We recently had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Kiri Scott, the inspirational young entrepreneur behind Freddys Coffee, a freshly launched Bay of Plenty business.
After working in Europe as a barista, and travelling around in her camper van affectionately known as ‘Freddy’, Kiri was inspired to combine the two. ‘Freddy’s Coffee’ a mobile coffee truck business was born! On returning home, she quit her successful office job, bought her first gorgeous looking coffee van, and followed her dreams. We were delighted to welcome Kiri as a Smartpay Customer and enjoyed learning about her journey so far…
What inspired you to start a coffee truck?
I’ve always loved coffee, and while I was travelling around Europe in my camper van ‘Freddy’, I had the idea of starting a business that would bring amazing mobile coffee to Kiwis! My parents started their own business, so I decided to follow in their footsteps and take the leap.
Living close to The Mount, I saw a great opportunity to deliver quality, delicious coffee to locals and tourists, and also attend sporting events in the region.
Putting a purpose around something I’m passionate about has meant I can have flexibility in my working life and interact with all kinds of people, which I love.
I’m very lucky to have a supportive network of friends and family around me who all share my passion, and have been able to give me some great inspiration and advice.
You’ve had some great feedback around your brand, marketing and the van itself, tell us about that!
Well actually that’s a funny story, I had a couple of hiccups along the road! My favourite colour is green, so the initial van I ordered was bright green, but it was severely delayed. As I’d already finished my office job, I was under a little bit of pressure to get started, so when I came across another van which just so happened to be bright yellow, I decided it was the next best thing.
The brand is evolving all of the time and the bright colour definitely helps us stand out. I do quite a bit of marketing on social media sites like Instagram, and have already had lots of positive comments! I’m lucky enough to have a lovely friend who has taken some amazing professional photographs for me which have helped attract attention on social media.
You decided to partner with Smartpay for EFTPOS & payments solutions, and use our free Till2Go App. Can you tell us how that is working for you?
I’d previously used a device from my bank which was ok, but as it was reliant on my phone network, I found that in certain scenarios or areas the phone reception was a bit unreliable. I needed to go for something that wasn’t reliant on my phone reception. Getting an EFTPOS terminal made complete sense to me – over 90% of my customers like to pay with EFTPOS. I was really worried about the amount of business and revenue I would lose by not having an EFTPOS payment option.
The FREE TILL2GO App is amazing! I worked with the Smartpay Customer Service team to help me get it set up and it’s so valuable to have. I’ve recently done a big Water Polo sporting event and had pre-entered all of my product info into the APP. It saved me loads of time and prevented big queues for my customers. I was really nervous at first, and afraid of not knowing how to operate the App or terminal but the Smartpay Customer Service team were awesome! They helped me through the whole thing and were at the end of the phone to help answer any questions I had.
What advice would you give to someone who’s starting in business or sitting on the fence about starting their own business?
Just go for it! There’s always going to be bumps along the road but having a great support network around you always helps. You’ll never know unless you take the risk and try. Finding something you’re passionate about is key as it really helps to be doing something every day that you enjoy. Ask lots of questions, take on board peoples advice and learn from their experience.
Finding something in your brand or marketing that helps you stand out from the crowd is also important – a bright yellow van has definitely helped me!! I also found that working with partners who are experts in what they do, can help you easily navigate through the things you have no idea about. Initially I had no idea about the process of getting set up with EFTPOS, but working with Smartpay meant I was able to relax at my first few big events knowing I had a reliable payment solution. It was reassuring to know that I had the Smartpay team at the end of the phone for any questions I had!
It’s been a pleasure to welcome Kiri as a Smartpay Customer, and we look forward to working with her and watching her business grow in success.
We love sharing our Customers’ success stories, if you have a story to share, please email us at marketing@smartpay.co.nz, we’d love to hear from you!