Venture Concept No.1

Sustainable Coffee Shop Venture Concept

Opportunity 


My business is comprised of a local coffee shop which envelopes an element of social consciousness by promoting environmental sustainability. Therefore, my venture concept stretches onto a variety of different opportunities in various spheres -- a need for independent, localized places to buy coffee, greater promotion of organic coffee agriculture and the local agricultural economy, places with eco-friendly materials and inventory, and businesses with an educational/social mission for the greater good.

So, who exactly is in need of these things? Simply put, everyone. That is why I could decipher this opportunity, as it is inclusive of all people. There is a huge market for coffee lovers, environmental activists, and overall, people that want to make a change while going about their everyday routines such as enjoying their daily cup of fresh coffee. Although a good strategy would be to market to young college students that make up a great proportion of coffee consumers and social cause activists, my business would still cater to all people. Currently, people are satisfying this need by turning to large corporate franchises like Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, McCafé, etc. Truth be told, the quality of coffee from these places cannot compare to that of a fresh, flavorful, and locally grown cup of coffee. Coffee beans distributed to the masses just don't have the same homemade warmth, healthy properties, and care to it, and it's palpable from the way it's produced to the way it tastes. Your Grande Caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks carries a staggering 66g of sugar, has artificial flavoring, high cholesterol, and all other kinds of unhealthy qualities encompassed in food produced for the masses. People deserve something better than this, and my business is the healthy alternative.

 The window of opportunity regarding social entrepreneurship is only beginning to grow as we transition into a new millennium, where positive change and doing good is starting to become highly emphasized in our social fabric. In a world where environmental and social problems like climate change and income inequality are beginning to come to light, people are starting to fight back and make their voices heard -- and my business allows them to do so in perhaps the easiest way possible, as they don't have to go out of their way to make a change!

Innovation

The greatest aspect of innovation in my business has to do with the social cause that is tied to the business, allowing for feasibility in making a positive change as people go on about their daily lives. This also places an incentive for doing good, as customers get a high-quality cup of coffee in return -- a product that a lot of people want everyday!

Here's how it works: We acquire organic coffee beans from local farmers. Not only does this economically help the local agricultural market, but it's also good for the environment. By harvesting organically grown coffee beans instead of the genetically modified ones, we are helping the local soil maintain fertility and growing a product that is better and healthier for people to consume. Furthermore, the coffee beans would be grown using sustainable agricultural practices like minimized fertilizer/pesticide use, which is great news for environmental sustainability. Also, since the coffee beans will be harvested locally, there's no need for them to be trucked and transported from thousands of miles away, so that's less greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.

 A cup of coffee with healthy roots and simple ingredients made transparent for consumers is really good news for the environment and human health and awareness. Our coffee drinks will be made with healthy ingredients to preserve quality and freshness, it will taste homemade -- so no artificial flavoring, excessive sugar, and weird ingredients that you can't pronounce. The result is a simple and delicious coffee drink that consumers don't have to think twice about drinking. The cups themselves will be manufactured from recycled material, and engineered to be as compostable and biodegradable as possible -- demonstrating the innovative eco-consciousness enveloped in all details of my business. 

Consumers also have the option of ordering their favorite drinks through smartphone apps in order to avoid waiting in lines, which is very useful if they are in a rush and want to expedite their purchase. The most innovative detail of my business, however, has to be the annual educational trip. A potion the profits -- what remains after the variable/fixed costs are paid -- will be saved up over the course of a year to fund an educational trip. The trip would be to a developing country where coffee agriculture is prominent in the economy, like Indonesia, Colombia, Ethiopia, etc., and would be composed of investors, the most loyal customers, and some employees/administrative personnel. The purpose would be to help with sustainable agricultural research and development in these places, with the ultimate goal of fostering growing techniques in these regions that are environmentally sustainable.

Venture Concept

As previously discussed, the opportunity and need that my business addresses covers a variety of different spheres. There's a need for feasible access to local coffee shops to promote the local economy and agricultural landscape. There's a need for healthy coffee drinks sourced from organic coffee beans and made with simple and good ingredients, all while preserving a delicious and fresh taste. There's a need for businesses to integrate environmental consciousness and ethics in their products and services. There's a need for an easier way for people to promote social and environmental causes without people having to get out of their way to do so, and with an added bonus of a high-quality cup of coffee as an incentive. My business offers solutions to all of those needs, which is what would attract consumers to purchase from me.

The educational trip, which will take some of our greatest customers, take customers that have a certain amount of "points." Similarly to a retail rewards system, with each product purchased you get a certain amount of points -- which can be kept tracked of using the official app or a physical "rewards card" that would be recorded in a database software that the locale would use. After a customer accumulates a certain amount of points, they would be invited to join the educational trip, all expenses paid, to participate in humanitarian and environmental service by teaching sustainable agriculture in a developing region abroad. This is how my venture concept plans to incentivize people to gain eco-consciousness and do good things to promote sustainability for the planet. All you would have to do is go about your daily coffee run. My business offers delicious and healthy, organic and sustainable products that don't have the unhealthy ingredients that you would get at Starbucks or other popular franchises.

My business therefore differentiates itself from competitors by promoting environmentally-conscious harvesting, packaging, and an important annual event dedicated to environmental education and awareness, and on top of that, it's a healthy, organic product with simple and quality ingredients unlike what you would find at most coffee franchises and supermarket shelves today. Consumers get the opportunity help the local economy and the global environment as a whole, in the simplest way possible. The benefits are truly amazing!

Three minor elements

My venture's "secret sauce" would be our passion for promoting environmental sustainability, social change, and just doing good for the world. Another useful asset is the strong dedication from the entrepreneur, who would work really hard to make this business a success!

What would be next for our business is probably developing a research team on how we could incorporate even more social and environmental consciousness into the core of our business, and maximize revenue. Also, we would work on other ways that we could keep our customers happy, an example could be improving customer service so that it will be unique as possible. An example could be training the baristas to be as friendly and welcoming as possible to have the best service out there.

What would be next for me, as an entrepreneur, would be steadfast dedication to making sure the business thrives. I would probably give it my all, and this probably sounds cheesy but my heart is fully invested in the progressive cause that shapes the foundation of my venture concept. I want to strive to make sure that everything I do is for the benefit of the Earth and humanity as a whole, as feeling like I'm making a difference -- regardless of scale -- fosters utmost personal happiness and self-fulfillment more than anything.

Thanks for reading!