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Permalink Reply by lance battenfield on July 28, 2011 at 7:54am

as harsh as he may seem... i'm gonna have to agree with mike. I'm not afraid of you take business (there's plenty to go around) in fact i'm sure mike would even give you help as would i and many others on this website. BUT, make sure when you do this thing you do it right or it wont succeed. I see way to many people who know the business world and are good at just about anything they put there hand to business-wise who jump into coffee and expect it to work out and it doesnt. (i'm sure they wish they had gotten this advise) Shop owner after shop owner, roaster after roaster. To me, unless you do ALOT of homework and really get to know coffee not just on one level but almost all aspects, your money is best invested elsewhere. 

Mike McGinness said:

Granny while I believe your heart is in the right place your business intentions are pure folly. You said yourself "the only thing I know about coffee is how to load my coffee maker" yet you intend to start a coffee roasting business you know absolutely nothing about. Coffee is not an easy business when you know what you are doing and are good at it.

 

If you had the slightest clue about coffee roasting you'd know the Homer is a piece of crap. Well, the convection oven could be good for something, just not roasting anything over 1/2 maybe 3/4lb of coffee. And at that you have to manually remove an over 400f drum full of beans and cool them somehow, cooling not provided with this so called coffee roaster. Oh, and if you roast indoors be sure and disable your smoke detectors because roasting coffee produces smoke. Roast dark and it produces a LOT of smoke.

 

In addition to roasting coffee for over a decade I'm a fairly accomplished chef. Roasting coffee well is one of the most challenging of culinary arts. Making a State Fair Blue Ribbon pie would be easier than Mastering coffee roasting.

 

If you really want to learn about roasting coffee spend a bunch of time reading up at www.sweetmarias.com .

 

I'm not trying to be harsh just speaking what I believe to be true. I've seen far too many businesses, far too many coffee businesses, open and close their doors because people thought the coffee business would be a snap.

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Permalink Reply by Grannie Furd on July 28, 2011 at 2:22pm

Lance

Again thanks for the advise...and like I said I am doing my homework that is why im on this form, ( that seem like a hard  concept to grasp here)

I do not plan on going into business until Im sure that I will make it work, and at the earliest it would be not until next summer, so that gives me a year to study up.

I will know within that time frame wether or not I can make it work,

I must say that I have had a nice responce, but very little real info passed on to me here, other then Mike trying to tell me what I should not or can't do.

If I had dime for every time I was told I can't do something, I would be far richer then I am now!

I have asked a few questions and have not got what I would call a lot of response, a few folks, but not what I thought I would get when you concider how strong it seems everyone here seems to feel about this subject.

no disrespect ment in anyway just thought I would get ....well anyway.

I take everything everyone has to say to heart and will use any and all info to make up my mind

I just ordered the book "Home Coffee Roasting, Revised, Updated Edition: Romance and Revival"
to start off my collection of info as that was recomended by someone here..

again thanks for the advise lance keep it coming
lance battenfield said:

as harsh as he may seem... i'm gonna have to agree with mike. I'm not afraid of you take business (there's plenty to go around) in fact i'm sure mike would even give you help as would i and many others on this website. BUT, make sure when you do this thing you do it right or it wont succeed. I see way to many people who know the business world and are good at just about anything they put there hand to business-wise who jump into coffee and expect it to work out and it doesnt. (i'm sure they wish they had gotten this advise) Shop owner after shop owner, roaster after roaster. To me, unless you do ALOT of homework and really get to know coffee not just on one level but almost all aspects, your money is best invested elsewhere. 

Mike McGinness said:

Granny while I believe your heart is in the right place your business intentions are pure folly. You said yourself "the only thing I know about coffee is how to load my coffee maker" yet you intend to start a coffee roasting business you know absolutely nothing about. Coffee is not an easy business when you know what you are doing and are good at it.

 

If you had the slightest clue about coffee roasting you'd know the Homer is a piece of crap. Well, the convection oven could be good for something, just not roasting anything over 1/2 maybe 3/4lb of coffee. And at that you have to manually remove an over 400f drum full of beans and cool them somehow, cooling not provided with this so called coffee roaster. Oh, and if you roast indoors be sure and disable your smoke detectors because roasting coffee produces smoke. Roast dark and it produces a LOT of smoke.

 

In addition to roasting coffee for over a decade I'm a fairly accomplished chef. Roasting coffee well is one of the most challenging of culinary arts. Making a State Fair Blue Ribbon pie would be easier than Mastering coffee roasting.

 

If you really want to learn about roasting coffee spend a bunch of time reading up at www.sweetmarias.com .

 

I'm not trying to be harsh just speaking what I believe to be true. I've seen far too many businesses, far too many coffee businesses, open and close their doors because people thought the coffee business would be a snap.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on July 28, 2011 at 7:01pm

Sorry you've been disappointed with the response so far. Something to remember is that often people won't jump in in large numbers just to say "I agree" or "me too". Once you've gotten the "check out Sweet Maria's" and "don't do it" posts, you won't get many more. Also, we do get lots of people here that know nothing about coffee and want help getting in to the business. The fact that you approached it far better than most is what saved you from a thorough flaming... though you aren't too happy with your responses they are better than most get.

 

Which particular questions were you looking for more info on?

 

Remember too that a coffee lover is not a roaster, nor is your average barista. This means that a significant number of people here have nothing useful to contribute to the discussion. You can certainly count me in that number... yet here I go anyway.

 

Check out the stuff we pointed you to. Pick up one of the roasters that have been recommended many times in the other threads. Buy some greens, turn them brown, drink them, repeat.

 

If you want to know how the financial side will work out... the answer is that it won't. Roasting is not really that profitable of a business. Check out current greens prices, and compare that to current market price. Not much meat on those bones. A small roasting operation MAY pay the person doing the roasting. Paying a staff of more than 1 or 2 extra people based on a couple of accounts is not going to happen. You sound like a sharp and experienced business person... has your first pass suggested something different?

 

Again, not a subject I know much about... and most of the guys that I listen to on these matters have already spoken.

 

Hope that helps.

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Permalink Reply by lance battenfield on July 29, 2011 at 6:33am

Sorry bout that,

 good to see someone commited to research. Brady is right though. We have been in business for a little over two years now and i'm still working a side job, i'm the only one getting paid on our staff in the US and i'm def. not getting rich.(that is not my goal). A coffee shop is were the money is.

But for the love of coffee and a side hobby/career, i love it!

 

if your thinking about going with ambex for a roaster there is some great info on there website and they also give classes but they're located in Florida.

I've also met a guy not to far from us who used a 1lb. air roaster for his smaller operation. His coffee was pretty good. Maybe you could look into those for a less expensive option.

Good Luck!

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