Breaking the Mold - Terminal Shop

Hey there! Welcome back to “Breaking the Mold,” where we explore businesses that are shaking things up. Last time, we dove into Tupperware’s excellent strategy. Today, we’re brewing up something different – literally.

Today’s topic is something 12.6% of all human beings consume daily. You guessed it – we’re talking about coffee. But not just any coffee. I’ll be showcasing a new brand I stumbled upon earlier this month. The brand is called “Terminal Shop”.

Terminal Shop was just recently established by two guys. One named Adam and the other named Dax. They’ve brought coffee to the developers. And I’m talking about those developers who know how to manage SSH through the terminal.

Now, get this: Terminal Shop doesn’t just avoid traditional retail – they’ve completely reimagined how to sell coffee. Forget websites or stores. To get your hands on their beans, you gotta:

1. Keep an eye out for when new stock drops.
2. Fire up your terminal and use their custom SSH command to access the shop.

I tried asking my mom, and also my dad, if they could figure out how to get to the shop menu, and neither of them could. For them, it was as hard as for developers to quit Vim (if you know, you know). But that’s exactly the point – Terminal Shop has turned buying coffee into an inside joke for the tech-savvy.

All I could think of was how amazing a business it was, and still is. And how it could thrive by adding difficulties for potential customers. Now, to be fair, I have to say, that once you understand how it works, it’s no joke easier than buying on Amazon.

To summarize, things other businesses could learn from Terminal Shop is:

1. Turn obstacles into opportunities – they’ve made purchasing difficult, which excites their target audience.
2. Know your niche and cater to them exclusively.
3. Create a unique buying experience that becomes part of your brand identity.
4. Don’t be afraid to limit your audience if it means deeply connecting with your core customers.