“It’s nice and central. It’s not the absolute best location in terms of foot traffic, but you get what you pay for,” Patchy said.
He met with his real estate agent on Saturday to pick up the keys.
“It’s got a kitchen that we’re going to partition off,” he told Newshub, which is required to apply for a food licence, and then eventually a mobile trading licence too.
“It’s just perfect for what I want to do, and we’ll actually be able to sell instant coffee out of there as well once we get that food licence.”
‘People are screaming out for affordability’
In time, Patchy hopes to have multiple trolleys loaded with instant coffee kits to head down towards lower Queen St every morning, including with EFTPOS and PayWave payment options.
And he’s confident it’ll be a successful startup, one day expanding to Pōneke/Wellington and Ōtautahi/Christchurch.
“People are screaming out for affordability,” he told Newshub, adding that cheap instant coffees still get people caffeinated.
Digital screens will be added to the sides of the shopping trolleys as a second income stream, he said, which will show local business ads.
And he’s already applied for a trademark for a company logo and name, and is in talks with investors to raise equity.
“I have quite a few serious-sounding people emailing me wanting to invest,” he told Newshub.
Givealittle donations released
Patchy said Givealittle had released about $10,000 to him, which he used as a down payment to secure the rental property from Bayleys Real Estate.
The landlord has agreed to give him a month’s free rent too, he told Newshub, so he won’t have to pay until June 19.
More than 500 donors had donated $12,300 since the page was set up on March 25.
The fundraiser was created after two women spotted Patchy selling instant coffees around Te Komititanga, who posted his plight on TikTok.