Coffee Carts & Corgis | The Loyal Cup's Journey to Success

Q: How did you decide what coffee equipment to use for your cart? What role did Prima play in that process?

A: My cart is pretty much a copy/paste of the cart that Ryan, Mac, and the Prima team put together for their video series in 2024! Almost every piece of equipment that they chose just made sense for my set-up, as well. The components are solid, reliable, efficient, and relatively easy to transport. Needless to say that Prima played a pretty big role in my choices!

Q: Prima offers a variety of educational resources, like our How to Launch a Mobile Coffee Business 5-part course, the Building a Coffee Cart vlog series, buying guides, product overviews, comparison videos, and curated bundles. Have any of these resources made a difference for you, or how else has Prima been a resource to you on your journey?

A: Yes! I watched each of the coffee cart videos on repeat when planning my own! I also read through the blogs on the Community forum, especially the ones outlining the steps to creating a business plan. My own business plan was very similar to the one Prima outlined, and their model really gave me considerations that hadn't occurred to me before. These resources were essential while I was in the development phase. When purchasing the Woodress cart itself, I was able to chat back and forth with Prima to determine custom cut-outs. They provided images of what the final setup would or could look like, and that was super helpful! After I received my equipment, Prima helped me troubleshoot a couple of things. I’d send them pictures and quickly get a reply that solved my issue. This was my first experience with commercial coffee equipment, but Prima provided reassurance through the process!

Q: What’s the most popular item on your menu?

A: Right now, the most popular item is definitely the brown sugar cinnamon latte (a seasonal offering)! Funny enough, though, our chai latte has garnered some seriously loyal customers, hah!

Q: What equipment would be part of your perfect coffee cart setup?

A: This is a tough one, because I honestly love what I have right now. I think a system like the upcoming Milk IQ automated milk dispenser would be so cool and could really speed things along. In that same respect, a PUQpress would be wonderful! Efficiency is the name of the game on the cart, so that’s why these two things come to mind. The Ripples printer has also been on my wish-list because I think it could be a great marketing tool!

Q: If you could serve coffee anywhere for a day, where would it be and why?

A: I would serve coffee at Buckingham Palace, surrounded by all of the late Queen’s corgis!!!

Q: What’s been the biggest challenge in your coffee cart journey, and how did you overcome it?

A: There have been a number of challenges along the way, but that’s just part of the journey! The biggest obstacle I faced was finding information on my local licensing and laws, and just setting up my book-keeping in general. Fortunately I had a ton of help from friends and members of the community. I highly recommend that anyone in a similar situation check out their local Small Business Development center! I met with my local SBD center as I applied for my licenses. It’s totally free, and they are a great resource!

Q: What’s your vision for the business in the coming years?

A: I love this question, because truthfully, the vision continues to evolve. We have slowly started to gravitate more towards private events where we offer a more refined, catered experience. We have a few weddings on the books, for instance, and I see the cart continuing to move in that direction! Ultimately, a brick-and-mortar would be incredible, but this has been such a rewarding experience that I am not in any rush!

Q: What advice would you give to someone considering a mobile coffee business?

A: My advice would be to create a product/experience that you: are proud of, excited about, can replicate many times over, and can market to your target audience. These are all things that I have had to learn through experience. There’s been a ton of trial and error with our coffee cart, but that’s part of the fun! I think when I started this journey, it was all about just creating a cart that worked - in other words, just being able to set it up and sell coffee. If we accomplished those things, it was a great day! Now that we have refined things, it’s about the experience that we can market and a product that we can deliver at many events to come. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, my advice would be to believe in yourself!!! There are likely to be many obstacles, and you might feel overwhelmed or alone during the process. Believe in your vision and know that what you are dreaming and creating is going to be incredible and so worth it!