Iowa resident sold all his furniture for a startup and built a company for a million

Jordan Carcher saves dogs and sells coffee. The entrepreneur created a niche company with millions of dollars in sales and attracted top investors.

Photo: Facebook / Grounds & Hounds Coffee Co.

The amazing story of how he created the business, told the publication Time.

31-year-old Carcher found inspiration for his coffee brand "Grounds & Hounds»With a pooch he found on the side of the road. A few years ago, a man lived in Los Angeles and worked in the field of wines and spirits after a career in a college baseball team that ended in injury. Once in To Santa Monica, he saw the announcement of the adoption of animals, and his attention was attracted by a small Dalmatian, whom Karscher took to his home.

A dog named Molly is the "co-founder" and the face of Grounds and Hounds.

Earn $ 1,2 million on coffee

Founded in 2014, Grounds & Hounds sells organic coffee and donates 20% of profits to animal rescue charities and related projects. The company does not have physical stores; the product is delivered directly to consumers who order it online. It has become a surprisingly booming and profitable business: dog owners, of course, drink coffee, and they make up the bulk of Karcher's customers. According to reports, sales of Grounds & Hounds are regularly increasing. They were $100 in 000, $2015 in 400, $000 in 2016, and sales are expected to reach $700 million in 000.

Grounds & Hounds also received a large investment from Sterling Partners in July, but Karcher declined to name the investment.

Selling clothes and furniture for starting a startup

Karcher learned a lot from his work at the Korbel Winery and at the distillery of the Scottish whiskey maker William Grant & Sons. Since these companies were also involved in drinks, he was already aware of the work patterns in this area.

The interest in coffee was inspired by Molly.

“I realized that every morning the first two things that greeted me were my dog ​​wagging his tail and the cup of coffee I was drinking,” he said.

It occurred to the man that he is not unique in this and that many other dog owners have similar feelings.

He wanted to help the dogs, but he did not want to create a charitable organization that should work on grants or wait for donations, he wanted to develop a commercial project.

After analyzing the success of the Internet business, he formulated the idea, but by that time he was an MBA student, he had no money to start a business.

“I looked at my bank account and I had about $200 to spend on the project,” he said.

Therefore, an aspiring businessman resorted to an unexpected financing strategy: selling everything at his two-bedroom house in South Bend, Indiana. He sold most of his furniture, clothes, and shoes on Craigslist and eBay, and put the money into his coffee startup.

“I think I got about $7500. It got to the point where I was left with only the bare necessities. It was a very empty house. I had one sofa, table and bed,” Karcher said.

Photo: Facebook / Grounds & Hounds Coffee Co.

This helped him start a business, but he needed another financial boost to get a full start. He began talking to one of his professors, Chris Stevens, who worked at Procter & Gamble and was on the core of Keurig. Stevens invested an additional $ 20 in exchange for a stake in the company. This money went to the creation of the Grounds & Hounds website, photography and other essentials.

The high quality coffee helped the business to succeed, as Karcher understood that dog owners could drink any other coffee if the coffee offered by his company was of poor quality and taste. But if it is not inferior in quality to other popular brands, then the desire to help dogs will lead buyers to Grounds & Hounds.

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