Unfiltrd Coffee Trip: How the Story of Filtr 16 Started, Part 2. Blog #5

Hi, everyone! It took a long time to come up with part 2 because if you ask anyone running a coffee business, it ONLY sounds fun; in reality, it is the hardest place to be in.

I gave all 4 keywords: instinct, identification, fascination and experience.

In this blog I'll write about 4 different stages of how, after returning from Frankfurt, the Filtr 16 journey started.

1. Where Filtr began:

So I had gotten a place for my office, and it had a tiny area which was a small grocery store before. My dad suggested you can do a small kiosk because he had a lot of clients, and I was opening an office as well, so it was a good idea. I could make my small dream come true and drink actual good coffee, which has always been my issue – that I only liked coffee brewed by me in the city. Not that I am great, but maybe I am used to my own taste or technique. As I had done 2 SCA courses in Germany, one in barista skills and one in sensory, I had a fair share of ideas about bookish and practical knowledge of coffee, as I lived in Europe and, as a hobby, drank coffees from the best roasters. That was my edge as well. But in all honesty, I thought I had studied so much I shouldn't enter into it (risky and tricky), but somehow I got this place, and the first idea of Filtr began. The name came from my love for pour-over, and I got the logo designed with the idea of the dripper being the highlight, as I start my day with that. 16 comes from the grams of coffee a lot of people use for their pour-over, and also 16 is my birthday date. (LOL)

2. Bringing Filtr to life:

Once the place was ours, I then kept thinking about what could look good, and I always only thought of the days I used to sit outside in Frankfurt in a cafe and look at people passing by. I thought, okay, I somehow thought of the elements and got the people who would make the place fun. Funnily enough, we did not hire a designer, and I did not even have a 3D model of the design that we have now at Filtr. Whoever I spoke to was not in the city, or our ideas did not match, so somehow I became the designer, and believe me, that is probably the biggest flex, as when I look back, I'm happy that however small it may be, I created something. I still remember the day when I and a friend of mine were sticking the menu, and it kept on falling. So many memories and difficulties. I think the biggest point of our outlet is that we have an empty road, and people feel a sense of peace here. So for a small takeaway, I would say choose something which offers peace and quiet.

3. Building a team that built Filtr:

I knew one thing for sure from my knowledge as a consultant: that it is never the founder who makes a brand or starts a business; it's always the people. I wanted a team which was a mix of discipline, fun, understanding of coffee and people who genuinely like coffee and are interested in knowing and learning. I hired 2 people. First, we did all the trials and recipes at my home, and we kept on working on it till we got it perfect. Then the team grew slowly as our outlets grew, but we kept the core team intact. They make mistakes, but they're learning, and they're interested in making Filtr grow. That's the reason we are still around in the market, which is becoming very, very difficult to sustain in. But anyone who wants to start a coffee shop always knows that everyone is important and everyone creates a space and not just 1 person.

4. The Filtr story goes on.

Once we started operations, every day was a hustle. Some days my baristas used to call me and say they are bored as nobody is turning up, but I always told them we have good products, and sooner or later it will pay us. Slowly people started coming in, but then we had a road closure for 2 months, which affected us badly. As the road opened, rains started, so we were back to square one, but slowly and steadily we built a small, loyal customer base. Which after the first year we lost, as we had to increase the prices due to the steep rise in coffee prices, but one thing I really tried hard to maintain was our quality. I did weekly comparisons, and I still do. I still ask my team to change the coffee if there's an issue. We are less than 2 years old as a coffee shop, but still every day we are trying to change and learn from our mistakes.

We have 2 more spaces now, and I will share their story in the next blog, but to the 40-50 people who read this, I am just here trying to make everyone like coffee and make them understand coffee. But Filtr's story continues: we fight to stay, and we fight to be better and to serve you better every day. I hope one day we will be a brand – not yet, but one day.

SEE YOU ALL IN THE NEXT PARTTT!

MY FAV PICTURE OF OUR SMALL WONDER FILTR 16,LAXMI NAGAR.