"In the Beginning" there was advice and the advice

[Baugo]

Hello and Merry Christmas everyone :grin:
I am in north Indiana, and I will be starting up a Coffee House/Roaster business in about a year or less, depending on issue's that arise. I will be starting the business plan now and could use some really good advice for the plan. The first phase will be roasting in my shop on my home property. I will be getting with the local fire dept (friends) for help with installation. Then I will rent or buy a commercial property in one of the areas biggest booming commercial locations around as is nessasary. There may be an opportunity to set up around Notre Dame, but not sure as of yet. What would be more lucrative, around the collage or around the megaplex with malls restaurants etc, just about everything that you can think of? It seems that the business area would have much more traffic, but I have heard that you can't go wrong by a collage, especially ND. So basically I need advice for the biz plan and what would be the better location. Thank you in advance.

 

[Fresh Roaster]

THere is a couple I know of in Indiana that have gone from start up to a very healthy business with their shop. You might want to check them out. Espresso Gallery in Ft. Wayne. They roast their own coffee in their shop and sell more coffee than most retail outfits I've come across.

 

[ElPugDiablo]

Re: "In the Beginning" there was advice and the ad

Hello and Merry Christmas everyone :grin:
I am in north Indiana, and I will be starting up a Coffee House/Roaster business in about a year or less, depending on issue's that arise. I will be starting the business plan now and could use some really good advice for the plan. The first phase will be roasting in my shop on my home property. I will be getting with the local fire dept (friends) for help with installation. Then I will rent or buy a commercial property in one of the areas biggest booming commercial locations around as is nessasary. There may be an opportunity to set up around Notre Dame, but not sure as of yet. What would be more lucrative, around the collage or around the megaplex with malls restaurants etc, just about everything that you can think of? It seems that the business area would have much more traffic, but I have heard that you can't go wrong by a collage, especially ND. So basically I need advice for the biz plan and what would be the better location. Thank you in advance.

In my area, I'd go with college/university with 10,000+ students.

 

[Baugo]

That was my thoughts also after talking with friends. The collage would have a more even stream, as the strip would have surges. The collage would also attract the clientele that I am looking for. Now for the business plan, Can anyone point me in the right direction, maybe what should be included or anything that is not so obvious for this application? Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.

 

[Baugo]

Some new info for me to concider. We also have another collage that has been around for a long time, IU. Now they have decided to build dorms and a whole new campus look and feel, a huge expansion. There are no coffee houses in that area (that I know of, I will find out first), as around ND there are a couple that are well established. There is plenty of room in the ND area for competition, however the price per square foot will be conciderably higher then in the IU area. The IU area would be new ground, as my concept for the CHouse is one that roasts, serves, sells, cups, educates and shares the passion for coffee. On that note, any advice about offering a public cupping station? Maybe at designated times of day, with a specialized staff member to educate!! IMVHO, I am leaning towards the IU location. And as I am in the very beginning of the planning stage I could use some advice from the proffesionals that have been out there kickin butt. 8) The business that has inspired me to emulate, was http://www.coffeeroastery.com.au/OurBlog.htm Maybe not in every detail but the concept. I would love to hear thoughts on this. A very special THANK YOU!!! goes out to Andrew Hetzel who's email and paper on the subject, has got me to thinking about some issues that I overlooked, Thanks Andrew!! :grin: The artical is at : http://www.cafemakers.com/retailer-roaster.html
I also just wanted to take a moment and throw this one out as well. I want to thank each and every one of you good folks that have put in the hours of hard labor, and then decided to share your wealth of knowledge with guys like me. I wish you all a "Very Merry Christmas" and Thank you all very much!! :grin:

 

[Jackson]

Hi Baugo,

University district businesses can be very lucrative, if very well planned out. The reason most businesses fail near major collage campuses is the amount of down time during the school year when there is no school.
I live near OSU, and at OSU, the students get about 2 to 3 weeks off between each quarter, (8 to 12 weeks per year). Christmas break is almost a full month, spring break is 2 weeks, and so on. The summer quarter will have less than half of the normal attendance, and at OSU, that is from June until late September.
If you add up all the down time during the year, you may be looking at between 5 to 6 months out of the year, with little or no customers. To make matters worse, parking is usually a problem on campus. Most businesses on the main strip of campus rely on foot traffic.
You may want to look for a location that could have a drive-thru attached, to help sales during down times.
Good luck with your plans. Go Bucks!!

 

[ElPugDiablo]

Some new info for me to concider. We also have another collage that has been around for a long time, IU. Now they have decided to build dorms and a whole new campus look and feel, a huge expansion. There are no coffee houses in that area (that I know of, I will find out first), as around ND there are a couple that are well established. There is plenty of room in the ND area for competition, however the price per square foot will be conciderably higher then in the IU area. The IU area would be new ground, as my concept for the CHouse is one that roasts, serves, sells, cups, educates and shares the passion for coffee. On that note, any advice about offering a public cupping station? Maybe at designated times of day, with a specialized staff member to educate!! IMVHO, I am leaning towards the IU location. And as I am in the very beginning of the planning stage I could use some advice from the proffesionals that have been out there kickin butt. 8) The business that has inspired me to emulate, was http://www.coffeeroastery.com.au/OurBlog.htm Maybe not in every detail but the concept. I would love to hear thoughts on this. A very special THANK YOU!!! goes out to Andrew Hetzel who's email and paper on the subject, has got me to thinking about some issues that I overlooked, Thanks Andrew!! :grin: The artical is at : http://www.cafemakers.com/retailer-roaster.html
I also just wanted to take a moment and throw this one out as well. I want to thank each and every one of you good folks that have put in the hours of hard labor, and then decided to share your wealth of knowledge with guys like me. I wish you all a "Very Merry Christmas" and Thank you all very much!! :grin:

IU vs ND. If you are to build a NBA title contending team and you need a guard, would you sign Michael Jordan at his prime that will cost you a lot, or would you sign an unknown that is much cheaper?

 

[Baugo]

Great point El Thanks