"Our Side of the Bar" -- A Letter to Our Customers

As we inch our way to a decade of owning and operating ShareWell Coffee, I find myself daily reflecting on the road we've traveled.

Fourteen years ago I was working my first barista job in my hometown of Brooksville, Florida. My brother took over a coffee shop and roped me into the world of Specialty Coffee.

A few years later, I learned how to roast coffee and run a business from my boss and friend John Roos in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

And a few years later, Candice and I embarked on our own journey of roasting coffee for our community here in Western North Carolina.

The lessons we have learned over the past decade would take pages upon pages to write down, but if you're going to learn, grow and create a business that lasts - maybe the most important lesson is that you have to learn from your successes and your failures. Not learning is the quickest way to crash and burn as a business owner.

We began our journey with the simple mission to roast the best coffee for our community.

Our business plan was short and sweet, our skills were minimal, we were young and had no clue what we were doing; but we were and still are obsessed with roasting and selling the highest quality of roasted coffee possible.

So here is the most important lesson to share: A business is going to be far more complicated and harder than any young entrepreneur will ever realize. The truth is, passion for the craft is not enough to make a business successful. A passionate craft is best reserved for the hobbyist, but we were deeply motivated to share our passion and our craft with others. As I look back, I can see now that though I had worked in coffee businesses and with coffee roasters and owners; I had no clue how to turn a profit, create a team, manage people and build a brand that would last. I needed help. I still need help, every day, pretty much every second of every day. We conservatively estimate we've roasted around 80,000 pounds of coffee and yet it all started on a three-pound roaster in my in-laws garage. That's crazy!

As we grow and roast more and more pounds of coffee every week, Candice and I regularly move into new problems, new opportunities, new lessons, new successes and new failures. The truth is, the people who have worked for us, purchased a bag of coffee, offered us a bit of encouragement, tipped us, shared our coffee with a friend, offered us feedback, critiqued us, gave us positive reviews and negative reviews and everyone in between have truly kept us going. There is no ShareWell without you.

I will never forget the chaos of roasting, bagging and brewing our first batches of coffee for the 2016 Asheville Coffee Expo; which was our first time selling ShareWell Coffee. We had no clue what we were getting ourselves into and yet like a freight train, our coffee journey began and ten years later has not slowed down one bit.

80,000 pounds of beans roasted

2 kids at home (now 7 and 3)

Dozens of employees

Two locations

Then back to one location

Full cafe build out in Flat Rock

Hundreds of wholesale partners

Thousands of online customers

And tens of thousands of visitors to our roastery

Countless sleepless nights

Countless conversations with friends and family

Countless days holding on for dear life

All of that makes me take a deep breath from behind my coffee bar and simply say "thank you."

I have to say, Candice and I have worked harder than we ever thought we'd have to, sacrificed more than I'd wish to admit, and given this business every last drop of our blood, sweat, and tears.

And yet, I only say that with gratitude and a deep joy for being a part of this community.

At the end of the day, I am a barista and a coffee roaster and Candice is a community connector and all around business woman. Anyone who visits our roastery can see how our shop is a perfect blend of Candice and I - we love that!

We're dreamers who have failed a lot, grown a lot and ultimately started this journey to make your morning a little bit better sipping ShareWell. It is good isn't it?

If you have enjoyed our coffee over the last ten years, then all we ask is that you keep coming, keep supporting us, keep buying our coffee, keep sharing it with your friends and family and keep supporting local businesses like us who work harder than you can imagine to bring something good to your community.

We depend on you to keep showing up and so we can keep serving you from our side of the bar.

Peace.

Your coffee people,

Zach and Candice Pritz