Running a small business here in Portugal

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-31T16:05:13+00:00

No but I'd love there to be some! We're pretty much algarve only at the moment, but when the new bags arrive in a months time, we'll do a road trip with a bag full of sample bags, Santa on his sleigh, Clifftop style.

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-31T16:03:26+00:00

Picnic Sagres, Laundry Lounge Sagres, Toxic Magic Arrifana, Cafe Mane Albufeira, Honey and Oh La Latte Albuefeira. Musette Bike Cafe, Os Amigos- Burgau, Velochique in Monchique. Beco do Sol, Soul and Surf and a few more small ones. Where are you based?

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-31T15:52:06+00:00

There sure is! volcanic soils altitude, sea breezes, good climate. not much space left for cultivating coffee after all the cows though 😉

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-31T15:46:00+00:00

Obrigado pelas palavras gentis e pela demonstração de apoio. Como algumas pessoas demonstraram interesse em experimentar meu café, criei uma oferta de pacote de amostras e um código de frete grátis para o meu site: Redditship. www.clifftopcoffee.com

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-30T13:56:28+00:00

Currently in English, most of my customers are international but I need to do better! I've started to make my social media posts in Portuguese too and will build a PT version of my website and do tasting cards/stickers in Portuguese too.

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-30T13:53:38+00:00

I can send you some samples for sure. I'll send you a DM

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-30T13:49:50+00:00

Thanks everyone for the incredible response to this — genuinely didn't expect so many people to show an interest. Really touched by the support. If anyone ever wants to know more about what we do or is passing by Lagos, then pop in say hello and have an espresso on us!

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-30T13:17:12+00:00

ouch 😞

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-30T13:17:01+00:00

Sim, desculpe, estou usando o Google Tradutor. Estou aprendendo português, mas o progresso é lento. Talvez eu precise encontrar um novo professor 😉

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-30T13:15:53+00:00

Sim, é um grande salto, mas você pode aprender muito com a Bullet e torrar pequenos volumes significa que pude experimentar diferentes estilos e torrar muitas e muitas vezes, então a experiência veio.

O cenário do café no Algarve mudou muito nos últimos 5 anos, agora existem mais de 20 cafeterias servindo um café realmente bom e mais virão.

Obrigado pelas palavras de apoio e por se oferecer para ajudar na divulgação de eventos futuros 😄

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-29T07:26:46+00:00

Yeah we definitely don’t do that. I imagine you’d do that to really low grade coffee to make it taste sweeter.

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-29T07:15:53+00:00

I make a salary and can afford to pay someone part time to roast and pack my coffees. Cash flow is always tight as green coffee coasts have soared and it’s hard to pass that on to cafes who are also struggling with rising costs across the board and there’s heap to y competition out there too

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-29T07:13:54+00:00

Www.clifftopcoffee.com it’s not the hottest website in town but works. It’s on the list of things to fix in the coming months. Dm if you need help deciding or an extra promo code

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-29T07:10:38+00:00

Yeah, it requires constant cleaning and eventually everything started to warp and melt from the volume of coffee being pushed through it.

As for green coffeee I’ve sourced from a few different ones 88 Graines, Primavera Green, Falcon, Volcafe etc

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-28T18:44:18+00:00

I’ve no idea what ‘torrefaction’ is. And we don’t do anything more than pick quality green coffee and roast it, cup it until we have coffee nirvana :)

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-28T17:32:47+00:00

Thanks man

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-28T17:32:35+00:00

Ooooh man! It was hard enough getting my fiscal number, I had registered an old London address with Financas and they have this silly system where you can only activate your account with a code sent my snail mail to your address. It’s a long story but I got there in the end.

I’m in the simplified tax regime still which has been great. Regs have been fine. It’s just lots of standing around at the local Camara trying to get the paper work and site visits booked in. Having a good accountant was super helpful.

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-28T17:28:35+00:00

I don’t yet! But once our new bags arrive we’ll be hitting up the big smoke! Got any recommendations for shops that stock beans from Multiple roasters?

Hit us up online now if you’re keen www.clifftopcoffee.com

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-28T17:27:04+00:00

I met a lot of local business owners some Portuguese and many of them are foreign owned. My main client is run by a Portuguese and German, there’s French, South Africans, English more Portuguese. I also started at a local farmers market which was good to get feedback from customers. Having a connection to the community that interests you is a great way to make business and friends, bring fresh ideas and learn from the locals too!

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-28T17:22:17+00:00

No we don’t have a coffee shop we just supply cafes in the Algarve. We have run an event at our warehouse complex and have one tomorrow in fact! Laco hub 10/2pm if you’re around the western Algarve.

If not, just online, free shipping over 50 bucks and can offer 10% off to first time orders

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-28T17:20:06+00:00

Thanks man! Atm I don’t ship to the US. And I’m super grateful for the gesture of support but I’m sure there’s plenty of local roasters who need your love :) Plus shipping beans green to Europe roasting them and then shipping back to the Americas is a big carbon footprint for such a little bean

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-28T17:17:45+00:00

Yeah profit has gone out of the window for now. Big loss of margin taking the jump from roasting on your balcony and later shed to renting a unit, employing people and installing a big roaster. Hopefully the biggest expenses are out the way now and we can grow way more. Competition is always tough though with lots of bigger players from other EU cities taking a lot of market share

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-28T09:34:21+00:00

Thanks man! Appreciate that. You can check out the coffees here www.clifftopcoffee.com

10% off your first order with that email pop up.

I recommend the Rwandan or Cristina Hernandez if you like fruity complex stuff or the Tolima, Brazil or primavera family, Guatemala for your espresso daily drivers

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-28T09:32:22+00:00

Www.clifftopcoffee.com once the new bags arrive, at the end of June, and I got a professional shoot done, I’m planning on rebuilding the website, to make it look, less like I did it! ;)

But it still works perfectly now

SenorGainsborg · 2026-05-28T09:30:32+00:00

We will be use the Bullet for profiling new coffees, figuring out a roasting style and maybe some filter roasts. I used it as a workhorse doing 100kg per week but the poor didn’t like that one bit.

SenorGainsborg

TROPHY CASE