Daniel Tirado-Barbauld is a 29-year old Crown Point, Indiana native with a lust for life and a love for people. After working nearly half his life as a chef in the fine dining industry, Dan knew he wanted to do something that brings people together, which is why he signed with BIGGBY® COFFEE, a 250-unit coffee franchise centered on a culture of loving unconditionally and supporting others.

When the pandemic hit and his dream of opening a food truck was halted, Tirado-Barbauld started looking into coffee franchises after some initial skepticism about the industry. After researching multiple concepts, he found BIGGBY® COFFEE. As the first-time business owner prepares to bring premium coffee to his hometown of Crown Point, he looks forward to the community his store will build and the chance to help others live the life they love.

1851 Franchise: Tell us your story – what did you do before franchising?

Daniel Tirado-Barbauld: I worked in the restaurant industry for 15+ years, mainly in fine dining and at local pizzerias. After that, I got a “grown-up job” and worked for a couple of different trucking companies. In 2020, I decided that I wanted to start working for myself and open a food truck. Once COVID hit, I didn’t want to shoot myself in the foot by opening a food truck, and I started researching other business ideas. I looked around and realized that coffee was the one thing that was still selling during the pandemic. I looked at a Starbucks and realized it just wasn’t the right fit for me, and I stumbled upon BIGGBY®, and it just made sense. Their culture and my culture just match so perfectly. We exist to love people. My friends often come to me for positivity and good advice, and I’m the friend that everyone comes to looking for an honest answer. I’m even an ordained minister, and I’ve married nine couples and have a 100% success rate!

1851: How did you initially find out about franchising, and what was your perception of franchising before becoming a franchise owner?

Tirado-Barbauld: I used to be skeptical about franchising, but then I realized the power behind a franchise brand. I was kind of always on the fence about it because I’m a chef, and I like to write my menu, do my own thing, and then realized, especially during COVID, to have that support that backs you with a franchise is incredible. You have a whole team that supports you, and I see that as a light, especially during COVID. My views on franchising have changed throughout this process.

I looked into another franchise, and it didn’t shine out as much to me as BIGGBY® did, so I read a little more into BIGGBY® and decided to take the money I was going to do with the food truck and put it into BIGGBY®. After I signed my franchise agreement, the rest is history and I’m looking forward to the future. Initially, I thought I’d be having to find a location and find my equipment. On one of the trips I was taking in my hometown of Crown Point, I looked at some equipment that an old coffee shop owner was selling. After negotiating, I made him an offer on the equipment and he asked where I planned to put in my BIGGBY®. He said, “Why don’t you just rent from us? All the equipment is already here.” We came to a rental agreement, and in that two hours, we had a rental contract. We just needed our lawyers to write it up. My company BatHawk Inc. was official.

1851: How did you decide you wanted to be a franchisee?

Tirado-Barbauld: I can’t say it enough, but both mine and BIGGBY® COFFEE’s cultures matched so well. As the saying goes, do something you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life. There’s so much positivity through BIGGBY®, like one of our mottos is, “Every customer leaves the store in a better mood than when the customer arrived.” BIGGBY® COFFEE and I exist to love people. When you love the world, it loves you back. Going back to me as a chef, I started cooking because I realized how happy my food made people and how it brings different ages, races, and genders together, and my cooking did that and made them happy. I think coffee does that same thing on a different level.

1851: How did you perform your research?

Tirado-Barbauld: Honestly, I was just looking online at different coffee franchises and BIGGBY® just made sense. We’re the happy coffee company.

1851: Why did you pick BIGGBY® COFFEE? What excited you most about the potential?

Tirado-Barbauld: With BIGGBY® and I, you really couldn’t write a better love story. We exist to love people, and we exist to live the life we love. Right now, BIGGBY® is 20% fair trade, and by 2026 they plan on being 50% fair trade. What makes us different from other franchises is that we buy our beans from farms directly and cut out the middleman and pay our premium prices to the farmers, thus allowing them to live the life they love. They work so hard to provide the beans we use in all our drinks that help us live the life WE love. What’s remarkable is that these farmers are talking to their neighbors and telling them, “Hey, you should work with BIGGBY® instead of the others,” because BIGGBY® is paying them what they deserve and treating them right. Farmers and truck drivers are the backbone of this country, and we wouldn’t eat without them.

You can go anywhere to get a cup of coffee, and one of the things we pride ourselves on is telling employees to be themselves, have fun, and make friends while sharing great coffee with the world. You’re not just a number with BIGGBY®. You’re on a personal level with customers, and it’s so much more about being a family than just buying a cup of coffee. 

There’s a lot of different subdivisions going up around my store, and Crown Point is anything but done from growing. Everyone from Illinois is moving from Cook County to Lake County because the taxes are obscene and the commute from Indiana to Chicago every day is tough. The growth potential that I have now is yet to plateau. I want to do three stores in five years if God will bless me that way.

1851: What are your dreams with the business? What does the future look like?

Tirado-Barbauld: Honestly, I don’t want to grow too much too fast because I’ve seen a lot of businesses suffer that way. During COVID, BIGGBY® and their coffee franchises grew 30% as a whole, which is unheard of during a worldwide pandemic. If I could do five stores long-term, that would be cool. I got a piece of BIGGBY® early enough in my area, and people know the brand. I hope to keep growing with BIGGBY® because it truly is a beautiful company. Maybe if I have kids, they could take over one, too.

1851: What advice would you have for others looking at buying a franchise?

Tirado-Barbauld: Just do it. If you want to live the life that you love, money comes and goes. I just turned 29 this month and used my life savings to do this. If there’s something you believe in just a little bit, take the chance and ride the cloud. A goal without a deadline is just a dream. Set goals, set a deadline, and make it happen. Take chances, and if you’re going to take a chance, take it on yourself. The other day I read something that recently moved me. If you wrote a list of things you love, how long on that list until you get to yourself? That’s a Dan thing, not a BIGGBY® thing! Love yourself first, and the rest will come. It’s a beautiful circle of endless love. If you love the world, the world will love you back.

1851: What do you do in your personal time (hobbies, family, sports, etc.)?

Tirado-Barbauld: I love cooking. It’s how I’ve learned to express myself, and I love how it brings people together. I probably have friends over once a week to cook and have a meal. I also love to play bags, aka cornhole. I really love music, and I can’t wait to see live music again.

About BIGGBY® COFFEE

BIGGBY® COFFEE, based in East Lansing, Mich., was started with a single store on March 15, 1995. One year later, and on the cusp of opening a second location, Bob Fish and Michael McFall, on a handshake and $4,000, decided to franchise the concept. BIGGBY® COFFEE’s cultural values of Make Friends, Have Fun, B Yourself, and Share Great Coffee help coffeelovers and the coffee-curious alike benefit from a less pretentious and fun approach to the standard gourmet cafe paradigm. Besides connoisseur-worthy drinks with names like Teddy Bear® and Caramel Marvel®, BIGGBY® baristas provide a unique experience focused on brightening their customers’ day and supporting them in building a life they love. The “Big ‘B’” on the orange background caught on, and today BIGGBY® COFFEE has more than 240 cafes across many states including Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Florida. In 2018, BIGGBY® launched an Area Representative Program and currently has 17 Area Representatives in 8 states.