Started during the Corona Pandemic and now successful multi-bikers – Birgit and Holger Fabry have been Coffee-Bike franchise partners since March 2020. The couple consciously decided to take the step into self-employment and found a concept with the mobile coffee bar that offers them maximum flexibility due to the self-sufficient mode of operation. “The Coffee-Bike is an eye-catcher at every event and the high-quality coffee specialities are happily accepted everywhere,” says Birgit, who previously worked in the civil service.
At the beginning of their Coffee-Bike journey, the Fabrys demonstrated their barista craft at various event caterings, such as a large play park. When it came to arranging events, they could always count on the support of the franchise headquarters. For a short time, they stood with a bike four days a week in the Forum Hanau shopping centre. The lockdown in December was an unforeseeable challenge for the new starters and also the decisive point for Holger to stick to his job as Apple Solution Consultant for the time being. In order to be able to run two events at the same time, they bought a second bike despite the uncertainties brought on by the pandemic. To be able to be available at multiple events at the same time, they have also expanded their fleet of vehicles. “We have two cars, two trailers and a van. So we can guarantee to reach two event locations at the same time, on time and reliably,” explains Holger.
It was only in January 2022 that Holger said goodbye to his permanent position to work full-time as a Coffee-Bike entrepreneur. The reason for this was to take over a permanent sales location.
From Coffee-Biker to Coffee-Biker – the location handover
In October 2021, a former franchise partner announced via Facebook that she wanted to give up her location in the Kaiserslautern Military Community Center (KMCC for short) on Ramstein Air Base and was looking for a successor. Holger and Birgit were immediately interested in the location and arranged a meeting the following day with their colleague, who ultimately decided in favour of the two entrepreneurs as the new location owners. After the contractual and bureaucratic details, the takeover took place in April 2022. The KMCC is a mall to which only the American military and their dependents have access, which is why English is the predominant language spoken there. There is only one other coffee vendor, but it is located in the other wing of the centre. The high quality of Caferino beans and the individual and personal ambience delight numerous customers every day. “We had the new interior specially made in a loft design. Our barrel tables with a Coffee-Bike look are a great place to enjoy coffee specialities and have a chat,” Birgit enthuses. The mobile coffee bar offers delicious hot drinks 364 days a year. The coffee hotspot is open eleven hours on weekdays and nine hours on weekends. To accomplish this workload, her team now consists of eight employees. Insights can also be found on the Facebook page Coffee-Bike Dreieich and the Instagram page coffeebike_dreieich. You can also find the Fabrys’ contact details on their website.
Seizing opportunities and optimising processes – the recipe for success
“Motivation, discipline and full commitment – we stand behind the product, want to constantly develop our concept and make decisions in the interest of our customers and employees,” explains Holger. To become successful with several Coffee-Bikes, sound entrepreneurial skills are an advantage. Just as relevant, however, are creativity to make one’s own business special and spontaneity to be able to react flexibly to challenges. As Coffee-Bikers, Holger and Birgit Fabry want to keep the to-go character of the business in focus. “To achieve goals, luck alone is not enough. As independent entrepreneurs, we plan ahead and optimise our processes at all times to achieve the greatest possible success,” Birgit explains. At the moment, they are well occupied with their three bikes. For the future, however, they are aiming for further expansion as soon as a sensible opportunity presents itself.
If you would also like to set up your own business with Coffee-Bike, then request our information package and take part in one of our free online webinars. Maybe the next success story will be about you and your Coffee-Bike business!