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

[lachris]

It's been soom time - business is still growing, although slow. I have 4 employees. Wife still works many hours a week for free, we still homeschool our two kids, I still have my day job, our town is still small, our Monday night Bluegrass Jam is a WILD success. Employees come and go, Rent is still the same, beans are getting better, roast is getting better, local newspaper articles and writes ups are nice but in a small town don't net you much. Facebook page is good for local folks. I need to move our location to main street instead a a streat just off main. Nothing open rigtht now that would work. MOving on main would greatly increase our foot traffic and sales. Must move!

 

[PinkRose]

Hi lachris

Welcome back!

Thanks for updating us on your progress. I'm sure it's all been quite a learning experience for you. I'm always impressed to hear when someone has "hung in there" and has been slowly (but surely) making things work. Relocation to a main street sounds like a good idea. I'm sure you'll find a way to make it happen.

Rose

 

[CoffeeJunky]

I currently own a small coffee shop in small town in Michigan. Our family purchased the coffee shop about 8 years ago and moved the shop to main street. The business was very slow before the move and now the business grown and I decided to take the business over. We do not roast our own bean but we do purchase very good quality coffee. Our town has two chain coffee shops but not on main street. I am the only coffee shop here and have changed habit of people and we are still growing.

 

[lachris]

WOW! I really need to post more often. Things are still moving along. Slow but still upward. New employees and a change in open hours. Things are about the same. Still needing to add a second location - main street would still be gopod but other options are on the horizon. I have folks wanting to invest. Good idea or not?

 

[Bardo]

Gain a partner, lose control. Unless the partner is your wife.

 

[PinkRose]

Are the people who want to invest interested in investing their money or their time too?

People tend to have all sorts of ideas as to how you can run your business better. You may not want to listen to someone else's ideas and feel obligated to make changes just because they handed over some dollars to become a partner. Taking on an investor can be a good idea if you need the cash, but there will be some headaches that will go along with it.

 

[BuzzRoaster]

I started my own roasting business a while back and it was the best move I ever made. The only mistake was not starting it sooner. I started out small, roasting at local farmers markets. From that I landed a few accounts roasting for restaurants and hotels. Now I have a very successful coffee service company.

I would advise against taking on a partner or investors. I would stick with what works for now until you can move locations. You say the write-ups in the newspapers and Facebook page are good for the locals. Aren't these the same people you hope to target with a location on main st? How active are you on your Facebook page? Do you have a website? Are you building an email list of your customers?

If I can give you one piece of marketing advice it's - build an email list. Offer something for free to get people on that list. Direct email marketing is the best way to build a loyal customer and communicate with them after the sale. Don't spam them. Offer them coupons, special promotions even freebies. You can instantly notify them of special events and keep them up to date with your business.

Have you tried Facebook Marketing? Facebook has become very good at targeted marketing. For example you can create an ad that targets just the followers of a neighboring coffee shop. Or how about followers of all the neighboring coffee shops. Social media marketing is very important even for small town businesses.