The opportunity to venture out on his own and build a family-friendly business was all the incentive this busy health care professional needed to get started
For some people, entrepreneurism runs deep. Like with Minaj Patel, a new Just Love Coffee Cafe franchise owner in Pooler, Georgia, a bustling community near Savannah. Even though he’s been a busy and successful pharmacist for 10 years, he looks back fondly on the several years he and his family owned and operated a sandwich franchise — and he says he has been eager to have another business that’s entirely his own. When he and his wife, Mona, discovered Just Love, he knew they’d found their next opportunity.
What has led you back to owning and operating a business?
We enjoyed owning the restaurant but needed to sell it when I was in pharmacy school and had to move to Florida to complete my pharmaceutical training. Once I received my license, we moved back to Georgia and started our family. Since then we have been busy with children, and I have been enjoying my career as a pharmacist. But now the children are about to be in school full-time, and so my wife was starting to look around for opportunities. With Just Love, I will be able to continue working as a pharmacist, while she and I will both own and operate the cafe.
What helped Just Love stand out among your options?
As we began to look at franchise opportunities, we saw a lot with very high operating costs. The investment needed for many brands was beyond our range, entirely too high. The Just Love initial investment, however, was a figure that we felt we could afford through our own savings and a loan. The money aside, we looked at the business itself and thought it was so nice. We came to Nashville and toured the Brentwood location, which is a wonderful combination of modern and traditional. It was the little things: You go to some major chains and get coffee in a paper cup. At Just Love, you get a cup and saucer. We liked the authentic feel and modern vibe.
How has the onboarding process been?
The corporate team has been a huge help. They have come in to meet with us and our real estate broker, making sure that we find just the right spot. We are talking at least once a week and emailing continually, and if I need anything I get a response very quickly. They are a great resource not just as we work on our real estate, but also as we secure loans and all the other tasks needed to get set up. Now our lease has been finalized, and we’re looking to open in October or November.
How do you think Just Love is going to go over in your community?
People are going to really enjoy it. Just Love Coffee Cafe is so different; there are a lot of coffee shops, sure, but at others you go and wait in line, or wait at the drive-through, give your order and just go away. Here you’ll order, and then we bring everything to your table. And the food is very exciting! We love that we can make anything, even omelets, on the waffle iron. Nobody around here has anything like that, and the fact that we can offer breakfast, lunch and dinner means we can do business all day long. This is a unique concept, and nobody else here has the menu and feel that Just Love does.
After the launch of two successful locations in Brentwood and Nashville, Tennessee, one of the hottest cities in the nation, Just Love Coffee is primed for expansion in 2018. Led by an executive team with proven experience in growing franchise systems, Just Love Coffee & Eatery is an ideal investment for new and experienced entrepreneurs who want to get in on the ground floor of an exciting business opportunity in the $12 billion U.S. coffee shop industry.
Local and national media remain fascinated by how Just Love began with a simple idea and has evolved into a booming national franchise concept
Doing media interviews is par for the course when you’ve founded a successful business concept that’s shaking up the way things are done (or “disrupted,” to borrow some Silicon Valley speak).
That’s been the case for Just Love Coffee Cafe franchise founder Rob Webb, who most recently sat down with the Tennessean, his hometown newspaper in Nashville, to talk about how Just Love started, how franchising came about and, most importantly, why Just Love is a more relaxed, engaging experience for customers who are tired of trendy, fussy and stuffy coffee shops.
After the launch of two successful locations in Nashville and Brentwood, Tennessee, one of the hottest cities in the nation, Just Love Coffee is primed for expansion in 2018. Led by an executive team with proven experience in growing franchise systems, Just Love Coffee & Eatery is an ideal investment for both new and experienced entrepreneurs who want to get in on the ground floor of the most exciting business opportunity in the $12 billion U.S. coffee shop industry.
Just Love Coffee strengthens its mission to serve great coffee and serve the community through charitable product line
Just Love Coffee Cafe franchise was founded on a passion for helping others, and today the growing franchise continues to differentiate itself in the competitive cafe space through its high-quality hand-roasted coffee, as well as a new charitable focus. The addition of a fundraising Cause Coffee line enables Just Love to spotlight nonprofits and charities and gives franchisees yet another reason to be proud to own a Just Love Coffee Cafe.
Just Love Coffee Cafe is a low-cost startup that appeals to entrepreneurs passionate about coffee and community. People looking for an entry-point investment into the food industry are finding Just Love to be an attractive, as well as fulfilling, business to run that prides itself on being a core part of the local community.
The new Cause Coffee selections spotlight lesser-known, but not less impactful, nonprofits. The specialty bags of coffee sell for $13.99 a bag, with $5 going back to the featured organization, says DJ Smith, Marketing & Creative Director of Just Love Coffee Cafe. Although the specialty coffee bags do not result in a profit for franchisees, Smith was blown away by the enthusiasm franchisees showed for the new line.
“I love the heart of our franchisees,” Smith says. “The Cause Coffee line was originally intended to be an online-only retail product, but several franchisees wanted to sell our Cause Coffee in-house after hearing about it. It’s optional for them to sell in their cafes, but their passion for this program reinforces what the heart of Just Love is.”
Founder and CEO Rob Webb founded Just Love as a for-profit venture with a mission to help adoptive families. Rob and his wife, Emily, adopted two children from Ethiopia in 2009. During the process, he had a true light-bulb moment that was the genesis of Just Love. As he added up the expense of the adoption trip and learned of the sacrifice and challenges of people in the same situation, he realized that a coffee company with a mission to serve would be a winning business venture.
After the launch of two successful locations in Nashville and Brentwood, Tennessee, one of the hottest cities in the nation, Just Love Coffee is primed for expansion in 2018. Led by an executive team with proven experience in growing franchise systems, Just Love Coffee & Eatery is an ideal investment for both new and experienced entrepreneurs who want to get in on the ground floor of the most exciting business opportunity in the $12 billion U.S. coffee shop industry.
Cause Coffee emphasizes community building and builds brand awareness
The Cause Coffee line kicked off with specialty bags spotlighting awareness of autism through a partnership with nonprofit Autism ETC during April, which is Autism Awareness Month. Upcoming Cause Coffee partnerships, each of which will have its own custom label, include Freedom Calling, an organization raising awareness about human trafficking, and Osprey Village, a nonprofit developing an inclusive residential neighborhood for adults with special needs.
The goal is to sell 200 Cause Coffee bags for each organization with the eventual mission being to promote a different cause each month, Smith says. “We’re looking at this as an evergreen, year-round program where eventually we’ll have a dozen featured Cause Coffees per year.”
Smith sees the Cause Coffee program as a win/win for all involved. The program raises awareness for smaller nonprofits and charities, as well as introduces Just Love Coffee to potential customers as those organizations promote the specialty coffee bags to their supporters and staff.
“It’s been great. We went into it with a genuine heart, and you reap what you sow,” he says. “We are so protective of our mission here at Just Love and our core values, which are to be genuine, be excellent and be a catalyst for love. Cause Coffee embodies every bit of those core values.”
Additionally, the program has been eye-opening for the Just Love team as they discover new organizations and causes to support. “We learned so much about autism with the initial Cause Coffee launch. We had the opportunity to meet some of the therapists and folks who are helping kids with autism and meet the people behind the scenes who are the unsung heroes. That’s really what it’s about — celebrating these people whose mission is to make a positive effect on their part of their world.”
Just Love Leadership discusses our cause-minded mission and standout family-friendly brand
Just Love Coffee Cafe Founder and CEO Rob Webb and Marketing & Creative Director DJ Smith were guests recently on popular radio talk show “Nashville Today,” hosted by award-winning personality Devon O’Day. The show is broadcast internationally through WSM 650 AM — home of Nashville’s legendary Grand Ole Opry. The Just Love leadership duo discussed several developments, including the franchise’s new fundraising Cause Coffee line and expansion plans for Georgia, Texas and Michigan.
Just Love Coffee Cafe is a low-cost startup that appeals to entrepreneurs who are passionate about coffee and community. People looking for an entry-point investment into the food industry are finding Just Love to be an attractive, fulfilling business to run that prides itself on being a core part of the local community.
“If you just love coffee, Just Love coffee is a place you need to try out,” O’Day says during her introduction of Webb and Smith. “I’ve been screaming at the top of my lungs that the greatest place to have coffee is Just Love because companies with a socially conscious spirit are near and dear to my heart.”
CEO Webb founded Just Love as a for-profit venture with a mission to help adoptive families. He and his wife, Emily, adopted two children from Ethiopia in 2009. During the process he had a true light-bulb moment that would be the genesis of Just Love. As he added up the expense of the adoption trip and learned of the sacrifice and challenges of other people in the same situation, he realized that a coffee company with a mission to serve would be a winning business venture.
After the launch of two successful locations in Nashville and Brentwood, Tennessee, one of the hottest cities in the nation, Just Love Coffee is primed for expansion in 2018 and is developing five new locations. Led by anexecutive team with proven experience in growing franchise systems, Just Love Coffee & Eatery is an ideal investment for both new and experienced entrepreneurs who want to get in on the ground floor of the most exciting business opportunity in the$12 billion U.S. coffee shop industry.
Radio interview spotlights Just Love’s unique brand
Webb and Smith discussed the new Cause Coffee line, which debuted in April with a limited-edition selection that benefited nonprofit Autism ETC for Autism Awareness Month. Upcoming Cause Coffee partnerships, each of which will have its own custom label, include Freedom Calling, an organization raising awareness about human trafficking, and Osprey Village, a nonprofit developing an inclusive residential neighborhood for adults with special needs. The goal is to sell 200 Cause Coffee bags for each organization, with the eventual mission being to promote a different cause each month.
O’Day also spoke with the duo about the unique, welcoming and family-friendly environment that sets Just Love apart from the competition. “Just Love is a place where soccer moms can go in and have a great time with their girlfriends, business people come in to conduct business and we have students,” Smith says.
Despite a lighthearted feel to the brand and an unconventional cooking technique that centers on waffle iron specialties, Smith emphasized Just Love’s commitment to high-quality coffee and food. “We take our coffee very seriously, as well as our food,” Smith says.
Our unique coffee shop and cafe is a streamlined business
that’s attracting investors nationwide
The Just Love Coffee Café brand is continuing its strong growth trajectory, reporting several new locations and growth in multiple areas in the first quarter of 2023. Same-store sales growth has been strong for three years running, and all Just Love Coffee Café stores have experienced double-digit growth for two consecutive years.
Just Love is that rare, simple business model within the highly competitive cafe space that results in higher-than-average food sales and a quirky and profitable menu. Our founders have worked hard to make sure our coffee shop concept is easy to scale, making it ideal for investors who are looking to develop regionally. The success of our Middle Tennessee coffee shops illustrates the ease of scalability within one metropolitan area. In fact, our downtown Nashville Just Love Cafe location on Demonbreun Street recently reported a 38% increase over last year’s first-quarter sales.
“We scaled the brand in the booming Nashville metropolitan area on our own to standardize systems and operations and ensure that the business was not only easy to operate, but replicable and sustainable over the long term,” says Rob Webb, CEO and founder of Just Love Coffee & Eatery. “Our impressive first-quarter sales and growth are proof that our system is working and that our franchisees are excelling in their markets. As word spreads about our unique and fun concept, so does interest in investing in our brand. In March alone we took more than 300 inquiries from people interested in opening a Just Love Coffee Cafe in their community.”
Led by an executive team with proven experience in growing franchise systems, Just Love Coffee is an ideal investment for entrepreneurs who want to get in on the ground floor of an exciting business opportunity in the $12 billion U.S. coffee shop industry.
Low startup costs and higher-than-average food sales
make us a smart investment
Just Love Coffee Café has a simple-to-operate business model with a low franchise fee of $35,000 — considerably less than most coffee-shop franchises. Our unique menu is inspired by the waffle iron and eliminates the need for a full kitchen, making Just Love a simple food business to operate and more adaptable to modern coffee shop business trends. It also results in food ticket sales that are higher than the industry average. This translates into lower buildout costs than our competitors, as well as a faster ramp-up time. All of this allows for a potentially faster return on investment.
We also offer a rare coffee shop franchise opportunity that doesn’t require any experience in either restaurant management or coffee making — all that we require is that our new franchise owners are passionate about our brand and about making their new business successful.
Just Love Coffee Café family of franchises is entering new markets outside Tennessee home base
Just Love Coffee Café’s simple business model is attracting investors nationwide. Low startup costs, a revenue-generating all-day menu and a community-centric culture are selling points for entrepreneurs seeking an attractive and potentially profitable entry into the competitive food space.
2018 is shaping up to be an exciting year of robust development and double-digit growth for Just Love Coffee Café. Led by an executive team with proven experience in growing franchise systems, Just Love Coffee Café is an ideal investment for new entrepreneurs, as well as for experienced investors who want to get in on the ground floor of a standout business opportunity in the $12 billion U.S. coffee shop industry.
“This is an exciting time to launch a Just Love Coffee Café,” says Rob Webb, CEO and founder of the Just Love Coffee franchises. “People really crave community and want to frequent family-friendly local businesses that serve a high-quality product. Just Love brand encourages and embraces these concepts like no other coffee brand I’ve seen — our impressive first-quarter growth is proof of that. We’re a business founded on love for community and family; we give back, and we provide a potentially profitable business for entrepreneurs.”
Domestic growth takes off for Just Love Coffee Café
Just Love has expansion agreements pending in several new markets outside our home state of Tennessee, including: Austin, Texas, Savannah, Georgia, and Detroit, Michigan. Our community-oriented coffee shops with high-quality, hand-roasted coffee, great food and excellent customer service will do well in nearly any market, and we’re attracting franchisees
in a wide variety of locations.
“It used to be that coffee shops were prevalent in urban areas and on the East and West coasts,” Webb says. “That’s no longer the case. The cafe culture is growing nationwide as people crave great coffee, food and community. Just Love Coffee’s growing brand recognition
is positioning us as a go-to place customers know they can rely on.
“Customers typically fall in love with our high-quality coffee first, and then they discover how amazing our food is. Our food sales consistently outpace our coffee sales, and we’re introducing many menu items in 2018 to bolster our food revenue.”
Streamlined business model is versatile for any location
Just Love Coffee Café coffee shops are successful as freestanding locations and as strip-center end caps. The business model is designed to suit a space, no matter the size. This means our locations can be unique to their physical space and to the communities that love us.
Take our Nashville-area locations, for example. Our Demonbreun Street location downtown is in the heart of the business district. It’s also just off the famous Music Row and near several city university campuses. Our Murfreesboro-area location is more suburban and also attracts local college students. Our Brentwood location is in a predominantly upscale suburban retail district.
Just Love Coffee Café is a great opportunity for first-time entrepreneurs or savvy investors. Learn everything about coffee franchise cost
We are the rare coffee shop franchise opportunity that doesn’t require any experience either running a restaurant or being an expert in coffee — all we require is that our new franchise owners are passionate about our brand and about making their business successful. We also continually fine-tune our franchisees’ training, and we are rolling out a new online training program to help franchisees excel as local coffee-shop owners.
