- location
- cleanliness
- quick service
- design
- quality products
- friendly staff
- opening hours
Setting up a coffee shop
We understand how hard it can be to find good advice when running or starting a coffee shop. There are many things to think about. We will try to write the things here that we think make a good coffee shop and we keep updating this all the time. Happy reading!
Great location & outside appearance
No matter how good the coffee and the products are, people who visit coffee shops buy on impulse a lot of the time.
People often go in for the first time because of convenience. The coffee shop just happened to be there at the right place at the right time.
Finding a prime location is extremely important and sometimes well worth the investment.
Make sure that the shop stands out from the crowd. Outside seating is fantastic and can seriously boost your sales. A good sign outside clearly displaying your shop is very important.
Having seating outside is great but make sure that it sends the right image. Dirty tables with full ashtrays are not going to attract any customers. Lovely plants and a well organised seating area do!
Have a plan
What makes you special? Why should people visit your shop?
Do you know the answers to these questions? We hope so and if not then it might be a good idea to think about them.
Too many people simply start a shop without a plan. You need to know what you want and what is going to make you successful. It might be your personality or it might be your skill in baking. Whatever it is, you should know it.
Once you know what makes your shop special you should build around it. If the staff are your strongest point than make sure that they have a lot of customer contact. Is your coffee the best in town? Then promote this and shout it out. Don't sound arrogant but make clear to the people why your shop is worth a visit.
Quality products
Speaks for itself really doesn't it?
Although, how do you know that you have good products? Do you count the number of complaints or do you look at the compliments? Let's face it, many people will not say anything, whether it's good or bad.
The best way to know is probably some kind of feedback system. Find a way for customers to give feedback anonymously. Maybe a letterbox where they can drop of a feedback card. But why should the customer bother doing this? They might have better things to do. Unless you ask them nicely.
Hand your customer a feedback card when you give them their coffee and mention that you would appreciate some feedback. It might just be the best thing... to simply ask. But keep it anonymous.
Another way is a mystery shopper. However, you can have a different kind of mystery shopper. What about a mystery shopper who sits in your shop and drinks a coffee. How long would it take to pick up a conversation between other customers? People often discuss how well they like the product and it's really not that hard to find out when you sit in a coffee shop and drink a coffee. We are not saying that you should listen in to conversations or anything!
We, as the coffee people, often speak to people when we visit the coffee shops of our customers. It's a great way to find out how the customer is liking the coffee. People enjoy giving feedback and it's easy to see if people are really excited about something.
Find a way that works for you. Find a way to get feedback about your products!
Clean
We can not say it enough: clean up.
People do not like to sit at a dirty table, it's that simple. Every customer should sit down at a clean table. The table and chairs should be clean and there should be no food on the floor around them. It's that simple.
The coffee machine, panini grill, microwave, juice machine, blender, cake display etc. should all be clean. Keep it clean throughout the day, there is not really any excuse for a dirty coffee shop.
Staff management
Lead by example.
It's rare to find a place where the staff are enthusiastic about their work when the owner is not. You are the one that will make the difference whether the staff are enjoying their job or not. Any job out there can be enjoyable, no matter what the work is.
Enjoyment out of work usually comes from the people around you. Try to make the job as much fun as possible. Whether you work in the shop yourself or not, you should show a good leadership. Should you know how to make a good sandwich or a good coffee when you work in a coffee shop? Yes, you probably should.
There is no need to be the best in everything but you need to come across as if you actually know what you are talking about. Be a good example to your staff.
Give your staff incentives and give them different tasks once in a while. Nobody wants to be behind a till for 8 hours. Move your staff around and give them the chance to develop themselves.