Pulling Shots

Have you ever wondered if your shop is sustainable? If had to drop everything for a certain amount of time whether the shop you built would be self sustaining? What needs to be handled by you? What can be handled by others exclusively? Sammy and Kailee answer all these questions and provide experiential wisdom into this topic.

Local coffee shops don't have infinite resources. Got you fam, here's some ways you can still have leverage and compete against national chains!

Several things change in the fall. New seasonal drinks Schools back Some employees leave while other come back We talk how to plan for it all in this episode.

Third wave coffee shops are closing while drive-thru chains triple their store count.

Sam and Kirk break down what third wave actually got right, where it lost the plot, and why "producer-focused" coffee is getting crushed by "consumer-focused" coffee.

In this episode: - What third wave coffee actually is — and why the term itself has become loaded -

The data: Seven Brew's 26-to-600-store run in four years vs. closures at Ritual Coffee, Barista Parlor, and Compass Coffee's bankruptcy -

Why "producer-focused" businesses are losing ground to "consumer-focused" ones - Sam's hot take on why service — not sugar or scale — decides who wins long-term

Where Friedrichs actually sits between second wave and third wave, and why we still sell energy drinks - A 5-year prediction on what happens to the drive-thru boom when gas prices and habits shift

We just took our first-ever full week off — Thursday to Thursday, both kids, no grandparents, no help — and the business didn't skip a beat. This episode is about what actually had to change for that to be true. In this episode: - What Sam's role looked like 5 years ago vs. today (it used to all stop with him) - The hiring rule that made roaster hires actually stick — pull from the stores first - Why they've stopped chasing new ventures (canning, grocery, a coffee truck) and are doubling down on what already works instead - What "proof of delegation" actually looks like when a manager solves a problem without you - What's still on Sam and Kailee's plate, and what's finally getting handed off

Buying a coffee shop that's already running? Most new owners kill the thing they just bought — usually in the first 90 days, usually by "fixing" something that wasn't broken.

You will never be too active in your community, post on social media too often, or talk about you business too much.

We've owned coffee shop for 35 years. People still have never heard of us.

We are a family business that has been operating for 35 years. Heres how we maintain the fmaily dynamic without killing eachother

Dutch Bros and 7 Brew compete for growth, while vietnam is growing in both quantity and quality of their green coffee

Dutch Bros is opening six locations in Des Moines within a six-month span — and it's not the only chain moving in. Starbucks, Seven Brew, and Caribou are all expanding into markets where local coffee shops have been operating for years. In this episode of Pulling Shots, Sam and Kailee break down what you can and can't control when a big chain sets up shop next door: pricing, hiring, culture, and the "free marketing" chains unintentionally do for local shops when they push trends like energy drinks and refreshers.