1st 4 days Brand New Drive Thru Numbers

[jatkinson]

My wife and I just opened a small double drive thru 4 days ago and I thought I'd post our numbers and get feedback from some of the seasoned coffee vets. Some background on our location, we're on a 2 lane highway in Northern CA with a 40,000 car count per day. We have no competion within 20 miles each direction and are at the halfway point for commuters heading in either direction. We were at 20 cars this morning by 8am but then there was an unannounced scheduled power outage thanks to PG&E until Noon!!! We feature Portland Roasting Coffee products, bagels, muffins, smoothies, teas, italian sodas.

Sales

Saturday: 13
Sunday: 15
Monday: 21
Tuesday: 35 at 1:45pm

Based on the location it seems like we'll do well and we have plenty of signage and will be adding more. We're planning our grand reopening for St pattys day weekend with an irish twist. Anyone have any input on our numbers so far? I'm not discouraged at all by the low numbers as we are only literally 4 days in.

Thank You!!

James

 

[billagirly]

James,
I don't have a point of reference as far as your numbers go, but how have things been since your last post? Hopefully getting better all the time!

 

[jatkinson]

Numbers Update

Our numbers are increasing everyday but it's really slow from 11am to 2pm. Is that normally a slow time for everyone?

 

[billagirly]

I don't think it's a particularly busy time for anyone at least around here) unless you are offering lunch. If you're just doing drinks and pastries though, you probably shouldn't expect a big lunchtime crowd.

 

[jatkinson]

Numbers Update

So that was actually a typo for my Tuesday number. Here's how we're looking for car counts from opening day up til today:

Saturday- 13
Sunday- 15
Monday- 21
Tuesday- 27
Wednesday- 31
Thursday- 35
Today- 33 by 10am

Just curious, how do these numbers look so far for a brand new drive thru. I know every location is different but this is first time running one so I don't really have any other numbers to go by.

Thank You!!

 

[coolbeans24]

Our first day we sold $9 and could only account for $4 of it...lost a $5 bill somewhere. We're in our fifth month of operation and sales have grown 10-30% each month and still climbing.

We use the punch cards, competitive pricing and a number of other advertising methods.

Everyday we're seeing new people and converting them to regulars...it's very promising to see.

Our first full month we averaged about 40 drinks per day. Halfway into our fifth month, we're averaging 100 drinks per day. Additionally, we track the number of redeemed punch cards. My wife is present pretty much all of the time so employee theft (via double punching etc.) is not truly a concern YET! The number of "loyal customers" is climbing!

I'm catching up on some posts and see many people cautioning against freebies. In my opinion it's a great investment to get people to try you once. From that point, it's your quality product and superior service that will keep people coming back.

After all, how much does a newspaper ad cost? Let's just say $500. How many free drinks (your cost) could you give out for $500? A well-known coffee consultant gave me that advice at a CoffeeFest show and I beleive it!

Track the hell out of your business while starting up. You have to have a firm grasp on what's coming in and going out and ultimately, the audibles you might need to call to ensure you are profitable.

Good luck and stay passionate about your product/ brand!

Erik

 

[cherylann324]

Hi coolbeans24!

I loved your posts. I hope to open a cart in August, and seeing your counts and demographics is VERY reasurring. If I only sell $9 on my first day, I will now not have a heart attack!

Yes, I agree on the freebie marketing campaign. I got an idea (from this forum!) for a set of four serialized coupons for my cart, and I am getting a lot of positive feedback from everyone. In fact, the Small Business Development Center here in Asheville reviewed my plan and that was their favorite part!

One question. Have you reached your break-even point yet? I have projected a break-even point of 110 cups per day, but I used a $2.50 ticket price (conservative - I actually expect $3.50 for this area) and my costs are quite low.

Thanks!

Cheryl Ann

 

[jdandtracy]

We have been open for 10 weeks. We are averaging just over 115 customers a day now. We had 133 customers today, and sales of $615. We still have not advertised and we are still seeing growth, with new people everyday. We plan to ride the 'word of mouth' advertising plan until things flatten out, and then we will do some advertising.
One thing we did do was to sign up to be in the next Entertainment/Gold C coupon books that will be published this Fall.

Good luck and don't get discouraged by slow sales. If your product is good, they will come...

You can check out our blog, which covers our inititail concept,through construction, through our first 10 weeks of operation... Maybe there are some answers in there for problems you haven't noticed yet...
www.nemoscoffeeshop.blogspot.com

Good luck,
JD