All you have to do is buy a Wheelys cart. They send you the coffee supplies you need, and you sell under the Wheelys brand (for a small monthly fee) on a state-of-the-art bike that can be stored away when you\u2019re off the clock. They claim you can earn up to $700 in one day.<\/p>\n
The high-end version of the cart itself is as high tech as you can get while still keeping things eco-friendly. The branding is stunning and how much you make is completely self-motivated, making it a pretty easy sell for anyone looking to make some extra cash or start a new venture without all of the startup hassle.<\/p>\n
We interviewed\u00a0Maria De La Croix<\/a> of Wheelys to learn\u00a0more\u00a0about their mission and how they\u2019ve capitalized on their\u00a0crowdfunding success\u00a0to disrupt\u00a0big coffee franchises<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Buying a Starbucks franchise can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it\u2019s no wonder since people are willing to dish out so much cash for a cup of joe \u2014\u00a0up to a 300% markup<\/a>, in fact.<\/p>\n After working with a big brand that sold coffee, NSID looked at the model and thought that they could do things more efficiently without overhead, rent, advertising, and all of the other costs of a brick-and-mortar\u00a0caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we started to toy with the idea of having a caf\u00e9 of our own<\/a>, combining the profit margin of a global brand with the low overheads of a street business,\u201d De La Croix said. All while making their coffee even better.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did extensive testing, building, and branding of the bikes in order to finally see an increase of the revenue by more than 50%,\u201d she explained. Then they launched Wheelys to the crowdfunding masses<\/a>, twice.<\/p>\n (Read about other innovative, crowdfunded products in our Startup Stories series<\/a>: QCut jeans<\/a> come in 400 sizes to help women find the perfect fit, and this spray<\/a> can help you sleep.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A comparison of the original\u00a0Wheelys cart (top) and version 2.o (bottom)<\/em><\/p>\n The first<\/a> Wheelys campaign hit Indiegogo<\/a> one year ago, and the second went up only months after that.<\/p>\n With the first campaign, De La Croix said, \u201cWe got a huge interest, and people from all around the world purchased Wheelys Caf\u00e9s.\u201d Early bird prices ranged from $1,800 to $2,900 depending on how early you got in on the deal \u2014\u00a0all 13 of them sold out. It\u2019s no wonder that they tripled their goal, raising almost $60,000.<\/p>\n \u201cWe kept getting a lot of requests after the first campaign, and we really like the concept of crowdfunding. It’s very transparent. So we decided to try out a second time.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n As we explain below, their second design, Wheelys 2, wasn\u2019t just a modest upgrade. Their humble flagship cart was decked out for a more high-tech option.<\/p>\n The second campaign ended\u00a0in June, raising\u00a0over $100,000 and selling way more Wheelys and Wheelys 2, some of them in fleets. In the first four months of sales, they\u00a0had 30 mobile caf\u00e9s in more than 10 countries around the world.<\/p>\n Why\u2019d they pick Indiegogo over Kickstarter? De La Croix said it was simply a matter of logistics.<\/p>\n \u201cTo start a Kickstarter, we would have needed to have an American credit card and other things which we at that point [didn’t have]. Indiegogo was simpler for us as Scandinavians in that sense. So we just went for it. Though today, I think it’s time to try out Kickstarter as well!\u201d<\/p>\n De La Croix\u2019s advice for launching a crowdfunding campaign is, \u201cIf you do things that people like, they will share and support it. If you have a good idea, don’t hesitate but be brave and put it out there. It might work.\u201d<\/p>\n Wheelys wants\u00a0to give people a way to make money that\u2019s entrepreneurial, but without all of the bumps and bruises that come with starting a startup<\/a>. De La Croix said,<\/p>\n \u201cThere are 50 million young people without a job in Europe. In countries like Spain, half of the young are out of work. If we can make the tiniest difference here, giving some people a job, then all the work with Wheelys will have paid off.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n That\u2019s only part of their mission, though. The other part is to keep things super eco-friendly and delicious. With the Wheelys 2, the bike is electric and can get enough solar power to run the lights and the charger. There\u2019s even a gray water tank for you to use on plants rather than just discarding it.<\/p>\n It seems they\u2019ve really thought of everything when it comes to making the bike as self-sustaining as possible so you get the most value for your initial investment.<\/p>\n Only nine months after the first Wheelys hit the road, the team felt they had enough research and feedback to fine tune their concept and design to create Wheelys 2.<\/p>\n De La Croix said, \u201cThe biggest innovation in Wheelys 2 is not the thing in itself, but the combination of how we’ve put things together and use them. We’ve been able to combine solar panels with a cooling system, water, disposals, stoves and displays. It’s a swiss army knife of the bike caf\u00e9 so to say: there were scissors and knives before, but not in this combination.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2\u00a0isn\u2019t a replacement for the flagship Wheelys; it\u2019s just a more souped up version and De La Croix said they\u2019re always looking for improvements to both bikes.<\/p>\n In addition to adding more features to the caf\u00e9s, they had the help of some of Sweden\u2019s best designers to update the visual branding of the bike to make things look a little less vintage and a little more modern. \u201cWe wanted it to feel very fresh, simple, and nice as well as easy to recognize a Wheelys,\u201d De La Croix said.<\/p>\n![\"team1\"](\"http:\/\/d1vqbpto5tbbz0.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/13080110\/team1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Idea<\/h2>\n
![\"wheelys1\"](\"http:\/\/d1vqbpto5tbbz0.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/13075957\/wheelys1-1024x790.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"wheelys2\"](\"http:\/\/d1vqbpto5tbbz0.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/13075954\/wheelys2-1024x625.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h2>\nCrowdfunding Success<\/h2>\n
![\"Screen](\"http:\/\/d1vqbpto5tbbz0.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/13080010\/Screen-Shot-2015-04-13-at-9.02.51-AM-1024x599.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"wheelys-roi\"](\"http:\/\/d1vqbpto5tbbz0.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/13075950\/wheelys-roi-1024x321.png\")
<\/a><\/h2>\nThe Mission: Eco Employment + Good Coffee<\/h2>\n
![\"wheelys-assemble\"](\"http:\/\/d1vqbpto5tbbz0.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/13080112\/wheelys-assemble-1024x505.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThen Came 2.0<\/h2>\n
![\"wheelys-inpark\"](\"http:\/\/d1vqbpto5tbbz0.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/13075933\/wheelys-inpark-1024x706.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Screen](\"http:\/\/d1vqbpto5tbbz0.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/13080331\/Screen-Shot-2015-04-13-at-9.05.48-AM-1024x612.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n