Sarah Irvin spent eight years working in a veterinary hospital. It’s no surprise that during this time, she never once pulled a shot of espresso for a customer. Flash forward to today. Sarah the owner of The Frenchie Fix in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. She started serving coffee at pop-ups in September 2025 and recently celebrated her first year in business.
How did Sarah make the jump from working in a veterinary hospital to owning a mobile coffee business?
More and more of our graduates are starting their coffee businesses as a mobile coffee cart. Why? A cart is the most affordable way to launch a coffee business, with about a $7,500 to $15,000 startup investment. It’s a business model with less risk, but not with less strategy. Every decision about your cart, equipment, menu, and water system affects how fast you can serve and how smoothly an event runs. What’s at stake? Your bottom line.
Recently, Texas Coffee School founder Tom Vincent had the chance to speak to Barista Magazine. The article discussed the way café menus have expanded over the past several years, and what that means for baristas and operators. As consumer tastes change, the article asked, “What matters more? The espresso or the cold foam?”
Tom’s response: “The biggest change I see isn’t that coffee has become less important. It’s that the definition of a retail coffee shop business has become much broader.”
What’s actually worth the splurge when you’re opening a coffee shop?
If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you’ve probably seen the “5 things worth the money” trend. Influencers, creators, and brands list splurge-y purchases and experiences they don’t regret spending on.
That’s a concept that definitely applies to opening a coffee shop.
In our recent article Where to Spend and Where to Save When Opening a Coffee Shop,
Do I need to invest in a coffee business education course if I want to open a coffee shop?
There is no one way to open a coffee business. People do it every day, and they all rely on their own skills, education, background, and network to make it happen.
But, opening a coffee business means juggling finances and budgeting, commercial leases, barista training, coffee equipment, permits, marketing, and more (all at once,