Business Ideas For New Entrepreneurs – How Hard Bean’s Selection Process Can Help You Succeed

As an entrepreneur considering starting a coffee business, you have probably been told that more than half of new businesses fail during the first year. Unfortunately, most people believe such a loaded statement and give up on their dreams of starting their own business right there. 

Yet data from the BLS (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) provides a clearer picture. Roughly 20% of new businesses will fail within the first two years of opening. On a longer timeline, 45% fail in the first five years, and 65% during their first ten. Ultimately, 25% of new businesses will make it 15 or more years.

Why do small businesses fail?

In our 30 years of helping people start successful Hard Bean Coffee shops around the United States, our independent owners can tell you why their shops are still in business, and their competitors are not. Ultimately it comes down to a shortlist:

• Not Satisfying A Market Need
• Bad Business Plan
• Lack Of Financing
• Bad Location
• Inability To Adapt

What these reasons all have in common is one thing: lack of planning and guidance. Starting a business without the right help is risky. This is why many entrepreneurs decide to buy into a franchise. However, many of the same issues that can cause a business to fail also can happen to a franchise – this is why Hard Bean Coffee is NOT a franchise.

How our selection process is different from a franchise and can help you succeed:

Buying into a franchise is one of the most common business ideas for new entrepreneurs because, for many, it makes sense to them. You see an established brand and think, “Okay, I want what he’s got.” However, most franchises want to sell as many units as possible. Their sales organizations are geared toward that, regardless if you succeed or fail. There is nothing wrong with selling, but we are different.

For starters, we never talk anyone into the coffee business – we look for entrepreneurs who want to go into the coffee business and then help them do that. The distinction between Hard Bean and a franchise coffee business is huge. We never push or impose “Decision” days. We will help you set your decision day, and then we will work together to make it happen. 

Hard Bean is successful because we strive to provide the same level of assistance to our aspiring entrepreneurs today as we did 30 years ago when we first started. Back then, people would come to me and say, “Can you help me get a location?” They told me they could not get the landlord to talk to them. One person even told me they had sent the landlord a fruit basket to get the landlord to consider them.

People came to me because I had already opened about 9 locations (kiosks), and I was willing and able to help people get a spot. Of course, they asked about equipment, and the rest is history….

Join The Hard Bean Family
At Hard Bean, we provide everything you need to start a coffee shop without a franchise. Our mission is to help you get into your own independent coffee business at an affordable price.

To get started, you should have at least $50,000 in liquid capital, a net worth of at least $250,000, and feel confident financing more than $200,000.