After spending $6,000 on an Airstream trailer, the 28-year-old converted it into a coffee shop that generates 500000 annually.

28-year-old converted it into a coffee shop that generates 500000 annually. In November 2023, Avery Amstutz realized she had found her next business opportunity when she noticed her neighbor on Facebook selling a 1973 Airstream camper. Simply put, she had no idea what kind of business it would be.

The serial entrepreneur from Memphis, Tennessee, claims that she used $6,000 from the earnings of her prior business endeavors to purchase the 50-year-old trailer. She was a destination wedding photographer at the time, with a mobile cocktail trailer that could be rented for private events and a photography studio that could be rented.

After renovating a five-figure trailer, Amstutz launched a new business in July 2024: Byway Coffee, a mobile coffee shop that now appears every day at various sites throughout Memphis. According to documents examined by CNBC Make It, Byway generated over $500,000 in total income over the course of the next year, including over $400,000 in net sales, despite some growing hardships.

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28-year-old converted it into a coffee shop that generates 500000 annually, According to Amstutz, 28, the company has been profitable “since Day 1.” With over 38,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok combined, Byway’s social media fans are informed about the trailer’s shifting menu of pastries from nearby bakeries and unusual drinks, such as Bananas Foster Chai and Pistachio Cookie Matcha.

Over the past two years, Amstutz believes that she has put in about 60 hours a week at Byway. She claims that she initially had “absolutely nothing about coffee.” However, after following the paths of two mobile coffee shops in the Memphis region, she discovered that one had sold to a bigger business and the other had transformed into a physical store. She claims that this informed her that it was a “desirable business” and that there was “a gap in the market” that she might be able to fill.

According to Amstutz, some patrons had to wait more than an hour in a line that at one point included more than 70 individuals at Byway’s one-year anniversary celebration. Additionally, she began paying herself a salary from Byway in December after living off the proceeds of her other endeavors, including reinvesting Byway’s initial revenues back into the business and using them to pay off a starting loan from her uncle. Amstutz asked that her pay information be kept confidential.

According to her, she is retiring from wedding photography and sold the cocktail trailer on Tuesday.

According to Amstutz, “I expected much less than what I have gotten from this business.”

Employing people who “know more about coffee than I do”

Amstutz got in touch with a friend she had met on Instagram who ran a mobile coffee shop after deciding to convert the trailer into a coffee shop. She received a summary from the friend of everything she would need to start her own company. Amstutz’s conclusion: She required assistance paying for her other starting and renovation expenses, but she had enough money to purchase the trailer.

According to Amstutz, she created a preliminary business plan and presented it to her uncle, a health care executive, who volunteered to collaborate with her and contribute $30,000.

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The “very old” 25-foot-long Airstream needed to be completely renovated in order to accommodate a licensed mobile restaurant. According to Amstutz, she took care of the demolition herself, tearing up the flooring with a hammer and removing the bed, shower, and some useless gas pipes.

Custom countertops, a window for pastry display cases, and storage spaces for coffee beans and other essentials were among the interior renovations she contracted a local builder to complete. According to Amstutz, she purchased a professional-grade espresso machine, three refrigerators, and a freezer and ice bin.

The total cost of the equipment and renovations came to about $65,000. According to Amstutz, she maxed up many credit cards and used her savings to donate $20,000. She says that in order to pay for the increased expenses, she borrowed an additional $15,000 from her uncle, who currently owns 30% of Byway. (She says she’s almost paid off the loan.)

The most amusing thing, according to Amstutz, is that even after the espresso machine and everything else were bought, set up, and ready to use, I had never touched or used one. To assist her get over the learning curve, she instead tried to hire “people who knew more about coffee than I did,” according to her.

According to Amstutz, Byway currently employs nine part-timers and one full-time operations manager.

“We’ve made nearly every error at least once.”

Amstutz tried to increase Byway’s social media following while learning about coffee from her staff, she claims. She posted on Instagram at the time that around 300 people attended the trailer’s opening day at Memphis’ Overton Park.

Amstutz now has a social media following that is around 100 times larger, and it shares videos of its most recent menu items and the trailer’s future locations every day. According to her, Byway can meet clients where they are and doesn’t have to pay rent thanks to the trailer concept.

Byway’s business strategy is not without flaws. It can be challenging to predict customer demand at a different site every day. Amstutz claims that the trailer’s small storage capacity and “several flat tires” have caused delays. Amstutz claims that once the power wire connecting the trailer to a generator fell loose and dragged behind her on the highway, where the friction “shaved it off.”

Amstutz claims that she was “electrocuted, minorly” when she attempted to turn on the store’s equipment. “We’ve made nearly every error at least once. This is all an educational experience.

These insights could guide her expansion strategy: According to Amstutz, she paid $2,500 for another Airstream trailer in March and intends to refurbish it into a second Byway location for an estimated total of $70,000.

“I believe that every company I have founded up to this point has it sounds corny truly led me to this business,” says Amstutz.

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