Hello everyone,
Great community you have here, happy I found you
I am in the early stages of researching this business. I need a complete change of lifestyle and I believe this would be perfect for me. I currently run a small online business from home (completely unrelated to coffee). I've completely lost interest in it and believe the stress is starting to affect my health. Not that I expect running a coffee business will be stress free but I'm quite sure it wont be as bad as what i'm experiencing now. I'm also turning into a hermit, working from home and on call 24-7, it's not good at only 30 years young!
I have purchased a few books which I am currently reading through, i'm not one to rush into anything, I believe it would be about 2 years from now before I could open shop. I also don't do things by halves, if I open a specialty coffee house you can be certain it will be the best house people in my part of the world will have ever seen
I am UK based but my questions go out to anyone globally who has answers or advice. I know there are employers and employees on these forums so I would like to hear from everyone 8)
EMPLOYEES & WAGES - How much does a qualified and experienced barista demand? How many years experience would you consider a barista as 'experienced'? As I have no experience myself (although i'm about to self-teach with books) I would need to employ at least one highly experienced barista that would overlook the other newly qualified baristas. I guess this would be some sort of supervisor or head barista position, if such a position exists! How much for a 'junior' barista?
How many employees does the average coffee house employ? (and their positions)
SQUARE FOOTAGE - I would like a descent amount of seating and a (small) raised stage area for live performances. I don't want it to feel cramped, what sort of square footage would be needed? What percentage of the total area is staff only or 'behind the scenes'?
LIVE PERFORMANCES - This is something i'm very interested in. I'm not aware of anyone in my area that does this. Music is an important part of my life and I like many many different types of music. I've recently got into more chilled out music styles, acoustic guitar especially and a well played harmonica....wow (Blues Travellers
) Does anyone here put on live performances in their establishment? Are these your busiest times? I expect it would bring in a lot of customers if advertised correctly and over time your place would become THE place for live acoustic entertainment :grin: How long does the average live set last? Is it best to stick to just one performance a night? How much are the performers paid? Are they paid 100% of the amount of entrance fees? Are poetry and comedy nights popular? Are your performers all local talent or do you source nationaly?
ART - I think I read someone on here displays art by local artists in their establishment. If you've done this do you charge the artist 'rent' to display his/her art? Or take a percentage of any sales? Do you make any sales??
I'm sure some of my questions will be answered the more I read my books but it's always helpful to get opinions of those who've 'been there done (or doing!) that'.
Thanks for reading, I appreciate your time.
PS. Who here likes Jack Johnson? I've just downloaded and listened to 3 albums......VERY good 8)
Great community you have here, happy I found you

I am in the early stages of researching this business. I need a complete change of lifestyle and I believe this would be perfect for me. I currently run a small online business from home (completely unrelated to coffee). I've completely lost interest in it and believe the stress is starting to affect my health. Not that I expect running a coffee business will be stress free but I'm quite sure it wont be as bad as what i'm experiencing now. I'm also turning into a hermit, working from home and on call 24-7, it's not good at only 30 years young!
I have purchased a few books which I am currently reading through, i'm not one to rush into anything, I believe it would be about 2 years from now before I could open shop. I also don't do things by halves, if I open a specialty coffee house you can be certain it will be the best house people in my part of the world will have ever seen

EMPLOYEES & WAGES - How much does a qualified and experienced barista demand? How many years experience would you consider a barista as 'experienced'? As I have no experience myself (although i'm about to self-teach with books) I would need to employ at least one highly experienced barista that would overlook the other newly qualified baristas. I guess this would be some sort of supervisor or head barista position, if such a position exists! How much for a 'junior' barista?
How many employees does the average coffee house employ? (and their positions)
SQUARE FOOTAGE - I would like a descent amount of seating and a (small) raised stage area for live performances. I don't want it to feel cramped, what sort of square footage would be needed? What percentage of the total area is staff only or 'behind the scenes'?
LIVE PERFORMANCES - This is something i'm very interested in. I'm not aware of anyone in my area that does this. Music is an important part of my life and I like many many different types of music. I've recently got into more chilled out music styles, acoustic guitar especially and a well played harmonica....wow (Blues Travellers

ART - I think I read someone on here displays art by local artists in their establishment. If you've done this do you charge the artist 'rent' to display his/her art? Or take a percentage of any sales? Do you make any sales??
I'm sure some of my questions will be answered the more I read my books but it's always helpful to get opinions of those who've 'been there done (or doing!) that'.
Thanks for reading, I appreciate your time.
PS. Who here likes Jack Johnson? I've just downloaded and listened to 3 albums......VERY good 8)