Don’t let fear stop you from starting a coffee shop

Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

At Texas Coffee School, we will be the first to tell you the Coffeepreneur® lifestyle isn’t for everyone. Do you think you have what it takes? If so, don’t let fear stop you from starting a coffee shop.

There’s a hardworking small business owner behind every independent coffee shops’ exposed brick walls, crumbly pastries, and clever seasonal drink menus. Before a single latte is ever served, those Coffeepreneurs® made some difficult personal and financial decisions, then woke up early and walked the slow and humbling path of leasing real estate, managing contractors, investing in equipment, and finding the right staff. (And that is just scratching the surface!) 

The Dream of Starting a Coffee Shop

So many of us wake up on Monday mornings and dream of going to work somewhere other than a cubicle forest in a company that doesn’t care about anything more than the bottom line. We imagine what it would be like to be the visionary instead of someone else’s goal achiever. We think about opening specialty coffee shops in our small town squares, or coffee trucks parked outside the community soccer field.

Maybe, we even have an idea! What does starting a coffee shop look like to you? An art and yoga studio with a coffee bar? Or, a coffee shop nonprofit that teaches high school students business skills and trains them to become entrepreneurs?

When Fear Gets in the Way

Deep down, we know we have what it takes to create something meaningful for ourselves, our communities, and our families. But, Monday after Monday we return to our cubicles, our fears preventing us from ever getting started: 

• I can’t leave the security of my 9 to 5 job
• My family will think I’m selfish to take the risk
• I have no idea what it takes to open a business
• I know nothing about coffee
• The idea might totally fail
• The timing isn’t right for me

Sometimes, the fear is enough to keep us where we are. Other times, the persistent dream refuses to go away. We completely understand–standing up, walking out of the cubicle, and jumping headfirst into opening a small business is not going to be for everyone. But let us ask you this: 

What’s bigger: your dream or your fear? 

Every weekend, we host classrooms full of aspiring Coffeepreneurs, coffee enthusiasts, and regular people from all over the world whose dreams won’t leave them alone. They come to our classes when they can no longer put off getting started–understanding that not starting at all would be even worse than failing. 

We also know that even as the dream of opening a coffee shop business gets bigger, it doesn’t mean the logical fears just disappear. That’s why we give our students the training and the tools to open a business responsibly, equipping a coffee or business novice with a detailed business plan, comprehensive coffee training, and everything they need from real estate strategy, to hiring staff, to selecting roasters. 

But most of all, we teach our students to embrace the fear instead of letting it paralyze them. They know it’s possible they could potentially mess up, hire the wrong person, or even create a menu item that doesn’t sell. Mistakes are an inevitable part of pursuing any worthwhile goal. But, our students don’t let the fear become larger than their dreams. 

Because it’s only a matter of time before somebody else takes our idea for a downtown coffee shop or a neighborhood coffee truck and makes it happen themselves. 

Is fear getting in the way of starting a coffee shop? 

To beat back your fears and take a big step toward your dream, sign up for our Coffeepreneur® 3-Day Business Masterclass. It’s a detailed and comprehensive, step-by-step roadmap for every part of starting your own independent coffee shop business. We designed it to get you. From “I’m thinking about opening a coffee shop” all the way through your opening day and beyond. We’ll cover your hands-on coffee education & barista training, business planning, and day-to-day operations training. This is what you’ve been looking for! Let’s do this!