SINGAPORE — Freelance photographer Muhammad Adhwa Hasif works from home, but that’s not the only thing he does. He also makes and sells coffee from the window of his ground-floor flat in the Housing & Development Board (HDB) in Pasir Ris.

The home-based business, aptly named Ground Floor Coffee, has become a popular spot for caffeine fixes since it went viral on TikTok, with preorders often selling out within half an hour. Announcement on his Instagram page with 12,700 followers on August 23rd.

In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance SingaporeHasif, 31, said he got the inspiration when he saw a group of young adults hanging out at the loading dock behind his pad until the early hours of the morning.

“They just park their cars, get out their folding camping chairs and a couple of bottles of green tea and potato chips and just sit there and relax until 3 or 4 a.m.,” he said.

“The next day I told my wife that it would be a cool idea if we could open the window of our apartment and sell my coffee. She just laughed about it, but we experimented with the idea and that’s how Ground Floor Coffee was born.”

Hasif is a coffee lover and self-taught barista. He made coffee making a hobby to relax his eyes after long hours of screen time photo editing. In June this year, he spent nearly S$4,000 to register Ground Floor Coffee as a home business, buy a new barista quality and Coffee Machine and ingredients, such as coffee beans from a roastery in Victoria, Australia.

He said that when the company started, they had very few followers – most were neighbors, since he didn’t do much social media marketing.

“Word of mouth got more people to come and make TikTok videos and that’s how we went viral,” he said.

Every item on the six-drink menu is available hot and iced, including favourites like lavender latte and dark mocha, which cost S$6. An additional shot costs a dollar more. For light snacks, Hasif’s mother-in-law bakes kek gula hangus (caramelised cakes), which cost S$2.50 each.

Ground Floor Coffee only takes pre-orders and Hasif says he sells an average of 40 to 50 cups a day. Customers are encouraged to take a photo of their coffee against the unique backdrop of the storefront and post it on social media, which he then actively reposts on Ground Floor Coffee’s Instagram page.

The story continues

While Hasif continues to expand his menu and works on offering a coffee delivery service, he intends to continue working as a freelance photographer, which he describes as his “biggest passion” and his primary source of income.

“I didn’t expect my coffee hobby to turn into a business, so now I have to adjust my calendar whenever I can,” he said, adding he would squeeze in a few hours to fill coffee orders. His wife also helped on her days off and they sacrifice precious family time to run the business.

Still, he believes Ground Floor Coffee has helped foster a sense of togetherness in Pasir Ris town and has stayed true to his original vision of relaxing over good coffee. He recalls serving a group of young Pasir Ris residents who met up and tried his coffee, which warmed his heart.

“I think it exudes a kampung atmosphere like in the old days when people would just meet in the neighbourhood for coffee,” he said.

Hasif shares some thoughts on his journey as an entrepreneur and his plans for Ground Floor Coffee.

How long have you been living in Pasir Ris?

This is my mother-in-law’s house. My father-in-law died and when I married my wife, my mother-in-law asked us to live with her. We moved in in 2017 and that’s how we ended up in this ground floor apartment.

How and when did you learn to make coffee?

I have always been a coffee fanatic and taught myself how to make it by watching lots of YouTube videos. I have also experimented with my coffee machine and have gotten better at it over the course of daily use. My wife and I often go out and try different types of coffee, such as the specialty drinks at local cafes, to support local businesses.

Your coffee prices are similar to those of well-known coffee brands. How do you price your coffee?

In hospitality, it’s all about volume – big brands like Starbucks have their own farms and processes so their cost per cup is very low. We try to reduce costs as much as possible by taking advantage of bulk orders for discounts. I find the prices I choose are reasonable as I use specialty coffee beans that I import from Australia – to give context, for the price I buy 1kg of these coffee beans, I get 3kg of regular Arabica beans. I understand we may not have a seating area but considering the price of the machine we use to make the shots and that we grind our beans on site, the price is fair for the quality we deliver.

Why do you also sell cakes?

The cakes we sell are baked by my mother-in-law. She loves baking but is very shy. Selling cakes is a way to get her involved in the business and she can also hone her skills. When customers compliment the cakes, we can see that she is really happy to receive the compliments. Another reason for selling Kek Gula Hangus is that the cake goes well with coffee.

Any plans for the future?

We are currently mainly focusing on moving to online business so that we can control the number of orders and enable deliveries across Singapore. We have no plans to open a cafe yet because I think the brand is still based on a home-based business – our brand name comes from our ground floor unit. If I were to open a cafe, I think it would be challenging but it is possible in maybe five or ten years.

New flavors are also planned, but we are still in the experimental phase. We will also introduce different cup sizes, different coffee beans and milk alternatives such as oat milk.

What is your favorite coffee?

My wife and I prefer vanilla latte and dark mocha. Our customers love our caramel latte and kek gula hangus.

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