Had to choose between a franchise coffee shop or going independent with my own idea

About a year ago I was sitting on about 15 grand in savings and trying to decide between buying into a local coffee franchise or just renting a small space and doing my own thing. The franchise wanted 10k upfront plus 6% of sales forever, and they had all these rules about what beans I had to use and how the place had to look. My gut kept pulling me toward going independent even though my dad kept saying franchises are safer bets. So I went with the independent route, found a little hole in the wall on Main Street in my town for $800 a month, and started roasting my own beans in small batches. First 6 months were brutal with hardly any customers coming in, but now I've got a steady crew of regulars and I'm actually making a little profit after expenses. Has anyone else had to pick between a franchise and starting from scratch, and how did it turn out for you?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_charlie21d ago

Man I totally get that franchise pressure. I almost went with a big sandwich franchise a few years back but the $8k fee plus having to use their bread supplier made me bail last minute. Went with a tiny kitchen instead and started doing my own hot sauce blends on the side, took almost a full year before I broke even. The freedom to mess around with recipes and actually change things when customers gave feedback was huge though. Franchises lock you into their system and you cant really pivot when something aint working. Sounds like you made the right call with the roasting, having your own bean blend is something no franchise can copy.

fiona_young21d ago

The $8k franchise fee was exactly what stopped me too, but with my little baking setup I put that money into a better oven and tested like 20 different sourdough starters before landing on one. It took about 8 months of weekend farmers markets before I saw a profit, but being able to swap out a dud recipe in a week instead of begging corporate for permission made all that grinding worth it. Having your own bean blend means you own the whole flavor story, franchises just rent theirs.

grace_bailey23h agoMost Upvoted

A buddy of mine tried the franchise route with a smoothie chain a couple years back. He signed everything, paid the fee, then realized they wouldn't even let him swap in local fruit when a supplier let him down. He had to toss a whole batch of premix that was turning bad instead of just buying fresh berries from the farm down the road. He walked away after six months and never looked back, started a taco pop-up instead and actually loves going to work now.