← Coffee
Starting a Coffee Business
I keep bees and sell the honey at farmers markets, and I am saving to open a shop. This is the homework for the stage before the shop: a small coffee stall that one person can run from a ten-foot canopy. The Michigan rules, the roaster, the green coffee, hot water with no outlet, samples, iced coffee, honey in the cup, prices across mid-Michigan, the kit, the arithmetic, and twelve printable reference cards.
Start here
The road map, my own plan, the money and the law.
Start Here: the Road From a Market Table to a Shop The map of the business pages: six stages from a market table to a shop, with the licence, insurance, equipment and money each needs in Michigan, the pages to read in order, and a checklist for each. Explore →
The Plan From a honey table to a coffee stall: what it sells, the three stages, and what the research changed. Explore →
The Numbers Start-up costs by stage, what a cup and a bag earn, and why the kind of licence decides whether cups pay. Explore →
The Michigan Rules Bagged coffee needs no licence; a cup does. What that licence takes away, and the questions to ask before spending money. Explore →
Set it up properly
Structure, insurance, certificates, money and a name.
Setting Up the Business: Structure, Tax ID, Name and Free Help Sole proprietor or LLC, the free EIN, a DBA, self-employment tax and quarterly estimates, records against the cottage food cap, and Michigan's free counsellors, with a checklist in order. Explore →
Insurance: What a Market Vendor and a Roaster Need General and product liability, what Michigan markets ask for, the food-vendor policies from $299 a year, roasting at home and the homeowners policy, and a ladder from a stall to a shop. Explore →
Food-Safety Certification: ServSafe and the Food Protection Manager Who in a coffee business needs a certified food protection manager in Michigan (a temporary booth does not), the exams and their prices, classes, and what the course teaches that matters at a stall. Explore →
Financing: Loans, Grants and Crowdfunding From the honey sales and a 0% Kiva loan to Michigan community lenders, SBA loans and the grants that do and do not fit, with a $5,299 roaster paid five ways. Explore →
Branding, Naming and Trademarks Choosing a coffee name that works on a bag and a canopy, checking nobody owns it, and what a Michigan ($50) or federal ($350 a class) trademark costs, with the Charbucks and Kona fights. Explore →
Roast it and pack it
The roaster, the beans, the log, the smoke, and the bag.
Choosing a Roaster The Behmor is a learning machine by its own manual. The Bullet R2 and R2 Pro, compared in pounds per week and in volts. Explore →
Green Coffee and the Line-Up Which coffees forgive a beginner, what they cost today, how much to buy, and how long to rest a roast. Explore →
Roast Logs, Quality Control and Blending What to write down for every batch, a log sheet to print, the software that keeps it, and the checks that make next Tuesday's roast match this one: weight loss, colour meters, green moisture, a kept reference roast and a house blend. Explore →
Smoke, Air Permits and the Neighbours What a roaster gives off, what Michigan's air rules actually say (no exemption names coffee), what afterburners and ducts cost, venting a Behmor or a Bullet, fire, and the questions for EGLE and the township. Explore →
Toll Roasting, Private Label and Shared Roasteries Ways to sell licensed coffee before owning a production roaster: a toll roaster, private label, shared roaster time and Michigan's incubator kitchens, with what each costs and what the label has to say. Explore →
Packaging Coffee for Sale: From a Kitchen Sealer to a Bagging Line Four rungs from a $185 hand sealer to a form-fill-seal line, the bag types and sizes, filling to weight, sealing step by step, storage, and exactly what a coffee label must say in Michigan and under federal rules. Explore →
Packaging Roasted Coffee What makes coffee go stale, what the one-way valve does, and plain answers on vacuum sealing, desiccant packs, oxygen absorbers, foil against kraft, ground coffee and the freezer. Explore →
Bags, Labels and What a Bag Costs Valve bags, labels and the arithmetic: about $6 to $8 to make a bag that sells for $16 to $19. Explore →
Compostable, PFAS and Waste What "compostable" really certifies, where it can go near central Michigan, why paper cups were not the PFAS problem, why valve bags are hard to recycle, and what a small stall can honestly do with cups, bags and grounds. Explore →
Run the stall
Layout, gear, hot water, the drinks, and serving them safely.
The Stall Layout, kit and checklist for a ten-foot canopy, with the cookies, scones and jam that go beside the coffee. Explore →
The Equipment List Everything from scales to roasters: price, where to buy, and whether to buy it used. Explore →
Hot Water and Power An 858 Wh battery heats seven litres from cold, or keeps forty-eight hot. Propane, generators and the plan that needs no permission. Explore →
Sampling Brew ahead or brew live? Coffee holds three hours in a sealed airpot. Cups, a cupping table, and the rules. Explore →
The Drinks Pour-over, press, phin and egg coffee, judged by what one person can make with a line waiting. And condensed milk cooked in the can. Explore →
Iced Coffee and Ice Home-made ice is not allowed; a big cube melts in warm coffee. Flash brew, and what to do with cold brew after the steep. Explore →
Honey in Coffee Why honey sinks in a cold drink, the syrup that fixes it, which honey suits which coffee, and drinks to test. Explore →
Cups, and Standing Out What every cup costs, and the cheapest way to make one the stall's own: a stamp and a wooden honey dipper. Explore →
Grinders For the stall, for customers and for a shop — and whether each coffee needs its own. Explore →
Serving Hot Drinks Safely How fast coffee burns, what the McDonald's case actually found, the temperature to serve at, lids, children at the table, and first aid when there is no tap. Explore →
Taking Cards: Readers, Fees and No Signal Square, SumUp, Clover, Stripe and Shopify compared; what the fee takes from a $4 cup; offline mode and its 24-hour limit; SNAP tokens, surcharges and keeping records for the cottage food cap. Explore →
Sell beyond the market
Customers, online, subscriptions, wholesale, events, a truck, a shop.
Prices and Customers Twenty-five markets, thirteen roasters, twelve counties, and a starting price list for three kinds of market. Explore →
Marketing on a Shoestring The table, the sample and the email list first: what market shoppers say they read, what Google allows a market vendor, loyalty cards, and a two-hour weekly routine. Explore →
Selling Online and by Mail Since March 2026 Michigan cottage food may be sold online and by mail within the state, if the buyer can meet the seller first. The law, the platforms, what a bag costs to post, and the step to a licensed roastery. Explore →
Subscriptions and a Coffee Share How roasters run subscriptions, and a CSA-style coffee share for a market stall: paid in spring, collected weekly, with the numbers that show the box price pays for the discount. Explore →
Wholesale and Consignment: Cafés, Restaurants, Offices and Shops Cottage food cannot be sold to a café, a shop or on consignment; a $186 MDARD licence can. Wholesale prices, equipment loans, office coffee, barcodes, consignment, private label and a ladder from one café to a route. Explore →
Catering and Event Coffee Carts Airpot stations, pour-over bars and espresso carts for weddings, offices and farm events: set-up costs, how much a crowd drinks, the Michigan licence question, contracts, and two worked quotes. Explore →
Gift Baskets Three baskets for someone buying a first grinder, and seven built on beans, honey and cups — with what Michigan allows in one. Explore →
A Truck or Trailer The other way to sell at a market: what a vehicle changes, what it does not, what it costs, and where it fits in the plan. Explore →
Opening a Coffee Shop The last stage of the plan: finding a space and reading a triple-net lease, the Michigan plan review, equipment priced for a real counter, 2026 wage law, a café's money modelled line by line, what the survival data actually say, and a month-by-month checklist for the year before opening. Explore →
Print it
Cards to keep on the bench and the table.
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