Coffee is one of the worlds’ most loved and consumed beverages; providing a tasty, energy-laden brew to all who choose to drink it. If you’ve decided to open your own coffee-based business, you’re probably seeking a way to lift your business above the daily grind, and into its own special league. The following guide is aimed at providing you with some tips to help get your business up and running successfully, so that you can grow it into the connoisseur’s cafe you’ve always dreamed of.
Get Your Glasses Lined Up
To get the most out of your new venture, keeping up to date with important bureaucratic and organisational tasks is important. Make sure you have filed the correct paperwork with any accountants and council agents, including any necessary permits. Staying up to date with these tasks will mean that you won’t be hit by any surprise fines or nasty letters.
Another important organisational issue in the day-to-day running of your business is the supplies. Coffee shops utilise an enormous number of products (disposable and perpetual), and the type of supplies you choose to use will have an impact on the product you supply to your customers.
Select the best and most durable hospitality supplies you can afford. By doing so, you will not only save money in the long run, you will also project an image of quality and authenticity which will be important in the growth phase of your business.
Be A Has-Bean
As a business that sells coffee, the most important of your products to spend time (and money) on getting right is, you know, the coffee. Focus on the quality of your bean supply and take the time to learn the art of pouring and pulling an excellent cup.
Consider whether or not you will offer specific roasts and blends, or whether you will put forth a ‘house blend’ or style of bean. Small details and attention to the nuances of your product, along with the aforementioned high-quality hospitality supplies, will lead to more informed, more loyal customers; allowing you to build and develop a reliable clientele.
Inside Job
Consider the interior of your space. When doing so, think about the mood you are trying to evoke and what it says about your intended customer base. Are you opening a space which is an ‘in-a-hurry’ coffee-grab endeavour? If so, your interior should reflect this purpose in ways which enable you to prepare drinks in the most efficient and comfortable way possible. If you’re creating a slower affair, your interior should then reflect this – with colours, textures and interiors selected to elicit the type of response from your premises which enables them to relax and enjoy their time in your space.
Neighbourhood Watch
Aim to be more than just a place which offers excellent caffeinated beverage. Cafes have long been the neighbourhood meeting place and offer a place of relative solace and distraction from our increasingly busy lives.
Think of the way that popular culture venerates the idea of a shared meeting space. Shows such as Friends, Cheers, and Seinfeld all revolve around a central, shared location which is returned to for reasons beyond the menu or service. A good cafe is also a location which provides its customers with a neighbourhood vantage point. If you can find a way to make the cafe ‘a good local’, you will be part-way to achieving this goal.
Some ideas include offering discounts to repeat customers through loyalty programs and allowing neighbourhood groups to use the space for their meetings. Setting up a free local bulletin board is another way to help local people connect with your space.
The Higher Your Hires…
When it comes to staff, it’s a good idea to hire the most suitable and well-fitted staff to your business based on not only experience, but on how their overall personality fits with the vision of your cafe.
This can be hard when the process of hiring consists of a CV and cursory interview. So, it pays to take your time designing a set of questions and tasks developed to reveal key information which can help you decide on their suitability. Find out about whether any potential staff are involved with the local community. Ask about their hobbies and their friends. If you’re hiring a barista, it helps to know their work history – customers often follow a particularly good barista to a new cafe.
Creating a coffee shop which is both enjoyable for customers, and economically successful is not easy – but is achievable when careful planning and thoughtful, appropriate decision-making processes are followed. By making sure you select quality products, staff, hospitality supplies and interiors, you can help to grow your business into a haven up, away and out-of-the-grind.
