New to the business

[mvfdcowboy]

[h=2][/h]

Hello everyone,

I am looking into the next phase of my life, and have found a possible enterprise with a small town Wisconsin coffee shop. It looks to be something that my wife can operate until I return home in a couple of years.

I have been reading some of the posts on the forums, and it has raised a few questions. Most I have found answers for, but one seems to elude me.

Shop traffic. I understand location plays a huge role in the amount of customers through the door, and given the current location and surrounding area, this will be more of a gathering place for middle age to elderly people during the typical business hours, with high flow commuter traffic in the early (0400-0700) morning hours.

Now looking at what my mainstay customer base is, how do you effectively make money of off the town gossips/ loungers during the slow parts of the day? Sell buy the pot/ carafe? New cup every time? I am not sure that will go over very well, and word of mouth is everything in my area.

Please don't get me wrong, I like the small town atmosphere, the (customer) company, and iced coffee to the kids in the afternoon (school is just down the street) will have the mid afternoon ok. Our hours of operation will be 0400-1600 (4am-4pm) Mon-Sat, and 0700-1200 on Sundays.

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,​

 

[Corvuscoffee]

In my experience with the coffee shop world, there is an additional way to look at this. According to the industry surveys, you are going to be making the majority of your profit between 4am and 11am. The rest of the day is just going to be slower. Besides from different ways to make money during this time in the evenings when you will be slower, which varies from shop to shop, you also need to look at the fact that you are essentially going to be paying rent for this time period regardless of whether you will be open. If your income is going to outweigh the expense of having the doors open, it can be beneficial for you to keep the shop open. Additionally, I'm of the opinion that you will never establish yourself as a late afternoon hangout unless you are open to begin with during that time, even if business is a little slower at first.Food for thought hopefully, only based on my experience!Good luck with the new venture and keep it artisan!Phil

 

[Biznerdjm]

I think the best way NOW to go about a coffee shop is to have a hybrid approach. You should be selling both online and offline if you plan to make some serious cash. If you open a coffee shop in a small area, and you can integrate social media into your business so that everyone is talking online about how good your shop is you'll make a ton. I helped a client out a while back get his shoe repair business off the ground, with using social media and he took off because everyone even older are now moving online, so you've got to move with them. I know there is no way to sella cup of coffee online, but you can sell a e-book on how to make your coffee or recipe book or give coupons to come to your store. Whatever it is, you gotta integrate the online world. Hope this helps