Probably, from the title of the title “how to open a coffee shop” you were surprised – why do we, the cloud service, write about the coffee shop? Just looking at our customers, we want to help you not to make common mistakes, and become the coolest.
Therefore, let’s take a look at all the points on how to open a cafe, and in the end we will decide whether to open a coffee shop in 2018 at all. Or it’s not worth it.
For convenience, let’s conditionally divide the opening of the coffee house at the stage:
Preparing for the opening of the cafe
- Concept definition
- Drawing up a business plan
Implementation
- Rental of premises and equipment
- Staff and training
- Work organization
Having structured the information that we will reveal in this article, we can proceed with the explanations.
Training
To open your own coffee shop, you first need to decide on a concept. Ask yourself what do you want to see in it? Which customers to attract? How to position? And most importantly – what’s the trick?
Do not hide the fact that coffee houses have recently appeared, like mushrooms after rain. For example, only near our office within walking distance of more than 10 coffee houses. And go to all of them for less than 10 minutes. And the salt itself is that we are not in the city center, where life is in full swing, but in a quiet residential area.
The advantage of this competition is that each institution has its own chip – someone decided to open an institution in which they sell only coffee and beer, someone leaves due to the hipster atmosphere and cool cups, someone makes it just delicious, and to them just come and come back.
There is even a coffee shop especially for mommies. To get to it, you need to climb the stairs. The owners of the coffee shop beat this very interestingly – so that the women would not drag along with the strollers on the steps, they would make a special “intercom” with a menu in the form of a banner. That is, moms just drive up to the intercom, make an order and that’s it. Like a poppy drive 🙂
So, without a chip, you risk simply being lost against the rest of the small businesses.
Business plan
As a rule, half of those who want to open a coffee shop at this stage merge – because then you need to put a lot of effort and no less time. Therefore, we advise you to gain strength, be prepared for problems and move forward.
A business plan for a coffee shop must be. And have at least basic points:
Market analysis
Walk through future competitors – what do they sell? How do you behave? What is the difference?
Marketing program
To attract customers, you need to find them. Decide what will be more effective: offline or online advertising? Who is your ideal customer?
Process description
“How will customer service go? How should a barista behave? What is the recipe for drinks? How to record raw materials? ”- and this list is only the tip of the iceberg.
Tip : If you are not good at compiling those cards, do not skimp on a good barista who will be a master of his craft and will help you get into the topic.
Budget for opening a cafe
Perhaps this is the key point of the entire business plan. Thoroughly consider each process in production, and calculate how much money is needed for this?
Cafe Development Strategy
How fast do you want to pay off? What should be a coffee shop after opening? And in a year? What steps should be taken to do this?
Documents for opening a cafe
Mandatory documents for opening a coffee shop in 2018:
- permission to open from the city administration
- permission to place outdoor advertising
- conclusion from the sanitary and epidemiological station that the institution meets all the requirements
- documents that certify that everything is agreed with the fire inspection
- license to sell alcohol if it will
- coordination with the police (place for panic button)
When you have already completed these points, it is worth starting to implement your plans.
Implementation
Work on invisible tasks is over, there are still a lot of difficult tasks, but the Rubicon has already been completed.
Premises and equipment for cafes
The premises for a coffee shop in Kiev are not easy to find. Decide on geolocation and budget. At the same time, keep in mind that at the same cost, the premises can be completely different – it can be a lot of space in a sleeping area, or it can be a “kiosk” near the metro.
If everything is more or less clear with the room, then things are different with the equipment. After all, you can buy equipment for a coffee shop – both new and used. But when buying equipment “with hands” you need to be prepared for unexpected problems. And you can also rent everything – sometimes landlords offer this service.
Staff and training
There is no point in talking about how important it is to be responsible for the selection of personnel for a coffee shop. Of course, you should not stint, and hire a good barista – who will not only make good coffee, but also teach – not only less experienced employees, but also you.
The number of employees should be based on the workload of the institution. We recommend hiring wagons – people who can do everything: bake croissants and make delicious coffee.
Work organization
Before starting the workflow, describe for yourself all the processes that will take place in the coffee shop. In addition to harvesting, brewing, harvesting, there are a bunch of processes. For example, how to keep records of raw materials in a warehouse, count labor hours for each employee, and so on.
Most likely, you didn’t even think about it. But such things will help to avoid many mistakes at the start and optimize the work of the coffee shop in the future.
For example, our software will help to monitor not only these things. The POS system for the coffee shop will help automate most of the processes in the enterprise. For example, going on business, it will be possible to track orders, balances and profits in real time.
If you don’t know if the business needs it or not, just try our free trial period. Or consult with our staff – they are always happy to help.
It is worth mentioning about the franchise – it’s much easier to open an institution by buying a franchise. At least the fact that you will be people who have already passed all this and will help to cope with all the difficulties even at the stage of their inception.
Having studied all these points in detail, you can avoid the typical (and not so) mistakes that all beginners encounter. Therefore, we hope that these materials will help you.
Bonus
If you still want to be a pioneer, we will throw some non-standard ideas for opening a coffee shop:
Feel free to invite inclusive people to work.
After all, they are no different from ordinary people. And social responsibility has never been something shameful.
Animal in the coffee house
Seals. Hamsters. Pigs. Birds – living creatures in a cafe will not only give an atmosphere to the establishment, but will also attract fans of such decisions.
Self-Service Coffee Shop
There will also be barista in your cafe – but they will not cook as much as helping guests prepare drinks. This will help attract non-standard fans – after all, everyone will be able to show their creativity. And the best drinks can be made branded.
Continuing Social Responsibility
Exchange buns (coffee, tea, rolls) for plastic, paper or batteries.
Cool style restaurant
A coffee shop with robots, superheroes, barbies, characters of cult creations – will cover a wide audience.
Successful sales and good customers!