Hi!
If you've followed my life to any extent, on here or otherwise, you know that I have three main external identities and all to some level of average success :
Family man
Serial entrepreneur
Farmer
You probably also know that I am a coffee fiend and due to dietary concerns am gluten free.
I've been trying to figure out how to bring all this together, and I think I've got it.
That's why I need a sanity check, please.
Please poke holes in my idea.
The farm that I live in is in the middle of nowhere. I love that part of it. It is on a county line and about equidistant between two County seats. Almost all of one County either goes to or through the other County to get to and from work, so it is a highly traveled road.
I'd love to sell those people great coffee with a great breakfast and also some produce.
However, I know that there is an insane amount of competition along their route to work. There's everything from Tim's to McDonald's to gas stations. Quality won't be enough to bring them in.
Free might, though.
I could set up a small stand and offer free coffee.
Total set up would be about $600. This is where I get lucky : "rustic" means "old barn scraps, and boy howdy do I have those. So the expense would be in running wire to a roadside site and setting up a percolator.
Nothing else.
If I'm giving it away for free, then there's no licensing or inspection or bathroom or construction code or anything.
Just a stand, percolator, and some led lights with a small sign saying what the plan is and how to contribute if so desired. This would have to come with the caveat that a donation is not expected or required, and there would be no money on site. All donations would have to be to me in person or online.
Then that stand could be the first one built to sell produce out of.
From there, a further three stands could be built to sell produce from. Each could be rented for a small daily fee to those in the area who wish to sell produce.
The field it is currently in could be planted to wheat. I can't touch wheat, the reason I am gluten free is that I have a contact allergy to it. But then I could take further portions of the field and not feel like I've lost much. I can also bale the straw and sell the straw bales on site, without even taking them to the barn. I'd just need to cover them.
From there, more area can be graveled for a parking lot until a usable area is completed.
I'm not even worried about the gravel expense. The gravel would be limestone. If this all goes belly up, that's called fertilizer.
Once that's done, a building could be erected in sections, to eventually be a coffee shop, cafe, and dry goods store. The farmers market could be outside, depending on the season.
I wouldn't be doing that right away though. I'm hoping that, by the time this happens, the free coffee has gotten a customer base in the habit of stopping. And yes, I've considered the cost of coffee. I've talked with a very good roaster, and it seems that to supply free coffee will cost me about $8 a day, considering beans, water, and electricity.
Further sections of the field could be laid off into sections for produce. This will be last because, frankly, that is labor intensive and I'm already almost at the limit of my day with the gardening I already do.
So, questions and concerns? I'd really love to hear them.
Thank you in advance.
