Coffee Knowledge Hub Andrew Tolley

We are Following Paul Ross, founder of Special Guests coffee as he takes his high end specialty coffee business from a digital to a physical experience in his soon to open cafe in Marylebone, London. 

This is the first of a multipart series where we follow Paul on his journey in opening a cafe. 

This episode covers the origin story of Paul and his business Special Guests. We learn why he is opening a physical location and the steps he has taken to get to the point of finding and signing on that location. We also learn that expertise in coffee, does not transfer to expertise in opening cafes. Paul is on a very steep learning curve with high ambitions. 

I have really enjoyed these conversations with Paul. Opening cafes is an exhilarating experience. You can get well beyond your comfort zone very quickly. It requires a wide ranging skillset in everything from operations to property, construction, people management, project management, design, legals and more.  There is a lot that can be learned from the experience of others, so get out your pen and paper and enjoy episode one of this series. 

To follow these episodes and more, you can follow, subscribe and like the podcast. We also have the video version on the coffee knowledge hub. 

https://coffeeknowledgehub.circle.so/c/podcast/bricks-and-mortar-a-new-series-tracking-paul-ross-journey-building-a-flagship-cafe-for-special-guests-coffee

https://espressoembassy.hu/

https://specialguestscoffee.com

This is a wide ranging conversation on the business of specialty coffee covering micro and macro trends and some insights in decision making processes across a range of specialty business types.