Today we’d like to introduce you to Roy Callahan.
Hi Roy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I graduated from my undergraduate program with a degree in chemistry during the height of COVID in 2020. It was hard to find work at that time with the world being shut down, so to pay the bills I started selling my personal collection of anime merchandise on the internet. That did so well I was originally going to just open up an anime shop, but when stimulus money dried up so did those sales.
I did coffee for a few local places and Starbucks to get through school, and while the idea of an anime coffee shop is new to the region I live in they are all over Japan, so I thought I would combine something I enjoy with something I have a lot of experience in and thus Plus Ultra Coffee was born.
Obviously while the Chemistry Degree was very useful in instilling work ethic it doesn’t help much with running a business, so while I waited for the world to return to some form of normal I pursued an MBA. Right before I started my last semester of grad school I found a location within my budget and boot strapped the venture with money I had saved up during the concept phase.
I opened in January of 2023 and spent the first 6 months working the shop by myself and paying off all my equipment. I have since added a couple of part time employees and do events most weekends such as host local comedy troupe Improv Chattanooga, trivia nights, Smash Bros Tournaments, painting on the patio, etc.
My goal is to make the little town of Cleveland less boring, and to provide people with a 3rd space that they can socialize in person (very important aspect missing from today’s society).
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My biggest obstacle that I have faced was funding out the gate. Banks are not very eager to work with businesses in the food industry (in their defense they are a risky category), and the best I could get was a line of credit. I wound up getting a bunch of used equipment, and YouTubing it back together.
I also pretty much didn’t sleep the first 6 months of owning the business as I was putting in about 80 hours a week at the shop while also completing my last semester of grad school. This was very stressful at the time but ended up being really good for me, as I was in strategic and operational management and was getting to use my real life experience of the shop as the data for the classes. This really helped me make mostly correct choices out the gate, as well as made what would just be concept, concrete in the learning process.
The only major mistake I made along the way was I was overly zealous and tried to expand horizontally instead of vertically to soon, and briefly opened up a second location in the public library before I had consistent enough cashflow to do so. I learned a lot from this though and after having 2 shops for 6 months it makes it a lot easier to sleep at night with just one to think about.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Plus Ultra Coffee is an anime themed coffee and boba shop in Cleveland, TN. We aim to be a place that anybody can enjoy, and our motto is to “go beyond coffee” and be a place that “all quirks are welcomed”
We have all of your usual blended coffees, lattes, and teas. Our best seller is probably our Black Clover (mocha with Irish cream), or our cherry blossom lemonade boba. Where we really stand out though is we aren’t just a get your drink and go sort of place. We have a free manga library you can read from while your in, some board games to pick from, and we host events on the regular. Also, rather than doing a boring ole punch card for rewards we make a new “cafemon” card every month. It has small perks you can use all month and then it is a collectible after that fitting in a binder just as any other TCG card would
The event we are most proud of is the One Piece Day we put on every 3rd Saturday in July, we say almost 100 people attend it last year in our second year of operations within our little shop. This year I am working with the mall to make it a free to attend mini con. I am bringing in a Voice Actor, got a stage for a cosplay contest and panels, vendors, and have included other local small businesses to participate in the day.
We have also recently got into 3D printing to spruce up the shop, and have a life size Luffy statue, pokemon, and other popular characters displayed throughout the store. We have signed art all over our walls and Funko pops and other collectibles on display that can be purchased.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
You should be getting experience in whatever it is your wanting to do the whole time you are planning to do it. If you are not very well financed be prepared to put in 12-14 hour days on the regular. Also, do your research and make sure it is something your community actually wants. The whole “if you build it, they will come” is from a movie about a fictional baseball field not how real life works. Always be constantly pivoting, I would have gone under if I only had the revenue streams that I started out with. Keep your ears open to what your customers want and if it is within your power and budget make it happen.
Pricing:
- Beverages: $3-5.50
- Textured Art Prints: $15
- Large Statues: $80-$120
- Collectibles: Ebay Comps/PPG
- Coffee Beans (12oz): $15
Contact Info:
- Website: https://plusultracoffee.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plus.ultra.coffee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plusultracoffee/
