We had the good fortune of connecting with Justin Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Justin, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I knew I loved coffee and the entire experience that goes along with drinking coffee at a beautiful café, but I wanted to do something niche. I wanted to start with something manageable but it still had to be something that really stood out. I began to explore other avenues (pun definitely intended) of experiencing delicious, high-quality coffee. I particularly became interested in mobile coffee options, allowing me to start my coffee journey on a smaller more manageable scale but still provide the same delicious coffee that I love ordering from local cafés. Naturally, the idea of a coffee truck came to mind but I quickly realized that they are ubiquitous, saturating the market with competition. I knew I still needed to differentiate myself somehow, and that’s when I came up with the idea of a coffee cart! Although I am far from the first person to think of a coffee cart, they were much harder to find and I knew I could make my cart special and really bring that awesome local café experience into one small cart. Before you know it, with a lot of creativity and even more help from creative people, I was able to create a truly beautiful coffee cart that, unlike coffee trucks, could fold down small enough to fit indoors and even into elevators! It became a perfect combination of beauty and practicality. Now I have a cart that is perfect for any conceivable event that serves full cafe-quality coffee that isn’t limited to the outdoors or the ground floor and has an aesthetic that makes every occasion pop!

What should our readers know about your business?
Brew Avenue Coffee truly is a one-of-a-kind coffee cart for any and every kind of event out there! It has a beautiful aesthetic look that immediately draws guests to it and makes events pop. What really makes Brew Avenue Coffee stand out is that the sides of the cart can fold down to fit indoors and even go into elevators! It has a very small footprint making it very accessible and helps keep you caffeinated even when it’s summer in Arizona because we can simply set up indoors with a single outlet. And all of this is offered without compromising coffee quality. Brew Avenue Coffee can compete with any café out there by providing exceptional locally roasted coffee wherever you need it. Getting to where I am today took a lot of patience and persistence. It’s certainly not easy to start your own business, as any other business owner would tell you. But it is absolutely doable no matter who you are.
The number one lesson that I have learned as a budding entrepreneur is to build lasting relationships with people that truly want to see you succeed. There is no way that I could have made it this far without seeking the help of experts that were kind enough to donate their time and energy to help make me successful. I have been able to push through financial barriers because of the business guidance of experienced business owners, completely flipping the way I price my coffee. I have also had experienced baristas double the speed that I make coffee after they took the time to show me ways to make coffee more efficiently.
No one can start a business alone. Be relentlessly willing to learn and adapt to improve yourself with experienced guidance!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
It certainly depends on the time of year but if it’s summer then you have to go tubing down the Salt River! That’s a true Arizona experience. After you have recovered from the dehydration and sun burn, I would spend a few days enjoying Downtown Phoenix. Breakfast at Vovomeena, then stop by Fair Trade Coffee for some delicious coffee. For tons of fun food options in a beautiful outdoor setting we would go to The Pemberton PHX for lunch. And after walking around CityScape and enjoying the art down Roosevelt Row, we would have some dinner and drinks at Angel’s Trumpet. If the timing was right we would spend a Friday evening in Downtown Phoenix with great food and live music for First Friday. The rest of the week we would spend enjoying great locations up north like Flagstaff and Sedona.
After all day at the Grand Canyon, we would relax fireside at a nice cabin, enjoying the fresh air in the mountains.
Lastly, we would drive to Sedona to enjoy some of the most beautiful hikes in Arizona and spend a night on the town.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My wife, wife, and more wife! Without her, this journey would never have started. Over a year ago my wife Brenda convinced me to quit my job and pursue my dream with zero hesitation. She gave me the confidence to put all my fears and doubts aside and simply DO IT. Since then she has supported our entire family of four as a hard-working nurse and continues to work alongside me as my most trusted barista. I truly could not have done any of this without her. I also have to give a shoutout to my lovely mother who has so graciously watched my children every time we needed her to so that my wife and I could further our dream of making coffee. She has even provided delicious homemade treats for the customers, and even donated plants and rugs to make my wedding expos look amazing! So many great local coffee aficionados have supported me through this journey as well. Brian with Xanadu coffee in downtown Phoenix was unbelievably helpful when I first started, providing me with lots of barista tips, business tips, and of course great coffee! Another Brian, with Thunderbird Equipment Repair, has persistently assisted me with all things related to coffee equipment and put my mind at ease when my machines were acting dysfunctional.
Lastly, I want to thank Stephanie and the crew at Fair Trade Coffee for being the first café to believe in me and my business and offer to form a partnership that became a dream come true for a new coffee business owner like me. Now they provide me with endless support and fantastic coffee for my clients!

Website: www.brewavenuecoffee.com

Instagram: @brew_avenue_coffee

Image Credits
Trevor with Major Third Media

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