A roaster’s work is never done. Respect the bean!

I keep telling myself I need to write in my blog more often, but then I lose track of time and two months have gone by. The good news is that a lot has happened in those two months.

In mid-January I got news that my VA disability went through. After nearly 15 years of fighting for some small amount of rating, it took moving to Kansas to actually have them determine that, yes, I do have a disability worth compensation. This has completely changed the game where GGC is concerned.

I immediately ordered more coffee beans and got ready to introduce my first blend. With the savings I got on the beans from the larger order volume, I decided to take the plunge and get the compostable coffee bags. I have been wanted to do that since before I started, but it is cost prohibitive for a business that is just starting out. I did not want to increase my prices to get the bags.

In my last post, I talked about applying for the USAA and Bunker Labs pitch competition. Well, I did not get selected for the LA regional competition (which I’m relieved about-I can still maintain that I’ve never been to California). With that, I had to gear up and apply for the next regional. That meant I wanted to figure out how to make a pitch deck.

“What is a pitch deck?”, you ask. My interpretation is that it is just a fancy name for a PowerPoint presentation that supports a business owner’s request for funding. There are several philosophies about how to create the ‘perfect’ pitch deck. Anyone that knows my writing will not be surprised that I went with the shorter is better approach.

Needless to say, I spent a few weeks agonizing over how to create my pitch deck. The PowerPoint portion wasn’t a problem, I’ve been creating presentations off and on for years. It was what information should I include, and how should I present that information. This was harder than the time I had to write training when I was in the Navy or all the ‘how to’ guides for when I was a civil servant. This is a guessing game on what the potential investors think is important, and that changes with each investor.

The good news for all of you is that regardless of if I get into the competition and/or get any funding, I am moving forward with my plans. My goal is to have my coffee trailer up and running in 6 months or less. I won’t be able to roast in it yet, but I’ll be able to serve brewed coffee for anyone in the MHK area on a regular basis. This, in turn, will allow me to purchase a second roasting set up to put in the trailer for roasting on site and allow me to sell wholesale. I’m super excited about this.

Last on my list of news is that I will probably be retiring the Nicaragua SHG once I run out. It is a decent bean, but it is not performing as well as I would like, and I want to make room for another one. I noticed I have too many in central and south America. I’m going to try for another African bean, so watch out for when I post that I’ll be sampling a new bean at the market. My plan is to have some for customers to try at the farmer’s market before I decide to offer any new beans.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day.