ALL ABOUT THE COFFEE
Tom Sobey is the founder of Origin, a speciality coffee company based in Cornwall
It’s more about the coffee than the business.
I didn’t do well at school and, at 17, I learnt to drive with my father, doing the deliveries for his coffee franchise around Cornwall, later becoming their salesperson. But at 21, I went travelling and discovered the coffee culture in Australia. In 1998, it was so much more advanced than the UK. It really sparked something. When I came back, I knew I didn’t want to work for my parents – I wanted to roast my own coffee and have my own cafés across the country, although I didn’t have the money to do it then. So it’s always been about the coffee – I’m not a serial entrepreneur; I couldn’t do anything else.
There are advantages in starting small.
I’ve always funded the business for myself, no loans. My pattern was to work, then save, then spend. With my first £2,000, I had a logo designed and found someone to roast for me, and began knocking on doors. It wasn’t until 2007 that we could afford our first coffee roasting machine, secondhand from the States, and until 2010, our brand new environmentally friendly one. I’ve never been a risk taker.
Stay true to your founding principles.
I’ve always aimed high – partly because I figured that places interested in good coffee were more likely to pay up! But they’re also more likely to be staffed with people who can be inspired
by quality. In 2007 the bar manager at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen came into one of our cafés. He loved the coffee, and persuaded Fifteen in Cornwall to use it. They then became our first London customers. We were teaching great people how to make a great brew – that was a defining moment.
In a chain of business, everyone should benefit.
When we started out, we used Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and Soil Association accreditation because I could trust their credentials. It doesn’t matter if someone is growing the world’s best beans if they aren’t looking after their employees. It’s the same throughout the chain. If a café – that brews good coffee, pays on time and is polite – runs out on a Sunday, we’ll get in the car to get them some. In the same way, we treat our suppliers well – we’ll need them to do the equivalent of a Sunday run sometime…
Great people shape a business.
A real coup came in 2008 when the Barista of the Year was awarded to a Cornish café, using our coffee. This year the title went to our London-based head of wholesale, Dan Fellows. Employing people is both the hardest and most rewarding thing. If we employ creative and ambitious people who do a great job, we have to give them the opportunity to flourish, to add value. Origin is not all about me – it’s about its people and they are all amazing.
The best-laid plans can always be diverted.
When I started the business, the idea of writing a business plan filled me with horror. As you get bigger, you just have to – I’ve a responsibility to my wife and three children, and to my team. But I’m still keen we never turn down good opportunities. For example, we recently collaborated with the Cornish outdoors-wear company Finisterre on an espresso bar for their Bristol store – you can’t plan for opportunities like that.
Sometimes you need to take a step back.
Twelve years into the business, the balance is essential for me. I’m now fortunate to be able to operate my business the way I want with people who can deliver that for me. When a business is going well, there’s a danger it can become an extension of yourself. But running a business isn’t rewarding if you isolate yourself, and spending time with my family is really important to me.
My wife and I have recently bought a farm and I’d really like to be able to take a three-month sabbatical at some point to work on our home.
Maintaining momentum can be harder than growth.
I was very fortunate that when I started Origin, speciality coffee was on the cusp of popularity. It’s been on a huge journey since – the quality is getting better and better all the time. I’d like to continue what we’ve been doing, to be the best speciality coffee roaster in country, to open more great cafés where people have great experiences and to work with people who brew fantastic coffee.
You see something become popular and subsequently lose its cool and its appeal again and again. Our challenge is to keep up the momentum and to continue to be better.