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Nikisha Bailey and Matt Nam were forced to close their thriving Philadelphia coffee shop and event space just six months after opening.
Instead of throwing in the towel, the duo used their creativity—and a suite of flexible payment tools—to keep revenue and customers flowing, no matter what.
Nikisha, a former executive at Atlantic Records, and Matt, previously a digital developer in the pharmaceutical industry, opened Win Win Coffee in 2019.
They were driven by a bold mission: to support an equitable coffee supply chain that directly rewards African Diaspora farmers for their labor.
Although Covid-19 restrictions unexpectedly shuttered their bustling, vibrant community space, Nikisha and Matt’s mission—and motivation—remained.
Here are three strategies that Nikisha and Matt used to turn road blocks into "win-win" situations.
Maintaining growth without the in-person community they’d envisioned seemed like a tall order. Nonetheless, Nikisha and Matt went full steam ahead and brewed up a plan to sell their small-batch, freshly roasted coffee beans online.
The demand for Win Win Coffee beans was already there—by curating coffee directly from Diaspora farmers and roasting it themselves, Win Win Coffee was able to shorten the supply chain and offer high-quality, ethically-sourced coffee beans at appealing price points.
What they really needed was a simple, secure, and trustworthy way to get paid for their online orders. For this, Win Win Coffee looked to PayPal Checkout.
“We use PayPal Checkout to offer a online purchasing experience, ensuring our coffee lovers can quickly and securely get their favorite blends.” Niksha added, “PayPal plays a key role in how we streamline payments across the board.”
Tip from Matt and Nikisha: Stay ready to expand or change directions by choosing online payment tools built to grow with you.
After realizing that a permanent location was not feasible, Nikisha and Matt looked for new ways to sell their coffee creations. They discovered that their coffee-craving target market could be found...pretty much anywhere.
Thus, the Win Win Mobile Cafe was born, and it goes where the customers go: workplaces, pop-ups, conventions, farmers markets, street corners, and more.
Fortunately, going mobile did not require an investment in new point-of-sale equipment; nor would Nikisha and Matt need to implement new software or even worry about Wi-Fi access on-the-go.
Instead, Win Win Coffee’s mobile cafes use Tap to Pay, offered through PayPal’s point-of sale solution, to accept contactless cards and digital wallet payments.
While their customers’ coffee orders can be complicated, getting paid is simple: The Win Win team can easily take contactless payments with Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android through the PayPal POS App.
Matt noted that the benefits of using contactless payments to create a frictionless online purchasing experience have been obvious: “People are more apt to purchase something if they know they can do it quickly.”
Tip from Matt and Nikisha: Think more creatively about where you can find your target market, and how you can be there too.
Although they’ve mastered online sales and perfected the mobile cafe format, Win Win Coffee hasn't stopped looking for creative new ways to grow.
Soon they’ll open their state-of-the-art roasting facility in Philadelphia, using PayPal POS for their in-store transactions.
Matt credits PayPal POS’ time-saving features, such as simplified transaction reporting and payouts, for giving them the time to dream big:
“One thing that has been leading to our success is working ON the business not IN the business. PayPal frees you up to be able to work ON the business...there's so many things that I don't have to worry about now because [PayPal] made it so easy for us to do.”
Tip from Matt and Nikisha: Utilize solutions that remove time-consuming elements from running a business, so that you can focus on engaging customers and growing your business.
Staying flexible helped Win Win Coffee turn every challenge into an opportunity—and flexible businesses need flexible payment solutions that can keep up.
Nikisha and Matt noted that PayPal’s comprehensive solutions (including PayPal POS, PayPal Checkout, and more) have played a significant role in Win Win Coffee’s journey:
“It’s actually been transformational for our business…helping us grow and scale with PayPal.” said Matt.
Get started now by exploring PayPal’s suite of easy-to-implement payment solutions.
In partnership with three expert business owners, the PayPal Bootcamp includes practical checklists and a short video loaded with tips to help take your business to the next level.
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