It has been a rollercoaster ride for John and Maria in Lanarkshire. John and Maria launched their Really Awesome Coffee franchise in February 2020 and 6 weeks later the nation was in lockdown. However, this did not stop the hardworking duo developing their business in these uncertain times.

When lockdown was announced they started promoting ‘home deliveries’ to run alongside their daily visits to key-worker locations, and found that there was a huge demand in the area. Their customer base quickly grew and they have not looked back. 

John testifies that over the last few months, a lot of hard work and long days became their new normal, but the satisfaction and financial rewards have made it all worth it. Within the space of 6 months they added a second mobile café to cope with the growing demand, and fast forward another 2 months, John and Maria have picked up their third coffee van this week! 

It’s been just 12 months since John and Maria came to see us at the National Franchise Exhibition at the NEC, and they now run a fleet of 3 Really Awesome Coffee vans in Lanarkshire. 

We caught up with John just as he and Maria were picking up coffee van number three:

How have you found trading with 2 vans?

I found it straightforward as I was technically already running 2 routes with 1 van so it made it really easy to have 2. The only challenge was to train staff whilst running the routes at the same time.

What are your thoughts on adding the third van?

I’m looking forward to it as we are turning work down at the moment. We already have the staff in place and some ‘coffee stops’ lined up. 2 vans will be visiting workplaces and the 3rd van will be dedicated to home deliveries.

What has been key to your growth and success?

Exciting times for us and still loving the buzz. Social media is helping us grow our business. The customer app is also helping us keep customers and make new ones too. It’s one of the big things that differentiates us from the competition.

I would never have thought we would be in this position 8 months ago when we started, and if everything goes to plan we will be looking at a 4th van soon as well.