What This Mobile Business Owner Learned in Her First Year

0:00All it takes is letting yourself dream. Just keep dreaming and don't stop yourself from dreaming because that's where it starts.

0:33She drives this renovated airport shuttle around the city to farmers markets, film sets, college campuses, you name it. Ryan is here today to share with me the ins and outs of running a mobile business and how Shopify has been part of her journey. Hey, Ryan. Hi. Tell me, what was the impetus for starting a coffee and ceramics business on wheels? Sure. So I worked in coffee in college when I was going through my degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology. I found a creative outlet in it and community that I never forgot and was really special to me. I moved out to LA. I started working in photo production as a production coordinator and I started doing ceramics.

1:22Ceramics I've been doing for three or four years and it just brings me a solace that is crucial living in a city. It also brings me quite a bit of joy to create things with my hands that other people then use in a daily routine of theirs. So when COVID happened, I had a lot of time and I took that time and I sat down and I said well I know I love coffee I went back to the coffee I know I love my ceramics so much I know that when I go on production sets there's always a need for artisanal coffee and so I wrote a business plan and basically the the pitch was that I would create an artisanal mobile coffee shop on wheels that would also sell my ceramics that would primarily be going on to sets and events.

2:12And in that way, it would be financially stable. And has it been? Yes. A year and a half in, I can say that with so much gratitude. Yeah. I think when many folks who are listening are thinking about starting their own business, whether it's ceramics or coffee or both together, right? They might be thinking, should I do this on wheels or should I get a physical retail space? Can you briefly walk us through, how did you decide on a mobile business versus a brick and mortar traditional retail space? Sure. For me, it was a lot about permanence. I'm from the East Coast. My whole family's on the East Coast.

2:52And I'm not sure that LA is where I'm rooted for the rest of my life. So all that being said, I didn't want that to prohibit me from starting my own business. So for me, it was very liberating and freeing. And the thought that, oh, if it's mobile, she can just, the business can just drive with me wherever I choose to go. And in theory, that's correct. In reality, there's a lot more to it. But that was like a driving force for the wheels. Right. Transmission and engine permitting. You can drive across the country. Sure, that, but then also just like permitting and like state laws. And like in Rhode Island, is there going to be the same market for something like this that there is here?

3:32And I really thought hard about that because when I go home for Christmas and things, it's always the conversation. And I'm not quite sure that there is. So there's a lot of like different moving parts to take into consideration. But it is a possibility. So the flexibility of a mobile business appealed to you? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, 100 % from the get-go, yes. That combined with the initial foundation of we're driving onto sets, so you need to be mobile. And that's the differentiation factor from a brick and mortar that I think the SBA really tapped into. It was very COVID-friendly in a time of COVID because it's, you know, contained.

4:13and it sets itself apart in that there's no other like mobile artisanal shop. And so they really thought that I would have a stronghold on the market in that way, which I agree. That was why I had the idea in the first place. So those two things, the nature of the business plan and the ability to have freedom were what appealed to me in movement, appealed to me for a mobile shop. That latter point you just made seems to be very personal. It's related to your personal life, your own ambitions. But the first part you mentioned about being able to kind of infiltrate, so to speak, spaces where you think your customers might be, that does appear to be a distinct advantage of a mobile business, right?

4:57Correct. A hundred percent. It's just not as easy as it sounds. So yes, absolutely. I can park somewhere if it's absolute crap and I get two customers, which has happened a hundred percent. I don't ever go back there again, or I don't have to. I've learned a lot of things in a much more detailed sense along the way over the last year and a half. It's going to take about three solid weeks of going there to get any sense of the real, like, business in the neighborhood. Because people are so caught up in their routine. Like, you know, they don't want to deviate. So you've got to stay for a while to get a true understanding.

5:35Also, L.A. is just bogged down with food trucks. And so it's competitive to find a spot. Most of us know where the lucrative business is going to happen. And so those places are already staked out. It's hard to get parking there because parking for a food truck, we have to follow public law of parking so we can park in any metered spot. And that's all good. But we're big. We need, like, ample room. And so either we got to get there really, really early, which I'm up at 430, or you have to like find some sort of like partnership with someone who's willing to have you park in front of their store, which is not an easy thing to do.

6:20So, yes, tons of flexibility. You can move from one place to the other to the other. That's not going to be a lucrative business model because you can't set up for one day and expect people to just show up and you make a killing when they don't know who you are and they already have their place where they get their coffee. So it takes very consistent work to be there. And it's never a guarantee. So it's been a ton of trial and error for me in terms of the public parking. Ryan Lagasse is my guest. Her business is Little Lamb. We're here on Silver Lake Boulevard in Los Angeles with her little dog Poppy as well.

6:57I'm sitting actually inside the van itself. You can see that the walls are painted a mustard yellow colored, if that's right. Maybe it's a different type of yellow. Powder-coated. Can't have paint. Powder-coated yellow color. I'm next to the espresso machine. It's actually an ochre that's meant to only be a primer for agricultural machinery. But I liked the color so much that I told my fabricator I wanted it. And he was not thrilled. And I think behind you is a picture of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, if that's right. From Aardvark Letterpress. It was a gift from them. Correct. So this space, if, you know, we've been here sitting together for about 15 minutes and I'm already feeling the sense of the truck kind of disappearing and it's transforming in a way into a, into like a comfortable, intimate space.

7:49Is that what you've tried to build in here? And why is that important for a mobile business? It is a hundred percent for better or for worse, an extension of who I am. and like the coziness I want to feel and give out to the world and the warm hug that I want everyone to have in their life. So that is definitely what I've tried to create. And it's beautiful that you have felt that. Thank you for sharing. Because you're on wheels and you're moving around, how important is the actual aesthetic of the space to not just your customers and your business, but also your own personal life? very, very extremely important, like 200 % important in terms of how I need to feel in the space that I need to be a part of every day in a work sort of sense.

8:44Like work is where in America we spend the majority of our time. And so it was crucial for me to feel like I was in a space that was creative and warm and inviting and I wanted to stay and I just felt like supported and light. And so it was from day one very clear to me that there would be as much natural light as possible. There would be as little stainless steel as possible. This was all mandatory. I tried so hard. And the powder coating that you see, the color that you see was quite a bit more of an investment because we tried like different variations of how to get color in here. But really the health department standards in LA are extremely strict for food trucks because there's so many of us.

9:31And the only way to get color was to powder coat stainless steel and how that works. And I didn't know this, a bunch of useless information that is like relevant for me and whoever else might care. So each piece of stainless steel had to be fitted into the shop as it was taken out, labeled, powder coated, and then brought back and put back in again. So my fabricator and I had so many conversations and bless him. It's Justin from Firefly Fabrications. He did a great job. He, we got through it. We learned and we grew together, but I, I asked for many things that he was not used to doing. It was quite a custom build for him.

10:17I think the differentiation for me and from like a business perspective and a marketing perspective is most food trucks are pretty generic. They don't have a lot of detail inside or outside or it's like all stainless steel inside. And then it's like a wrap. More, yeah, more utilitarian inside, more about use, less about look. So correct. And so for me, when I was creating this and wanting to put it out in the world, the shop was meant to be marketed toward a different aesthetic, a different market of people that have a bit more appreciation for a creative aesthetic. So not just about the product you're giving them, but also the experience.

10:57Absolutely. Without a doubt. Yeah. You had mentioned some things that are very personal about this truck, which I think are incredible. We've been talking about the powder coating. We've been talking about just what you've got inside here and what you're selling. Much of that is personal, but I would imagine that there are some uniform struggles that you go through that are typical for mobile business owners. The one thing I thought about when I was walking up was security. Unlike a brick and mortar store where you have perhaps a big security door or you're in a suite of buildings around other places, right now we're sitting on a somewhat busy streets and it's just us in this truck.

11:36And I would imagine many days, it's just you in this truck with your dog. So what have you experienced in terms of dealing with security and what sort of advice might you have for other folks who are looking to open a mobile business? Two things come to mind off the bat. I have a sign that says no cash accepted. I want to make it clear to people that there's no cash on the bus and that's for safety reasons. I was also gifted by a friend of mine, Mace, when I first opened that I've never used, but it's there. So it's definitely like a thing that's on my brain. I'm alone inside a mobile shop. I park in places that I feel safe in and during daylight hours.

12:15And so, although I get there quite early when it's still dark. So I've been lucky and I've never had a situation thus far that has me - Lock on steel. Yeah, has made me feel unsafe. Part two of that is at night when I park and like vandalism and break-ins and all that, all those things. So by health department rule, law, all food trucks have to park in commissaries. And so what a commissary does is it provides a few things. It provides 24-hour security, like a big brick wall, gates, security guard. And so, and then like a place to empty your gray water and your trash and like plug in the refrigerators overnight and a few other odds and ends.

13:01And you pay for that space. Like you pay for rent, almost like a brick and mortar. You pay for rent. This is my rent. And at the beginning, I was like, oh, I don't want to pay this. I can't believe it. How much does that run usually? So it just went up in the new year. I pay for my parking spot. And my commissary also offers extra storage if you want to pay for it. and I now have like a storage unit. And so I am paying$1 ,500 or$1 ,600 with the storage unit. That's certainly less than your rent would be in a physical location. It is certainly less than my rent would be in a physical location. It's still quite expensive in terms of commissary parking.

13:43Yeah, and you're starting every month in a$1 ,500 to$1 ,600 hole, basically, that you have to make up. Totally. But again, I think that learning about cashless business, I mean, something that became exceedingly popular during the pandemic, but seems like it makes great sense for a mobile business. Is that something you fell into or was this something you always had in mind that you wanted to do cashless? I always lean toward cashless. I feel like it's like cleaner. It's like it's easier. It's just more of like a seamless transaction. production, I will say this just on the flip side of that. I do the Hollywood farmer's market every Sunday and cash is still king at the farmer's market.

14:24So I do run into situations and a lot of people do expect that I will only take cash being a food truck. I think that's still something that's common in the industry. So I do run into that, not infrequently. Ryan, you mentioned that it's not just coffee and coffee related products, but also ceramics that you sell out of this cute, not so little, medium-sized truck. Tell me about the ceramics. Why combine the two? What is the marriage of ceramics and coffee and coffee-related products? Yeah. Well, I think on a personal level, there are two things that bring me a lot of joy and two things that I know intimately that I could see starting a business with because I know and have experience in them.

15:08It's funny. I think that they go really well together. I think the ceramics that I make are functional. And so you put your beverage in your mug or, you know, you put your pastry on your plate. Do you have one nearby that I could take a look at? Yeah. I'm going to have to... So Ryan's going into the front seat of the van here. You haven't seen this yet. No. But if you like come to the bus stores, like I have a whole shop. Oh, cool. Yeah. Which you should take a look at. I actually won't be able to reach them. Okay. Well, maybe you can describe one to me. Yeah, is this one right here? So there are a few.

15:45Yeah, there are a few in here, too. But, like, my favorite ones are out front. Here, I'm going to grab one. Yeah, grab one. Let's check one out. So I'm looking at about five coffee mugs, looks like. Those are my microphone stands making a fall outside. So many things. Can you hold that? I absolutely can. Wow, it's heavy. This is a candle, looks like. Oh, did one fall? Oh, no, I just broke the handle. It's okay. Oh, I'm so sorry about that. It happens all the time. It does. Okay. Sorry. Well, not all the time, but it's part of the liability. That was my fault. You brought a lot of them. I wanted to show you a plethora and I tried to carry too many.

16:21And we had a casualty. We had a casualty. It's okay. It's the nature of the game of ceramics. So I did a candle collaboration with a friend of mine who owns a small business. She makes candles. And so I made the ceramic vessels that are meant to be reusable as cups. And then she filled each of the vessels with the scents that we chose. And so that was just interesting. Oh, so after it burns, you can use it as a cup. Exactly. Yeah, it's reusable, recyclable, the whole thing. Cool. This reminds me of kind of like, you know, where my family's from in Argentina. If you go get an espresso or a cafe cortado, they have a little bit of bubbly water with your coffee afterward.

17:00Is that kind of the vibe for these little ones? Sure. So those are the mini cups. And the idea is that, yeah, you put like a little cortado or I have an espresso old fashioned on the menu. You have, you know, your shot of espresso. You have your sparkling water. Certainly meant for that. It's really up for interpretation. I have them at home. I use like a little whiskey in mine, you know, but they're meant to be versatile. Whatever brings you joy. That's what's meant to go in them. But yeah, cups for me, cups and mugs are my favorite thing to make because it's what I use the most. I feel like it's what people tend to use the most.

17:33Do you ever serve your coffee in these vessels when folks are, um, no, no, then it's, it's a good site. It's a good site. I don't right now because of the nature of the business. It's, it's mobile. Um, so people are here to get it and go. There's like, there's no tables to sit down at. There's, that's not the idea of it. So when people buy the ceramics, it's because they take them home. You wrap and they take them home. I have bags. Yeah. The whole thing. But, you know, and this is like a whole separate conversation. you know I'm thinking about the future and my goals and expansion and for me the direction is actually a brick and mortar not a second mobile business and one of the many reasons for that is I want to use the ceramics that I make to put their drinks in that they can then sit in the shop the coffee space and enjoy so that's something that I want to get to well they're definitely cool and unique.

18:29I love, um, many of the cups have like a, a line or several lines that run either in the middle or around the equator points of the cups. I'm looking at one really right here. It's a bespeckled cup. I will not drop it with, um, it's be mixed with speckled clay, if anybody cares. And then there's, um, like I carved out a line, like a equatorial line through the middle and I filled it with Mason's. I couldn't think what else did you say besides equatorial line. That's a great descriptor. The carving for me is very cathartic, carving into clay. And so I used to do a lot more of it in a lot more detail.

19:04It's just my limitations of time. Well, your coffee shop is mobile. Where is your ceramic shop? I wish I had like my own personal shop, also goal. But right now I'm part of a member-based studio. It's in downtown Los Angeles. It's called Throw Clay LA. The owner is John Prescott. It's a wonderful, creative, like, warehouse-y type space. So he actually opened in January of 2020, and then we had lockdown in March of 2020. Oh, that little thing. That little thing. And so it was crazy. I've been a member there since, like, basically February. Like, when my school was closing that I was taking ceramics classes at, I transferred to his studio.

19:51I was living downtown at the time. and I spent not exaggerating every day at this studio just he and I I asked him if I could keep coming I was gonna go crazy if I didn't have anywhere to go if I could just come in and make ceramics and like work with clay and he to his credit like we weren't supposed to be out but he was like yeah like you know someone comes in just like run behind like hide somewhere whatever he's like but yeah please come in strange time it was so strange so incredibly grateful for him and his kindness so incredibly grateful for that space that I just went in and like poured everything into that clay in that time and um it was like very special and pivotal it was there that I decided I wanted to start my own business um John's been a huge supporter he had just opened his own small business so he was very like understanding and sort of helpful in some of the like finer details of the process.

20:49And then when the shop was being built and I was sort of transitioning from, you know, production into being a business owner, I actually started working at the studio and I was a tech for a while. So I was like loading kilns and unloading kilns and, you know, recycling clay. And so my history with the studio is like special and involved and just really, it's a whole other community that is beautiful. Well, it sounds super fun and interesting. A great marriage between two of your loves, which you mentioned coffee and ceramics. Although I saw you squinting at the word marriage, maybe a union we could say.

21:30Oh no, that was like a squint of love. That was, that was like, yeah, no, you're totally, totally. Let's look ahead with this business. You also are selling some of your products online, right? And as I think everyone who's listening knows, you want to be selling your products when you have a business everywhere that people are, right? You're selling your coffee and your ceramics here in person in Silver Lake, California, Los Angeles. But it's also possible for folks to buy your merchandise online, right? Why did you choose Shopify to do that? What about Shopify made this attractive to you? Sure.

22:09I had my online website before I even started the mobile shop. So it was much smaller and it only had the ceramics and now it incorporates other things. But I think what I liked the most was the different, like, the choices of layouts. There were a lot of them and they felt clean and simplified for the user and, like, design friendly. And so I think that was a big pull for me. It also felt like something that I could navigate as a person who's not a web designer or developer. So ease of use was a big attraction for you? Oh, 100%. It needed to be. And then speaking of ease of use, your business has grown since, you mentioned, since you just were selling ceramics online.

22:59Has Shopify been able to grow with your business? Yeah. Yeah. I've, you know, added pages and tabs and descriptions and, you know, I have like a promo deal if you buy like two mugs. And so, yeah, it's accommodated all the needs that have come up for me as I've grown my business in real time. Ryan Lagasse, founder of Little Lamb here in Silver Lake, California. Today, who knows where she will be tomorrow. Ryan, thank you so much. it was a pleasure