Bringing a Coffee House to a Historic Downtown District

After noticing a lack of classic coffee shops in the historic district of Troy, Missouri, Nancy Wyatt and her family took the plunge and decided to take matters into their own hands to fill this void. In December of 2014, the Wyatts formally established Roasted Bean, LLC. In addition to Nancy, the team includes her husband, Randy, their daughter, Kristen Glenn, and her husband, Justin. The coffee shop resides in a building built in the 1920s that the Wyatts are renovating.

The Roasted Bean will serve pastries, donuts, and muffins in the morning. Then, at lunchtime, they’ll switch up the menu items and serve soup and cold sandwiches. In the late night hours, the coffee house will sell desserts like cheesecake. In addition to fresh coffee and food, the family’s renovated space includes new furnishings to create a relaxed and comfy atmosphere.

Wyatt explains why she and her family decided to start a project as huge as this.

“Well, there was nothing like it in the city of Troy. I’ve talked with a lot of different people around the city and they expressed a desire for some kind of coffee shop, and I thought we needed something like that. There are several bars, but no coffee shops! So we got a building that was reasonable in price and decided we wanted to attempt it. We made connections with coffee roasters and baristas, so we’re going to have professional training,” she shares.

The Wyatts have enjoyed the ordinarily hectic process of renovating an old structure. Gutting the building to accommodate the required service stations has given the family the creative freedom of designing their new space. Because their shop is more of a hang-out spot for coffee and conversing, they’re not too concerned about the competitors in their region that mimic more of a fast-food style.

In the meantime, while the renovations are taking place, the family is working on spreading the word about the Roasted Bean on Facebook and building the website for the small business.

“Mostly a lot of word-of-mouth is going on right now because we’re on the main street in historic Troy, and we’ve talked to a lot of business owners and got the word out through them, and they’re spreading the word. They’re all looking forward to having coffee!” she enthuses.

Challenges of Small Business Ownership

In addition to financing the building, the renovation has proven to be challenging for the family – albeit an exciting challenge.

“Getting the financing for the building was a new obstacle, but it didn’t stop us. And we’re the ones getting our hands dirty with the renovations. The drawback to small business ownership is that you have no one else to blame but yourself if it fails. There will always be more than you expect going in,” she explains.

Benefits of Self-Employment

Fortunately, small business ownership has been a worthwhile endeavor for the Wyatt family, and they love their new roles as self-employed entrepreneurs.

“I like being my own boss! I like that I actually get to implement my ideas, rather than people say ‘No, you can’t do that.’ I can set my own hours, and work as much or as little as I want. I just like that freedom. If it’s successful, then we will be able to reap the profits of our ideas and hard work, and not somebody else,” Wyatt says.

Experience as a 1-800Accountant Client

Nancy Wyatt is a satisfied client of 1-800Accountant. She is receiving assistance in the form of tax consulting and tax preparation.

Image credit: The logo included in this blog post was provided by Roasted Bean, LLC and is used with permission.