Posted on Feb 19, 2017
SFC Evan Hafer here, founder of Black Rifle Coffee. What questions do you have for me?
54.9K
594
197
90
90
0
*RP Staff will be monitoring this discussion*
From RP Staff: We're honored to welcome SFC Evan Hafer to RallyPoint on Tuesday 2/21 at 4:00pm EST for a live Q&A. SFC Hafer is a model entrepreneur, and leader, who is simultaneously working to grow his business, while helping veterans within his organization learn how to launch and grow their own. Post your questions below.
From RP Staff: We're honored to welcome SFC Evan Hafer to RallyPoint on Tuesday 2/21 at 4:00pm EST for a live Q&A. SFC Hafer is a model entrepreneur, and leader, who is simultaneously working to grow his business, while helping veterans within his organization learn how to launch and grow their own. Post your questions below.
Business
Transition
Entrepreneurship
Q&A
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 91
0
0
0
The only thing that stops you from growing and making it is you. Never give up and you know what happens when you get knocked down. Semper Fi wishing all you guys realize you have the skills use them.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
Good Morning Evan,
Do you have a time line when you anticipate going online with Franchising? I would be interested in opening one here in Lake Havasu City, Az to provide a location that retired, veterans, and the wounded can go and exist. I too need to plan. The company would be a success here due to the anger towards the 10,000 refugees over Americans, let alone veterans,
Regards, KC
Do you have a time line when you anticipate going online with Franchising? I would be interested in opening one here in Lake Havasu City, Az to provide a location that retired, veterans, and the wounded can go and exist. I too need to plan. The company would be a success here due to the anger towards the 10,000 refugees over Americans, let alone veterans,
Regards, KC
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
Can you contact me in reference to franchise??? I am interested in selling your product.......
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
Love the coffee, a bit to expensive to drink everyday, but puts the crap Starbucks sells to shame!
(0)
(0)
SFC Terry Murphy
SFC (Join to see) - do you plan on offering franchises or positions for distribution?
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
Evan, I heard about you 2 weeks ago from a Starbucks employee. Where are you coffee shops located?
(0)
(0)
SFC (Join to see)
We just have the one in SLC. However, we are opening in six states by the end of the year.
(1)
(0)
0
0
0
0
0
0
I'm in the reserves and an entrepreneur myself. Some questions
1) Did you start BRCC as a side business that eventually grew into a full time "job"?
2) What applications did you use to manage investors, customers and suppliers? How did you stay organized?
3) Does BRCC plan on doing Seed funding in the near future?
4) How did you pay employees at the beginning stages of the company?
I'm sure I'll have more questions later, but I'm running 2 businesses part-time and work full time for Amazon, but I want to be my own boss in the next year.
Thanks
1) Did you start BRCC as a side business that eventually grew into a full time "job"?
2) What applications did you use to manage investors, customers and suppliers? How did you stay organized?
3) Does BRCC plan on doing Seed funding in the near future?
4) How did you pay employees at the beginning stages of the company?
I'm sure I'll have more questions later, but I'm running 2 businesses part-time and work full time for Amazon, but I want to be my own boss in the next year.
Thanks
(0)
(0)
SFC (Join to see)
1) I started BRCC as a side business.
2) I didn't take investment capital. I ran spreadsheets to organize the business.
3) You'll have to explain the context of this question. Meaning, am I taking or giving?
4) You'll have to explain this as well. Are you asking me the system or did I loan $?
2) I didn't take investment capital. I ran spreadsheets to organize the business.
3) You'll have to explain the context of this question. Meaning, am I taking or giving?
4) You'll have to explain this as well. Are you asking me the system or did I loan $?
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
SFC (Join to see) , do you have any plans to make your products available through the commissary or work with AAFES in establishing retail locations?
(0)
(0)
SSG (Join to see)
I've heard that. I hope to see your brand in place of that other common place coffee vendor on my next trip to the box!
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
Good Morning, since most of the questions here are regarding your business model or your Veteran hiring pledge, I figured I'd ask something more personal.
What started you in your passion for coffee? Did you have a bad cup in the field and didn't want anyone else to experience that? Or on the flip side, did you have a really good cup one day and put together a business in order to recapture that experience?
Thank you for your time and have a great day.
What started you in your passion for coffee? Did you have a bad cup in the field and didn't want anyone else to experience that? Or on the flip side, did you have a really good cup one day and put together a business in order to recapture that experience?
Thank you for your time and have a great day.
(0)
(0)
SFC (Join to see)
I started my coffee journey in Idaho in 1996. I dated a barista, and she turned me on to a good cup of coffee. I moved to Seattle shortly after to attend college and was smitten with high-quality coffee. One of the first things I did after graduating basic training and AIT was go and find a coffee shop outside of Ft Benning. I moved back to Seattle, went to SFAS and kept my eye on good coffee. I used to have the stuff shipped in from Seattle while I was in the Q course. After Ft Bragg, I moved back to Seattle and bought a condo across the street from my favorite coffee shop. From that point, I bought a little one pound roaster and started working on the craft. Between deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, I would roast coffee and pull shots to find the right profiles. I would take vacations to Europe, Portland and Seattle to find the best cups of coffee, so when it came to transitioning, it was an easy jump to start my own coffee co.
(3)
(0)
0
0
0
Okay, I have a few questions:
Don't get me wrong, I like the veteran hiring goal, and I really get a kick out of Black Rifle Coffee taking on the pretentious, under-tasting and over-priced Millennial magnet, less than affectionately known as Starbucks, but it seems you want to take on Goliath by catering to a niche market with what may as well be a mission statement reading: "Hipsters Suck!". Are you concerned that the market segment you are aggressively targeting may be too limited? Can you achieve sustainable growth and take market share from giants in the specialty coffee sector by catering exclusively to what seems like a market "echo chamber" of personally like-minded customers? And closely related to that last question--not that I want you to compromise your core beliefs in the pursuit of profit--have you looked at or are planning on expanding brand identity ("expand"...not "change") to capture more of the market; and if so, how?
I understand you are looking to move beyond your current sales model into retail. It appears franchising will be part of your market penetration strategy, but even then--to say nothing of any corporate owned stores--have you identified barriers to entry and how to overcome them?
(Sidebar: Do hipsters suck? Yes. Yes they kinda do.)
Don't get me wrong, I like the veteran hiring goal, and I really get a kick out of Black Rifle Coffee taking on the pretentious, under-tasting and over-priced Millennial magnet, less than affectionately known as Starbucks, but it seems you want to take on Goliath by catering to a niche market with what may as well be a mission statement reading: "Hipsters Suck!". Are you concerned that the market segment you are aggressively targeting may be too limited? Can you achieve sustainable growth and take market share from giants in the specialty coffee sector by catering exclusively to what seems like a market "echo chamber" of personally like-minded customers? And closely related to that last question--not that I want you to compromise your core beliefs in the pursuit of profit--have you looked at or are planning on expanding brand identity ("expand"...not "change") to capture more of the market; and if so, how?
I understand you are looking to move beyond your current sales model into retail. It appears franchising will be part of your market penetration strategy, but even then--to say nothing of any corporate owned stores--have you identified barriers to entry and how to overcome them?
(Sidebar: Do hipsters suck? Yes. Yes they kinda do.)
(0)
(0)
SFC (Join to see)
Great question.
So, I driving to be the conservative coffee of America. Based on that, I'm not worried about my market cap. As for the marketing of "hipsters suck", well that is one segment of a large marketing campaign that quite literally will fade into the sunset with hipsters.
We have a complex franchise, corporate owned and affiliate strategy that has taken our GC and a couple franchising attorneys a long time to put together. I wish I could go into more detail, however this is the inappropriate time to get into details.
So, I driving to be the conservative coffee of America. Based on that, I'm not worried about my market cap. As for the marketing of "hipsters suck", well that is one segment of a large marketing campaign that quite literally will fade into the sunset with hipsters.
We have a complex franchise, corporate owned and affiliate strategy that has taken our GC and a couple franchising attorneys a long time to put together. I wish I could go into more detail, however this is the inappropriate time to get into details.
(0)
(0)
SGT Dave Tracy
SFC (Join to see) - I appreciate the time, I know mine was a multifaceted series of questions.
Lastly, I appreciate your belief that hipsters will fade away. I'm all too often surrounded by them. I wish I was as confident!
Lastly, I appreciate your belief that hipsters will fade away. I'm all too often surrounded by them. I wish I was as confident!
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google