East Coast Coffee and Tea Co. Interview
By Interviewer at 05/25/09 12:49
Name of your website?
East Coast Coffee and Tea Co.
Your name?
Richard Pierce
Your Location (city, etc)
indian Harbour Beach
Please give us a short summary of your website?
This is a website dedicated to provide the community with an alternative to corporate coffee. We fresh roast our own coffees from around the world and offer them to the public at very cost effective pricing (cheap ;~) ). We also have a full espresso bar, coffee roasting demos and cupping classes, free live entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights plus other special events throughout the month.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I inherited this site from the previous owners who had neglected the site for very long time and had it developed by a friend of a friend who made everything into .jpeg images, text and all. Daunting to remove and replace with SEO friendly pages and keywords etc. I also want to showcase the on-line shopping store for our products.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
My very first website was dedicated to my previous business, a motel. That gave me many hours to develop and refine. I was able to do much of the work and got help from others when necessary but I learned a lot.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Again, I inherited it but it seemed appropriate and EastCoastCoffee.com was already taken so I stayed with what I had.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
We are a local business that reaches out to the community as well as globally.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Our goal is to move into a sales venue for our fresh roasted coffee products and our fundraiser efforts. We provide groups with a means to make 40% profit on sales of fresh roasted coffee. We sell a 12 oz. bag for $6.00 and they sell it for ten.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
I spend a lot of time but the resulting revenues are good.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
Someone else would do it :~)
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Probably not as I am the primary roaster and buyer.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Equipment failure and employee difficulties.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Finding and keeping adequate employees.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Constant re-development and tweaking
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I pretty much get what I expect from it. I hope one day to be able to turn over the reins to a commercial outfit to get me more SEO.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up i f you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
The site is five years old and i will keep it going in one form or another as long as i am able and still own the company.
Where are you located?
We are located on the Northeast Corner of South Patrick Rd. and Eau Gallie Blvd. in Indian Harbour Beach, FL. This is just across the Eau Gallie Causeway from Melbourne. We are a free internet cafe (just buy something ;~) ) that has free entertainment on the weekends as well as other special events throughout the month. We offer fresh roasted coffee from around the world and many of our coffees are certified organic and fair trade. We hold roasting demos and cupping classes once a month and we have a full espresso bar offering frozen drinks as well. We expect everyone who reads this to come by and say hi.
What is your website address?
