New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

Former Architect/Draftsman Started a Thriving Coffee Business with His Family

This profile features Gusto di Vita Coffee, a thriving family-operated coffee kiosk and products business

Name:

John Brown

Family Description:

Wife Kyrsten, 3 children: Cedric (7), Schuyler (5), Galadrea (3).  Also work with My parents, my brother Quint and his family and my sister Brandi

Business Name:

Gusto di Vita Coffee

Business Description:

We manufacture and operate Drive-thru kiosks offering a wide variety of espresso and frappe drinks

Location:

Virginia

Formal education/training:

I had a degree in architecture (though was never a licensed architect).  My brother Quint and sister Brandi were trained as baristas but I myself have had no formal education or training in either business or coffee.

Prior work experience:

• I worked as a draftsman for a civil engineer, an experience which did give me some helpful experience in site planning and submitting siteplans to local zoning authorities for our drive-thru locations
• I also had my own home-design and drafting business which helped in being able to design our own kiosk

Forming the Idea:

I'd never even thought of having my own coffee business until others in my family got into the business

How you got started:

1. Though my Dad has always worked for a corporation, we were raised to value entrepreneurship as a goal and tried several businesses, such as direct-market farming
2. My mother and sister were interested in perhaps opening a cafe' and answered an ad in Entrepreneur Magazine about coffee kiosks
3. My sister and brothers purchased 2 kiosks and started the business
4. I was involved part time from the beginning, doing book-keeping and other behind-the-scenes tasks
5. Then the single-proprietor engineering firm I worked for closed and the principle took a job with a large engineering firm
6. Not wanting to follow him to that work environment, I decided it would be a good time to jump into the coffee business full-time

What was it like in the beginning:

In a sense we are still "in the beginning," though we've now been in business for about 5 1/2 years.  It has taken tremendous perseverance and we learned a lot of things the hard way.  We made the initial mistake of opening two locations simultaneously without having them fully staffed.  This locked us (particularly Quint and Brandi) into working long hours just operating the kiosks which left little time to get organized and hire which became a vicious cycle which it took some time for us to rise out of.

We also discovered quickly that the tiny kiosks we had were too small, poorly laid out, not adequately equipped and not built to withstand hard commercial use.  This led us to develop our own larger, high-quality kiosk which we are now installing at all of our sites and offering to others interested in starting their own coffee business.

What stage the business is at now:

We now operate 4 locations in the central Virginia area.  We have our own website and are in the process of trying to expand into the more urban northern Virginia market.  We have some very exciting opportunities that we are pursing right now that could help us achieve that.  We have put together a top-quality product line that we are very happy with.  What we want to do now is transition from strictly a retail operation to more of a manufacturing and supply business in which all of the extended family can be involved, each of us using our own particular talents. 

The biggest challenge you’ve faced:

• Of course hiring and training good employees is an on-going challenge.  But for the most part, we have been very blessed with some great employees, many of whom we knew through a church we attended.
• I think the biggest challenge we have faced has been lack of working capital.  We have bootstrapped our way into this business which meant doing a lot of things ourselves which might have been better to buy or hire.  It can be grueling and really slows you down at first.
• Also, local government regulations - zoning, building, health departments, etc. have been a challenge. Our drive- thru kiosk concept is new and unique in our area and does not always fit neatly into a pre-defined niche in the zoning ordinance.  Dealing with government agencies can be intimidating.

Key steps that made the difference:

• I would like to point out some "magic" steps that we took -- we did "a", "b" and "c" and were suddenly successful.  But it hasn't really been like that.  It's been a slow process of just working through things one at a time.  I guess the key step is just taking the next step.
• Going out on our own, instead of relying on a franchisor or licensor to do all our thinking for us was a critical step.  We use to think there was some kind of secret formula out there that successful people knew that we didn't.  When we finally realized that that "secret formula" was initiative.  It's not necessarily that others knew more than we did but that they were doing something with what they knew.  Now if we think something is a good idea, we just try it.
• Organization is key too.  You have to streamline your business operation, establish routines that work and track information.  We are still taking this step but the more we can refine our everyday operations, the better we are able to concentrate on the big picture and the more time we have to be creative and to refine our product and marketing.
• Finally we feel it was key to just give our business to God.  It allows us to stop worrying and just do what needs to be done, knowing that the results are in His hands and that whatever they are, they will be for our best.

Lessons Learned:

• First, don't bite off more than you can chew.  It's better and ultimately quicker to start small, learn to do your business well on a small scale and grow naturally into something bigger than to start off too big and just never catch up.
• Second, ask.  Nobody was somehow born knowing how to do business.  Ask questions.  But don't wait until you know all the answers or you'll never get started.  If you want to work with someone or think you could use a resource they have, ask them.  You never know what the answer will be until you ask.  The worst that can happen is that they say "no."
• Finally, don't count too much on one thing.  It's good to have a plan but you don't know which doors God will open and close.

The best advice you received:

The best advice I think I've had didn't come from something someone specifically told me about my business but from a movie I saw called Facing the Giants -- "Give your very best, and leave the results to God."  That just summarizes it for me -- that's what I need to do.

What your work and family life was like before:

I was working basically 9-5 in a little engineering company.  It was a great workplace really, very comfortable.  But it was still a workplace.  I enjoyed the job but it didn't really give me a deeper sense of purpose.  I didn't work a lot of long hours or anything but something in my personality just doesn't like the idea that someone else had claim to the 8 best hours of my day.   At the time, I had only 1 pre-school child whom I saw for a couple hours in the evening between the time I got home and the time he went to bed.

What your work and family life is like now:

There are occasions when I work more hours a day now than I did when I had my 9-5 job but they are my hours, working toward my family goals.  And I am in control of them.  I'm able to take an active role in homeschooling my children (I have three now), planning lessons and teaching a class each morning before I head upstairs to my office, an option that would be rare for a full-time employee.  If something happening in my family is more important than what is going on with the business that day, I
can decide to take that time if I want to.  I can't always take time off when I'd like to but at least it's my decision.  And I have a lot more opportunities to have my children at my side during the work day.  My wife is involved with our business -- helping me instead of just hearing about how my day went when I get home.  And one day, I can pass my businesses on to my children or use my business resources to help them start their own.  You can't do that with a job.