Telecom Sales Manager Brings Mexican Coffee Across the Border

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Welcome, my friends. Today, I want to encourage you to do what's in front of you. All right, choose to focus on the task that's waiting for you, the opportunity you already know about, perhaps something you've been working on, or it's just kind of there. And instead of working on it, you keep kind of going around to look for other opportunities. You're looking for something perhaps new and shiny.

Now it's also okay, by the way, if you think that this task, you know, this thing in front of you, this opportunity, if it seems small, like that's totally fine. Because first of all, there's nothing wrong with small, but second, choosing to focus on something small can be a counterintuitive strategy that will serve you well, especially if you already have a job, other responsibilities, and limited time. Very often in the stories I bring you, we see that focusing on something really small, narrow, and specific, can lead someone to something that is much bigger, and much more significant, much more money, whatever the metric or the goal is. So, welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau, and today's story offers this advice, with all of that in mind, find your smallest viable market and go after it hardcore.

It's easier and more profitable to start specific and then expand. So this story is about a former telecom sales manager who perks up with an opportunity to sell coffee for a small farm in Mexico. In less than a year, this opportunity brews into a full-time career change. And of course, it all starts with that choice to say, hmm, maybe there is something to this. Let me do what's in front of me.

Let me not just look around for other opportunities. Here is one, let me say yes to it and see what happens. So, do what's in front of you, and stay tuned for the story. [Music]

What would you do if a side hustle opportunity dropped in your lap? In the summer of 2017, Dallas native Christina Rossini found herself facing this question.

Christina was invited by a college friend to visit him on a fair trade coffee farm in Chiapas, Mexico. Being an avid traveler, she accepted the invitation without a second thought. When she arrived, she was given a tour of the Capel Tique coffee farm. Christina was immediately drawn to this coffee co-op. She learned that Capel Tique controls the entire value chain from field to cup while paying their farmers a fair, consistent wage.

She appreciated their sustainable mission to keep the co-op 100% farmer owned so they can stay and support their local economy. It was one of the most successful social enterprise projects in Latin America, but they also had a problem. Their coffee was very successful among the Jesuit church in Mexico. They wanted to expand their mission internationally. At the time, Christina was a successful sales account manager in the telecom industry, savvy with sales and making connections.

When she encountered this opportunity, she jumped. Working with her friend Steven, she started small and began importing the coffee a little at a time to sell to friends and family. They wanted to see how that coffee was received before expanding. Since the co-op in Mexico was heavily intertwined with Jesuit communities and universities, they set up a booth at a Jesuit holiday bazaar where many potential customers would be in attendance. While there, they landed a few institutional clients whose own mission and core values aligned with those of the co-op.

They wanted to partner with Christina and begin offering the blends themselves. From there, Christina and Steven were able to make more connections among the Jesuit community. Knew that it worked well in Mexico by focusing on that community, so they thought they would try the same thing in the United States. And it worked. The coffee sales began to pick up and Christina could easily see that this could be a lot bigger, but she also saw that the growth wouldn't happen by magic.

While still working her full-time sales job, she poured any extra time and energy into expanding her outreach and sales of the coffee. She was passionate about its mission for social good and really enjoyed the process, not to mention the extra money brewing on the side. As orders began to increase, she felt it was time to incorporate her business and build a framework for a legitimate distribution firm. She named her company Innosaur and went down the path of learning the ins and outs of importing larger orders into the US. She worked with a customs broker in Mexico and one in Texas.

For smaller orders, she was able to utilize FedEx for shipment across the border. After a few months of selling and distributing coffee, it became clear that the workload from this side hustle was outweighing Christina's day job. As much as she enjoyed her full-time work and steady paycheck, she felt it was time to take a bigger leap and see what could happen if she gave the project her full attention. With the support of her husband, she began creating an exit plan to make the transition smoother. Toward the end of her career with her telecom company, Christina took a five-week vacation to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

That journey solidified her plan and she knew it was time to go all in. Now, when she quit her job, the hustle was only bringing in $1,000 a month. As a side hustle, that's a good amount of extra income, but without a steady paycheck, it wasn't a ton. Christina's belief in this endeavor was greater than the money and she also really believes she'd be able to grow it far more. It's been nine months now since she quit her job and sales have continued to brew.

Her brand has grown outside of the Jesuit community and found its way to other clients and universities and even to Disney World. That's right, Mickey Mouse himself has indulged in a cup of Capeltique coffee after several of his Mouseketeers native to Mexico recommended it to him. This goes to show how valuable brand loyalty and a good social impact story can open more doors to success. She's now bringing in around $3,000 to $4,000 in profit each month and is on track for $250,000 in sales this year. While things are roasting smoothly now, she had a lot to learn in making the transition.

She spent a bunch of time researching and connecting with others who worked with similar goods and before she hired those customs brokers, she ran into some problems. Her first big order was held up at the border for nearly six weeks because a license for the FDA was expired. They scrambled to get everything together to renew the license and get shipments to resume. Shipping costs in general have also been higher than she anticipated and cut into some of her expected profits. Her advice for anyone wanting to launch a similar hustle or product is to find your smallest viable market and then go after it hardcore.

In her case, it was marketing to Jesuit institutions and universities throughout the U.S. And from there, the products have expanded to other markets, even that appearance at Disney World, but only after she started with a very specific group. Christina was handed the right cup of coffee at the right time, but it took time and dedication to brew into a profitable, fluid business. [Music]

So remember, do what's in front of you. What is that task?

What is that opportunity? What is the work in front of you right now? What is that thing that you've been thinking about? Or maybe that thing that's even on your list. And I say that because we have a lot of people out there who are very focused and know exactly what they're supposed to do.

So maybe you don't need to hear that lesson. But I think there's probably a lot of other people out there who are like me in the sense that you're doing a lot of different things and there are a lot of different opportunities and you're often wondering like, am I doing the right thing? Maybe there's something else out there that's better. And what I have learned is a good strategy to deal with overwhelm or to deal with all kinds of things really is just, okay, what is in front of me right now? What should I do?

Maybe it hasn't completely landed in my lap, the way that it did for Christina in this story. But even in this story, she had to go out and make a lot of things happen. Like the opportunity was there, but then she had the tasks, the work, she had to figure out how to import the coffee. She had to figure out then how to sell it. She had to figure out the branding, at least in terms of the cross border branding.

And then she had to go from selling to the Jesuit institutions to selling it at Disney World and beyond. So there's always something in front of you. Whenever you feel that moment of overwhelm or you're just not certain what to do, maybe start with that. That's my suggestion or encouragement for you today. And I hope you enjoyed this story.

Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. So be inspired, do something about it. Today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/857. Come and check out this amazing coffee. Perhaps I'll order some for myself.

I always like a good cup of coffee. And if it's doing something good in the world, then that's so much the better. All right, more is coming up soon in tomorrow's episode and beyond. Thanks so much. My name is Chris Guillebeau.

This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]

from the Onward Project.