I am designing my own coffee business

I have been working in coffee since 2016 and what started as a student job became my full-time job. Coffee was an outlet, a new way to express creativity and a craft on its own in which I developed my own style, backed up by an old coffee culture and a large community. 

The more years I spent working in specialty coffee, the deeper in the field I got sucked in and the thought of opening up my own coffeeshop kept popping up. What if I could make a career out of coffee? Is opening a coffeeshop the end goal?

For the Design Students League’s Applied design methods class I am in right now, I wanted to work on a problem related to my professional environment: specialty coffee is a dynamic and inspiring field but in its current state possesses plenty of issues to address and as I would be the first to complain about being a barista, this class may be the opportunity to tackle some of the issues that I encounter on my daily work and perhaps concretize that crazy entrepreneurial fantasy of mine? This first blog post being a rewrite of one of my assignments for the class, how many birds do you think I can kill with one stone?

“Design meets coffee.”

To define the problematic of this project (the “What?”) I went to the root with the question “Why do I want to open a coffee business in the first place?”. 

On the top of my head these were some reasons: my discontent with the workplaces I have been, the lack of recognition of my work from my employers, the fact that my job required skills gained from a considerable time training and learning but I would be paid no more than the minimum wage, the absence of career evolution, the day-to-day decisions made by my employers and management. In the end I would just think “I can do it better”, so let’s do it better.

I shifted the focus of the project on the employees themselves, I am designing a business for me and my fellow baristas first, not for the customers, not for profit but for the baristas to have a workplace allowing them to pursue a viable career in specialty coffee. 

I got into coffee because I needed a student job, thinking that once I graduate I’d be done. A lot of people I’ve worked/I’m working with had/have the same reasons, coffee is a in-between not a career and I wouldn’t blame them for wanting to leave, there is no money in coffee. Then there are veteran baristas, the ones who built a strong coffee community all around the world this past decade. Some succeeded into making a comfortable living in this industry, most are just getting by and try to make the most with what they’re given. I want to address my project to these baristas, the ones who want to stay in the field and thrive individually as well as collectively.

In the assignment for this class, a part was to present the “How?”. If I had to present my project in 24 hours what design solution would I show? My preliminary design for this problem would be a business where baristas alternatively take the lead, like a collective. For a set time (a week, a fortnight, a month), baristas would alternatively take the lead in the store and would be responsible for their own personal concept, menu and coffee beans selection and each rotate. 

A lot of times I have been disappointed by the drink selections in my coffeeshop, wishing I could decide what new signature drink I would sell instead of the company’s, this would tackle the issue and appeal to each barista’s own personality and style. Employees have ideas but no platform to vocalize them, I want to give them one. Bringing the spotlight on employees would build community between the baristas, it would also engage cooperation and collaboration like in the design field.

Positive work relationships would extend to customers: customers tend to go to the same coffeeshops for their daily fix, because they know a certain barista and like the drinks they prepare specifically. Coffee in my opinion is defined by these personal connections. 

One last point would be to give well-deserved credit to the baristas and coffee workers for their work. Companies bring out a vision, a menu but baristas deliver the work and final product and without coffee producers there would be no bean to grind and brew. Oftentimes I felt like my superiors collected all the praises for the delicious tasting cup of coffee I served, acknowledging pretty much only the tip of the caffeinated iceberg. what if we could better distribute the recognition in the line of work that brought this one cup of coffee? The same way one barista would be brought on the spotlight, one producer could be too! Coffee beans change seasonally so it would be perfect to temporarily share one producer’s story as well.

My goal in this project would be to establish a coffee business and workplace model that would be positive, inspiring and sustainable for coffee employees. Maybe laying some ground for an actual future venture. The next steps would be to define such a business model, research similar initiatives and business to lastly sketch a landing webpage explaining my intents, potentially looking for collaborators, partners and future coworkers.