Kid Entrepreneurship: Interview with Josh Miner, the Small Batch Homeschool Roaster
June 9, 2021
By Matt Miner, MBA, CFP®
The Small Batch Homeschool Roaster
Josh Miner tells the story of his coffee business and what he’s learned making, marketing, and selling fresh coffee.
My favorite part of the interview was sharing this conversation with Josh. My second favorite part is Josh’s experience about the importance of asking for orders!
TRANSCRIPT
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[00:00:01] Matt Miner: Like all y'all, we've tried to train our children to live well in the world. Since they could speak, they've been required to introduce themselves by name and offer a hand when they meet someone new. From about age four, they've ordered their own food and restaurants by saying things like, "May I please have the grilled cheese and cheesy tater tots with the side of mac and cheese and a huge Dr. Pepper with no ice?" By God's grace, when our kids were young, we often heard, "Your children are so well-behaved." We were thankful for the encouragement that other adults found our children pleasant to be around.
Of course, we and they have had and continue to have a staggering number of fails and facepalm-worthy moments, too numerous and humiliating to recount here. But by and large, we are super proud of our crew and love to take them anywhere. As Charity and I listened to people complement our kids, we had to clarify the goal in our own minds that in our parenting enterprise, we weren't looking to raise good kids. Instead, we made it our goal to raise competent and productive adults.
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[00:01:05] Matt: Hey, and welcome to the Work Pants Finance podcast. I'm Matt Miner, your money guide. Work Pants Finance is the show for MBAs, entrepreneurs, and other professionals who want their financial plan to work as hard as they do.
My guest today is Josh Miner, founder of the Small Batch Homeschool Roaster, where coffee is always roasted fresh for you.
Now, here's your money guide quick tip. If you're a parent, work with all your might to raise competent adults. Few things will have a bigger positive effect on your financial plan than children capable of living independently and fully supporting themselves at the proper time. Even though it feels wistful and hard to keep pushing them out of the nest, it's vitally important. At every stage, it feels easier, at least in the beginning, to do something for them rather than invest the time, frustration, and heartache in training them to do it themselves. Resist this temptation. Lean in lovingly to the work of training competent, productive adults. It is in fact your life's work. Your children are capable of more than you imagine.
Lastly, a special disclosure. As I record this, my kids are 15, 14, and 12. Therefore, I've only raised them to those ages. We don't yet have adult children, so you should take my opinions with a grain of salt. Also, my kids and their parents are vastly imperfect, and like you, we labor day-by-day by God's grace. Still, we are thankful for the trajectory they're on and continue to double down on our commitment to raise competent and productive adults. You can read more at workpantsfinance.com/27.
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[00:02:43] Matt: We are here today on Work Pants Finance with an incredibly special guest. In fact, except for my wife who hasn't yet been recorded on this new show, this is the most special guest I've had on the show. I'm joined today by Josh Miner, also known as the Small Batch Homeschool Roaster. Josh is the second-born Miner child and the one with the most fully integrated business, and I am excited to share what he does with you today. Josh, I am so glad to have an entrepreneur who is also my son on the show. Would you take a moment and introduce yourself for my audience?
[00:03:20] Josh Miner: Yes. I'm Josh Miner. I buy, roast, and sell quality coffee.
[00:03:26] Matt: All right, anything else you'd like to say?
[00:03:29] Josh: Not particularly on that subject, that is.
[00:03:32] Matt: How old are you?
[00:03:34] Josh: Yes, of course. I am 14.
[00:03:36] Matt: What grade are you in school?
[00:03:38] Josh: I'm rising ninth.
[00:03:39] Matt: How long have you been coffee roasting?
[00:03:42] Josh: Two and a half years now, I believe. First roast was on January 2nd, '19.
[00:03:47] Matt: Well, why don't you take a minute and tell us about your business?
[00:03:52] Josh: I import quality green coffee from places such as Indonesia, Central and South America. I then roast it in a popcorn popper and then at need, grind it, then I bag it, and sell it to whether someone's out of town I can ship or if it's in a neighborhood or someone I know from somewhere, I can hand-deliver it to them.
[00:04:18] Matt: What's special about ordering coffee from you versus maybe buying it at Costco or at Starbucks?
[00:04:26] Josh: First of all, definitely the freshness. Many times, I deliver pounds when they're still warm from the roaster.
[00:04:33] Matt: You can't get that at Starbucks.
[00:04:34] Josh: No indeed. You can get almost a little close at Starbucks if you pay twice as much for half as much.
[00:04:41] Matt: Anything else that's special about your business?
[00:04:43] Josh: Well for starters, it's done by a rising ninth-grader. Also, it's done small batch so quality control is assured. If something goes wrong, I can always replace the coffee.
[00:04:56] Matt: Okay, good deal. How did you choose coffee roasting to be Your business?
[00:05:01] Josh: Well, it started maybe four months before I actually started my business. I asked you, my dad, "How can I increase my income?" You mentioned something about how our uncle had taken up a coffee roasting business. We asked him about it. He sold me some beans and directed me to the popcorn popping, gave us some advice on the first roast, and it went fairly successfully.
[00:05:28] Matt: One of the things I wanted to ask you is whether it's important for you to feel like you have a personal connection or interest in your business, or is it enough just to have a business that works for you?
[00:05:41] Josh: I would say it's enough to have a business that works for you. Obviously, I've had this one working for two and a half years, and I don't have an affinity for coffee or anything.
[00:05:53] Matt: That's probably okay since you were 12 when you started. Not that many people roast their own coffee, even though a lot of people drink coffee. Can you tell us what's been the most surprising thing about being a coffee roaster?
[00:06:05] Josh: Well, I know there's a few different things. Maybe that certain kinds of marketing, the simplest solutions are often in fact the best.
[00:06:16] Matt: What's an example of that?
[00:06:18] Josh: Well, I tried to do this whole coffee cupping thing once at a homeschool co-op that we do, giving away free coffee and trying to get some orders. It worked to some measure. I made up on expenses, but it didn't work very well. On the other hand, simply sending out emails asking for orders from my historical customers almost always gets me quite a few orders.
[00:06:42] Matt: It sounded like you were maybe about to say something else that was surprising when I followed up on that first question. Was there something else?
[00:06:48] Josh: Yes, it takes quite a lot of skill, a surprising amount of skill to roast coffee well. It took me a while, but I eventually got good at it, not without burning the heck out of a couple of roasts.
[00:07:03] Matt: Did you have to eat those financial losses?
[00:07:06] Josh: Yes.
[00:07:07] Matt: That's one of the hard parts about business. Is there something, just a sentence or two about what it takes to roast a coffee well? People might be interested in what that looks like for your business.
[00:07:19] Josh: For starters, you've got to do the startup costs. When I started up in the first place, it cost me $150. Then, you have to sit outside for 10 minutes if you spring for a deep fryer burner like I have, or quite a lot longer than that if you're using a grill side burner like I used to. You've got to sit outside in the elements with bugs eating the flesh off of you as you monotonously turn a crank.
[00:07:49] Matt: All right, so possibly not something that you want to do forever and ever.
[00:07:54] Josh: [chuckles] No, indeed.
[00:07:55] Matt: Your best idea so far, and something that has been sustained over a pretty long period of time?
[00:08:00] Josh: Yes.
[00:08:02] Matt: Josh, what do you like the most about being the Small Batch Homeschool Roaster?
[00:08:06] Josh: I think as it goes to just like individual moments, pulling the last pound of coffee off the sheet for the day and knowing it's pretty much smooth sailing to get a payoff. What I like the most objectively about it, I do it for the money.
[00:08:25] Matt: Sometimes it's for money, not love. What is it you like the least? You've mentioned a couple of things.
[00:08:31] Josh: Just the conditions you have to roast in most primarily.
[00:08:36] Matt: You've talked about a couple of things you've learned about coffee roasting. What have you learned about business or anything else?
[00:08:41] Josh: Well, I did mention that thing about simple marketing methods, although I've also learned certain different ways to market. For instance, next-door advertising. Paying $18 to put a promo up in 35 neighborhoods is not actually too bad a deal. I've learned that you've got to accept some sunk costs and yes, you have to work.
[00:09:07] Matt: You have to work in order to make money. Folks, you heard it here first.
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[00:09:14] Matt: Today's show is brought to you by the Small Batch Homeschool Roaster. Go to workpantsfinance.com/resources to download Josh's information sheet and learn more about his business. Josh, do you have any advice for other kid entrepreneurs?
[00:09:32] Josh: Well, depends on where you start. Before I started my coffee roasting business, I'd been walking a neighborhood dog for some time, and so I had enough money to cover the startup costs. If you start a neighborhood dog walking business or something like that, or babysitting, you can start up with zero startup costs. Or, you can start a business more like I did, which is more cost and then greater profit, and that takes some more bootstrapping.
[00:10:04] Matt: And some more capital at the beginning.
[00:10:06] Josh: Yes.
[00:10:08] Matt: I wonder if we could change gears from your business to talk about your life. What has it been like for you growing up in the Miner family as it relates to personal finance? This is something you think about.
[00:10:18] Josh: For starters, it's good to have some good help and good ways to both invest it and deposit it in a bank account. I probably would not be able to do it nearly so well without a CFP for a dad.
[00:10:32] Matt: Do you think that's an unfair advantage?
[00:10:34] Josh: No, indeed but it is certainly a great one.
[00:10:37] Matt: Anything else from your thoughts about personal finance as a kid in this family?
[00:10:43] Josh: Save your money.
[00:10:45] Matt: Save your money. I wonder if you think that when you're a grownup, is there anything you'll do differently than mom and I do?
[00:10:53] Josh: I won't have the benefit of being a certified financial planner who can help you with almost anything money, but still, the things like the daddy's bank account that you got us set up on with the 10% interest and everything, that's a good way to teach them to save. No allowances except for like extra chores or something like that.
[00:11:15] Matt: Josh, you said there was one more surprising thing that you wanted to share with the listeners?
[00:11:22] Josh: Yes, it's that when I got into this, I didn't honestly expect to get very many orders besides the ones that my dad would dutifully supply me, but it is surprising. The markets are often quite a lot bigger than the supply than you would think. That's why I'm still in business and I've done quite well.
[00:11:45] Matt: What caused you to get orders?
[00:11:47] Josh: Marketing, sales, learning how to sell someone coffee on the spot.
[00:11:54] Matt: Could we categorize things as like asking for the order?
[00:11:59] Josh: Pretty much literally, yes.
[00:12:01] Matt: What happens when you ask for an order? What happens sometimes?
[00:12:04] Josh: Quite often you get one.
[00:12:06] Matt: Josh, if people wanted to learn more about your coffee, how should they follow up?
[00:12:10] Josh: They could email me at smallbatchhomeschoolroaster and ask after my info sheet. This explains my business and products, and they would then be able to place an order by email.
[00:12:21] Matt: What is that email address again?
[00:12:23] Josh: smallbatch.homeschoolroaster@gmail.com.
[00:12:28] Matt: Very good. If you want to get in touch with Josh, there's his details. Josh, thank you so much for being on the show today.
[00:12:34] Josh: Thank you for interviewing me, you're welcome.
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[00:12:38] Matt: Big thanks to Josh for sharing his experience here on Work Pants Finance. I'm super proud of you, son. Next up for the Work Pants Finance podcast is the rerelease of the single most popular episode from my former show. The interview with Charity Miner about homeschool philosophy and practice. Until then, this is Matt Miner, encouraging you to raise competent adults so your financial plan doesn't include supporting them into their 30s and beyond.
[00:13:05] Female Speaker: Matt Miner is a fee-only fiduciary financial advisor and founder and CEO of Miner Wealth Management, a North Carolina registered investment advisor, where Matt provides personalized, unconflicted advice to clients for a fee. He's also my dad, so please be nice when you talk to him. Matt is a certified financial planner professional and holds a Series 65 securities license. He earned his bachelor's degree in finance from Arizona State University and his MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
Work Pants Finance is Matt's financial media business, where he talks about work, entrepreneurship, kids, and money, taxes, investing, and other personal finance topics. Workpantsfinance.com exists to share wisdom and provide general financial information. It is not financial, tax, or legal advice. You are an individual and probably need personal advice for your specific situation. You should consider building relationships with helpful, caring, and competent professionals who understand your unique contacts and can provide advice that is appealed to your needs.
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