Tips To Start And Open Your Coffee Shop Business

Starting and opening a coffee shop business can be exciting and daunting at the same time. There are hundreds of decisions that you’ll need to make for the completion and opening of your business. Having a list (like the one below) can help you prepare for your coffee shop business.

here is no one secret to a successful coffee shop; in fact, most secrets in business boil down to either hard work, extensive experience, or luck or a combination of all three. I have taken success for this post to mean financially sustainable with an appropriate ROI for the owner, which means not necessarily giving the customer everything they would wish for.

Each item below poses an opportunity for you to exercise creativity and differentiate yourself among your competitors. Certainly, this is not a complete list, but it’s a good start to help you get your mental wheels turning.

• Determine who your customers will be. Understanding who your market is will help you determine your product, service, and competitive advantage.

• Get your personal finances in order.  Embarking on a business requires money, but you want to ensure that you have enough to pay the rent, food, and other basic expenses.

• Understand your personal budget. Effective personal money management will be important as you begin to invest and expose yourself to the risk of your coffee business venture.

• Sample local coffee roast profiles. Chances are you will be working with a local roaster, start early by exploring new local coffee roasters and their particular coffee roasts.

• Learn about coffees and their origin. Learning and eventually training your employees) about different coffee and their origin is essential. By doing this, you will move yourself from the bottom half to the top half of coffee businesses. It’s hard to imagine walking into any specialty shop (from cheese, bread, to electronics), and discover that the owner or employees don’t know anything about the products that they are selling.

• Develop your business concept. Spend some time day dreaming about your coffee business. Imagine the space, the themes, the colors, and product and serving offering.

• Plan your menu. You menu is the cornerstone of your business. It’s the very first thing you should figure out after you decide to move forward with your coffee business.

• Sample food vendors When you decide on your menu, begin sampling local vendors (bakeries, bagel places, etc.) who have wholesale accounts. Start early and cast a wide net. Experiment. Explore. Have fun!’

• Consider local milk companies or dairy farms Milk is an important element to your coffee business. While you can simply go to the store and pick up gallons of milk (as needed), you might be surprised of the good deals (and quality) of milk that come directly from your local dairies.

• Visit coffee equipment vendors. Your coffee shop equipment will make up a significant percentage of your startup costs. Picking the right equipment for your coffee business will be essential. Depending on the coffee business you have you will also need structural equipment, such as a commissary or mop closet. We offer a large verity of coffee shop equipment.