For over twenty years, I have had the dream of opening a full-service coffee shop that would be a central place for people to collaborate, dream, or just relax. The goal has always been to create an atmosphere where people can feel the love of Christ over a cup of amazing coffee. That dream has not come to pass - yet.  Many have asked what the holdup is and why has it not happened yet.  There is a laundry list of reasons why we haven't opened a place yet. One of the primary reasons that we have held off is finances.  

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In 2005, I had a... let's say interesting year of things that fell apart.  Primarily, I had lost a job, my apartment, my vehicle, and had to move back home with my parents all in a short period of time.  This all led me to the decision to file bankruptcy. To say that I became risk averse is probably the overstatement of the century. I did, however, develop an appetite to learn how to run a business, the primary reasons business succeeds, and the main reasons that they fail. One of those reasons was being overleveraged in debt.  I became a devotee of all things Dave Ramsey at that point and vowed to not go into debt for anything ever again.  For the most part, I have held onto that belief.  

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I say for the most part because there was one time that I went into debt and I got out of it so fast that I made the bank spin.  I digress.  The debt freedom was not just in my personal life but in my business life.  That's right. I decided that if I was going to go into business, it would be debt free. That included The Chipped Mug.  Going into business debt free is impossible, right? 

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I began to wonder. And then it happened.  I began going into business for myself in 2013/2014 and slowly began developing a plan to launch The Chipped Mug completely debt free. We began looking at places to launch, we started collecting mugs, we even had a roaster picked out, and we were selling coffee! And then...it ended. We had to pull the plug on it all. Why? One of my main suppliers quit and I realized that I had put all of my eggs into one basket. To further drill the nail in the coffin, we lost our primary income in 2015. 

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The dream was all but dead at that point and I had to put it on the back burner. To say I was devastated was probably the understatement of all eternity.  I did, however, learn one of the greatest lessons that many business owners do not have the gift of learning.  We had no debt and we could pull the plug without going broke. 

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Fast forward to 2026. There has been a lot that occurred since we closed the business.  From our children becoming teenagers, to moving to a newer home, to helping my parents move to the area, and starting a new career, we have seen a lot of changes.  One thing that has not changed - the dream. In January, I began thinking of different ways that we could restart our business to breathe new life into it.  I have been approached over the years to purchase several coffee shops that were going out of business, and it just didn't feel right at the time.  One of the major expenses that these coffee shops were dealing with was the rising cost of coffee beans. They were spending so much money on roasters from out of state and across the country that they were losing money on their bread and butter. 

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This is where the new breath comes in. We have begun the process of roasting our own coffee to sell to consumers and local coffee shops. This process is a large learning curve, but we believe that it is a way that we can help the local community, our fellow coffee drinkers, and to fund the coffee shop that we want to open. This is the first phase that we are moving into and we want to invite YOU along. No - we aren't asking for your money yet.  We are, however, asking for your prayers and your support.  Over the next few months, you will see us begin sharing the process that we will be using, creating content around it, and building our business from the ground up.  We are excited about this journey and have begun setting up our roastery. We have purchased equipment and are training on how to make this the best cup of coffee that you will experience. 

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Stay tuned because we are ready to invade your kitchen and your lives with The Chipped Mug!