Building Out Our Bean Hive

Building Out Our Bean Hive.

 

The Vision

We have established a store front and christened it our “Bean Hive”.  The accoutrements will include what I need to run the business along with pieces that provide a good environment for my kids.  Ultimately, I want a cozy space where my kids are happy to be a part of our day to day operation. Simple, yet functional. A bookshelf, some small toys or activities and plenty of coloring books. A few pillows and a desk for them to do art and school work on. It’s important to me that they are comfortable and happy, or else they’ll fight me every time we have to go roast and package coffee. That won’t make a good work environment for anyone. 

The Complications

Trying not to hodgepodge everything together and make it obvious that I am building the space myself has proven more difficult than expected. Utilizing six-foot folding tables & plastic chairs does that to a person I suppose.  We moved everything needed to officially operate out of the Bean Hive, so we don't need much more equipment. Well, we may still add a few things–little things like a vacuum for chaff, trash cans for…well, trash, and possibly a speaker…for music!

The Space

The main roaster table will actually be a long, fifteen foot counter that spans the entire left wall of the room. I want a mostly linear space that makes weighing, packaging, and storing “ready to ship” packages easy and will also be easy to keep organized. I tend to not keep my workspace neat and I know that is a hindrance to progress. I want it to look nice when you walk in, but honestly, that is more for my wife’s sake than mine.  Even so, I won’t argue with a pretty work environment! 

The Bean Hive will also include my office space–the desk where I will sit and write blogs, tinker on the website and print labels and other tasks that require a computer. It will be a tall table that I built in my garage to be used as a glue up/finishing desk. My garage is currently overcrowded, so I won't miss it there. I used it to store wood scraps when I listened to a well-meaning but not fully trustworthy voice in my head that told me ‘no it’s a good piece. I’ll use it on a project eventually.’ If you are a creative inventor, you know that pain! 

The Build

As I mentioned, the roaster space I am working on will be a counter top that will act as the eye catching piece of the whole place. A hexagonal butcher block style counter, thick & heavy, like my breathing after going up the stairs. I plan to use a natural finish, allowing the recycled wood to speak for itself. There is no telling if that will be good or bad, reclaimed wood is 60/40 bad to good with beauty–but hey, so am I. 

The legs or underpart of these fabled counters is simple 2×4 construction. A single 2x4 isn’t strong enough for all the work that will be done here, but I have segmented sections, similar to horse stalls, that will be fastened together across the fifteen foot wall, giving it the full strength it will need to support all our equipment. Plus the countertop will be beautiful…if I ever finish it, that is. Everything will be joined together with pocket screws, designed for cabinetry.  I find that they are surprisingly strong and dangerously simple to use–a little glue and a few screws go a long way. 

The whole thing will stand a little under 36” and the underside will house the green coffee in colorful bins, on wheels. That part is important because green coffee is heavy. As much as I’d love to flex my muscles to further impress my wife, she won’t actually be around most of the time because she has a real job in the corporate world, so I’d be flexing for nothing. My kids will be there, but they would probably just laugh and call me old or something–no need for that kind of negativity in my life. 

Finally, the walls. I have no idea what the walls will look like. We are renting the place and the rules are remarkably similar to my first apartment: No fixtures on the walls and we aren’t allowed to add paint or scuff the existing paint. Nothing can be hanging from the ceiling, not even gymnastically-minded kids. So, we are working on decorating ideas that can be held by command strips. In my honest opinion, (of which I have many) these little sticky things are hit and miss at best. We have a bunch of stuff hanging in our house with command strips and while many of them have held up for years, others seem to divebomb to the floor in short order, without rhyme or reason. I have enough faith in them to continue to use them, so I guess that speaks for itself in a way. I want my kids to decorate a little as well, both my girls are little artists, just like their mother, and I want them to feel pride in the Bean Hive as well, which goes back to making it a happy place for them. Amy is working on ideas and I just nod quietly. I could be happy having blank, flat walls, as long as I could accomplish what I needed. I know that is not a normal thing though, so I defer to her for making it ‘pretty.’ 

Time Line?

We have everything in the Bean Hive now, but we are still utilizing six foot folding tables and a somewhat questionable desk to house the roaster. All in all, I think another two weeks and we will be close to being finished. The biggest unknown is the decor. I can handle that taking longer, especially if everyone else will be more excited about it. 

I need a fire Marshall to sign his approval on our last inspection then we are officially ready to sell to the world, or at least the United States. I don’t actually know if we can do international sales or not. I should look into that. 

Final Thoughts

I am excited to be on this side of the hill. I didn’t know a lot of the legal stuff before signing up for this business and it's probably best that I didn’t. If I understood the money and amount of government input I needed to get to this point, I’m not sure that I would have said yes. I did however, and despite not knowing anything, we are so close to our official opening that I can just about smell the coffee. 

My mindset has changed on finances, which is not something I thought would happen, but learning the administration and financial requirements for the business has really opened my eyes to how money works. That old adage ‘you have to spend money to make money’ is true. That is a difficult pill to swallow, but not for someone who doesn’t see money as a valuable commodity. Personally, I don’t put a lot of stock in money as a thing, but it’s what makes the world go round, and if I didn’t take the time to learn then I would go under and that would be a mess. 

I am grateful for this adventure. In my youths I took risks on skateboards, but this feels like a grown-up kind of risk. That’s ok though, because taking risks excites me.  If being married with three kids wasn’t enough assurance that I did indeed grow up, then owning my own business is a nice capstone to this part of life. There are so many opportunities out there for you to explore as well. I wasn’t a great student in high school, but I love learning new things. I read (when I make time) and I am always trying to figure out how to do things myself. These moments have formed a skill set that is unique to me, but has been beneficial to our family. I encourage you to get out of your comfort zone once and a while and try something new. Who knows, you might like it. 

Thanks for reading, may God bless you on your journey of life.

-Kelby