Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. (The first is water.) There is a booming industry for tea entrepreneurs who are looking to get a piece of the billion dollar pie. If you have a passion for tea, and many of the rituals that go along with it, you can start a lucrative business incorporating your passion for tea. Here are business ideas for tea lovers who are interested in starting a tea business.
Tearoom
This is the most traditional route to go as far as owning a tea business. There has been an increase in the number of tearooms across the U.S. With the rising popularity of tea parties, tearooms have enjoyed good and steady business for the last few years. If you want to own a tearoom, decide on a location. Tearooms are usually located in a Victorian styled house, or located in a historical downtown setting. But, you could be located anywhere, as long as customers can reach you easily.
Experience in the restaurant industry would serve you well in helping you to operate your tearoom. Extensive knowledge about food preparation is a huge key to success. Owning and operating a tearoom requires a lot of knowledge, expertise, and financial backing to get it up and going.
Online Tea Business
If you don’t want to go with a traditional brick and mortar business, selling tea online is a great way to have a tea business. Decide what teas you want to sell, and establish relationships with tea wholesalers and distributors. You don’t necessarily even have to have inventory, but have tea shipped directly to buyers. Research the many options for how to run your online tea business. Dawnya Sasse, a leading tea expert and tea entrepreneur offers various classes that teach people how to get started in the tea business. Visit her website to learn more about the variety of businesses that you can do with tea.
Children’s Tea Parties
This is a great job for stay at home moms or other individuals who want to determine their own schedule. The popularity of children’s tea parties are on the rise, and you could cash in by hosting children’s tea parties. You would need to invest in tea accessories, and have a variety of foods that you could serve at the parties. You could offer a one stop shop, complete with invitations, goody bags, etc., and the parents don’t have to do anything but show up. The typical price that children’s tea party hostesses usually charge is around $25 per child, with a minimum of 6-8 children to book a party.
That could be a profitable business for someone who only wants to work on weekends, or a couple of Saturdays each month. You could average around $1,000/month if you do one party every weekend of the month with at least 8 children per party. That’s pretty good money for only working one day per week.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to creating a profitable tea business that suits you. Offering tea tastings, hosting a tea club, having a traveling tea party business for adults, offering tea seminars or classes, or teaching etiquette while serving afternoon tea are just a few examples of the many directions that you could go in with a tea business. Think about what your strengths and weaknesses are and use that as a guide to help you turn your passion for tea into a thriving, lucrative business.
