LIFE in the army can be demanding - early morning starts, gruelling work schedules, physical labour, high-risk ventures and quick decision-making skills are all pre-requisites.
LIFE in the army can be demanding - early morning starts, gruelling work schedules, physical labour, high-risk ventures and quick decision-making skills are all pre-requisites.
Hesitation or a wrong decision can have lasting ramifications.
If you ask Café2U franchisee Andy McPhail, running a small business is much the same as boot camp.
Mr McPhail should know the parallels - he served in the army for a decade.
Despite the challenges of running a small business, you won't hear any complaints from the former soldier, whose mobile coffee franchise has boomed in the nine months it has been operating.
"After 10 years in the army I was looking for something different," Mr McPhail told WA Business News.
"I had decided to go into business as opposed to wage employment because I wanted the challenge of working for myself. I had also decided that I did not want the difficulties of dealing with employees or the costs of fixed-site premises.
"This reduced the type of businesses to mobile or home-based businesses and I chose mobile espresso because of the limited number of operators and the growing nature of the demand as the WA economy expanded.
"After a short period researching the costs involved of being an independent mobile espresso provider, I began to investigate the different franchises that were available."
Mr McPhail took the "old dart in the wall" decision-making model and began randomly calling mobile coffee companies listed in the phone book.
He discovered that mobile coffee making is one of the fastest growing business concepts in the nation, with Café2U crowned the largest mobile coffee franchise in the world.
Since its December 2006 listing as one of The Australian Financial Review's top seven franchises in Australia - when there were 60 franchises locally and 15 in the UK - Café2U has added a further 40 franchises to its group.
Collectively, the franchise makes more than 4.5 million cups of coffee each year, with that figure set to grow as the company continues to make inroads overseas.
After initially contacting five local mobile coffee companies, Mr McPhail shortlisted three and spent a day on the road with each business operator to assess their operations.
Mr McPhail said although he was initially inundated with possibilities, there were several motivating factors that determined the outcome.
"The decision to go for a franchise was initially motivated by cost, but the motivation later changed," he said. "As my research of mobile coffee franchises progressed the deciding factors were, experience, success rates and the coffee bean provider.
"I chose Café2U based on their success rate in establishing franchises and the opportunity of helping to establish the brand in WA.
"Also, [The Belaroma Coffee Roasting Company], as the bean roaster, has an important relationship with Café2U, so the franchisor and coffee bean provider are one and the same. And that ultimately was the deciding factor in my decision - that the most important part of the business also has a vested interest in the end product."
Mr McPhail said that, much like his experiences in the army, he was learning on the job to successfully become a mobile barista.
"The attention and demands of being in business are constant," he said.
"I have learned that without effective processes in place it is very difficult to manage all aspects of the business.
"It is likely next year that my business model will change to incorporate more hot food in winter than that offered this winter."