The Coffee Guy - coffee capsule TAKES OFF

In just a few years, The Coffee Guy franchise has created an instantly recognisable brand with its sleek, mobile espresso vans. The formula has proved to be a winning one, but the company has always kept a close eye on the future and has now launched The Coffee Guy Capsule: a fully-equipped trailer that can operate as a drive-through coffee outlet, a kiosk or an event service. It’s a lower-investment option for franchisees that enables them to operate on a full-time or part-time basis.

Marty Edwards was the first franchisee to take The Capsule on the road after spending over five years in the Prison Service dealing with some of the more hardened inmates. Drop into his site at Kawakawa in the Bay of Islands one morning and he’ll tell you his story.

‘I loved my job as a Corrections Officer but I woke up one morning and realised I didn’t want to spend my life in the service. I had a long-held desire to own a business and when both my partner and daughter told me to be careful at work that day I thought – that’s it, time to get out.’

Marty was already aware of The Coffee Guy brand. ‘I liked the fact that it was a genuine Kiwi company so I made some enquiries. I spoke to two or three franchisees and they told me that franchisor Richard Karam and his team stand behind them one hundred and ten per cent. They all said the same thing: that the support, training and everything the franchise offers is real value for money. I reckoned they couldn’t all be telling porkies so the franchise must be as good as I thought!’

Up And Running In Just Three Weeks

Marty started talking to The Coffee Guy in mid-November 2010. Once he decided to go ahead, the company was determined to get him up and running before Christmas to enable him to make the most of the holiday market. ‘Mine would be the first Capsule so they pulled out every stop. I had the best barista come up to teach me all about making coffee and the franchise team set about finding the best site and ensuring a licence could be obtained from the local authority. The end result was I hit the business full-on within just three weeks!’

Marty positions his Capsule each morning in a small park on the junction between State Highways One and Eleven. ‘It’s ideal in many ways ­– I get traffic going up both roads. I have an ever-increasing base of local commuters and a lot of tourists too. People frequently stop to ask directions and they nearly always buy a coffee, and I even have bus-loads on occasion now. But the really great part of this business is that I am also mobile and can attend as many big events as I choose. I spent three days by the Treaty grounds over the Waitangi weekend and sold well over 500 coffees. In fact, not only does this business pay you from day one, as they promise – within two months I reckon I’m doing better than I was in the Prison Service and I have my afternoons free, too.’

Low Investments, Finance Available

As the Coffee Guy franchise has found, people’s thirst for coffee knows no bounds. ‘That’s why we are constantly looking for new franchisees nationwide,’ says founder Richard Karam. ‘The Capsule that Marty has pioneered for us is highly successful, and we’re excited about the potential for placing many more in equally good locations this year. The Capsule offers an opportunity that allows greater flexibility. There is also a price difference – The Capsule business is $49,950 while the full mobile espresso van is $89,950. Both options are fully equipped and we have a range of financial packages available to help the right people get started.’

Marty Edwards has no doubts. ‘This business has well and truly exceeded my expectations already and has the potential to make some really serious money,’ he says. ‘I thought I might be lucky to do around 30-40 coffees a day in my first few weeks. Well, I more than doubled that figure every day and in only four hours on Boxing Day I did nearly 100 coffees.

‘The key is consistency – make good coffee and keep your Capsule and machinery clean and you will have lots of happy, friendly people visiting you time after time. I have a pretty good office, too – the sun is shining through the trees and there’s a river down there. Right, it’s time to knock off for the afternoon and help my darling partner milk the cows. Life, as they say, is good.’

This advertorial is taken from Franchise New Zealand magazine Volume 20 Issue 1 

Contact details for The Coffee Guy

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