The Coffee Shop Making A Difference: Bethnal Green’s Second Shot Coffee

Wed, 06 Feb 2019 by Liz Rosling

From UCL to Enactus, what was the process of developing your concept?

Julius: “Enactus was massive in the journey, before then the words ‘social enterprise’ weren’t even part of my vocabulary. I joined UCL’s Enactus team and took part in a consultancy project with a local community café that was run by a charity – the café was their solution to making money. During the 4-month project we spent time trying to turn it around increasing funds, following that I became president of UCL’s Enactus Society, it was really good experience.”

While in his role as president at University College London, Julius spent the majority of his time helping with Enactus projects, spending less time on his degree. Enactus is a global non-profit working as a community of students, academics and business leaders, dedicated to making the world a better place through entrepreneurial action. Whilst working with Enactus Julius realised how difficult homelessness in and around Bloomsbury was to tackle, that many similar enterprises had experienced difficulty executing and reaching the impact stage of their projects, which got him thinking about more ways he would be able to make a difference.

Julius: “I’d been working in food and drinks since I was 11, I was a chef for a couple of years and developed a passion for coffee. Working with charities within homelessness, I tried to see the gaps that could be filled – deciding that a coffee shop with a social mission was the best route”

Julius: “In the months before we opened, we had made zero progress and were initially worried. The first six months were really tough, working every day – lots of things went wrong. But I had factored that in with my planning. Bethnal Green had really gotten behind us, we had to tweak stuff to make the shop more financially stable but there was never an issue having people come through the door.”

In the beginning of Second Shot’s journey, how did you spread the word?

Julius: “Crowdfunding was big in terms of social, and successful in the sense that it gave us good press and exposure despite the fact we only raised 70% of the target. Other than that Instagram worked well and we gained a big following, we were bringing a specialty to the area so I think that helped.”

I knew people would come because they liked the concept, but I wanted people to enjoy the coffee and continue to keep coming.”

Quality Coffee

Second Shot invested in a multi-roaster, which sets them apart from most independent coffee shops that are married to one roaster and do one blend all year round. The coffee they use are all single origins with more interesting flavoured profiles. Single origin describes coffee that is sourced from one single producer, crop, or region in a country.

Speciality Coffee Association’s Andra Vlaicu states “the most important thing about single origin is its traceability, the fact that you know exactly where your coffee is from and that it’s a specific coffee, not a blend. Usually of a higher quality, it’s the acknowledgment that the coffee is from a particular farm located in a unique setting, whilst its flavour depicts its origin, possessing characteristics of that specific area where the particular coffee was grown.”

Training Baristas From Backgrounds Of Homelessness

Julius and Second Shot Coffee have so far worked with 8 homeless trainees, training them for six months from work experience to full time employment. Second Shot collaborates with various homeless charities to recruit potential trainees, who all go through an interview and trial period. Crisis and Centrepoint and Switchback are just three charities that have so far provided trainees for Second Shot. Their 3rd trainee, Ecevit Tihsinhatga worked previously as a pastry chef but following a series of setbacks he found himself homeless and dependent on heroin. He started working for Second Shot in its opening year. Speaking at the 2018 Enactus National Expo UK, he had this to say about his experience:

What would be your advice to someone looking to set up a business or social enterprise?

Julius: “The main advice I would give to people is that most social enterprises are keen to be more social and communicative, so in the year spent not making much progress I managed to meet a lot of people in the industry – people are willing to give you help and advice so don’t be afraid to ask. Experience is really important so make the most out of it that you can.”

Visit Second Shot

475 Bethnal Green Road, London, E2 9QH

(Julius will be opening a second cafe in Marylebone in March – watch this space!)

Opening Hours:

• Monday – Friday: 7:30am – 5:00pm
• Weekends: 8:00am – 5:00pm

Connect With Second Shot

• Facebook: Second Shot Coffee
• Instagram: @Secondshotcafe
• Twitter: @secondshotcoffee