There are many intricacies and nuances throughout any startup business, and the coffee roasting industry is not exempt from that concept. And for a market that grew to a whopping $45.5 billion in 2018, there is plenty of upside potential for delving into this business.
And as the consumer base becomes more sophisticated and continues to burgeon, the demand will become more specialized for a small coffee-making business, too.
Suffice it to say, starting any kind of business regardless of scope can be daunting at first. But with some of these tips from us, you will be more likely to set up an efficacious game plan moving forward.
1.) Start with a viable business plan
Simple business plan model by Tumisu via Pixabay.
Through this introductory step, you will have a schematic for your reference when queries arrive about whether your business can perform under both esoteric and generic hindrances that can arise about your establishment.
The first step within this process is to determine your expenses and whether you can sustain your business while leveraging enough profit against them. Other than the obvious commercial expenses, you must think of other ancillary ones—packaging supplies, heat sealers, coffee roaster(s), point-of-sale programming, coffee grinder, etc.
Next, determine your target audience demographic. Your location is crucial to understanding this concept. Typically, your more generic target market is composed of individual consumers, grocers and shops, depending on your business offering.
One of the helpful ways to determine your target demographic is whether you want to sell at wholesale prices—typically for business to business formats—or retail—generally for individual consumers. This can help you parse through your clientele more effectively.
2.) Think of the big picture
Salt Spring Coffee company in British Columbia, Canada by Kris Krug via Flikr.
One of the many mistakes business owners will make in virtually every industry is thinking at the micro level. One way to avoid this colloquial pitfall is to set goals early and often during the nascent stages of your business developmental stages.
The next step is to purchase the necessary equipment—tersely implied in the preceding step—that you have deemed required to fulfill those goals.
Andy Newbom, Director of Coffee & Marketing at IPCoffees in San Diego, California says this is something small business owners primarily in the coffee industry will tend to forget.
“...Don’t start small. A small roaster will kill you before you get going.”
3.) Branding
Coffee branding by user via pxhere.
While living in the technology era comes with its usual benefits, it has also served to amplify the competition of the branding business in turn. Therefore, it becomes all the more paramount to master both the voice and unique message germane to your business.
One seamless way to begin this undertaking is to establish a casual rapport with your consumers. Make sure to offer them with professional coffee tastings to make consumer engagement fun and interactive. Through this process, you’ll be able to anecdotally gauge what roasts are more popular than others.
During this process, you’ll also want to research your competition. This will allow you to both distinguish yourself from competitors while honing what your brand is specifically offering the consumer.
4.) Create a website
Lodel website: information and downloads by OpenEdition via Flikr.
This may seem like the easiest item on the list, but it can be odious at times depending on your web developer credentials along with your firsthand experience, too. Since virtually every single business has a website these days, it becomes all the more imperative to have one as well.
What an online presence gives you is more accessibility to your business features on all fronts, especially for the consumer. Through creating a website, you automatically gain some degree of credibility along with a more reputable name. If you don’t have a site, then this could adversely affect your name recognition—which is crucial in this industry.
We at Primo Roasting Equipment hope this helps you get started on your coffee roasting journey! For more on our robust roasters, check out our Warden-Xr30 today.