Julien Moussi never thought he'd forge a career as a barista.

Football was his passion. He played in the Victorian Football League, but a knee blow-out dashed hopes of a professional career. "At the time I was devastated."

Getting a foothold

But being sidelined turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. From here, he noticed caffeine-starved fans swarming around the coffee cart.

"It looked like an opportunity to me. I asked the league if I could take over the coffee cart when the lease was up, which is how I started."

This gave Moussi a foothold into Melbourne's bustling café scene. Since leaving the coffee cart, he's opened 11 cafes and sold five. Soon, the university drop-out will open two more cafes – Bentwood in Fitzroy and Stanley in Mt Waverley.

We really believe that if you build it well, they will come.

Julien Moussi

"I tried studying business, but classrooms aren't for me. I was having too much fun at uni, so I had to leave. I do love property and creating a venue from scratch."

There's money to be made

It's an inspiring story of professional courage and careful financial planning that proves that there's money to be made in the hugely competitive hospitality industry.

Moussi's portfolio of cafes turned over $7.5 million last financial year. Projections for next financial year hover around $11-$12 million, he says.

He left the coffee cart business in 2012 to open Annoying Brother in Fitzroy North, complete with the obligatory milk crate seating. "Luckily it was cool to sit on milk crates in Melbourne at the time, but the truth is that it was all we could afford."

When quizzed on the café name, the 29-year-old said: "I was a real pest growing up, playing a lot of practical jokes on my siblings. I was the annoying brother."

The café proved popular with locals, with annual revenues hovering between $300,000 and $350,000 until he sold in 2014 and scoured Melbourne for a new premises.

A partnership in Camberwell

He knocked on the door of a Camberwell café that he had heard was struggling financially. While he didn't have the funds to purchase the business, he believed he could turn it around. "They had one of the best locations, and I was prepared to take a risk."

By signing on half of the debt, he acquired 50 per cent ownership of the business, with no money changing hands.

The café was rebranded to Mob and he set about transforming the business. "We play music that reminds our clientele of their youth, and made sure they feel welcome every time they came in the door. We also make sure we're serving honest food."

It worked. Mob revenues are now between $1.5 million and $2 million a year, and he recently bought the business outright from the previous owners.

Moussi and a business partner also bought Collective Espresso in Camberwell, which provided strong cash flow in the three years he owned it, funding further projects.

Boss Pizzeria followed – a Camberwell institution that he's since sold. Then he opened Legacy in Camberwell in 2014, which he sold late last year.

It goes on. He's behind Temperance Society in Hughesdale, and the hugely successful Penta in Elsternwick, which is recognised as one of the best cafes in Melbourne both in terms of food and design.

Moussi also owns Age of Sale in Glen Iris and Tinker in Northcote in his portfolio. There's also the Fairfax Coffee project in the Southland Shopping Centre and he recently added Inglewood Coffee Roasters, where he roasts coffee to supply his portfolio of cafes. He plans to build this up to a wholesale business in time.

His now fiancee Kristy-Lea Deva quit her job and joined him in the business, and is now the general manager of the entire group. The pair are building a home together in Melbourne.

Some of the cafes are part-owned by Moussi's old school friends and family. The group employs 70 staff across the businesses, half of which are full-timers. The entire operation is run from an office in Camberwell.

"We want to break down the stereotype that a job in hospitality isn't a career. And we really believe that if you build it well, they will come."

It's not easy to stand out in such a competitive industry, which reaps $8 billion in revenue each year and employs 71,957 people working in 14,411 Australian café and coffee shops, according to IBISWorld's 2017 industry report.

But our love of coffee is only fuelling more growth. The industry grew by 7 per cent between 2012 and 2017, with the increasing number of speciality cafes and coffee shops contributing to high competition, the report says.

Tough lessons early

Moussi is a confident and open businessman. Opening cafes gives him the ability to combine both his love of developing property and beautiful café spaces. The businesses have provided cash flow for growth, with a little bridging finance here and there.

He admits he gets bored quickly, and loves a challenge. But he's had some hard lessons in life that have shaped his approach to small business ownership.

He recalls standing in the family driveway in 1992 and watching his father's collection of prestige cars being repossessed. He may have only been four at the time, but the anguish that day caused his parents has been etched into his memory forever.

"My father was in the Melbourne nightclub and bar scene. He clawed back from the financial downturn that cost him everything and today lives a comfortable life in retirement."

However, the experience reminds him not to be too cautious, nor too brazen.

"Watching the cars being taken from my Dad taught me a lot of lessons about business. I take risks in business, but I'm always careful to make sure it's a calculated risk," Moussi says.

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