Knoops Founder: He Quit His Job Overnight, 13 Years Later He Has 30+ Stores In 3 Countries

In 2013, Jens Knoop opened the first Knoops, a tiny hot chocolate shop in Rye, with £20K from friends and family, secondhand equipment and no heating. When the landlady asked for his business plan, he handed her a hot chocolate instead. Thirteen years later, Knoops has nearly 30 stores across the UK, the Middle East and the US, and a head office opposite Harrods. In this episode, Jens tells us: How a luxury bag full of old clothes on the Shanghai metro sparked the idea What his very first customer ordered (it wasn't hot chocolate) How a LinkedIn message took Knoops to Salt Lake City before New York What happened to the target of 3,000 stores by 2030 How Knoops handles cocoa prices that rose 177% in a year The cheapest marketing that ever worked for Knoops Why giving away equity felt like gaining, not losing And his step one: the very first thing he did after having the idea 👉 Subscribe so you never miss the best advice from those in the world of business:    / @inthebusinesspodcast   Listen on Spotify: [Spotify link] Website: https://inthebusiness.club Find Knoops: https://knoops.com Jens on LinkedIn: [Jens's LinkedIn link] CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro 00:23 The luxury bag that inspired Knoops 02:40 Day one with no business plan 03:56 Choosing the first seven chocolates 08:51 Spotting the gap in the market 10:19 The £20K first store 12:00 "Give it three months" 17:08 Why he never judges your order 18:16 Café chain or consumer brand? 20:26 Can high street shops survive? 22:00 Why Salt Lake City, not New York 24:48 How Knoops got to store two 28:19 How Knoops picks a new country 31:00 870% growth in three years 32:06 What happened to 3,000 stores? 33:29 Is it harder to start a business in 2026? 35:05 What he gave up when the CEO came in 39:50 Cocoa up 177%: who pays? 41:35 Does Knoops have competitors? 43:29 The cheapest marketing that worked 46:00 What he'd do differently in year one 46:49 What he was doing at 21 50:05 His advice for young founders 51:17 His step one #Knoops #Entrepreneurship #HotChocolate