Where to begin?
I’ll come at this from a few angles.
Firstly, let me explain what this is.
Throughout my life as a cricketer, I’ve had some unbelievable stories and experiences, however, when we started Abantu Coffee just after hard lockdown in 2020, I came across people and stories which were way outside my frame of reference as a professional sportsman.
So in these posts, I will share some of those stories, as well as some business lessons and philosophies that we have learned and implemented in the past few years to make Abantu Coffee what it is today.
The Beginning
Around 2016, Chris (Cardoso) and I toyed with the idea of starting a coffee container. Him and I used to meet each other for a morning cappuccino, or capp test as we called it, on most mornings. Chris is also my manager (in my cricket career) and we discussed everything from cricket to life, business and any other thing we could think of. All over our capp test.
The PTA Bru Company was born, albeit in name only, and we quickly registered the business and even opened a bank account. However, our first ever location pitch failed, as the landlord wasn’t keen on our ‘container-grab-and-go’ model and subsequently as my cricket career started to take off and get busier, we never got around to actually act further on our initial attempt.
Four years later, as the world was gripped by the pandemic and we were all stuck at home, we picked up the idea again. This time, we actually had a few months to plan and get everything in place as we were at home anyway and neither myself nor Chris had to travel at the time as a result of the lockdown.
Our initial idea this time was to create our own blend of beans and then sell them to various coffee shops in the same way a company like Illy does it.
We ran trials, had tastings and events and went through a whole lot of effort to convince our first coffee shop client to start stocking our beans, but again we got rejected at the last hurdle.
We were obviously frustrated and angry at that stage, having gone through all that effort and weeks of preparation and work just to be shot down at the last moment, and it was at that moment that Chris and I just looked at each other and said; ‘let’s just open our own shop?’
Throughout and after COVID we saw how many of the coffee shops and places we used to support closed down. Being seasoned coffee drinkers we befriended quite a few baristas and we saw how the pandemic was affecting them. The ones who were still lucky enough to have jobs, wasn’t getting paid much and as a result of the waitress/barista industry being poorly regulated, many baristas were being exploited with shop owners taking a ‘well this (ridiculous) salary is better than nothing, so take it or leave it’ type of approach.
After having our eureka moment in which we (again) decided we wanted to open our own coffee shop, we needed (well, everything) but most importantly a name and a location.
The name Abantu Coffee was chosen as an extension of another product, Abantu Gin, that we developed at that stage, but more on that later.
Our first location was at the High Park Centre in Highveld, Centurion. I had always lived in the neighborhood and on that particular corner was a shopping centre that at that stage only really had a butcher and a Wimpy. We thought it would be perfect spot as it was on the outskirts of the neighborhood where all the cars had to pass by on their way to the major traffic routes.
Somehow I found the number of a man called Jan Swart, who manages the centre and he set up a meeting with the landlord.
Chris and I met with them and reassured them that we know exactly what we are doing and we can guarantee them that this will be a great success. After the pandemic, most small shopping centres were quite vacant, so I’m sure they just saw it as some extra rental that will come their way.
Nevertheless, after the meeting and a few phonecalls we had a location secured.
It was a great moment, finally someone that’s willing to trust us and take a punt with us.
However we quickly realised we have a location, but absolutely nothing else.
Abantu Coffee
In 2015 Chris and I wanted to start a clothing company. He came up with the idea of an outdoor brand and always referred to the name ‘Freedom’.
Again, we knew nothing of the industry and through the weeks and months of planning and gathering info on white labelled clothing, caps etc. we then refined the Freedom name to FRDM (still pronounced Freedom).
In the five or six years that followed, sales were okay and we kept our heads above water, selling caps, shirts and eventually also some leather goods, sunglasses and liquor.
Our best product that we produced, in partnership with Johan from 25 Degrees South distillery, was our FRDM Abantu Gin for which we won a few awards and it proved very popular.
However the margins on our products were never good enough that we could make an actual business out of FRDM as even though sales were good, all we were really doing was covering our cost of sales and the time Chris and I had to put into the business.
So as the time came that we needed a name for our coffee, Abantu Coffee was the natural choice.
I think at that stage Chris and I both knew deep down that FRDM and Abantu Gin will eventually die out so it was at least a little consoling that we could keep the Abantu name alive.
The Shop
Just before COVID, Lara and I were building at our house and making a few structural changes. After the construction part of the job was done, we still needed fittings like hand railings, a new gate and so forth. However when lockdown hit, it left our building project at about 90% complete and we felt a bit frustrated.
On a random day (during lockdown all days felt the same) as I was working in the garden in front of our house, a guy called Adriaan Coetzee walked past. He then turned around, greeted me and said he’s a boiler maker, working on the mines and he specialises in anything to do with steel. He noticed that we don’t have a front gate yet and he was wondering if he can quote to build one for us. He lived two houses from us in the same street and said that he would be able to source the material and do most of the construction in his backyard.
We still had lockdown restrictions at that time and I decided to give him a go, he’s quote was also way cheaper than any other quotes I had at that stage.
Long story short, Adriaan was absolutely brilliant. He built a beautiful steel front gate for our yard as well as other railings and fittings in our house. This coincided with the time that we were planning to open the shop and I asked Adriaan if he can build a container coffee shop. We didn’t want to buy an actual container as they are very big, bulky and difficult to maneuver and convert.
I sent him a few sketches that I drew on my phone over some pictures I took of the location, and Adriaan brought that vision to life singlehandedly.
He has since built and fitted our other 8 shops as well and has also managed various other construction projects for both Chris and myself.
A stroke of fate perhaps, him walking up to me on that day in my garden, who knows.
We needed to build a shop, and he came like he was sent and has since become a good friend of ours.
Even though the pieces were falling into place nicely, Chris and I continued to realise how much work and how many elements go into opening a coffee shop. I think it’s a common misconception that people think it’s easier to do than it really is, we definitely thought so.
The next step was to get equipment.
We Googled a few places and eventually found Heavenly Coffees in Centurion.
Chris and I rocked up there the one day and was greeted by the owner, Francois. I believe the conversation went almost exactly like this;
‘Hi Francois, we’re opening a coffee shop. We know nothing and we need everything. Can you help us?’
‘Okay, when is your shop opening?’
‘Two weeks.’
After realising that we weren’t joking, Francois immediately got to work and helped us with everything from our Rancillio Classe 5 Tall commercial espresso machine, to the smallest cleaning brushes and grinding burrs. He gave us a few crash courses in those two weeks and when Adriaan finished the shop he came and installed everything. Brilliant service and something that we’re still grateful for to this day.
Baristas?
The final piece of the puzzle, and definitely the most important, was staff.
During soft lockdown, when outdoor activities were allowed, we were part of a small running club that used to run to and from a small coffee shop in Faerie Glen, close to where Chris lives.
That’s where we met Alban, our first barista. He was brilliant, both as a barista and with people. We got to know him through the months of lockdown and when we committed to open our shop, we knew he was our first choice. He was working long hours and wasn’t earning a lot at that shop, so when we made him an offer and asked him to join our team, he was 100% in straight away.
We were again lucky to find our second barista, Ekaterina, or Kate as we call her.
Her boyfriend at the time was a member at one of my good friend’s gym, and through word of mouth we learned that Kate, originally from Russia, worked as a barista in Centurion.
I met up with them and the situation was a similar one, she wasn’t too happy with where she was working and she was keen for a new challenge.
Our third member would fulfill the role of shopkeeper and thus didn’t have to be a qualified barista. I had met a guy a few years earlier, who then worked as a security guard, and I told him that one day I would come back for him and employ him in a better job. About a month before opening the shop I got in contact with him and he was keen to join us. As opening day came closer, he started acting a bit strange. I told him he should quit his current job and give them notice, but as the time came closer he couldn’t do it. He informed me of his decision to stay in his current job a day before we opened the shop, and suddenly we were less than 24 hours from opening our doors and we didn’t have a full compliment of staff.
I informed Alban and Kate about the situation, to which Alban replied that he has the perfect candidate and he can start immediately.
We met with Alban’s cousin, Justin, the next day and the rest is history. Justin had a background of various jobs but was most recently working at a carwash for a boss that he wasn’t quite getting along with, to say the least. He was well spoken, informed and showed a real understanding of how the world works and operates.
So in the space of two weeks, we had found our dream team.
Alban was artistic and flamboyant, with a real connection and feeling for our coffee and the way it should be made.
Kate was meticulous, professional, and a perfectionist, with every detail measured by gram and milliliter.
Justin was inviting and engaging, the perfect welcome to potential customers trying out a new coffee brand.
As we knew nothing of running or operating a coffee shop, we leaned heavily on especially our baristas to create a menu, come up with specials, operating hours and basically everything.
The combination of the three of them gave the perfect foundation for the start of something special.
We’re Open
And so on 5 September 2020 we officially opened. Friends and family came to join us on the day but it took quite a while to start getting organic customers.
As we didn’t have any cricket on at that time, I would spend most of my days at the shop and in the first week or so I would often sit and watch people walk by without showing much interest. Every time someone new ordered a coffee I would watch from afar and try to see if everything went smoothly, but Alban and Kate were pro’s and soon our shop became so popular that there would often be ques of 10 to 15 people, especially early in the mornings.
A common theme emerged in the few months before opening, and that was that we couldn’t have done it without the help of any of the people mentioned in this story, as well as some not mentioned.
The lesson I suppose is that if you want to do something, dive in and do it. Calculated yes, and definitely not recklessly, but just start, and you’ll find your way along the way. Do as much as you can, and everything you can, but also lean as much as you can on others in the aspects that you’re not familiar with.
Learn quickly, adapt quickly, keep taking the next step, and before you know it you might just end up with something to be really proud of.
