From one coffee mug to a successful startup

 “When you hold this Cafilia cup, you’re standing for local business and sustainability,” says Aleksandra Brankov, Founder of Cafilia, a startup that provides a subscription to quality local coffee shops while eliminating waste. We’re a huge fan of this startup, which combines three of our great loves: buying local, sustainability, and great coffee. Aleksandra recently spoke with UARF's EbaNee Bond about what she learned from living outside of Northeast Ohio, how she effectively leveraged mentors and customer discovery, and that scary, but thrilling moment of actually launching her business.
 

Tell me a little about yourself. 

Aleksandra: I went to The University of Akron for International Business. After graduating, I worked at an international NGO in downtown Cleveland and ended up moving to England shortly after. Since this all happened during the 2008-2010 recession, it was hard to get a job anywhere. I ended up applying for my Masters and was accepted into IE Business School, a top 10 business school in the world located in Madrid, Spain. After graduating, I worked for a startup, then a consultancy in strategy implementation for several years. But I wanted to be closer to family, so I moved back to Cleveland. This happened to be two weeks before the Cavs won the finals, so it was the really the best time to move back to Cleveland!
 

I read in an interview that you had previous experience in startups. What was that experience like?

Aleksandra: I worked for two startups. My first one was while I was living in Spain, where I was doing business development in the Spanish market for a German startup. The second one I worked for was after I moved back to the US, which was a health and wellness startup based in North Carolina. A friend I met that fall when I moved back was working for this startup and she told her boss about my skills and background, and he asked me to join as the head of marketing. Unfortunately, funds ran out after some time and after our jobs were let go, I remember saying that I never wanted to work for a startup again! (laughs.) It was a slightly chaotic situation, but maybe it was just that particular startup.
Long story short, I ended up getting the idea for Cafilia in February 2019 and I decided to pursue it. I really believed in the potential of it. I know I wouldn’t have done it if I really didn’t feel like this could be something huge, so here I am. 
I don’t think all people are meant to be CEOs. But in my case, I was surrounded by incredible leaders that mentored me and recognized my leadership capabilities, and I have a self-confidence in myself in that. Obviously, there’s always unknowns, but I’m pretty good with organizationally compartmentalizing everything and getting help as much as I can at this stage. Right now it’s only me behind Cafilia, but I do have a wonderful intern I just brought on to help with digital and social media marketing. It's a lot –  many hats for one person – but I’m managing.

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What were some of your first milestones running Cafilia? How did you pinpoint what the first steps should be?

Aleksandra: I started moving forward with my idea and doing market research June 2019, but I officially launched our pilot in July 2020. That’s when it was live for the public… and yes, it happened to be right in the middle of a pandemic. 
 Having gone to Business School, we’ve always been taught you need to start with market research with any business. Not only did I start market research online by researching topics like coffee consumption, local coffee shop industry, and sustainability, but I got connected with local coffee shop owners and talked with them about their business operations, shared my idea and asked if it’s something they find value in and would be interested in. I also started interviewing coffee drinkers sitting in local coffee shops – in one month I interviewed over 70 coffee drinkers and got great insights from that. I asked permission from the owners and started randomly going up to people asking for their thoughts and feedback on how they drink coffee, when did they drink coffee, where do they usually go, stuff like that. 

I also wanted to find out the insights and habits from people that buy coffee to go since they don’t have the luxury of sitting in a coffee shop, due to the need to get to work, etc. I went to downtown Cleveland several mornings between 8-10am and just stood outside of different coffee shops all around downtown. As people were leaving, I’d tell them I wanted to learn more about their coffee habits (as research for a startup) and I gave them a small card with a QR code that they could scan and fill out anytime that day - I ended up getting over 80 responses. That foundational market research and insights gathered from it really kicked off where I was going.
 

You might have a unique perspective on this as someone who has an advanced degree in international business and experience as a business consultant. So I was wondering: what advice would you tell someone who holds themselves back because they don’t have formal business education or experience?

Aleksandra: I think education is so important, whether formal or informal, and not just for the knowledge. Especially in that 18-22 age, it helps you build critical thinking and decision making skills. If someone doesn’t have the experience, but they have an idea, then start learning. Start reading reputable books about starting a business and start immersing yourself in the business world. I enjoy reading the Harvard Business Review or The Economist. Those are reputable, but relatively easy to read publications that provide value. Listen to podcasts. Talk to and meet other people who are smarter than you and who inspire you. If it’s possible, move and expose yourself to people who live in bigger cities at some point sooner than later in your life. My experience internationally and with successful people from the leading US business cities has shaped so much of what I know exists out there. 


Were there any attitudes and skills that you had to develop working for a startup or running your own that you did not have cultivated in the enterprise business world?

Aleksandra: I was blessed to work with the kinds of leaders that I did in the business world. My expectation of what it means to be a good leader was set at a high level and I carry a lot of those experiences with me into my own startup.


Did you already have a big network that was helpful to your current entrepreneurial journey? If not, how did you begin to cultivate it?

Aleksandra: I didn’t have a network for my entrepreneurial endeavor here, since I moved back to Cleveland just a couple years before. I decided I was going to pursue the idea for Cafilia in June 2019, but then there was the question of what I am going to do next, besides market research. It was overwhelming because I knew how much there was in front of me. Then, I found out about an event called Start Up Scale Up literally a week after I decided to pursue my idea. I didn’t know how the startup scene was in Northeast Ohio, but the event pleasantly surprised me. It was really well organized and I learned about all of the organizations in the area that are there to support entrepreneurs: from UARF to Jumpstart to the Hispanic Business Center. I learned that the Cleveland Public Library has a specialist to teach you about IP, copyrights, trademarking, and more, and you can spend as much time as you want with them for free. I found out about all of these resources at the Start Up Scale Up event. That’s where I learned about the I-Corps program too. I have a nice group of advisors/mentors and people to collaborate with that I met at that event. If I could wish for anything right now mentor-wise, I’d love to get a mentor that has worked at ClassPass and can mentor me on how growth and scaling can look like for my business, since Cafilia is like the ClassPass for local coffee shops.
 

Any advice on how to be a good mentee?

Aleksandra: Ask for constructive feedback and criticism, direct and open feedback. A lot of people don’t like confrontation. I’ve studied cultures, considering I’ve lived in several different countries. And I think in this region, people avoid confrontation much more compared to cities like New York. Also, you have to be open to other people’s ideas and feedback, because you only have one brain. You need other brains to help you see things from a way that you never did. 
 

What recent milestones are you most proud of?

Aleksandra: Launching! Getting to the point where you launch your business is such a big milestone. There are a lot of people who have big ideas, but they don’t execute. I’m also proud of not having COVID deter me. I started with 5 local coffee shops in my network when I launched the pilot last summer, and I’m proud to say that right now I have 11 partner shops, with more to come!
I also remember signing my first coffee shop, and being excited and nervous at the same time, thinking, “They are trusting me with something that was once just an idea in my head!” Them signing that contract and believing in me and willing to do business and partner with me was huge. 
 

What’s next?

Aleksandra: At this point, it’s just continuing to grow both sides of my platform – the coffee shop network and the coffee drinker base – in Cleveland and Akron, and then continue to grow and scale regionally and hopefully nationally over time! I haven’t decided what city outside of Cleveland/Akron will be next, but I’m sure that’ll come in due time. 


What advice would you give to someone wanting to start a business?

Aleksandra: I found it helpful to connect with UARF and join the I-Corps program, and connect with Jumpstart and use their resources. I worked with Jaclyn Williams at Jumpstart to help conduct market research. It’s so important to connect with other brains and resources to help fill in the gaps and give you clarity on your next steps forward. 
 

Anything else you would like for people to know?

Aleksandra: As with any new business and startup, word of mouth is SO important and key in growth in the beginning. We don’t have huge budgets for marketing until there’s a certain level of growth we reach, so if you love coffee, believe in the Cafilia concept of supporting local and environmental sustainability, and want to help a local startup for free, spread the word and tell all your friends about Cafilia! If you would love to have a local coffee shop join our network, tell them to get in touch with us at [email protected]. And follow us on Instagram or Facebook at @cafilia to get fun posts about coffee, interesting facts on sustainability, and news about Cafilia’s growth and new coffee shops joining! And if you want to sign up for a subscription, we’d love to have you join the Cafilia movement at BeCafilia.com/Subscriptions. Thanks for the love!

Photos from Cafilia website

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