The Coffee Journey - Part 4

Part 4: A year after

I did stumble. After the string of events in the 1st quarter of 2017, I took a long vacation. This admittedly, threw me off the momentum train.

I went to the US and had an epic road trip with some relatives. Along the way, I was also coffee shop hopping. This helped me get new ideas for the business, and also gather material for social media promotion. And I fell in love with coffee even more.

La Barba in Salt Lake City, Utah, was one of my favorite coffee shops in the epic road trip, April 2017

However, when the vacation came to an end, I found it hard to restart. All of a sudden, I found it difficult adjusting to my new life. For years, I was in a sort of routine. Career progressed, world experiences came too, but when you boil it down, the path was pretty straightforward. Plus I got used to receiving instructions from someone higher. Now as an entrepreneur, a lot of my life really depend on my hands.

You might say, “Duh!” And my response to that, “I know.” The problem was within me.

A lot of things were going through my head, which would result to nothing. Self-doubt and/or fear were present, and they’re paralyzing. And the nothingness at the end of the day would make me sad and frustrated. This was the real problem, and I admit to have experienced some sort of depression (I never consulted so it’s just a feeling).

Woah, this got really personal. Anyway…

Learning the basics of cupping, care of the roaster we tapped in Baguio, July 2017

One thing we did for the business last year was to join a food park. We thought it was a good training ground for running a fixed store. But several months after, we couldn’t sustain it, so we closed (just last month). It goes without saying, we failed and lost more money. This has put me in an even more dangerous situation, financially. Oh well, we could still take a few good things from the experience!

I personally just want my coffee black, but to address the market needs, I had to also learn to make sweet ice blended drinks with or without coffee

What’s gonna happen next? We are recalibrating our business direction - bottomline, there are still a lot to learn and do.

Why did I join Steemit? Between my business partner and I, I am the coffee enthusiast. And I'm also the one who dared to leave the comforts of a "stable job". Right now, I don’t have the luxury to just keep learning and trying new things. I don’t want to be an employee anymore - not that there’s anything wrong with it - but I have financial responsibilities other than myself. So I’m taking a chance on Steemit. Creating content for this platform gives me a chance to earn while I learn. It would also allow me to fuse the business venture with other interests, such as photography, video editing, writing and story-telling. Basically, I want to keep living in a way that I want, without compromising the lives of people who depend on me. Does that make sense?

Another reason to join Steemit is to be part of this new revolution in the Internet. I believe in decentralization, which I just realized, suits a person with many interests well.

Thank you for reading this 4-part post. It is the last post from me that is personal. An exclusive to early adapters/followers, hahaha! Moving forward, I hope you join me in learning more about coffee!

To end this, let me quote the very first words I said on Steemit: “Hello Steemit community! Can I share my love for coffee?”