ATLANTA — For the founders of The Black Coffee Company, a coffee shop is more than a place to buy a drink.
It is a business model built around collective economics, community networking and financial empowerment.
The Atlanta-based company recently surpassed $1 million in revenue after growing from an idea shared among longtime friends into a multi-location business.
The founders were inspired during a 2015 trip to the Motown Museum in Detroit. They learned from the Gordy family and realized they wanted to follow a similar business model.
“We learned the story of how the Gordy family pooled their resources to launch Motown,” said co-founder Dr. Leonard Lightfoot. “We looked at each other at that moment and said, ‘We’ve been friends all these years, but we’ve never really pulled our resources to create something bigger than us.’”
The group created an investment club in 2016 before deciding they wanted to build something tangible. During a brainstorming call, they noticed several of the founders were drinking coffee, which led them to explore the industry.
The company launched in 2018 by selling coffee beans online before expanding into physical locations.
The COVID-19 pandemic helped accelerate the company’s online growth, but the founders wanted to create a physical space where people could connect.
A 2020 pop-up event hosted by iconic Atlanta rapper and activist Killer Mike at his SWAG Shop became a turning point. After seeing the company’s success, developer Omar Ali reached out about a potential space in Atlanta.
With encouragement from Killer Mike, the founders moved forward with opening a brick-and-mortar location. The company raised more than $350,000 through crowdfunding from family and friends and later received support through a BeyGOOD grant from Beyoncé and a $25,000 investment from John Hope Bryant of Operation Hope.
The Black Coffee Company opened its first location on Juneteenth in 2021 in Atlanta’s Lakewood Heights neighborhood.
Without the funding for expensive equipment, the company started with a basic coffee maker and opened one day a week while introducing itself to the community.
The founders knew the business was more than a cafe. It was becoming a special gathering place for entrepreneurs, creatives and residents while expanding its menu to include vegan food options, healthy pastries and lunch items.
“For me, having a very black-and-white perspective, I’m just thinking: serve coffee and everything will be okay,” Dr. Lightfoot said. “But the coffee shop has now become a community hub where entrepreneurs and creatives utilize the space. It’s a safe space where people feel comfortable, motivated, and acknowledged.”
The company says much of its growth has come from its leadership team, which is now made up of 90% women. Ayron Butler serves as CEO alongside her husband and co-founder Jamin Butler, while Dr. Lightfoot’s wife, Tanisha, helped develop the company’s human resources and onboarding systems.
“They are the engineers and the heart of this business,” Dr. Lightfoot said. “Sometimes myself and Jamin are the face, but honestly, it’s the women behind this that we give credit to for the success of our business.”
The Black Coffee Company now has three locations, including a location at Morehouse College and another inside Grady Memorial Hospital.
The business has also expanded beyond Atlanta with catering and mobile pop-up teams in Houston and the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. The company also operated a vendor booth during FIFA World Cup events in Atlanta.
The founders say they are now looking toward international growth, including a planned trip to Kenya in 2027 to build relationships with coffee farmers and invest in sustainable infrastructure.
From a conversation among friends to a growing business, The Black Coffee Company’s founders say their goal remains focused on using entrepreneurship to strengthen communities.
“The thing I’m most proud of is the fact that we’ve been able to work together, do all of this, and our relationships have gotten closer,” Dr. Lightfoot said. “We’re a for-profit company, but we want to do good with it and show that the two don’t have to be at odds. You can pour back into the community.”
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