Logos, USPs, and All Things Branding: Coffee Cart Startup

Now that you are sure you want to do this, have done your own research, and have decided to pursue a coffee cart, we can start developing our brand... 

First, I would start by thinking about where you want to serve your coffee. Will you only be serving at farmers markets and local events or will you want to do private events such as weddings and graduation parties too? If you only want to serve at things like farmers markets, festivals, and hippie parades, then a fun, memorable, eye-catching design could be perfect for this bolder audience. However, if you want to serve at weddings and corporate events you will want a more neutral design. While I originally wanted a colorful retro themed cart, I decided I wanted to serve at private events and had to pivot my original brand idea. 

Next, you need to think of your USP aka your Unique Selling Proposition. If you create this coffee cart, what is going to make people pick your coffee cart over the three others in the area that look the exact same? That is where your USP comes in, it sets you apart from your competitors and gives you an edge. This could be something like all homemade syrups, a super bold design, or a unique way you package your drinks. While it is beneficial to set yourself apart from local competitors, it is important not to think of competitors as the enemy. On a recent consultation I had with the owner of Retro Roast Coffee Camper she gave me that amazing advice. She talked about how she and her local competitors are incredibly supportive of one another, trying each other's coffee, and often recommending each other once their own event schedules get booked up. She said this was such a positive experience for everyone, and everyone was able to get more business in turn.

Now that you know who you are serving and have your USP, you can start deciding what you want you brand to look like and your coffee carts name will be. I would start with the overall vibe you are going for and write down all of those words. For me, I originally wanted something clean, fun, frisky, colorful, feel-good, healthy, bright. I then used these adjectives to pick a name for my cart. I started by putting all of these adjectives as well as a written description of the coffee cart business into Chat GPT, yes I do use Chat GPT for everything (except these blogs that is why there are so many typos). Once it gave me a list of names, I would pull out some that I liked, put those ones back in and have it generate more that were similar to that list. For me, picking out a name was the hardest part, as can be seen in the following paragraph... 

“Ok so I have a mental breakdown tonight… after weeks and I mean WEEKS of trying to pick out the perfect coffee cart name and brand colors I finally decided on one: Perky Thing. After deciding that Perky Thing was my official brand name, I made various logos for myself and a branding guide. I sat down tonight ready to create an email, get an LLC, and start my social media accounts. I couldn’t decide between two logos, so I sent both to my brother and my boyfriend. This was their reaction: “I love you but all I can think is boob.” While all of you might have already come to this conclusion. I had not. I was so stuck in this overanalyzing headspace that the thought of it sounding like books did not at all cross my mind. And so… I cried… over my boob name that I was so excited about. Yes, you heard that right tears were indeed shed. I had spent weeks trying to come up with the perfect name just for perky boobs to hinder me. The idea of going back to the start of all my brainstorming was so exhausting, and I just wanted to move onto the next step. However, when I tried to find a new name, nothing sounded right, and I was tempted to give up this whole thing coffee cart thing right then and there. There was only one solution… to have a glass of wine (or 3) and dance in my kitchen to girl pop in my underwear.”

As you can guess I did indeed pick a brand name, and I hope the process will be easier for you. Now, onto brand colors… these can be whatever resonates with you. Keep in mind that if you remain somewhat gender neutral, then you will have a larger customer base. It took everything in me not to create a bright pink coffee cart, so I settled for pink as an accent color instead. While remaining gender neutral can be beneficial, there are plenty of coffee shops that are girly or manly and still succeed, so don’t be dissuaded if you have your heart set on it (my cart is still pretty girly so I can’t be talking)! Speaking of pink there is a super cool all-pink coffee business called Muggies you should check out!

Now that you have your brand name, vibe, and colors you can now create your logo! Check out other coffee carts on instagram to see what their logos look like and get some inspiration. Since I am working on a tight budget I decided to come up with my logo on my own, whereas it would be super helpful to invest in an official brand builder or logo designer. Instead, what I did was play around on Canva with various fonts that fit my aesthetic. Once I had some that I didn’t mind I went into Etsy and searched for “Logo Designer” there are tons of listings that offer to design your logo for you for as little as $2 - $15. All you do is simply fill out a form with some information about your business and they’ll send a draft over within the next day or two. I attached my Canva mockups in order to help give them a general design. Many of them offer unlimited revisions too! Even if you don’t love it, it’s a small investment to get some ideas flowing! Also, just know that it is possible to rebrand and change your logo later if you want, it doesn’t have to be perfect at the start the important part is to just start.

I attached some logos that Etsy designers made for me below.