Learn from our community entrepreneurs! In this interview, Eleanor & Pat Heidebrecht shares the story of building and growing Nowhere Craft Chocolate & Coffee Roastery, located in Vermilion Bay, ON, Canada
Hi! Tell us about your business and what problem are you solving?
My husband and I (Pat & Eleanor) roast coffee beans and make bean-to-bar chocolate in our Trans-Canada-highway-fronted commercial building in Vermilion Bay. We have a small retail space in the front of our shop where we sell our coffee beans, chocolate bars and chocolate by-products, as well as serve hot and cold beverages. We are open almost year-round, taking and few weeks at Christmas off plus 2 weeklong delivery runs (in spring and fall).
We fulfill the need of really good coffee and the desire for high quality craft chocolate to both the local population and passersby.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
In 2010 we opened Comfort Table Bakery and The Middle of Nowhere Coffee Roastery. Both the baking and the coffee became quite popular in the region. After 11.5 years, we put the Bakery business and building up for sale, retiring the Bakery in December of 2021. By spring of 2022, we hadn't sold the business, so we sold a majority of the baking equipment, moved our coffee roasting and chocolate making equipment into the building, changed our named and re-opened in June of 2022 as Nowhere Craft Chocolate & Coffee Roastery.
As to how we started Bean-to-Bar Chocolate... We wanted to make a product that had a stable shelf life and was shippable. I had been messing around with a small chocolate melanguer, cocoa powder and cocoa butter, making very small batches of chocolate in the slower winter months. I saw Dylan Butterbaugh from Manoa Chocolate on YouTube, who had a lot of info on how to start a bean-to-bar chocolate business, ordered some equipment and learned how to use it, et viola!
How do you motivate yourself to keep going every day?
We feel this is where God wants us to be, which makes what we do fun for us. Nowhere Chocolate & Coffee has a much tighter scope than our previous venture! We enjoy working together, just the two of us, easily shaping what we want our business to be.
What's your one biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Still being an active business owner after (exactly) thirteen years in business.
What’s your one biggest challenge you face and how do you overcome it?
Staying busy year-round. We are hoping that launching an online store (which is in the works) will help with that.
What are your hiring strategies to build a successful business?
In order to build a successful business for ourselves, we like to get proficient at just one thing before we add (or learn) another.
To anyone looking to start or grow a business today, what three tips would you give them?
1. One idea at a time - Prioritize.
2. Only get to give one first impression.
3. Plan on working 100+ hours a week for the first 6 months.
Where can we go to learn more about your business?
If you are a solopreneur, startup, or small-medium business owner in Northern Ontario, and would like to share your story, expertise and thought leadership, then please answer an online interview questionnaire. Your feedback will help fellow entrepreneurs learn to start and scale. We’d love to feature your journey in our community.
