An Opportunity

Last thoughts before I have to go do some work.

I said you can be as liberal as you want to be and still do this. I meant it and I stand by it.

But, if you want to start your own business, you need to start thinking like a business owner -- like an entrepreneur. Without that mindset, you won't find the opportunities you need to succeed.

You need to stop looking at the world through the eyes of an employee.

(You can still be charitable and ethical. You can still save baby seals and champion green technology.)

I mostly read non-fiction, especially biographies.

While I don't expect anyone here to found the next U.S. Steel or General Electric, there are more biographies of billionaire industrialists than there are of the dry cleaner who lives down the street.

Here's a couple I've read recently:



http://www.amazon.com/Merchant-Power-Insull-Creation-Metropolis/dp/1403968845



http://www.amazon.com/Meet-You-Hell-Partnership-Transformed/dp/1400047676

While they are certainly not perfect individuals, it can be inspiring to read about successful business men. It will put you in the mood & mindset of a business owner.

Also, check out the library and book store for books about how to start a business and for other business related books.

And again, see if your local college has a small business development center. They offer lots of good and free counseling.

 

I would be all over this if I still needed work, and didn't suck at fixing things. Bust mostly sucking at fixing things.

 

Yankee Fan is devoloping a cult like following, why do I have a feeling this could end up like Waco

 

I'm afraid that I'm going to sound like a broken record, so I'll try to say this only one more time.

Please, please, please do not let your current inability to fix things be the reason you do not consider this. I'm not just saying this to Mustang, but to everyone.

It's a sales job. It's a problem solving job. It's a customer service job.

Coffee & espresso machines are predictable. They will do the same thin every time.

Having the parts & the tools is more important than how good you are at turning a wrench. You're ability to acquire customers and provide them with good customer service are more important than anything.

And manufacturers, coffee roasters, etc. want smart, well spoken representatives.

I'd always prefer to have someone smart working for me. I can teach smart. And the participants of this board are far smarter than the average bear.

Someone who is experienced at "fixing things" might be able to quickly swap out a part, but they may not swap out the right part. They may not se what's causing the part to fail and thus will only treat a symptom instead of the disease.

This did not come easy for me. I was terrified. I was terrified every time I drove to a job to work on something I hadn't done before.

I fucked up. I've burned myself. I've cut myself. (only one small scar.) I've shocked myself.

But the fact that I've been able to do it is what gives me the confidence to say that it's possible for any of you to do this.

And there really isn't that much risk. The cost to enter this business is very low. That's a huge part of what attracted me to it.

 

Intelligentsia has gotten rid of all of their coffee brewers in their stores.

They'll prepare it in one of several ways -- including a French press or with a Clover -- but no ore drip coffee at Intelligentsia.

 

To be honest, YF, most of us are probably not so good with sales and customer service.

Have you seen the way we talk about readers?

 

All right, let's take a break from my preaching and motivational speaking.

Let's get on to how a traditional espresso machine fills. Then I'll back up and go over some espresso machine basics and I'll go into further detail about how I started my business.

An espresso machine fills very similarly to a coffee machine -- with a couple of important differences.

As soon as you turn on an espresso machine, the first thing it will do is look for water. If the boiler ("boiler" as opposed to "tank" in a coffee machine) is not filled up to the level probe, it will call for water.

Water will enter the boiler until it hits the probe. At that point, it will stop filling. The probe works just like the probe in a coffee machine. A wire is attached to the top. A circuit is completed once water reached the probe and the inlet valve closes.

Here's what's different. The probe in an espresso machine sticks much further down into the boiler of an espresso machine that the probe on a coffee machine sticks into the tank.

Once the boiler fills & heats, it will be filled half with water, and half with steam.

The other big difference is that an espresso machine will start to heat as soon as you turn it on. (We'll see why in a later chapter.)

If a heating element turns on in a boiler with no water in it, it can blow.

So, if you are installing a new machine, you need to get water in the boiler before power is applied to the heating element.

How do you do this? One of two ways. Your machine will likely have a manual feed valve. This is a valve you can manually open, even before the machine is plugged in or turned n.

Attached to the boiler will be what's called a sight glass. This is just a glass tube that will fill up along with the boiler. This will tell you how full the boiler is. There will usually be markings that will show you the minimum & maximum level required in the boiler. Once you've reached the minimum level, you can turn on the machine an let it fill the rest of the way on its own.

The other way to do it is not available on all machines. Some machines will have a switch with three positions.

There is "off" obviously. But in addition to "on" there is a third setting that turns on everything except the heating element. This will allow you to let the machine fill before turning the switch to the full "on" position.

In practical terms, it works like this: In the "off" position, the know on the switch is pointed straight up.

To turn everything on except the elements, you turn the knob to the left. The switch will usually have a "1" to indicate this position.

To turn the machine fully on, you turn the know to the right. Their will be a "2" to indicate this position.

Here's another difference: The boiler provides the steam that you use to steam your milk. It also feeds the hot water tap that you can use for tea or to make an Americano (espresso + hot water).

But, the water that is used to make your shot of espresso (that is, that is pumped through your finely ground, tightly packed coffee) does not come from the boiler.

It is fed through a tube that runs through the boiler. The water is heated by traveling through the tube. It's similar to how the "tankless" water heaters work.

This type of boiler is called a heat exchange boiler and the "tube" is the "heat exchanger".

This is typical of most traditional, commercial espresso machines.

Some high end machines will have two boilers -- one for steam, and one for coffee water. (And two boilers are standard on Super Automatic machines, which we'll get to next.)

 

Ace, my customers are like your readers. They drive me crazy.

They ignore my advice. They blame me for their machines breaking down. (And they wouldn't if they followed my advice.)

But, they're mostly good people, and if they followed my advice, I wouldn't have as much business.

All of you are good communicators. Communicating information is what's crucial. Information about your services. Information on what went wrong and how you fixed it. Information about how to prevent a similar problem in the future.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I really think this particular boards members are well suited for this endeavor -- and it's because of your communication skills.

Sales & customer service really boil down to communication.

 

I've mentioned that I rebuild & sell used espresso machines.

Sometimes I'll get an old one from a customer for free. Sometimes I buy them.

I got really lucky and got a free one right after I started my business. One of my customers was closing a store and they wanted me to pick up their coffee brewer and hold on to it as a spare.

They also had an espresso machine & they were going to throw it away. They gave it to me instead.

I rebuilt it and used it as my home machine for a long time before selling it.

Here's a link to someone who says he has several La San Marco machines available for $199.00

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bfs/2101988555.html

They can be built for just a couple of hundred bucks when you buy your parts at distributor prices.

Rebuilding a machine is the best way to learn how they work and how to fix them. It's great to have one because you can improve your own "barista" skills.

If someone wants to buy one of these machines, I will get you your parts at my cost and I will walk you through rebuilding it.

I've rebuilt several of this brand of machine.

If you do this, you can easily sell a two group machine for $2,000-$2,500 and a three group machine for over $3,000.

Easy.

You'll need 220V power to run & test it. If you have an electric dryer, you an plug it in there.

A machine that doesn't work is best to buy. People won't ask much for it & you'll want to rebuild it anyway if you are going to sell it.

Check out Craigslist for machines in your area. If you see a machine you are interested in, shoot me a PM or email and I will tell you what I think.

 

Does anyone know what this thread is about? I'm lost.