Taking the Risk: How an Idea Brewed a Business

It all started by taking one risk.

 

One risk sparked an on-campus business.

 

Every success story starts with a leap of faith.

 

I sat down with Anton Perederii, a senior majoring in Business Administration and Computer Science at AUBG, who is also one of the co-founders of GoCoffee.

 

The coffee machine chain was initially started by Nikita Lyshanskyi and Igor Nakonechniy, with Anton later joining them as co-founder.

 

 

“So, for GoCoffee, long story short is that there has been a trend in developing a new level of coffee blending in Ukraine. And back then, it was just Nikita and Igor, the original two founders, who got really excited about the idea. They ordered their own coffee machine and also hired a couple of people to help them design it,” says Anton.

 

Nikita and Igor were preparing to launch GoCoffee at the end of February 2022 in Ukraine with the prototype machine they had created. However, their launch was put on hold when the war hit their country and forced them to change their plans.

 

“They had to move, and they moved together with the prototype to Kiten, a town next to Burgas in Bulgaria, so they put the machine there and tested it for a few months,” says Anton.

 

This allowed Nikita and Igor to build a customer base, selling an average of 30 cups a day. Later, Nikita enrolled at AUBG where he met Anton. In Fall 2022, the three of them decided to join Elevate together with the purpose of growing the startup.

 

Elevate is an accelerator program that helps AUBG students and recent graduates develop their businesses. It starts in the fall semester with every team receiving an initial $2,000 grant to kickstart their development. During the program, team members attend personalized sessions with their mentors and have access to multiple workshops. The final step is the Demo Day event in the spring semester, where the teams must pitch their product in front of investors with a chance of winning $10,000.

 

Throughout the program, an important task the team had to work on was to validate their product and the market.

 

“In less business jargon words, basically making sure that there is a market and a demand for what you're offering, which wasn't the problem with us because everyone loves coffee. And especially good coffee. We found this very nice niche in between the cheap, not very high-quality vending coffee machines and the high-quality, high-price coffee cafés,” he says.

 

For their pricing strategy, they considered the profits they aimed to make, the market prices of similar products, and what customers were willing to compromise on.

 

“As a starting point, we looked at what coffee of comparable quality costs, and it was like five leva. We said we can do easily 30% less than that. I think that was pretty reasonable because you trade the price for the speed at which you get the drink and not being able to sit in the café and get the social part of the café, which I think is a very big or implicit cost that comes with it,” he says.

 

The team’s first machine was in Kiten but was later moved to Mall of Blagoevgrad. Then, they ordered and deployed another one to Largo Mall.

 

To determine the location of their third machine, which they planned to invest in if they won during the final stage of the program, they specifically focused on the customer segment for which the business aims.

 

“It was a bit of a no-brainer. You just look at what you have as your customer base outlines, and you think about where there is most of them. For us, one of the biggest customer targets was relatively young, constantly on-the-go people, who at the same time have the money to buy proper coffee. So, we just figured it would be the AUBG Campus,” he says.

 

During the Elevate Demo Day in April 2023, Anton, Nikita, and Igor won the $10,000 prize for their GoCoffee pitch.

 

They used the investment to design the machine, to ensure that there were no leaks and that it could withstand harsh weather conditions. It stands today in front of the Balkanski Academic Center on campus.

 

 

 

Not only did they invest in a new machine, but also in the ingredients. They use Italian coffee beans- 70% Arabica and 30% Robusta, while the syrups are sourced from Ukraine.

 

“A very big differentiation from our competitors, I would say, not just the quality and the nice combination of the Italian beans that we're getting, but also the syrups. It was big for us and we understood it would be big for clients,” he says.

 

Restocking the ingredients was their responsibility in the beginning. However, they have since hired students to help manage operations.

 

“Even if you would send a person to do something about the machine, chances are they would get something wrong. But as we configured everything, we just hired some AUBG students that help restock and that is what they do right now across the city,” he says.

 

With this additional support, the co-founders might find some more time to focus on their studies and personal life- or even their other startups.

 

Last December, Anton and his friend founded Portal VR, a virtual reality club. Today, he is a member of Elevate for a second time, working alongside Nikita and a new co-founder to develop Hosti, an AI-powered chatbot for hotels.

 

Balancing multiple business ventures and student life is not easy, so Anton does not waste time procrastinating. When a deadline is set for any task, he tries to fulfill it as soon as possible.

 

“I wouldn't live by Wellington's words, saying if there is something that could be done tomorrow, do it tomorrow. I would be quite the opposite,” he says.

 

For those looking to start their own business, Anton advises carefully validating both the product and the market. He also encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to pursue what they are truly passionate about and suggests reading “The Mom Test,” a book designed to help entrepreneurs get honest feedback on their business ideas, something mothers struggle to provide objectively.

 

“Because your mom loves you, she will always say, this idea is purely brilliant, I'm so proud of you, go and do it. While reality may be a bit harsher than your mom. And this is what in practice happens with every customer interview. So, instead of asking people directly about your business or your product, you should instead ask about their problems,” he says.

 

So, the next time you see me, I’ll probably have an espresso from GoCoffee in one hand and “The Mom Test” in the other - thinking about the next entrepreneur whose story deserves to be told.

 

This article has been written by Antoine Husseini, an AUBG student. It is part of the collaboration between AUBG Daily and the Newsroom course led by Prof. Laura Kelly.