When one coffee lover couldn’t find his way into the roasting industry, he built his own—and used a neighborhood social app to turn it into a thriving local business.
Challenge
For most people, reading The $100 Startup sparks ideas. For Mark B., it sparked a full-blown obsession—with coffee roasting.
Sitting in a café in Oakland, he was halfway through his cup when the idea hit him: I could do this. I could roast my own beans.
Within days, he was applying to every coffee shop he could find, hoping to land a roasting job. But the responses were discouraging. “We can start you as a barista,” one manager said. Another offered a position packing coffee bags—definitely not what he had in mind.
Mark didn’t want to spend years working his way up. He wanted to roast coffee now. So, he decided to do it himself.
Action
Armed with determination (and probably too much caffeine), Mark ordered a small home roaster online and started experimenting in his apartment. The results were… smoky. Literally.
After several failed batches, fire alarms, and angry neighbors, his landlord finally had enough—and evicted him. But Mark wasn’t ready to give up.
He found a local industrial roasting facility that rented equipment by the hour. There, he could finally roast at scale—buying 150-pound bags of green coffee beans, driving them across the bridge, and learning the craft properly.
Soon, he had his own brand: Bedfellows Roasting Company. He sold subscriptions online and supplied a few local stores, but his big breakthrough came from an unexpected place—the Nextdoor app.
Nextdoor, a social network designed for neighborhood updates, wasn’t exactly meant for business. People used it to talk about lost pets, local safety issues, or the occasional garage sale. But Mark noticed how friendly and engaged the community was. So he decided to test something.
He posted a simple, non-salesy message:
“Hey neighbors — I roasted a little extra coffee this week. If anyone wants some fresh beans, let me know!”
By the end of the weekend, he’d made $1,400 in sales — all from that one post.
Better yet, his neighbors became loyal customers. They stopped by to pick up bags, chatted about roast levels, and came back for more. Some subscribed online; others ordered bulk coffee for their offices. That single weekend of creativity turned into a steady stream of repeat buyers.
Result
Mark’s once-small side hustle began to thrive. Bedfellows Roasting Company grew from a smoky apartment experiment to a legitimate coffee brand with wholesale clients, subscription customers, and a local following.
He eventually relocated to Encinitas, California, a laid-back surf town north of San Diego. There, he found the perfect rhythm—surfing in the mornings and roasting coffee in the afternoons.
Mark still runs the business mostly solo and plans to keep it that way. As he puts it, “I didn’t want to build a big company. I just wanted a business that fits my life.”
Lesson
Mark’s story shows how creativity can turn an ordinary idea into something remarkable. The Nextdoor app wasn’t built for selling—but by understanding how people connect there, he transformed it into a neighborhood marketplace.
It’s a reminder that opportunity doesn’t always come from obvious platforms or polished strategies. Sometimes, it’s as simple as sharing something you love—with the people closest to you.
Inspired by a true story originally featured on Side Hustle School by Chris Guillebeau. This rewritten version is independently produced and fully original.