KWilliams-Haseotes listened purchased the struggling Bad Ass Coffee location and turned it into his brand’s most successful location. It is currently on track to achieve revenue of at least $1.8 million in 2024. How? She knew nothing about the coffee industry, but she understood the importance of community and how it gives meaning to places.
Haseotes once ran a home for ex-offenders re-entering the community and then worked in community development at a bank. In 2019, while living in Naples, Florida, she repeatedly visited the local coffee shop Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii because she loved the sense of community there: “It was a place where everyone came and sat together and had a cup of coffee,” she says – from local electricians and landscapers to millionaires and billionaires. However, the location was struggling, with revenues of just $430,000 a yr. So she bought it. Here’s what she did next.
1. Promote from inside.
Haseotes hired several latest employees, but also got to know existing team members and looked for above-average potential. One barista in particular, Daniel Guimond, seemed ready for a major promotion, so she made him manager. “It made a difference. My advice is to look around and see who is getting the job done and exceeding expectations. This is someone who deserves a chance.”
2. See a greater opportunity.
Haseotes had a likelihood to expand into the space round the corner. It didn’t make much financial sense – twice the rent but no way to expand the menu (due to parking and zoning issues). But for Haseotes, her store wasn’t really about coffee. It was about community — and the latest space could host music, lectures and more.
3. Always support your connections.
Haseotes had to close the store for renovations, but during that point it offered customers free coffee outside. And after the hurricane, she distributed free coffee to rescuers. “We didn’t want people to go anywhere else. It’s about routine,” he says. “I paid the workers. But as part of the tip cup, we donated the money to charity. When people gave, they gave generously.”
Advice from the franchisor
Don’t let big changes distract you from the basics of the business, he says Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii CEO Scott Snyder. For example, the franchise was acquired the same yr that Haseotes purchased the Naples location, and shortly thereafter the latest owner began a complete redesign of the brand. But Haseotes knew she had to nail down the basics before aesthetics.
She focused on “taking inventory, having working equipment and following the guidelines we set,” Snyder says. And it worked. “In the first year, she almost doubled the size of the store without making any fundamental changes to the design.”