Tired of your job and want to strike out and open up a coffeehouse, even though your friends think you're crazy? Jonathan Rubinstein and his successful Joe coffeehouses were profiled in the Jobs section of the Times, $14,000 espresso machine and all. Rubinstein prices his java similarly to Starbucks and his customers will wait for his beautifully brewed coffees and espressos (the image is from the Joe website). With three locations (Waverly Place, East 13th Street, Greene Street at the Alessi store) , Rubinstein, a former talent agent, hopes of expanding but...

Joe has stiff competition from Starbucks, which now has 170 cafes in Manhattan, as well as from a new crop of coffee connoisseurs who are trying to fulfill their own entrepreneurial urges. Mr. Rubinstein said he recently found an ideal location, also on East 13th Street, only to learn that another cafe was scheduled to open down the block. more ›