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Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. It’s estimated that 30% to 40% of the world’s population consumes coffee every day, so opening up a coffee-based business would allow you to sell to a large audience. You don’t even have to sell coffee beans to turn a profit.
How to Start A Coffee-Related Business Immediately
Coffee businesses are just as versatile as the beans themselves. Whether you plan on selling products or coffee-based services, here are 5 ways to make money off of your favorite brews.
1. Start Your Own Coffee Roastery and Sell Online
Coffee roasteries are places that roast their own beans in-house. Roasteries typically sell their beans in stand up pouches in bulk or as a retail item online or in a coffee shop. Small batch coffee roasters range from $300-$1000, while large batch roasters can cost $25,000-$100,000.
Although the upfront cost sounds high, coffee beans have a 10% profit margin or higher. If you’re a great marketer, you’ll be able to turn a profit with limited labor and maintenance costs. Plus, you can sell your beans at a farmer’s market or in a local coffee shop for more exposure.
2. Write or Talk About Coffee on a Blog or Podcast
Coffee blogs and podcasts bring in a lot of traffic and offer plenty of ideas for content. From specialty coffee to home brewing, you can appeal to almost any coffee niche in an interesting way. However, competition is fierce, so you’ll need to post frequently and market effectively.
Blogging and podcasting can be time-consuming and requires a good understanding of SEO, content creation, and your audience. However, startup costs are minimal, and the profit margins are huge. If you’re a big creator in the space, you could earn$10,000 or more per month.
3. Create a Coffee or Brewing-Related Online Course
Brewing coffee is an art, but you’re unlikely to find a course on this subject at a university or community center. Even if you could, online courses are more convenient and accessible to busy students. If you know how to make coffee, consider writing and producing a course.
Consider teaching beginner courses, like “how to make instant coffee taste great” or “how to create perfect latte art,” as these classes are easier to promote to all levels. At the same time, expert-level courses, like “how to start a coffee shop business,” tend to sell for much more.
4. Become a Digital Marketer for Coffee-Businesses
Digital marketers can start selling their services to coffee shops or other coffee-related startups if they’re familiar with the industry and their target customers. While no marketer needs a niche to attract clients, it can position yourself as a specialist and establish a loyal customer base.
Coffee is a solid market niche that requires a different advertising strategy than other drinks. For example, a coffee specialist would know that fair trade coffee is important to customers, even if fair trade has little to do with taste. Your clients will need your coffee expertise to sell effectively.
5. Establish Your Authority as a Coffee Influencer
Influencer marketing is nothing new, but it’s still an effective way to sell products and services. If you become a coffee influencer, you can partner with other brands as a promoter. Start posting content on social media (TikTok and Instagram, preferably) to build a following you can sell to.
You don’t need a million followers to become an influencer. Small businesses actually prefer to hire influencers with 10,000-100,000 follower counts because the audience tends to be more niche-specific and loyal. Influencers in this range can charge $500 or more per sponsored post.
