{"id":225,"date":"2022-03-16T17:01:50","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T17:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/?p=225"},"modified":"2025-10-24T17:03:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T16:03:18","slug":"start-up-stories-oslar-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/","title":{"rendered":"Start-up stories: Oslar Coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jason Oslar began Oslar Coffee<\/a> 10 years ago. He incorporated his company with Duport in January 2012 and since then has gone through some changes but the brand is going stronger than ever.<\/p>\n

Jason has always had a passion for coffee and enjoyed seeing the coffee making process in various caf\u00e9s around the world. Moreover, he enjoyed the European caf\u00e9 culture so rarely seen up until recently in the UK. Before embarking on Oslar Coffee Jason worked in IT for more than two decades, but his dream of working with coffee did became a reality and the business has moved from strength to strength.<\/p>\n

Knowing of Jason\u2019s wish to open a coffee shop his wife bought him a small \u2018how to start a coffee shop\u2019 book. Jason began working through the book building a business plan. The business plan started as a hobby to do at weekends but eventually, after a year or so, Jason decided the time was right and incorporated his business on the 4th<\/sup> of January 2012.<\/p>\n

The detailed business plan took into account as much as is possible to plan for, including contracts and details of anything that could be organised in advance. With a pot of money behind him, Jason found a property to rent in the nearby town of Wokingham. After negotiations around rent, lease periods and break clauses, by May 2012 Oslar Coffee had its first premises. Renovations took a further 3 months so doors opened on the planned bank holiday weekend of 24th<\/sup> August 2012.<\/p>\n

The unique selling point in the company was and still is its coffee. Jason found his suppliers while out for a coffee in Putney, London. To this day, 10 years later, Oslar Coffee still purchases all the coffee beans from the same company, now called Hartland Coffee Roasters<\/a>, currently based in Wales.<\/p>\n

Along with sourcing the perfect coffee, Jason worked systematically through the 300 or so items in his project plan. From finding accountants or purchasing coffee machines, to choosing a range of cakes, Jason diligently working through the points in his plan.<\/p>\n

The importance of having the comprehensive business plan is very clear in this business. At all times Jason was able to pin down deadlines and know when next steps should be taken. Jason attributes this comprehensive planning to skills he developed in his previous IT work when he was working to project deadlines with very specific budgets.<\/p>\n

Jason also wasn\u2019t afraid to borrow ideas from elsewhere for help and inspiration. In particular, the Caff\u00e9 Nero model with its grab and go sandwiches and Panini proved useful. Buying in pre-made food to sell rather than preparing on site freed up time and resources for Jason to concentrate on the other aspects of the business. Prioritising your time in your business is always important.<\/p>\n

After almost eight years in the shop Jason Oslar and his wife decided to move to the south coast. He sold the Wokingham shop as a going concern but with the caveat that the new owner had to change the name. Oslar Coffee would begin a new adventure with a mobile airstream unit, Shirley, thus alleviating the expensive rent and rates which Jason had identified as a drain on the business.<\/p>\n

Adapting and changing your business model, when things aren\u2019t working or when you want a change in direction, are vital in lots of businesses. In our next blog featuring Oslar Coffee we will see how Jason effectively managed a change in business model.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jason Oslar began Oslar Coffee 10 years ago. He incorporated his company with Duport in January 2012 and since then has gone through some changes but the brand is going stronger than ever. Jason has always had a passion for coffee and enjoyed seeing the coffee making process in various caf\u00e9s around the world. Moreover, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7],"tags":[27,9,15,13],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStart-up stories: Oslar Coffee<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jason Oslar began Oslar Coffee 10 years ago. See how a coffee shop beginning has gone from strength to strength.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Start-up stories: Oslar Coffee\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jason Oslar began Oslar Coffee 10 years ago. See how a coffee shop beginning has gone from strength to strength.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Duport Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-16T17:01:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-24T16:03:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Oslar-coffee-logo-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rebecca\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rebecca@duportltd.co.uk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rebecca\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/\",\"name\":\"Start-up stories: Oslar Coffee\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-16T17:01:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-24T16:03:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7ab758c8f0702249ec7d30a15d69ef8b\"},\"description\":\"Jason Oslar began Oslar Coffee 10 years ago. See how a coffee shop beginning has gone from strength to strength.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Start-up stories: Oslar Coffee\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Duport Blog\",\"description\":\"Business help and advice\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7ab758c8f0702249ec7d30a15d69ef8b\",\"name\":\"rebecca\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/713b221cb7214d94bdfde2651dbee3c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/713b221cb7214d94bdfde2651dbee3c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"rebecca\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rebecca@duportltd.co.uk\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/author\/rebecca\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Start-up stories: Oslar Coffee","description":"Jason Oslar began Oslar Coffee 10 years ago. See how a coffee shop beginning has gone from strength to strength.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Start-up stories: Oslar Coffee","og_description":"Jason Oslar began Oslar Coffee 10 years ago. See how a coffee shop beginning has gone from strength to strength.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/","og_site_name":"Duport Blog","article_published_time":"2022-03-16T17:01:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-24T16:03:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":320,"height":320,"url":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Oslar-coffee-logo-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"rebecca","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@rebecca@duportltd.co.uk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rebecca","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/","url":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/","name":"Start-up stories: Oslar Coffee","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-03-16T17:01:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-24T16:03:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7ab758c8f0702249ec7d30a15d69ef8b"},"description":"Jason Oslar began Oslar Coffee 10 years ago. See how a coffee shop beginning has gone from strength to strength.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/start-up-stories-oslar-coffee\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Start-up stories: Oslar Coffee"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"Duport Blog","description":"Business help and advice","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7ab758c8f0702249ec7d30a15d69ef8b","name":"rebecca","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/713b221cb7214d94bdfde2651dbee3c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/713b221cb7214d94bdfde2651dbee3c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"rebecca"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/rebecca@duportltd.co.uk"],"url":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/author\/rebecca\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":260,"href":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions\/260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}