From Classroom to Coffee: Building ScatterBranch Trading Co. as a Graduate School Experiment
Starting a business while pursuing a graduate degree might sound ambitious, but for me, it was the only way to truly understand what I was learning. ScatterBranch Trading Co. wasn't just a side hustle. It was a hands-on case study in how marketing theories translate, or sometimes don't, into the real world.
What You’ll Learn from This Case Study
How I applied marketing principles in real-world scenarios during grad school
SEO and branding strategies that helped gain traction on a budget
Lessons in product sourcing, fulfillment, and customer engagement
How influencer outreach and local events played a role in visibility
What went wrong and what I’d do differently
From Textbooks to Test Cases: The Origin of the Business
While earning my Master’s at Texas A&M University-Commerce, I found myself immersed in classroom debates and textbook frameworks. But something didn’t sit right. A lot of my peers were forming opinions solely based on what we were reading, and while there’s value in that, I’ve always had a "learn by doing" mindset. Marketing is too dynamic to rely solely on what’s printed on a page. I needed to test things firsthand and see how theory holds up in execution.
Working full-time at Innovation First International gave me a unique advantage. I had room to test new strategies in a real company setting. But understandably, there were boundaries to how far I could push things in my role. That’s when I started thinking about launching a side business, something of my own where I could apply marketing principles with total freedom.
Launching Texas Sunrise Coffee Co.: A Grad School Experiment in Action
After researching various low-barrier industries, coffee stood out. The startup costs were relatively modest, especially with an ecommerce model. Plus, I’d been reading about the steady growth of the coffee industry and the loyalty it inspires. A friend and I pooled our funds and launched Texas Sunrise Coffee Co. We saw it as both a potential income stream and a living lab.
We found a private label supplier based in Washington, Joe's Garage Coffee, that offered a wide variety of blends and handled everything from roasting to packaging. This made it feasible to get started without major upfront investment or equipment. All we had to do was select the blends, design the packaging, and get our licenses in order. They became a one-stop shop for our coffee supply, and the partnership was smooth from the beginning.
In parallel, we began experimenting with other product categories. We taught ourselves how to make goat's milk soap, which turned out to be much easier than we had expected, and added it to our shop. For drinkware, we sourced campfire-style mugs from a promotional products company. Our early inventory was a blend of hands-on craftsmanship and vendor partnerships we found through research and referrals from other entrepreneurs.
Legal Setback and Brand Rebirth: Becoming ScatterBranch Trading Co.
Our original branding was gaining some traction when we hit a legal snag. We found out that "Texas Sunrise" was already trademarked by another coffee brand. It was a gut punch. Thankfully, the trademark owner was reasonable, and we agreed to change our name without it escalating.
We pivoted to ScatterBranch Trading Co., a name with personal significance. ScatterBranch is the rural community where I grew up. It had long since lost its township but remained a small, close-knit part of Commerce, Texas. We designed a new logo with tree branches to symbolize the winding paths of life and business. It was a fitting metaphor for the journey we were on.
If I could go back, I would've made sure to do my research into trademarks first to make sure the barebones of the company were completely sound and ready to go. I think it would've benefitted us to slow down and really grasp what we were building and what it could've amounted to. The rebranding hurt us more than we expected. We weren’t prepared for how critical trademarking would be, and while we did register ScatterBranch, that first lesson came at a steep cost.
Scaling the Catalog: Coffee, Soaps, and Custom Drinkware
The rebrand coincided with our product expansion. Thanks to networking, we connected with the CEO of O2COOL, a company that offered portable French presses. That moment stands out. I was sitting in my truck on my lunch break, taking notes while talking to the CEO, who I had assumed was just another sales rep prior to speaking with him. It was one of those surreal, grounding experiences that reminded me how resourceful and hands-on startups can be.
We leaned into the branding side of things. We wanted our packaging to stand out in a sea of colorful coffee bags, so we chose sleek matte black for the "Austin Blend," our first and most intentional product name. Austin was widely recognized for its dynamic and innovative coffee scene, making it an ideal inspiration for our first product name, and we hoped the name would help us rank in local search results like "coffee in Austin." When we released our second product, the "Fort Worth Blend," we chose that name based on both personal ties and the coffee's smoky, bold flavor that reminded us of cowboy coffee. It came in metallic copper packaging.
Local SEO and Organic Growth: Naming for Visibility
With a shoestring budget, we leaned hard into organic marketing. Our local SEO strategy involved naming products after major Texas cities. We wanted to surface in Google results when people searched for things like "best coffee in Austin" or "Fort Worth coffee brands."
We started seeing traction in our search rankings, even though our geographic reach remained mostly local and regional. For an operation with zero ad spend, that exposure felt like a win. It showed us that smart SEO choices could help smaller players gain attention.
Bootstrapped Fulfillment: Doing It All In-House
All fulfillment was done in-house, literally. My spare room became our warehouse. We used ShipStation to handle shipping logistics and fulfill orders efficiently. After coming home from work each day, I’d pack and prep shipments to be dropped off at the post office the next morning. It was a grind, but it gave me a full understanding of how operations worked at every level.
Customer-Centric Engagement at Local Events
We weren’t just selling products online. We brought our brand into the community. We’d attend local events and offer free coffee, hot or iced depending on the weather. It gave people a chance to experience the product firsthand and created moments that were more memorable than handing out pens or flyers.
This approach not only increased sales on the spot but also strengthened our brand identity. It gave us direct customer feedback and reminded us why personal interactions still matter in ecommerce.
Leveraging Social Media and Influencer Relationships
We experimented with every channel available to us: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, email, and even YouTube. We worked with a small video crew to film our first commercial before the unexpected rebrand, an important milestone that gave us quality content to publish across platforms.
Instagram became our strongest channel, thanks in large part to influencer collaborations. One notable moment was being interviewed by Darriel Roy, a former Miss Universe Canada contestant who had found our brand organically. I took the video interview during my lunch break from work, having booked a small conference room for the call. It was a surreal moment of contrast — conducting a professional interview from a borrowed office space while representing our young brand to a national audience.
We also worked with local influencers like Coffee Shop Dallas, who gave awareness to coffee brands in the DFW area. Their organic posts about our blends brought meaningful traffic and engagement from our core audience. These partnerships were helpful in giving us visibility we wouldn't have earned on our own.
Ecommerce Pricing Strategy: Margins, Bundles, and Gifts
Due to small-batch purchasing, we couldn’t enjoy large profit margins on the coffee. But thanks to my role as an ecommerce analyst, I knew how to calculate break-even points and average order values across our catalog. We focused on product bundling and upsells, especially around gift sets, to drive profitability.
It reminded me of how movie theaters make more on snacks than tickets. Coffee might not have had the best margins, but add-on products like mugs and soap boosted the cart value in a way that made the model work.
Building an Email List for Retention
We built up a solid email list by offering exclusive discounts to subscribers. Most of those people were repeat customers. While we didn’t get too deep into segmentation or automation, that list gave us a reliable way to drive traffic during promotions or launches.
Local Roots and University Partnerships
ScatterBranch also gave us the chance to give back. We were invited to serve as advisors to our alma mater’s entrepreneurship program and sponsor events around Commerce and the university. Being able to contribute in that way was both validating and fulfilling.
Why We Paused the Brand (And What’s Next)
After the rebrand, things were already getting harder. Then COVID hit, and like many small businesses, we had to reassess. I had just completed my master’s degree, and both of us felt the timing was right to step back. It wasn’t an easy decision, but we saw it less as an ending and more as a pause.
The ScatterBranch brand isn’t dead. I still hope to revive it someday. It carries too much personal and professional meaning not to.
Key Takeaways from a Failed but Valuable Experience
Running ScatterBranch required wearing every hat, including marketer, product sourcer, designer, customer support rep, and fulfillment coordinator. It wasn’t always smooth, and the company ultimately didn’t succeed in the traditional sense. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worthwhile.
It gave me insight into the operational pain points others deal with and how marketing can ease those friction points. It also gave me real-world experiences that I brought into grad school debates, and later into every role I’ve held since.
If I could offer one piece of advice to aspiring founders, it would be to slow down just enough to build a solid legal and operational foundation. Everything else, from branding to growth and engagement, flows more smoothly from there.
ScatterBranch wasn’t a breakout ecommerce success story. It was a learning experience, a testing ground, and a reflection of how trying, failing, and reflecting can shape stronger professional growth in the long run.
Want to learn more about my experience building ScatterBranch? Feel free to reach out and connect: Get in touch with me.