Chaltu Hassan, a 30-year-old software engineer from Brooklyn Center, never imagined herself as a businesswoman.
But after a few years of hosting friends at her apartment and serving dishes made from innovative recipes, Hassan embarked on a new work path selling baked goods and coffee-based drinks.
She started with curated Eid boxes containing treats like tres leches, tiramisu and creme brulee. Her community responded enthusiastically.
“I started with the passion of building community and getting people together in my spare time,” Hassan said. “Initially, it was just all fun and games, just experimenting with recipes. I applied for the licenses to be able to sell from home. The second Eid, we ended up having double [orders from] the first.”
One day while scrolling TikTok, Hassan came across the concept of mobile cafe carts. She was intrigued, but intimidated when she entertained the idea for herself.
“But then I was like, well, I was able to do this thing that I didn’t think I could do before, so [I’ll] try it,” she said. “I ended up getting a coffee cart built and started ordering all the equipment.
“The cool thing was that I already knew how to make coffee and [understood] the jargon and language that comes with coffee. That part wasn’t the hard part — making recipes, I already did that at home, because I would host my friends to come over for brunch, I’ll pretend we’re at a cafe. My friends used to joke that [my] cafe setup is so cute, And I’m like, ‘Oh, thank you. It’s just my living room.’”
This spring, Hassan launched the Mi’aawaa Bakery and Coffee Cart. Mi’aawaa means “sweet” in Oromo.
Mobile bakery and beverage carts are similar to food trucks. They can be found at special events such as birthdays and graduation parties or at community events and farmers markets.
While developing Mi’aawaa, Hassan learned there wasn’t a streamlined blueprint to navigating the state, county and city to attain licenses and documentation to operate a mobile cart.
Hassan’s rotating menu has included Spanish latte, brown sugar cinnamon latte, honey date latte, carrot cake latte, ginger and orange cookies, vanilla chai cookies and a savory berbere cookie which Hassan says created a stir on social media.
“They [government agencies] have [processes] for food trucks, restaurants, or for temporary shops, but [not specifically] for a mobile cart,” she said. “Figuring that out took a very long time. I felt like I was being thrown to different people. ‘Oh, ask this person; oh, ask that person; oh, call this number, fill out this application; actually, no, this is the wrong application, fill out this application.’ I felt like I might as well just give up. I was able to find information through calling the Minnesota Department of Health. Even then, depending on the county you live in, the rules are different.”
The owners of Kisma Cafe –- Bahja Salat, 23, Sumaiya Kadir, 23, and Najma Ali, 24 — also found when they opened in February that the permits they needed depended on the event they would serve at. The longtime friends spoke to the importance of organizations and agencies invested in youth employment and entrepreneurship to help young business owners navigate such challenges.
“It’s important to pay attention to businesses like ours, because there is a need for it,” Salat said. “I feel like a lot of young people don’t really have a lot of third spaces where they can come together and have that community feel. Having spaces and people that do supply that need is very important.”
Kisma Cafe takes its name from the Somali port city of Kismayo. Its owners aim to create safe and enjoyable community gatherings that offer alternatives to alcoholic beverages.
Burnsville sisters Siham Mohamed, 25, and Fatma Mohamed, 23, created their mobile cafe, ChaiGirls, near the end of Ramadan this year. Their menu includes uncommon takes on traditional chai, including banana pudding chai, blueberry vanilla chai and toasted marshmallow chai. For the fall season, they will offer caramel apple chai and pumpkin spice chai.
Like Chaltu, the Mohameds experienced challenges in starting their business due to an absence of clear guidelines about how to apply for the permits and license needed to operate their mobile cart.
“The process was very tricky, especially for a drink cart,” Fatma said. “We spoke to a few other vendors, and no one knew what the right way to do this was. It would be nice to have clear guidelines, because even on the website of the Health Department, it tells you what permit you need for a food truck, it tells you what permit you need if you’re selling food that you’re making, [but] not for a drink cart, where the stuff is being prepared on site.”
Help is available for such young entrepreneurs. Since its founding in 1983, the Minnesota Women’s Foundation has advanced initiatives dedicated to achieving equity for women and girls. LaCora Bradford Kesti, the foundation’s vice president of community impact, said young women entrepreneurs should be supported.
“It’s courageous, I think it’s really important, that we continue to have ideas like this,” she said. “I think [these young women are] feeling a need and see a niche.”
She cited a number of community organizations that support small businesses founded by women of color.
Hassan, Mi’aawaa’s owner, said starting her business has shown her that more young women should be encouraged to journey beyond their fears of starting something new.
“We need to be a bit more daring and increase our risk-taking capabilities,” she said. “Don’t be afraid of something you haven’t done before. The cool thing is that once you do something, you see how easy it is, and then your eyes open up and you’re like, ‘OK I can do anything else.’ It’s kind of cool in that way, to be able to challenge yourself, do the hard thing, and then through that, you can do more hard things.”
