Advice Needed: Starting Out

[CoffeeQueen86]

Does anyone have any advice for me? I dream of opening my own shop. My first step is taking a few business classes to learn how to put together a business plan.

Should I start small? Perhaps a kiosk or a small drive thru?

Are there any coffee shop owners who have any advice on what you know now that you wish you knew when starting out?

Anything will help! 

 

[PinkRose]

Hello "CoffeeQueen86"

Welcome to the Coffee Forums website. You will find a lot of useful information here.

We have a handy Search feature that's up at the right corner of your screen. You can type your particular topic into the box and do a search of the forum topic areas. We have had many discussions regarding how to get started, and many long-time members have written well thought out responses to questions similar to yours.

There are a lot of books available that can help you start off in the right direction. I bought these two books many years ago and found them helpful.

Here are new updated versions of them:

Start & Run A Coffee Bar (Start and Run A): Tom Matzen, Marybeth Harrison: 9781770400351: Amazon.com: Books

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idio...d_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=16SZDG0HXS2X506WYWTP

By all means, take the business classes and give this dream a lot of thought. Also, I hope you've been saving your pennies, because you're going to need a tons of them to get your dream up and running!

Best wishes,
Rose

 

[Musicphan]

Hi highly recommend Kaufmann's Fasttrac New Venture program ...

FastTrac^® NewVenture? - Kauffman FastTrac

 

[CoffeeQueen86]

Thank you for the information!

 

[chast]

It is never mentioned enough when starting a new business about water quality. You could have the best roast but if your water tastes terrible so will your coffee.

 

[topher]

It's all about the water. ..sorry couldn't help myself.

 

[CoffeeQueen86]

Good to know!

 

[slurp]

Does anyone have any advice for me? I dream of opening my own shop. My first step is taking a few business classes to learn how to put together a business plan.

Should I start small? Perhaps a kiosk or a small drive thru?

Are there any coffee shop owners who have any advice on what you know now that you wish you knew when starting out?

Anything will help! 

Being a business owner is a entire breed of people to ourself. No matter what size shop you will need to:

work half days, meaning half of the day 6am - 8pm or more
Deal with people including customers, employees and vendors is a separate skill in its self
You may never give up no matter how bad of a day your having
Pay attention to everything from sales to every line in your property lease
Network network network


You can do it, remember like everything else you get out of it what you put into it.

 

[JoCo]

hi CoffeeQueen86,
I like your plan, let us know about your progress and experiences. Really looking forward on how your business will develop Good Lluck!
Actually I can't help you a lot with business plans and stuff, but I think some market numbers are always useful for that ;-) statista.com/topics/1670/coffeehouse-chain-market/

 

[CoffeeQueen86]

Thank you very much, I will definitely keep you posted!

 

[TheGreenJoe]

Hey CoffeeQueen86,
I'm just venturing into coffee myself. This will be my 3rd business. The other 2 I have sold. There's a few things that have helped me in business. 1. Audiobooks. I listen to at least 2 a week. Everything from sales, to marketing, to conversation. You name it. I'm always trying to learn and better my mind. 2. There is magic in the details. Excellence is doing little things, very well, day in and day out. 3. Buy low, sell high. Its the key to business. Too many times I see folks lose track of that. In order to stay a float, you must buy low (equipment, bean, rent, you name it).

Stay Hungry. Stay Humble.

 

[producerjohn]

Hey CoffeeQueen86,
I'm just venturing into coffee myself. This will be my 3rd business. The other 2 I have sold. There's a few things that have helped me in business. 1. Audiobooks. I listen to at least 2 a week. Everything from sales, to marketing, to conversation. You name it. I'm always trying to learn and better my mind. 2. There is magic in the details. Excellence is doing little things, very well, day in and day out. 3. Buy low, sell high. Its the key to business. Too many times I see folks lose track of that. In order to stay a float, you must buy low (equipment, bean, rent, you name it).

Stay Hungry. Stay Humble.

That's some good advice. Do you have some audio books that you'd recommend?