Noteworthy Selections: Coffee Like No Other, Founder Interview
Q. Introduce us to your business, how you got the idea, and how you sourced any materials.
Noteworthy Selections offers a curated, rotating list of coffees from the best roasters in North America. A careful selection of some of the world's top specialty coffee made by local, independent coffee roasters. Our aim is to create a bespoke tasting experience for hotels and coffee lovers.
The idea came about after attending a trade show in London and not being able to find a great cup of coffee at the hotel or nearby. I was incredibly annoyed by the inconvenience of having to leave the hotel to search for even a decent cup of coffee. Many business meetings and luncheons occur at hotels but hotels seem to be behind the curve on providing a good cup of coffee. During my time in NYC, it was very common to meet at a nice hotel in the city for business over breakfast or lunch and the coffee just seemed to fall flat. It’s just an anti-climactic end to a great meal and I didn’t understand why hotels haven't realized this. Cafes are booming! Everywhere you look, no matter what city or country you’re in there’s a new one popping up serving GREAT coffee with an emphasis on local and artisan. So, why is it that hard for the hospitality industry to connect the dots? I just decided to connect the dots for them. It saves them time while elevating their brand by taping into the local culture to bring the cafe experience to their guests.
Sourcing great coffee is the easy part. I’ve been a long time coffee aficionado and am a former barista of Peet’s Coffee & Tea in San Diego. I’ve always had my pulse on the coffee culture no matter what city I've lived in -- from San Diego to Philly to Brooklyn -- it's always been a priority of mine to find a cafe that felt like home and served the best cup in town. I’ve personally reached out to a few select independent roasters that meet my high quality standards to build a collaborative, trustworthy working relationship as a roasting partner. Many absolutely love the idea, I mean who doesn’t like new business?. We’re all rooting for one another and I love the genuine support of wanting to see each other succeed. Sourcing is by far the best part of my job; I get to meet new people, and enjoy more coffee.
Q. How did you go about manufacturing your product, as that is a major obstacle for many entrepreneurs?
Our coffee roasting partners produce the coffee for us, so we leave the experts to do what they do best. Our primary goal is to connect local, micro-roasters to buyers in the hospitality industry and offer a greater variety of FRESH, high-grade, coffee selections.
Q. How do you handle the logistics and inventory management of a startup, not knowing how much product you will need at a time in the early stages of starting a business?
Logistics and inventory management are important and to be effective at either you must establish a system and process that work for all involved. We distribute on a weekly basis and many hotels and roasting partners have set routines in place for this. The beauty of being small is having the flexibility to fit into a rhythm that’s already in place and that works best for both our roasting partners and hotels.
Q. Tell us about the backend of your business and if there is any online tools or apps you use to stay organized?
I've tested and experimented with a variety of tools and continue to look for new ways to create efficiencies. For now, google and hubspot keep me together, Stripe keeps the finances in order, IG keeps the people interested visually and Canva helps me design like a pro on the fly.
Q. How have you been able to get the word out about your product? Any direct or online marketing tips?
Direct outreach and direct sales has been key. There’s no cliff notes version to gaining initial traction, the key is to just keep at it.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Be willing to do what others won't.
Q. What tips do you have for entrepreneurs, from funding a startup, to making a website and selling product?
If I were to offer any tips to other entrepreneurs, I’d say focus is key in a world of on-demand distractions. Think for yourself first, don’t be too quick to jump into the VC game before gaining an understanding of what you’re getting yourself into. Start by building your business one customer at a time. Wait to ask for money until you’re really ready to scale, not because it’s uncomfortable to be financially squeezed.
Lastly, find a website that’s mobile friendly and easy to launch and optimize; a large portion of your traffic will be through mobile so you want to make sure it looks good.
Q. Lastly, what should consumers know about your product that is different from what is already on the market?
We’re one of very few to offer a multi-roaster platform to the hotel industry featuring local, independent micro-roasters worthy of your time and attention. Our platform is intended to uplift the hidden and unseen makers of coffee who are small business owners working to create a better way of life for their families just like me and you.
Thanks so much for talking with us!
Check out Noteworthy Selections on their website: http://www.noteworthyselections.com and catch them on Instagram at @NoteworthySelections
-The Create Team
