Vlad Priadko, founder of Coffee Bike World – a Canadian run company from Vancouver –  is on a cross-country mission to connect with as many aspiring entrepreneurs as possible, one cup of coffee at a time.

Priadko is on the final leg of his journey, having pedaled his coffee bike the entire distance, while filming a documentary series called The Crossing. All along the way he has been connecting with communities, particularly potential entrepreneurs, using his coffee bike not only as transportation but also as the perfect ice breaker.

“I think everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, but I think only a single-digit percent actually have this inner ability to take this risk and pull the trigger to commit,” Priadko said.

In 2017, Priadko purchased his first coffee bike from Europe. Fresh out of his teens, he was at first unaware that it failed to comply with numerous local regulations,  forcing him to spend the next year fixing it up out of his own pocket, with help from local hardware stores, welding companies, plumbers and handymen.

Fast forward a few more years, and Priadko was launching the manufacturing of additional coffee bikes and offering a “turnkey” concept to other aspiring entrepreneurs across Canada and beyond. Budding business owners can purchase a coffee bike for a base rate of $9,850, after which they can immediately start selling, never needing to worry about franchise fees or royalties.

“We are sort of hunting for curious people,” he explained. “They come, they start a conversation, then I share what this is all about. Sort of like a promotion of freedom of entrepreneurship, also giving people a little seed to their mind.”

Last year was a very big year for Coffee Bike World, featuring a deal on Dragon’s Den Season 20, as well as the 2025 ‘Small Chain – Big Impact’ award, presented by Coffee Association of Canada, and they have now sold over one million cups of coffee and counting.

As exciting as it was, shaking hands with Arlene Dickinson during his Dragons Den appearance, that deal has since been placed on pause, as Priadko’s mission doesn’t necessarily align with all of the Dragon’s goals, though Dickinson did purchase three coffee bikes for her own brand.

Rather than trying to make as much money as quickly as possible, Priadko is far more interested not only in finding potential entrepreneurs and encouraging them to take the leap, but also building an entire community of likeminded individuals and offering ongoing support to those who do dare to break away from the 9-5 life.

Priadko stresses that this is by no means a get-rich-quick scheme and requires extensive planning and hard work to make a go of it and has even talked certain people out of it when he could feel it wasn’t the right fit for their lifestyle.

“It’s very delusional to expect that you’re going to just put the coffee bike on the intersection and you start making thousands from day one. You need to work on your brand, you need to build your community, you need to develop your menu – you need to learn how to make good coffee as well,” Priadko said.

Once you get off the ground, the potential for the mobile business is limitless: rock festivals, weddings, bridal showers, farmer’s markets – the list goes on and on.

Since Coffee Bike World started, they’ve sold units to everyone from established coffee shop owners to individuals simply wanting a side hustle for the weekends.

“We even have people who are retired in the 65 to 75 years range. They not only use it as a tool to generate additional retirement income, but also just to stay active, to take themselves out of their comfort zone at home, to communicate with local communities through the coffee service.”

Coffee bikes are fully customizable, with options to select any color and add personal branding, photos or anything of your choosing.

An entirely optional feature in the process is a Discord server, created by Coffee Bike World to give fellow coffee bike owners a place to connect, swap stories, get help with troubleshooting, and most of all to be a part of a broader community.

The cross-country journey was originally intended to include the United States, however after hours of speaking with various agents they were eventually denied at the border over confusion about their intentions with this mission.

Rather than getting discouraged, the travellers simply changed course and continued east, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

“That allowed us to actually discover Halifax, Prince Edward (Island) and New Brunswick. I seriously consider Charlottetown as my new hometown right now. Beautiful. Once you cross the Confederation Bridge it’s like this utopical world,” Priadko said.

Another highlight of the trip was a stop to meet Regina’s newest scooter driving, ice cream-dropping celeb over at Elle’s Café.

He had just arrived in Moose Jaw at the time of the interview but planned to take in Crescent Park and the Moose Jaw tourist booth to start with.

When asked if most experiences along the way have been positive, he said yes almost entirely so, despite the ever increasing negativity that the internet tends to highlight.

“To be honest, running this business for eight years in Vancouver, I think the negativity, it exists online and it just stays online,” Priadko said. “Most of the negativity comes from people who are not willing to reveal their identity. The human interaction is something that keeps us human, on a daily basis.”

He stresses that while it’s not for everyone, if his entrepreneurial journey sparks something inside of you then you’ve already taken the first step.

“If you’re from Moose Jaw and you hear this and something just got your attention, then you’re already a part of this. Being curious is already the first step to be an entrepreneur,” Priadko said.

Anyone interested in learning more or simply following along on the Coffee World journey can go to coffeebike.ca or @CoffeeBikeTV on Youtube.

By Annie Savage

Moose Jaw Express