Brewing Up Skills: How I Built a Specialty Coffee Brand for Less Than $100

Have you ever found the process of building something more exciting than launching it? That pretty much sums up my experience creating Steal this Coffee Brewing Co.—a specialty-grade coffee brand I took from a simple idea to a fully functional, ready-to-run online store.

While I chose to pause before going live with sales (digital ad budgets can climb fast), the project itself was incredibly rewarding. It became a series of engaging “side quests” that pushed me out of my comfort zone: learning logo and packaging design, sourcing suppliers, configuring Shopify from the ground up. That hands-on approach helped me understand every part of the e-commerce ecosystem.

Building It Brick-by-Brick: A Resourceful & Hands-On Approach

My main goal? Build a professional, launch-ready product while staying lean and resourceful. That meant taking the lead on every step—combining DIY effort with smart tool choices:

1. Brand Identity & Design: I developed the personality and positioning of Steal this Coffee, then brought it to life visually using tools like Fiverr’s Logo Creator for early drafts. From there, I customized the design extensively—refining the logo, selecting the color palette, and building a consistent visual style that fit the brand.
2. Packaging & Product Mockups: This stage required a good dose of creativity. I started with a label template, customized it to meet FDA packaging standards, and tailored the aesthetic to the brand. Then, using Affinity Designer 2 (a solid, cost-effective alternative to Adobe Illustrator with a generous 6 month free trial), I applied those labels to a digital coffee bag mockup that closely matched my supplier’s actual packaging. The final result? Studio-quality product visuals—without ever taking a photo.
3. Supplier Sourcing & Logistics: I researched specialty coffee suppliers with an eye on both bean quality, fulfillment capabilities and profit margins. This legwork helped me accurately map the store’s logistics later.
4. Shopify E-commerce Build: I built the entire store from scratch—not just theme edits, but the full setup: plugin selection and configuration, shipping zones aligned with supplier logistics, and an optimized user journey from homepage to checkout.
5. Copywriting and Content: To create consistent, on-brand copy quickly, I used AI tools to draft product descriptions and site text. Then I rewrote and refined everything to match the voice of Steal this Coffee, ensuring clarity and personality throughout.
6. Market Research & Best Practices: I studied competitors like Bones Coffee Company to understand what works in this space—spotting opportunities to differentiate while applying proven e-commerce practices.

This project blended design, technical setup, tool strategy, and brand storytelling to create a polished and complete digital storefront—built with less than $100, but no shortcuts.

See it in Action: Live Demo

This wasn’t just an experiment or case study—it’s a real, working storefront.

You can explore the full demo of Steal this Coffee Brewing Co. here (password: 123): 👉 https://stealthiscoffee.com

You’ll be able to browse the collections, view the digitally created product mockups, add items to your cart, and experience the entire customer journey (checkout is disabled for demo purposes).

This demo is a proof-of-concept: a complete e-commerce build, created solo, end-to-end.

Jacob Brandon Harvell

Jacob is a seasoned IT professional with 20+ years of experience and a proven track record of driving business value in the financial services sector. His extensive expertise spans Business Analysis, Knowledge Management, and Solution Architecture. Skilled in UX/UI design and rapid prototyping, he leverages comprehensive experience with ServiceNow and ITSM competencies. Jacob’s passion for AI is reflected in his Azure AI Engineer Associate certification.