What to learn first in the coffee Business

gingerbreadman333

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Mar 19, 2014
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I am passionate about coffee and looking for a career change. My dream is to open my own coffee shop but i have very little experience and dont know where to begin. my question is do i learn everything about coffee first ? or do l learn the business of coffee? i do understand that learning the coffee is important but most business fail due to the lack of knowledge in business.

Im planning to attend the Specialty coffee Association of America Expo in Seattle because they are offering courses on coffee and the business of coffee but which courses do i start with first ?
 

CoffeeJunky

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Most of the failed business is not just due to lack of knowledge or experiences. There are many different combination for the failed business. I know many great coffee house owners who do not have any ideas about what really good coffee is. Dont really know what the differences on types of beans to some of them never even have done cupping party. But they still own very successful coffee shop.
 

gingerbreadman333

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Mar 19, 2014
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Most of the failed business is not just due to lack of knowledge or experiences. There are many different combination for the failed business. I know many great coffee house owners who do not have any ideas about what really good coffee is. Dont really know what the differences on types of beans to some of them never even have done cupping party. But they still own very successful coffee shop.


thanks coffeejunky, so should i learn the business side first then move to the barista ?
 

PinkRose

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Feb 28, 2008
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Depending on you passion, and how much time you have after your real job, you may want to think about getting a part-time job in a coffee shop and start from the ground up. You'll earn a little extra money, and you'll learn a lot too.

Or, you may prefer to take a vacation from work and go to a barista training school for a week or so. You'd learn a lot that way too. Plus, you'd enjoy it, and it would be a good use of your vacation time and money.
 

CoffeeJunky

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Dec 7, 2012
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Depending on you passion, and how much time you have after your real job, you may want to think about getting a part-time job in a coffee shop and start from the ground up. You'll earn a little extra money, and you'll learn a lot too.

Or, you may prefer to take a vacation from work and go to a barista training school for a week or so. You'd learn a lot that way too. Plus, you'd enjoy it, and it would be a good use of your vacation time and money.


All these are great advise and I would think this will be first step toward learning about coffee. But business is different from learning. Someone can teach you how the coffee should be and what you should know about coffee. But there aren't anyone out there who can teach you how to open up a coffee business that is bullet proof.
 

John P

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Jan 5, 2007
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Discipline.

Without it, whether you start with coffee or business first, it won't matter.
It's not always about what you know, but what you are willing to do to put it into practice.
 
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