like.

lachris
 
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dcmusichound

How are you serving brewed coffee at open air markets? How are you brewing? How are you keeping things clean? What is allowed by your health department there? Either you are a retialer or a food service vendor here. If roasting at home and selling you have to have a permit that says you are a manufacturer. You have to be inspected by the state and local inspectors...3 sinks, painted slick easy to clean walls, clean storage area off the floor, easy (reasonable) access to washing hands and bathrooms - all seperate from your living space - literally by a wall.

FYI - I bought a very nice YM-2 up in WI this weekend. Next day I was up and roasting greens!!! :D If is great fun and I'm learning fast that I need to know more about profiles and about time and temps with this machine.

Anyone out there have some logs they can share on private message or other???

Any good links to good priced plain brown lined bags and such???

We are on our way - I'm happy today!!! :)
 
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