Coffee Pop Up

[jsab]

Hello all,

I have been doing research for the past couple months now on coffee, roasting, and the industry in general. I have a business plan to open up a shop but having trouble finding capital. I am starting to think about opening a "pop-up" coffee/espresso shop, and/or, doing a coffee/espresso cart.

I am looking for information from anybody who has done a pop-up, or knows anything about it. Budget is 20-25k total. I have a nice location in mind inside of a gallery in the lobby of a building with over 1,000 people working in it. The space could fit a small coffee bar(or cart) and some seating.

Any information on logistics would be great, for example: can the whole espresso cart be plugged into a wall outlet and have sufficient power? Will the wall power be able to power 2 grinders and a 2-group espresso machine? I would use a 5 gallon wastewater tank and a 5 gallon freshwater tank for the water supply.

Thanks guys, any information is valuable!

 

[expat]

I sell coffee to a young man that, if he were a listed company, I'd buy all the stock in him I could. He is unstoppable.

Every morning he sets up his little pop-up tent at a lay-by and people line up for a cup on their way to work.

He runs a coffee shop out of the back of his car. His 2-group espresso machine is propane fired. He has a truck battery that he charges nightly to run the electrics on the espresso machine and his grinder. Not counting his little hatchback (or maybe counting it) his total outlay is less than 7k euro. America probably has a bit higher standard when it comes to 'consumer experience' but you've got to be able to keep at least 15k in your pocket.

Like the cart. I bet you could pay a lot of money for a slick looking cart but I bet you could build it yourself for about 1/3 of the price.

Also, don't borrow money. There's got to be a creative way to boot-strap your business. If the concept works and you work out the bugs and want to expand, maybe then you think about borrowing but not now. Using other people's money can make you lazy. (I know, I did it way back when and have never stopped regretting it). If you're pulling it out of your pocket you get very creative.

 

[TheGreenJoe]

Hey Jsab,
I run a mobile unit out of an old converted scamp. I was able to build mine out for 12k but I look back and could have done it cheaper. I made a few mistakes along the way the cost both money and time.

When it comes to espresso, power and time are directly related. So, you can buy an espresso with less power, but it will take more time to heat your espresso chamber. I'm sure you can get a espresso to run off a 120v circuit, but if they have a 220-240 circuit, that's even better, because you'll double your power and have less wait time on your espresso machine.

Now 5 gallons isn't a bad idea, but thats only 40 cups of coffee (16 oz). And if your going to invest this much into the idea, you'll want to make more than $40 bucks a day. So, go big on the tanks if you can.

Hope this helps. I have tutorial videos on my website (www.greenjoecoffeetruck.com). Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[jsab]

Thanks for the info! Love the truck.

 

[TheGreenJoe]

Thanks for the info! Love the truck.

Thank you so much! It's been great so far!