Watch: 22-year-old Northern Ireland student starts his own coffee shop
Londonderry’s Caolan Crampsie realised his dreams by starting up his own business with the help of his family, including using his cousin’s coffee
Meet Caolan Crampsie, who realised his dreams by starting up his own coffee business with the help of his family.
At only 22 years of age, Caolan took it upon himself to build his own business, The Coffee Barrel.
His father helped him build the foundations of The Coffee Barrel, clearing a patch of country land and creating a spot for the converted barrel.
He explained: “It started just over a conversation at dinner with my girlfriend's father. He had the barrel. It was made over lockdown and sitting for a few years. He said to me, ‘do you want to start a wee coffee business out of it?’ And here we are now.
“I am proud of myself. It’s a lot of work, but it doesn't feel like work to me. It’s a passion project and I want to expand and try to get ‘Barrels’ everywhere. I have always wanted to be a businessman. I think now is a good opportunity to start."
Caolan said that his family is ‘buzzing’ with his accomplishments: “My parents are out all the time. They try to pay. I say no. They pay every time. It's a good feeling. I can tell that they are proud of me.”
The Coffee Barrel foundation is rooted in family ties, even the coffee. He said: “It's called Causeway Coffee, located in Ballymoney. My cousin owns it. They have 11 or 12 other coffees. I used to work in markets with him. I’ve always been into markets and sales, so it started from there.
“That where I got a passion for coffee. I loved the brand of Causeway Coffee. Maybe it's a bit biased, but it's good coffee. If I was to use anything, it was going to be Causeway,” said Caolan.
Starting a business is always a risk. Caolan talked about his feelings at the beginning.
“I was really nervous. Everyone kept saying they didn’t know about the spot, if it was going to work. In my head, I always knew it was going to work.
“If you are serving something good and offering good service, people are going to travel for it. I saved up money. I was saving for years and here we are. I always wanted to do it, so I just went for it. People say they want to do this, they want to do that, but they put it off. So I just went for it.”
When Caolan first started The Coffee Barrel, he expected it to ‘just do alright, a few customers here and there’.
However, weekends at The Coffee Barrel are ‘very busy’ already.
Looking towards the future, Caolan has one more year of university but hopes to open another Coffee Barrel.
He added: “Get one opened up for next year after I finish university. That's the goal. Obviously, if I'm not ready yet I'm not going to do it. My goal is to expand, putting them everywhere, making it a franchise.”