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My successes.

Gus Dean Coffee is a black-owned, artisanal coffee roastery just south of the Twin Cities in Eagan, MN.

We started off with Gus Dean Coffee in my kitchen with a very tiny roaster roasting beans with the goal of repeatedly making something that's drinkable that friends and family would enjoy.  We started tasting and selling in the farmer’s markets which led to creating our line of signature coffee blends as well as seasonal offerings. The business has gotten bigger and grown a lot faster than I thought.  We still love pop-up tastings at markets and events around the Twin Cities to find our “coffee friends” and are now in several stores and a coffee shop. 85% of our customers are online, with customers from all over the country. 

Our growth includes adding cold brew products, which have become 20% of our business. This year we're going to start canning cold brew. We are also in the process of moving into a larger commercial space. We are growing and will likely be in more stores in the next 12 to 18 months. 

What do you do?

Gus Dean Coffee is a black-owned, artisanal coffee roastery just south of the Twin Cities in Eagan, MN. We are a coffee and cold brew manufacturer and our goal is to make a smooth coffee that’s fun to drink. Many coffee roasters focus on minutia or small details around their coffee, which has made a lot of coffee drinkers think they need a Ph.D. to understand coffee, and that it’s too complicated. We are all about coffee that’s fun to drink and having the best experience wherever they’re drinking it. 

What inspired you to start your business?

I started the company for two reasons. I love coffee and I have a strong entrepreneurial spirit. I spent my career as a mixed animal veterinarian, yet I always wanted to have my own business. I felt that a lot of coffee out there was over-roasted. In my mind, I think the roasters were trying to create a flavor that represented their brand as opposed to allowing the coffee beans to have their flavor and to let that flavor come through. There’s a difference between thinking my coffee should taste a certain way instead of letting the beans speak and letting the coffee taste the way the beans are naturally supposed to taste.

What's special about your business?

Our coffee is fun to drink. Things that differentiate Gus Dean Coffee from a lot of other smaller independent coffee shops is that so often others offer over-roasted coffee, which is coffee that has more of a darker, bitter, burnt taste. We don’t do this. We also don’t get into the minutia details or that ‘high society’ mentality around coffee, like we don't need to get into, you know, the altitude and the latitude in which it's made, similar to what you may see in the wine world. We keep it simple. 

We focus on being personal. We are about creating coffee moments when you are either going to drink coffee by yourself or with somebody special, and we want it to be a relaxing, fun experience that stays with you throughout the day. We want to reach people and say we are about having fun, enjoying coffee and we’re into you and we want to get to know you. That’s our brand; that’s our message. It’s all about fun and connection. On every coffee order that goes out, I still have a handwritten note that I send to each person who orders.

What have been the high and low points of being a business owner?

A constant challenge is getting access to capital. The hurdles are so high and they make things so difficult. Even as a successful small business that is profitable, it’s still hard to get access to capital and that is a huge challenge. 

I enjoy being with people, that comes naturally. The part that’s the most challenging for me is the things that I end up doing by myself for several hours with very little interaction with people or my customers.

The high point is getting to meet and interact with my customers. That’s what it’s all about for me. I like being out there, seeing people, talking to people, sharing coffee stories. I just like interacting with people. And if someone tells me they don't like coffee, we usually connect over pets.

What is your relationship with SCORE? SCORE client What influenced you to seek help from SCORE?

I was referred by my bookkeeper.

How SCORE helped.

They have helped with the challenge of getting capital. SCORE is set up to help people that have a good idea or have an idea that they would like to explore and they don't necessarily come into it with a lot of money, but they're willing to put sweat equity into making it work. They don't sit there and tell you, ‘Well if you don't have a hundred thousand dollars, you can't make it.’ That's something that I feel that's unique about SCORE. It's truly set up for that small, almost micro-business. 

 

What's great about my mentor?

Ron Seipp has been my mentor from day one and he’s been extremely helpful. He always takes my calls and responds to all my emails and questions, and he’s been one of my biggest supporters. Even though I was starting off really small, Ron never made me feel small. He was always optimistic about the potential. You find a lot of times when you have a small business and are starting out, people have a way of reminding you that you’re small or too small for someone to be bothered with. I feel Ron and SCORE are very focused on that small individual startup and not the person that comes with an inheritance or four or five investors and a million dollars to play with. SCORE is set up for those people who have a good idea or have an idea that they would like to explore. 

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting a small business?

You have to be able to infuse your personality and your love into the product. Find some way to do that. Whatever you do, it needs to have a part of you in it that can’t be replicated and that makes it unique. You know there are hundreds or thousands of coffees out there. And then what makes my coffee unique is my perspective and the way I approach what I call my “coffee friends” – my customers.

What would you tell a fellow business owner about SCORE?

The biggest thing is to have a mentor and lean on that mentor. I would consider that personal connection more important than anything you can look up on the website. That is what separates SCORE from anything I can get online and research. Having a real-world person who’s in business makes all the difference in the world.

What have you learned from your experiences as a business owner?

While we continue to grow, we’ve always tried our best to support other local, small businesses. That’s been one of the keys to the success of the business in terms of vendor relationships. When I work with other small businesses, they understand where I’m coming from.

We really want to be involved in the community and give back and support a lot of the local organizations and groups. Our Give Back coffee program is an opportunity for us to partner with community groups and social organizations to help create more awareness for their causes and help in their fundraising efforts.  As a minority myself, we want a speak to that part of the business help other minority small businesses, and give some encouragement and some insight.   

My mentors

Ronald W Seipp

9 years design engineering experience with 5 patents issued, 4 years global marketing management...

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