Small Shop Wednesday: The Coffee Corner

By Lexi - November 15, 2017

HAPPY WEDNESDAY EVERYONE!

I recently came across this awesome shop and had to share it with you guys! They have super cute bags and mugs for every occasion!

MEET CHARISSA AND JEREMY!

WHAT IS YOUR JOB // CAREER // MOM(DAD) LIFE?

Charissa and Jeremy are the owners of The Coffee Corner. We are an awesome, newlywed power couple!!

Charissa is our designer and faithful Boss Babe! She focuses her time on creating and listing new products, speaking with customers, and preparing customer orders for the operations side to print.

Jeremy is the operations side of the business; he makes sure that your orders are printed, shipped, and match exactly what you have ordered. He also does the social media on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS NAME?
The Coffee Corner

WHAT IS YOUR WEBSITE?
www.thecoffeecorner.etsy.com

WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS ALL ABOUT?
We are all about customization and making changes! We love it when our customers come to us with a new idea for product, and then seeing it printed is something truly awesome! It’s hard to narrow down exactly what we are about because it’s always changing! When the business first started, we never thought we would do anything but mugs. Now we have grown and sell TONS of new items like makeup bags, wine totes, and canvas bags. We learned early on that the business needs to adapt to new trends!

WHY DID YOU START YOUR BUSINESS?
In 2014, Charissa decided that she wanted a way to create some more money on the side while she worked. That holiday season, she had setup in a small room with a basic printer, a case of mugs, and her mom’s kitchen stove to bake the image into the mugs. Three years later, that one room has grown into a 2,000 sq ft building with some cool machines and some truly great employees. Charissa’s husband, Jeremy, joined the business at the end of 2016 due to the fast growth of The Coffee Corner.

TELL US ABOUT YOU!
Hi! We are Jeremy and Charissa, the owners of The Coffee Corner. When we are not fully submerged in the business, you can find us out on a local lake or pond bass fishing. We also love kayaking! There is something truly magical about being on the water. It does not matter if it’s an ocean, stream, or lake, it’s our happy place! When the weather gets nicer in Pennsylvania we tend to struggle with fishing for the day or working. We usually lean toward fishing but ONLY if all of our customer orders are out. We have also taken on a few new hobbies such as Macramé, and acquiring a decent amount of plants!

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU AND GETS YOU OUT OF BED EACH DAY?
Not letting our customers down is a huge driver for us. We like to keep our shipping times fast because we know that in today’s market, fast shipping is really important. We also love to see the business grow and evolve. This year we moved our shop out of our 950 sqft home. It’s been an amazing experience for both of us, and we continue to work on the big question. What is next for us?

HOW DO YOU BALANCE HOME AND WORK LIFE?
This is a tough one! Charissa and I are married and we work together, so our home and work life balance is very important. Charissa and I come from two very different backgrounds, so communication is important, and is something that we both work on every day. We have learned that although we disagree on business decision at times, that does not mean that we do not see eye to eye on how we want our relationship to be. I personally struggle with this more than Charissa so her patience with me is much appreciated! The hours we work vary, but fortunately we both like to make sure we have downtime at night to decompress from the day.

WHAT IS YOUR INSTAGRAM HANDLE?
@coffeecornergifts

WHAT'S A GOAL YOU HAVE FOR 2018?
Currently our goal is to get though our 2017 holiday season alive, haha! Each year we have changed something, and this year is no exception. We have focused a lot on Etsy this year and have a lot of new products. We are looking forward to a very busy holiday season, and are hoping for the best!

ANY ADVICE FOR OTHER SMALL SHOP OWNERS?
Keep changing and reinventing yourself. If you find that a product is not selling or you don’t like the direction a plan is going, don’t be discouraged! Just change it, it’s really that easy. Our business would not be what it is today if it was not for Charissa willing to fail over and over until she made it! Also, don’t forget to step back and appreciate your freedom. You might work more, you might be a little more tired, but at the end of the day, you have created something that is a reflection of you. Celebrate it!!!

I have loved getting to know these two better and see what makes them and their shop unique! And I LOVE the cosmetic bags they sent me. I got the floral "Wifey" one and a customized name one. So cute!