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December 25, 2006

Latte for work | A chat with Andrew Kessler, co-founder of The Freaky Bean Coffee Co. in Scarborough

Founded: October 2005
Employees: Three, plus two part-time
Startup costs: $130,000
Revenue, year one: $300,000
Projected revenue, year two: $345,000
Contact: 510-7724
360 U.S. Rte. One, Scarborough 04074
www.freakybean.com

Why did you want to open a coffee shop?
Well, Jon and I had both had been working at Starbucks, and we both love coffee. We were looking to create a place where people could gather and just relax in a nice setting. I find there's not too many places around town where there's a nice d�cor to go along with the coffee. We took a lot of time designing the shop to make sure it flowed very nicely and that people wouldn't feel rushed.

How did you decide what you wanted your place to be like?
What we did is, we traveled out to Seattle, and we checked out coffee shops there. And we also checked around here to see what we liked and what we disliked.

Did you work with anyone else on the design?
We had some help from friends, but generally it was Jon and myself. Jon used to work for Cianbro ˆ— he used to build bridges and oil rigs. And I actually am a Web designer by trade. So we both took what we knew and just started [working] with some design software, to see what [the shop] could look like. We had some contractors because legally we're not allowed to do lighting and plumbing. But installing cabinetry and building the bars and such ˆ— that was Jon and myself.

So that was what you were doing from October until the shop opened for business this past June?
Correct. Well, we started out looking for startup cash. Once we received the cash and we were able to start leasing the space, we started building.

Where did your startup funding come from?
We had one loan through a bank and then from there we had some shareholders come in, and that was mostly friends and family.

How did you appeal to people?
Well we had probably a 150-page business plan, to show we were serious. We had ground plans for the actual rental space, we did market studies of how much it would cost for equipment. Everything and the kitchen sink went in there.

So how did you decide on Scarborough?
Well, we found there wasn't much going on in Scarborough in terms of restaurants and coffee shops. It just seemed to be begging for it. We had people stand out front of the shop, just counting cars, to see how many people would go by in an hour. We checked two or three different places as well, but decided on Scarborough because we found it would offer us the quickest return on our money.

And how did you choose the coffee?
We knew that we wanted to go organic and fair trade. It's a little bit [more for] the shipping. But to me, it's better to go with something fully organic, fully fair trade. You have to give back at a certain point ˆ— you can't just keep razing the land or there's going to be nothing left.

How do you accommodate for the extra cost?
We buy a lot of it in bulk. So we have quite a bit coming over two or three times a month, instead of two or three times a week, and that cuts down on the cost.

What are your days like?
We're definitely working all the time. If we're not here, we're at home working on other things, looking for other locations. Our plan is to have 10 stores over the next five years. This is definitely not just going to be a one-store operation.

Where would you like to be?
We're continually looking. But right now it's within Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

You guys have a MySpace page for the Freaky Bean. Does that help business?
I know quite a few people who use it and it's a good way to [market to] people who wouldn't necessarily read the newspaper or hear a radio advertisement. You know, you see [the store] on a friend's MySpace account and you might check it out. I think we have close to 100 friends on there.


Interview by Kerry Elson

New Entrepreneurs profiles young businesses, 6-18 months old. Send your suggestions and contact information to editorial@mainebiz.biz.

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