A coffee entrepreneur brews success with new financial know-how
Mark Patterson used a small business grant and hired a CPA to fuel growth.
Mark Patterson takes a break with a mug of his Instant Colombian Coffee. Photo credit: Keith Ross
As an entrepreneur, Mark Patterson knows his strengths and knows when to pivot. When he launched Civilized Coffee, he soon realized that roasted and whole bean coffee was a highly competitive and very expensive market. So Patterson, who is now based a ferry ride away from Seattle in Sequim, Washington, found a niche with instant coffee and tea — and found success.
“I'm really good at finding products that are needed online. And espresso powder was one of them,” Patterson says. “I'm like, ‘Look, there's a big hole here, a big demand.’” After developing his own proprietary formula for instant espresso powder, the company earned an endorsement from a nationwide food-testing organization. Patterson realized he could market the instant espresso for baking, coffee drinks and more speciality uses. In turn, Patterson saw skyrocketing sales, he says. Civilized Coffee had found its footing.
Where Patterson needed support was in his accounting, a weakness he discovered after taking courses on Verizon Small Business Digital Ready. Patterson was drawn to the program for the opportunity to earn a $10,000 small business grant. “When I found out I won the grant, it really was a big win for me and a big win for Civilized Coffee,” Patterson says. The funding helped Patterson upgrade the company’s branding, an area of opportunity he’d been wanting to address. “[The grant money] really helped me improve my labeling, improve my branding, and helped me scale up my labeling process,” Patterson says.
To qualify for the grant from Verizon, Patterson took several courses from Digital Ready, where what he learned immediately impacted his business. “‘Finding the Right Financing for Your Business’ was the aha moment for me,” Patterson shares. “That course made me realize that to truly grow and scale Civilized Coffee, I needed the right partners to help me secure the funding and support to match the scale I was projecting.” He needed to hire a CPA, he says. “And it was the best thing I’ve done for my business.”
For Civilized Coffee, having a certified public accountant to handle the finances grounded the business. Jeff Bell, Patterson’s CPA, agreed that for a business that is growing “exponentially”, “it’s really important that his cashflow stays with his growth projections, so he can basically handle the growth of his business.”
Growth is where Patterson is focused, as Civilized Coffee ships instant coffee, espresso, tea and other products around the country and the globe. Digital Ready also helps Patterson keep an eye on trends in marketing and technology as he expands into retail. Patterson says, “I see bigger and bigger opportunities. So I want to make sure I’m prepared… and make sure I have all my ducks in a row when that opportunity hits.”
Verizon Small Business Digital Ready is part of Verizon’s goal to support 1 million small businesses by 2030 with free resources to help them succeed. Visit CitizenVerizon.com to learn more about the company’s responsible business efforts. To sign up for Digital Ready, visit digitalready.verizonwireless.com. An individual user's experience may vary and results are not guaranteed.
