Brewing Business Resilience: Ankur Dholkaia's Unconventional Route to Coffee Shop Success

Ankur Dholakia wanted to be in charge of his own destiny and decided to ultimately take the leap into entrepreneurship by taking over an existing business, Cafe Eleven. He made the big change of switching the menu to a fully vegan selection. Another unique thing that Ankur offers at Cafe Eleven is a pre-paid tab to give an old-fashioned feel to a new cafe. You don’t have to change everything about your business, keeping things that align with your values will resonate with your customers.

The switch to a vegan menu alienated the prior customer base, but with a small amount of vegan options in the area the word spread and Ankur found a new niche market. He values engaging in conversation with community members to foster a sense of loyalty in his customer base. Ankur has plugged himself into different sectors of the community and shown up in the neighborhood. It’s not the big things that make a difference, it’s the little things that really add up.

[00:00] Show intro

[00:35] Introduction to today’s guest: Ankur Dholakia

[01:11] How Ankur decided to acquire Cafe Eleven

[03:11] Taking over an existing cafe instead of starting one

[04:36] Making a fully vegetarian/vegan cafe

[06:58] Finding a new customer base

[07:31] How did sticking to a niche work?

[08:20] Advice for a coffee shop owner who wants to lean into a niche

[09:37] Why are customers so important to Ankur?

[11:07] Fostering a sense of loyalty in customers

[12:18] Learning to tap into your community

[15:42] Strategies for keeping customers with a prepaid tab

[18:02] Wrapping it up