Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Bell.
Hi Mark, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
We had a friend in Mazatlán Mexico who started a coffee shop to give jobs and give back to the community there. I was inspired by that and rallied some of my close friends to start roasting on a little 2.5 lbs air bed roasted on my balcony. We did farmers markets and some online sales but by no means we’re we crushing it.
It wasn’t until we took a trip to Oaxaca and learned the whole process of coffee where we were truly inspired by all the work that goes into cultivating a specialty cup of coffee. That was probably the turning point for us to go all in. Now we have 3 shops (Ocean Beach, Linda Vista, and San Clemente) and though it hasn’t always been the easiest road we are stoked to travel it together and the good that we have done with something as simple as coffee.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Well, there’s too many obstacles to count but that’s what we signed up for. We’ve built out all 3 locations ourselves and we ran out of money on the first shop. We had to go back to investors and that was probably the most humbling experience for all of us. Maybe I’m only able to talk about it now because of how far we’ve come since then and how awesome our community is for supporting us along the way.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We roast and brew specialty coffee from all around the world. We visit our farms and know the whole process start to finish before it gets to us. We’ve been working with some of the same farmers for the past 6 years!
Visit us online to learn more.
Surcoffee.co
Obbeans.com
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Love what you do and put the right people in the right places in order for success as a whole.
Come to the shop if you want to chat more.
Contact Info:
- Website: Surcoffee.co
- Instagram: Surcoffee
Image Credits
@aldousphoto
@b_nephew
