It's no secret that the coffee industry is booming. In fact, the coffee industry was worth over $102 billion in 2020, and this number is only going up. That's a lot of coffee!
So if you're looking to get into the coffee game, now is the time. But where do you start?
When it comes to selling coffee, there are many different ways to do it.
You can sell it online, in stores, or even through distributors. But no matter which way you choose to go, there are some things that you need to keep in mind if you want to be successful.
To sell coffee, you need:
- A product that is high quality and in demand
- An effective way to get the product to the consumer
- A place for customers to come and purchase your product
Let's take a look at all three of these things individually.
1. A fantastic product
While this may seem like common sense, you'd be surprised how many people skip this step only to fail miserably. For your coffee business to have a fighting chance, you need to have great tasting coffee that keeps your customers coming back again and again.
Not only your product, but the sealing and packaging of your product should also be top-notch in order to keep up with demand and use your time efficiently. Luckily for you, you're already at the right place for that as we certainly know a thing or two about machines.
Here you go:
But no matter how good the coffee is, if nobody knows about it, then all of your hard work will go down the drain. This brings us to our next point...
2. An effective way to get your product out there
You don't want just to sell coffee - you want to sell it as many places as possible, right? Well, then you need a great distribution system that can get your coffee into the right hands at the right time.
This is where things get tricky. If you only think about the distribution of your product once it's already ready to go, then you're going to run into problems. The best thing you can do is start thinking about your distribution long before your first roast.
Do some research and figure out:
- How much coffee you'll need to supply to the market?
- Where and how it will go from there?
- And what sort of profit margins you can expect?
All of these things will help you figure out if this is a good business venture for your coffee or not. If it isn't, then don't do it! There are plenty of other ways that you can sell coffee.
3. A place for customers to buy your product
This is the hardest part because it will take a lot of work and a lot of time to get right.
For you to succeed at selling coffee, you need to have somewhere that people can come and purchase your product from. This could be an actual storefront, or you might just sell to distributors. Whatever the case may be, you need to have a place for people to come and get their coffee fix from.
If you are selling directly to customers, you have one additional requirement that can't be overlooked.
You need to have a great website that your customers can go to.
Nowadays, this is easier than ever before because there are so many different platforms that make creating a website easy as pie. (Hint: Shopify)
Once you figure this holy trinity out, then congratulations - you're on your way to becoming a successful coffee seller!
If you need further guidance, make sure to take a look at our coffee hub.