something changes when the coffee has your name on it

September 1, 2026

one month of moki35: learning to believe in it

one month ago I opened moki35

there wasn't a huge launch, a big pile of capital behind me. I opened with a lot of hope, a lot of preparation and probably more uncertainty than I wanted to admit

starting a business is one thing but starting one with only a few hundred as working capital behind you is another

cash flow has been one of the biggest challenges I've faced during this first month and there have definitely been moments where I've thought this is crazy and frustrating and full of risk, then another morning comes around, the machine turns on and someone walks up wanting a coffee and suddenly I remember why I started

the strange thing about making coffee when it's your own

I've been making coffee since I was 16, working in my family's award winning café, spending time in the Melbourne coffee scene and working at The Barn in Berlin

I've spent years learning the craft, so I know how to make coffee, at least I thought I did...

something changes when the coffee has your name on it

when you're making someone else's coffee you make the drink and move on but when it's your own business you watch everything, was the espresso right, was the milk right, did I pour it well enough, did they enjoy it, should I have done something differently

I can make hundreds of coffees and still find myself thinking about the one where I wish I had done better. that's probably one of the strangest parts of starting moki35

I care about every cup so much that sometimes I care too much!

then they come back

the thing that has slowly started to change that feeling is seeing the same people return

someone comes back for another flat white, someone brings a friend, you remember what they ordered last time or tells you they really enjoyed the coffee

those moments mean more than I expected because the question in the back of my mind has always been whether what I'm making is actually good enough

when someone comes back they answer that question without needing to say much

they come back and that gives me confidence

you really don't know what tomorrow will bring

I've also learnt that I have absolutely no idea how busy moki35 is going to be from one day to the next

there have been mornings where I've looked outside at the weather and thought there is no way we're going to sell much today then there have been quieter weeks where I've assumed the next week will probably be the same, only to find myself suddenly much busier than expected

the weather changes, people's routines change, school holidays change things, events change things and sometimes you simply have a day where you have no idea why everyone decided to come for coffee at once

it has made the business incredibly unpredictable and I've had to learn that I can't build my expectations around what happened yesterday

being prepared

that's probably one of the biggest lessons from the first month

I need to be prepared for the quiet days but I also need to be prepared for the days when moki35 suddenly gets busy because if the opportunity comes I want to be ready for it

I want enough coffee, enough milk, enough cups and enough stock but most importantly I want to be able to maintain the quality when the queue starts forming

the early customers are helping me figure all of this out

every day gives me another piece of information about what sells, what doesn't, when people arrive, what they ask for, what they come back for, what needs improving and what needs planning

it's slowly turning the uncertainty into something I can actually work with

the self doubt is real

I don't think people talk enough about this part of starting a business

you can believe in your idea and still doubt yourself, you can know that you have the experience and still wonder whether you're good enough and you can look at the numbers and know you need to be patient while another part of your brain is telling you that everything needs to work immediately

I've definitely had those moments

but I'm starting to realise that self doubt doesn't necessarily mean something is going wrong

sometimes it just means you care

I want moki35 to be good, I want the coffee to be good, I want the experience to be good, I want the space to feel right and I want people to leave happy

because I care about all of that...

one month in

the biggest thing I'm learning is that I need to be patient

I don't need everything to be perfect today

I need to keep improving, keep listening, keep learning and give people a reason to come back

the first month has already shown me that there is something here not because everything has gone perfectly, far from it but because people are coming back

people are talking about moki35, people are supporting the idea and people are helping me slowly building the business in becoming something more real every day

and then there is the community

one of the most encouraging things has been the support from the local community and from Whangārei District Council

we've started talking about collaborating around the opening of the new playground, which is something I'm genuinely excited about. it feels like moki35 is beginning to become part of what is happening here rather than simply being a coffee cart sitting beside it and that's exactly what I hoped for