Starting your business is no walk in the park, but owner of Doppio Bunny, Amanda Bates, said for her, the process was well thought out.

Bates majored in archeology in college and said that running her own business was never in the cards, but has truly been the best thing that has happened to her. 

“I went to school and got an archeology degree, so I don’t have a degree in business, but even then I had a lot of experience,” she said. “When I was 15, I started working in a concession stand and kitchen.” 

Bates had been managing the coffee shop that previously occupied the space, Happy Creek, for over five  years, during that time she built many relationships with the community and her staff. She said this   helped the transition of businesses tremendously. 

“It’s really about the people and your interactions with them. We had already cultivated a community, and people were excited that the staff was essentially buying the business.” Bates said. “You don’t always start with an existing community when you start a business but we were fortunate enough to.”

The turnaround period for closing up Happy Creek and opening Doppio Bunny was almost no time at all.

“Happy Creek preceded Doppio Bunny coffee. They closed their doors May 31 2022  and Doppio Bunny opened theirs June 1,” Bates said. “We really changed the signage overnight.”

The overall process for opening her own business went remarkably fast.

“It took three months. But that was very quick, because it was already an existing business,” she said. “ A lot of times this takes a long time to do planning for stuff like that. Like in Winchester, it took us a year.”

Because Bates had managed the previous location for so long, she had a vision of her perfect coffee shop and knew what needed to be done to make it come true.

“They told me that in March they were planning on selling, so I was still managing the business for them and essentially selling it to myself,” Bates said. “I made sure it was okay with them and started painting the walls here, really making it a coffee shop I could picture people enjoying.”

In addition to owning Doppio Bunny in Purcellville, Bates also owns two additional locations in Winchester and The Plains. 

“I’m still the hands-on manager of the Purcellville location, and I’ve been more hands-on at the Winchester one, because we just celebrated our one year,” she said. “Then I have a full time manager at the Plains location, so I’m a little bit more hands off there, but I still do deliveries because we make everything in house.”

One thing that separates Doppio from other coffee shops is the menu and the thought that goes into the hand selected items, making sure there are vegan and gluten free options for everyone.

“I’ll start by saying we make all of our syrups and our baked goods in house, so there’s a lot of influence from our staff as well as customers,” Bates said. “We have a lot of vegan staff, so if you see all the green dots out there, it’s vegan. I’m not vegan. But I mean, our vegan products are probably our best products.”

Living in a small town has many perks, for Bates, she loves the community feel and having people that are ready to drop everything and offer help when needed.

“I’m really close with the owner of the Hamilton Mercantile, Meredith, we try and support each other in whatever ways possible,” she said. “There were times where she needed help with her espresso machine, so we ran over there and helped fix her espresso machine.”

Having a friend at the Hamilton Mercantile also helps with customers for both businesses.

“I’m always wanting to send people there, and she sends people here,” Bates said. “And, you know, we’re all really close, so it’s great.”

When asked about in-town business competitors, Bates quickly said she doesn’t look at it like that, and she is happy to see others’ success. 

“I don’t see other businesses as competitors because we are all so community oriented and community based,” Bates said. “If another coffee shop opens up, amazing, you know? Like, I love that.” 

Bates’ advice to people who want to start their own business is to be able to do what you tell others to, and to overall just have a large passion for what you want.

“It’s important to be willing to do whatever it is you’re going to ask of someone else and give it a shot first,” Bates said. “Even being the owner, I’m still doing the dishes, I’m still mashing the bananas for the muffins and, you know, that kind of stuff.”

She also said that it’s crucial to be passionate about your decisions before you give so much of yourself to it.

“You don’t want to put all of your time, money and energy into something that maybe a year from now, you realize you’re not passionate about.”