Lara Lespi Opened a Coffee Shop in 8 Months — While Working Full-Time as a Designer

On New Year's Eve 2022, Lara Lespi and her partner made a decision: they would open a coffee shop in Buenos Aires before the year was out.

Eight months later, ioshek opened. Neither of them had done anything like it before. The name roughly means hedgehog in Russian — a nod to her partner's Russian-Ukrainian roots. Nine laptops have been open simultaneously at its tables. Regular customers come in almost every day with their usual order.

In this story, Lespi, a UI/UX Designer who has been with X-Team for almost three years, describes how ioshek went from a New Year's resolution to a functioning cafe, what the hardest lessons of starting a business from scratch were and how she balances running it alongside a full-time remote design role.

The Vision Behind ioshek

The idea had 2 origins. Lespi had long wanted to open a bar with a unique concept. Her partner had always dreamed of starting a coffee shop in her own town. When the two met, so did their ideas.

Before committing, they did their homework. Every day, the pair visited different coffee shops across Buenos Aires to study what worked and what did not — the layout, the atmosphere, the menu, the flow of customers. That daily research eventually clarified what ioshek should be: a cozy, welcoming space where people could hang out and work, with power outlets, strong Wi-Fi and good coffee.

The cultural layer sets ioshek apart. The menu blends Russian and Ukrainian influences — including pastries that many Buenos Aires residents have never encountered — alongside Argentinian staples like medialunas and cakes. "We blend the best of Russia and Ukraine in Argentina," Lespi says, noting that the concept feels especially resonant now that many people from those countries have moved to Argentina.

The result is a place that functions both as a neighborhood cafe and a de facto coworking spot. "The other day, we had nine laptops open at the same time," she says.

What Starting from Zero Actually Teaches You

Lespi's design background gave her confidence in certain parts of the process. It did not prepare her for most of it.

"I'd never opened a coffee shop before and knew no one in my family or close circle who could help me," she says. Every aspect of ioshek — sourcing, staffing, operations, tax compliance — had to be built from scratch and learned in real time. "It was entirely unfamiliar territory."

Two early lessons proved foundational. The first was the value of building a network of trustworthy people. Without reliable suppliers, contractors and collaborators, the cafe could not function. The second was accepting that mistakes are inevitable. "That mindset was vital to overcome those initial challenges," she says.

Perhaps the most counterintuitive insight was about the product itself. Lespi had assumed that great coffee would be the primary driver of success. It matters — but it is not sufficient. "It's not just about having a great product," she says. "It's also about setting up efficient processes, being able to swiftly address problems, understanding taxes, et cetera." ioshek taught her as much about running a business as it did about coffee.

Balancing ioshek and X-Team

The early months were the hardest. Lespi describes nights of barely sleeping, turning over the balancing act in her head, unsure how to give both ioshek and her X-Team work what they deserved.

The situation has shifted. Better processes and systems at ioshek have let her step back from daily operations, which eases the tension considerably. X-Team's flexibility and remote structure have been central to making the dual commitment viable — no commute, a self-managed calendar and compensation that gave her less financial anxiety about investing in the cafe alongside her day job.

Her future plans for ioshek include growing the team, improving products, hosting events and eventually opening additional locations. What she values most, though, is harder to scale: the texture of a physical space. "Today, so much happens online," she says. "It's incredibly fulfilling to have a tangible, physical space where we can interact with people."

Some of those interactions have become daily rituals. Regular customers come in almost every day, ordering their usual. For Lespi, that is the truest measure of what ioshek has become — not a project she launched, but a place where people feel at home.

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