Coffee ❤️ers - Vet This Idea ☕️
[Update: I've spun up a very very quick landing page with sign up in case anyone is interested: https://maxe32.sg-host.com/]
Hey! Ok -
---- THE PROBLEM ----
I'm starting to hate specialty coffee culture.
Even in big cities, I get tired of going to the same specialty coffee places every weekend.
The best ones are always busy, you never know if you're going to get a seat and when you do it's often so loud you can barely hear the person sat next to you.
For me, coffee culture has lost the cosy coffee vibe it once had.
---- HERE'S THE IDEA ----
I want to build a website that allows you to find local people in your area who have a sick home coffee setup.
You can book a slot if they're home to go and pick up a coffee which you pay for on the site - then just take a reusable mug.
They get to enjoy using their sick machine (& get paid) - for me personally I love to make coffee when people come over and wish there was more people I could do it for.
You get that cosy, low-key hosting vibe along with the coffee - you get to meet new people around a shared passion - a world of new options for getting coffee opens up. Coffee life becomes less repetitive and boring.
It seems so cool to me.
So - would anyone be down for this? Or would I likely be making an website with one user?
Either way - I'm gonna build it cos I want it to exist so bad haha.
Hey Max,
What about this:
Start a local Coffee Lovers group on Meetup.com, then use that as your honeypot.
Attract all the coffee people in your town and tradeoff weekends at X person's house/apartment. (Toilets at public coffee shops get WORKED so that's kinda scary-LOL) 🚽
If it grows, you'll not only meet all the coffee lovers, but really validate if it's worth building. It might be better as just a Meetup and you could partner with coworking spaces too if you host a big tasting event. Since there's so many people already on Meetup (I run one) it's a ready-made discovery platform. 🕵🏻
For example, when I travel around (basically every month), I'll creep around Meetup and see if there's any upcoming events to crash that seem interesting. And then I can crash your Coffee Meetup too. 😄
Hey Derek,
Wow - this sounds like a super smart idea.
Honestly though the thought of it makes me want to go and work my own 🚽 😂
I'm a mad introvert when it comes to groups and the thought of organising one terrifies me.
I think if I'm honest though this sounds like a really smart approach and if I could only dig deep and find the courage to do it, I'd go for it.
We'll see...
I like with the idea of starting with a Meetup group. Lets you validate the idea and generate some local interest before you commit to anything bigger. It's analogous to a book club; every few weeks a small group gets together to discuss a book they're all reading and drink wine. Down the road you could reach out to smaller coffee roasters to sponsor it!
Thanks man - yeah that's a super cool idea as well
Hi Max, as others already said, you could start small, using existing platforms like Meetup or even WhatsApp. I'm plugging my newsletter here, but Olio started validating the idea using WhatsApp.
There's won't be an easy equation to solve (chicken-egg problem) but once you crack it, you will be in a very good place.
Hey Leo - super interesting post - thanks for sharing!
I 100% agree that starting super small is the only way and will deffo consider using something like WhatsApp - although I'm also learning React and want to use this project to 'practice' on the side.
It sucks that I live in a part of the Netherlands where most people don't speak English and I can barely hold a convo in Dutch - makes it a lot harder to build any kind of community here.
But I can deffo start with friends and maybe friends of friends. The one good coffee shop in our town is closing for refurb so I'm going to take this opportunity to try and fill the demand over the next few weeks.
This comment was deleted 4 years ago
This is a pretty cool idea, very niche.. but has potential!
<3
yes,agree with you
Very interesting, not my bag, but it has good potential
I really like the idea and would definitely try it out!
Some possible challenges / thoughts:
I don't think it's too much of a chicken egg problem because I'd guess there's a huge overlap over people who are both a chicken and an egg simultaneously..
The QA part is tough - I don't know! I think this could be the biggest obstacle for doing something like this on a larger scale
but that's what airbnb & uber did, normally you have regulations for taxi drivers, hotels
I also assume, depending on where you operate, the regulations by law will be pretty stressful to sail around. But this is a usual challenge when starting something: You will know what's coming when it's coming.
Yeah indeed - uber and airbnb and uber figured it out but they're funded - I'd only want to do this as an indie project. The thought of too much law stuff is putting me off a little.
Extraordinary thought! Are there individuals who like to drink espresso and play on the web? I found this topbestnespresso there are a lot of fascinating things about gambling machines and betting.
i love the idea. There is an IH Coffee Radar... perhaps partner up
UPDATE: After a lot of great ideas from you guys I’ve posted in my towns FB group to offer homemade coffees for pickup - explaining that my idea is to build a little local network of enthusiasts who want to exchange homemade coffees.
If you’re intrigued, follow me on Twitter for updates :) @maxecc
Great idea! Are there people who like to drink coffee and play online? I found this site https://www.slotozilla-pl.com/pl/darmowa-kasa there are a lot of interesting things about slot machines and gambling.
Good idea, I like it.
<3 thanks Rick
I'd be too shy to go to a stranger's home just for coffee :) and I'd have to spend a day cleaning before someone can come to mine :) otherwise I like the idea
man, as a coffee lovers and someone who have worked in one of the big US specialty coffee startup, I'm totally with you and believe this idea has lot of potential
Thanks man - why do you think that? And what do you think would be the greatest obstacle?
Hey Max,
I like it .. As a coffee lover I know the problem first hand and the idea of picking up a coffee that is made by someone who loves what he is doing is exotic enough at least to try it. But yes as others mentioned it's a two sided platform and might not be super easy to rollout and gain traction. However I would highly suggest that you start with yourself on a very small scale before building anything promote that you provide this service in your neighborhood may be via WhatsApp or telegram or any means and see if it gets attention of some tribe. By doing this you will talk to customers and learn and understand the problem/pain points/gains etc before you do anything and you get to enjoy making the coffee that you love. Very curious to see where this will go.
This sounds like a super smart way to go. Honestly if I can't build a mini prototype in a week (I'm learning React and using this as the project to learn) - then I'll go for WhatsApp. In fact, Im already gonna find some facebook pages and see what the response is. Cheers for the super helpful feedback.
I love coffee, but I'm probably not your target and I don't know the market well, so keep that in mind.
Cool idea but a word of caution — people who have a killer coffee setup probably have money and don't care much about making $7. So it would really have to be more about meeting people and the love of making a good cup. And if it's more about the social aspect, these types of products can be tough (but not impossible!) to grow, as you'll need coffee makers to make it useful to coffee drinkers and vice versa (chicken:egg situation). Just something to consider.
That said, I think the market is a good one — coffee connoisseurs are nuts about their coffee! And I'm sure there are plenty of communities where you could promote it.
Yeah good points!
It wouldn't be about the money at all - that's just to keep fair exchange. I know several people who love their coffee setup so much, they wish they could use it more often. Making/practicing latte art is a highlight of my day haha.
I also think the chickens and the eggs here are often the same - some kind of half chicken, half egg species of poultry - the people who would probably most embrace this concept would themselves have a good setup and want to try from others. Even if it's just that they make a great filter coffee at home from a specific type of bean they love.
I still think your points are true though and would be obstacles to make it really big.
I'd be happy to build the app just for my own little network and anything else would be a bonus though to be honest.
It's more of a passion project - I don't see how I could obviously make a lot of money from it or anything.
It's a great idea man, let's do it
<3
So... like Airbnb for specialty coffee? :)
It's a cool idea, IIRC I've seen something similar on reddit. Has some safety concerns but also a lot of potential (meeting cool people, learning about new things). I'd really be curious to see something like this take off and evolve.
Haha yes exactly!
Yeah indeed the safety part would have to be carefully considered. But I mean people buy cakes at random cake sales and such - so there must be a way..
I think it would be hard to execute but I think I'm just going to build it for myself, let friends book coffee pickups on it and provide the functionality for other home-coffee-makers to set up a profile/offer.
Cool idea! I could see it potentially working! I have a Breville Dual Boiler which isn't the craziest setup but still makes great coffee non the less. It'd be pretty cool to have people come over for a cup of coffee, we have a nice deck for them to enjoy it on too!
Yeah exactly! Honestly you can make an incredible tasting latte with a nespresso espresso machine and a cafetiere for frothing milk - I don't think the setups have to be mind-blowing. People would rate the quality of the coffee they got over the setup they got it from :)
Interesting idea. I have a coffee machine and have thought about how easy it would be to make a few bucks by serving coffees to neighbours etc (we don't have a good cafe nearby).
Ultimately thought I wouldn't do myself because I've got a kid and am too busy, however I'd probably be a customer / coffee tourist if someone else was serving it nearby ;)
Yeah I have the same feeling - I know my coffee is nicer than most of the machine lattes offered in my town.
Haha yeah I imagine it would be tougher with kids.
Pretty cool idea. Maybe try to start with a specific city to solve the two-sided market problem and promote it just in this area. Even though I prefer web-based products, I think an app would be a good option here...
Yeah exactly - I think I'd maybe start it in my own town, list my own setup and tell friends they can book a coffee pickup whenever they want through the app and see if it can get other people who can offer coffee on it. Even 10 good coffee makers in a small town would transform the number of options