Why didn't I think of that?

How many times have you said this to yourself when you see something so simple, yet so ingenious? A few months ago I was sitting in a small coffee shop called, The Grind. Whilst there I experienced something that I could only classify as of out of this world.

I ordered a cappuccino, but in a chocolate dipped ice-cream cone. What? You read it correctly. I drank my coffee from a cone! There were rules posted on how to drink it so you don’t wear it. It became apparent that if you get too excited about the cone, you may end up spilling a bit on your shirt. But you still wear it like a badge of courage, and I did.

Over a couple of weeks I quickly became a loyal customer. It was then I realized it was more than just the cone. The level of personalized service and friendliness I would consider world class. The why and how intrigued me and I just had to find out where this passion was born.

That’s where I met the South African man behind the invention. His name is Dayne and I asked if he would be open to sharing his dream. You see Dayne dropped out of 8th grade. His father left when he was only five so he felt obligated to go out and help support his Mom and Siblings.

He was motivated by the pain of not having the things most kids at his age took for granted. He shared with me how much he loved ice-cream. It was such a treat to get one a couple times a year. It would often melt quicker than he could eat it because he wanted it to last. I asked whether he regretted having to drop out of school so early and he said, “Yes, however school could never teach me the two very valuable lessons I acquired as I stepped into the big world; How to make money and how to deal with People”.

One thing he did know was he wanted to make his mark in this world. He began traveling the world by 20 and worked from Los Angeles to Brazil mostly in coffee shops. This is where he found his passion as a Barista.

He said he often worked 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week for 4 years not because he “had to”, but because he wanted to master his skill set. It was at one of those jobs where he came up with the simple, yet brilliant concept of coffee in a cone.

Dayne said, “Why does coffee have to be boring? Why can’t we combine being a kid and adult? Most of the time you see business professionals come into my shop serious and then smile when you hand them a cone. This is why I wake up each day.”

“CoffeeInACone” is now a patented and trademarked product that’s beginning to be distributed around the world. How did he do this? There’s no big advertising budget or marketing campaign behind it. He said, “The power of making something with love and genuine care of our customers makes it viral” And viral it has become. Even the hashtag #coffeeinacone has a cult following on social media.

What can you and I learn from Dayne’s story? Simple, if you have a dream you can make it a reality. His dream came through years of dedication to learn his craft. How willing are you to push through not only the learning curve, but having others tell you it’s a dumb idea. Dayne said when he shared his idea with people in the coffee business, they laughed at him. Sound familiar? How many times have people told you “that won’t work.”

There are a lot of people who work really hard and never realize their dream. The differentiator could be as basic as ensuring you stand out by being different. This could be something as simple as showing up early or even smiling when speaking to others. Dayne said over and over it’s about how you treat others. People are willing to go out of their way to help you, if you make them feel special.

It’s easy to say, “Why didn't I think of that?” Uber, Amazon, EBay and so many other vast empires came from the same mindset as Daynes. Maybe you already have the concept and just needed Dayne to prove you could do it too. 

Learn more about Brian by clicking here.