mountain_rose
New member
Hello! I'm in the planning stages of opening a drive-thru only coffee kiosk in a mountain resort area. I've been reading the archives here for a few weeks now, gleaning anything I can from people who have already posted about the drive-thru business model. So rather than resurrect an old thread, I thought I'd ask my questions in this new one.
To any existing kiosk owners:
-What pitfalls did you find unexpectedly during the process?
-Was it hard to get permission from your city/county to set up the kiosk?
-Approximately how much did it cost you to open your business, from getting the initial plans and permitting to opening day?
-Did you buy or lease the space, and if you leased it, was it raw land or part of an existing business?
-If you set up shop near an existing business, like in a gas station or strip mall parking lot, how did you get utilities run to your kiosk?
-If you're a renter, do you pay a flat rent or a percentage of your net sales?
-Do you find that serving in paper cups drastically affects the quality of your product, or are you satisfied?
-How did you market yourself in the beginning, and were people generally receptive or were they leery of buying coffee from what appears to be a little shanty on the side of the road?
-How's business now? What kind of numbers are realistic with this kind of business?
-What are your hours and do you have help, or are you the sole employee as well as the proprietor?
-If you could do one thing differently, what would it be?
Any other advice you could post would be a huge help. Thank you so much for this awesome community--it's been an invaluable source of information so far.
To any existing kiosk owners:
-What pitfalls did you find unexpectedly during the process?
-Was it hard to get permission from your city/county to set up the kiosk?
-Approximately how much did it cost you to open your business, from getting the initial plans and permitting to opening day?
-Did you buy or lease the space, and if you leased it, was it raw land or part of an existing business?
-If you set up shop near an existing business, like in a gas station or strip mall parking lot, how did you get utilities run to your kiosk?
-If you're a renter, do you pay a flat rent or a percentage of your net sales?
-Do you find that serving in paper cups drastically affects the quality of your product, or are you satisfied?
-How did you market yourself in the beginning, and were people generally receptive or were they leery of buying coffee from what appears to be a little shanty on the side of the road?
-How's business now? What kind of numbers are realistic with this kind of business?
-What are your hours and do you have help, or are you the sole employee as well as the proprietor?
-If you could do one thing differently, what would it be?
Any other advice you could post would be a huge help. Thank you so much for this awesome community--it's been an invaluable source of information so far.
