Starting From the Ground Up

On how hard it is to start from nothing… 

Starting a small business always seems like a cute and fun idea, until you dive into the nuts and bolts of it all. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been inspired by the small businesses I’ve loved locally and from around the world. I’ve always made a point to spend my money with them over big corporations, knowing I might one day be one of them.

Since we’ve revisited our idea of a coffee cart, we thought it would be fun to journal the journey, documenting both the highs and the lows. And as of right now, I can say it feels overwhelming. We are overworked and drowning in the legalities of selling anything in the state of New Jersey. It isn’t impossible though.

There’s a certain vulnerability, and even humor, in blindly calling the “clerk” of your county with questions about what you need to know to open a business you’re still figuring out. How do you get clear answers when you don’t even know where you’ll be primarily located? The licensing, the zoning, the strange and seemingly made up rules of New Jersey, and all the confusing subdivisions of government that we don’t even know the meanings of. And what if we accidentally miss something? Would someone really arrest us if we didn’t have a “peddler’s” license? These are all the things we are currently figuring out.

So we’ve decided to go ahead with this cart idea, whether it ends up being coffee, t-shirts, or even pickles. But wow, starting from the ground up is hard. Not impossible though. We’ve been inspired by other coffee shops that began with carts, like Nitro Bar and Steadyhand, who went on to open physical stand-alone locations. They did it. From zero to one hundred. And it worked. Sure, it took Nitro Bar ten years, but looking at where they are now, it clearly paid off.

Examples like these give me hope. They remind me it’s possible, even though it won’t be easy. Even something as simple as becoming an LLC, which we did long before we had any real details, wasn’t easy. Aubrey, the owner of Nitro Bar, has been refreshingly honest on social media about the realities of starting a small business. She openly shares the struggles, the things she would’ve done differently, and the things that worked. Coming from someone with a similar dream, her transparency is inspiring and eye-opening. But truthfully, nothing could have prepared us for the mountain of legal hoops it takes to sell homemade cold brew from a homemade table.

Our message through all of this is to be real and honest. We are chasing a dream that is, in many ways, just a stepping stone, but it has become an entire journey in itself. And it’s not exactly a scenic one. It’s a reminder to ourselves that we are still so young. We don’t really know what this means, what it entails, or what it could become. But we have a vision, some drive, and enough inspiration to keep moving forward. Even when we’re scared, and even when the outcome is uncertain.

Back in October, when we started this project, our vision was to create a way to build community, an outlet for creativity, a space for open conversations, and a physical place we could call our own. While we joke about creating an empire, what we truly want is a space that can transform alongside us, a true third space. A coffee shop that sells plants and shirts, a backyard that hosts yoga classes, a venue that transforms into a disco night with a wine bar. It could be anything we dream it to be. But we knew the cart would be the most realistic first step on this winding road.

The idea of one space holding all of that almost seemed foreign, since we hadn’t seen anything like it in the States. But then we went to Bali.

Our first experience was at Alchemy. With three locations across Bali, our first visit was to their Uluwatu location. We had gone for a heart opening ceremony and kirtan, only to find an incredible schedule of yoga and spiritual offerings. Yoga classes aligned with the elements, cacao ceremonies, sound journeys, ice baths and sauna sessions, ecstatic dances. A yogi’s heaven. On arrival, we realized this wasn’t just a beautiful outdoor studio but also a vegan restaurant, café, and boutique. They hosted courses for vegan bakers, yoga teacher training, and countless other workshops, some even free. It felt like our wildest dreams were brought to life.

Later in Ubud, we visited the Yoga Barn, another magical example of a spiritual playground for adults. We ended up there three times in one week, which is unusual for us while traveling, especially in a place like Ubud where there are so many beautiful and aesthetic spots to explore. But the Yoga Barn pulled us back. It was a vegan café surrounded by multiple outdoor yoga huts, with places to simply exist sprinkled throughout the enormous property.

Bali was expansive in ways we didn’t expect. For Siela, it was confirmation that maybe this dream wasn’t so far fetched after all. Considering these ideas had been floating around since October, we took it as a sign to keep going.

When you dedicate even a few hours a week to your dreams, your goals, and yourself, things start to move. Maybe slowly, maybe so slowly you barely notice, but movement happens. Your time is your spiritual currency in this world. It’s limited and it never stops. Hold it with grace, treat it as the privilege it is, and do something good with it. Because we can.

Of course, this is easier said than done. We are learning that every day. We can’t say whether it will all work out or if the time spent will be “worth it.” But what we do know is that we are taking steps. In a direction. Any direction. It’s new, fresh, and practically a newborn baby of a concept in the grand scheme of things.

And in that way, it feels similar to how many of us feel in life. We want to go somewhere, to do something, but where do we begin? It won’t be easy. And it won’t be a straight line. It will be a winding road filled with beautiful distractions along the way.

We have to learn to crawl before we can run. We have to trust that our journeys will look different from anyone else’s. It truly is your journey, and no one else’s. So do whatever you really want to do. It’s only your life that you’re living, and the only one you’ll ever truly experience.

Love your life. It’s the most selfless thing you can do for yourself.

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With that, we hope to start a little Instagram series highlighting these beautiful places and the things that have inspired us. The community, the atmosphere, the genuine intentions, and the unforgettable experiences they’ve given us deserve to be celebrated! 

And if anyone has any advice, insights, or ideas for us— we are open and ready to chat :)