Despite the challenges faced during the last year, Cafe2U and our franchisees have come through it stronger. Here, we take a look at some of the individual Cafe2U success stories from recent times, starting with Amanda Lawrence.
About:
Amanda Lawrence has been a franchise owner in Braintree, Essex, since November 2020.
Why did you choose to become a Cafe2U franchisee?
I was working full time as a bank manager. I have two boys and a husband who is also a bank manager. Looking for a change of scenery, I was thinking about opening a coffee shop and decided that a mobile one was a great idea as it has fewer overheads. I also liked the prospect of working on my own with no staff to manage and, theoretically, less stress!
How did you get set up?
I set up the business using my savings.
What training and support did you have?
Cafe2U's Franchise Development Manager, Mustafa, has been incredibly supportive and has even re-built the coffee round to suit me. He has kept in touch with regular Zoom calls and has helped me liaise with the Good Till Company, the company that supplies our tills, to ensure everything in my van is running smoothly. He has also been available to offer me advice whenever I've needed it and to help me figure out exactly what I want to get out of the business.
What’s your day-to-day like?
Nice! After sitting at a desk for ten years, it's hard work but very rewarding. I love the freedom of being self-employed and the support I receive from Karen (Cafe2U's Operations Support Manager) and Mustafa has been invaluable.
What challenges have you faced and how did you overcome them?
The main challenges for me are the aches and pains after a long day! I know they'll be worth it in the long run though, and that helps keep me going.
How to become a Cafe2U franchisee.
If you’re thinking about becoming a Cafe2U franchisee and want to discover similar experiences to Amanda, you can find out more about the process and costs here.
Amanda Lawrence set her heart on a high street coffee shop when she accepted voluntary redundancy from NatWest Bank in 2020. However, when she and her husband, Steve, considered the level of competition and the risk of dropping footfall, they decided it was better to go mobile. In November 2020 Amanda invested in a Cafe2U mobile coffee van and café franchise, serving the Braintree area.
“The resale franchise included an eight-year-old diesel van equipped with a diesel generator to drive the café equipment,” says Steve, who left his bank career to join Amanda in June 2021, “but in September 2021 we invested in a new all-electric van.”
He says: “We love it, and so do our customers. One battery drives the van and the other powers the coffee machine, refrigerator and freezer, the heated oven and the lights. There’s no noisy diesel generator and no fumes, and one overnight charge delivers more than enough power to get the van through our 45-mile round, delivering coffee and food to 25-30 local workplaces.”
The couple, from Coggeshall, Essex, have also found the electric van saves money as well as the environment.
“It saves us about £350 a month in fuel costs compared to the old diesel van,” says Steve. “Even at current electricity prices, charging both batteries nightly costs about £180 a month. There’s also no road tax to pay, so that saves about £240 a year, and because the electric engine has no clutch, gearbox or exhaust, there’s a lot less to go wrong, so it saves us hundreds of pounds on repairs and replacements.”
The van livery highlights the fact that it’s all-electric, which customers like, and Steve adds: “The cost savings mean we have not had to put up our prices to cover the increase in fuel costs.”