Research on Opening a Coffee Shop

[Aliya]

Barista Aliya

Hey guys!

I have been doing some training with a local barista, and things are going great! I am going to Coffee Fest in June, so I will keep you guys updated. Also, I am now officially a member of SCAA!! I will keep ya'll in the loop
~aliya

 

[Coffee Guy]

That's great keep up the good work. I look forward to working with you in the future.

 

[coffeedude00]

Our Choice

We (my wife and I) have been working with Brandie at Mudhen Espresso. She has been extremely helpful and knowledgeable! We decided to go with Mudhen because of their awesome referral program since we don't have a lot of drive thru coffee shops in this area (yet!). We expect that to be a nice supplement to our retail business. Indications from others who have purchased from them say it is a killer program. Has anyone else out there worked with them? This is a great forum.....I look forward to hanging out here Oh - Mudhen Espresso is at [removed by moderator]

Derrick

 

[Coffee Guy]

Hi coffeedude00:

Can you share us what type of assistance, training, etc. that Mudhen Espresso provided? Awesome is great, but doesn't tell us much about how they helped you.

Thanks

 

[Coffee Guy]

Hi coffeedude00:

Can you share us what type of assistance, training, etc. that Mudhen Espresso provided? Awesome is great, but doesn't tell us much about how they helped you.

Thanks

 

[coffeedude00]

more info for you

Hey Coffeeguy -

I included the website so you could see for yourself. :grin: Aside from being very friendly they have (I feel) gone out of their way to make sure all of my concerns are taken care of.

They assisted us in finding a location for our kiosk and then did the lease negotiations with the property owners, and got all of the city approvals for me (even attended the planning commission meeting!). The kiosk they are building has even been customized for the strip mall we are going in. They are helping us order all of our initial inventory and provide us with booklets of information on "how to's". They are also going to train us but in the meantime they have lots of info on what we can learn before hand -even down to accounting information.

Oh and the referral program....every person who purchases Mudhen kiosk who was referred by me, or saw my building, whatever, is considered my referral and I get 5% of the $84,500 license sale price. I talked to one building owner and he had four referrals last summer alone! So that's like $20,000 boost above and beyond his coffee sales.

Hope that helps! Off to run errands - I'll be back later!

Derrick
"the bean machine"

 

[coffeeartist]

Hello coffee aficionados. I am a full time artist specializing in one
of a kind original coffee paintings. I sell coffee art collections
and do custom and commission work for for coffee shops all over the
world. They add great vibe and conversation to the coffee shops which
are as individual and as their owners

So if you are looking for any great original coffee art at below
wholesale price, drop me an email at
color_and_texture@yahoo.com


Happy Roasting & looking forward to learning more about your shops.

 

[Sweet7]

Coffee Fest

Hi all!

Coffee Fest was great, and it was in Vegas... so that made it better :-D

Anyway, I saw a lot of great vendors... (Topher, I know you think Coffee Fest is a waste of time, but we are all not as smart as you!) and learned quite a bit.

If anyone has any questions about the convention, let me know... I have literature coming out of my ears!

Hope everyone is doing well. I am starting to look for locations this week, and will keep you all updated with my progress. I know I have been absent for a while, but I have had SO much to do!
~aliya

 

[Aliya]

Hey guys!

I have been scouting locations, and have found one GREAT location in downtown Chicago. Very heavy traffic (2 blocks from Michigan Ave, for those that know the area) and 1/2 block from the subway. There is a small 700sq. ft. Starbucks on the adjacent corner (1/4 block away)... but that is the only coffee shop for about 3-4 blocks (4 blocks is 1/2 a mile).

The location is directly across the street from an Embassy Suites, there is a Marriott around the corner. There are 4 condo/apartment buildings within 1/2 block and they are each 20+ stories high. Restaurants and parking garages are all around, including office buildings (Which would be good for the weekdays??)

The space is 2-story (upstairs/downstairs)... and each floor is 1,000 sq. ft. HUGE window (floor to ceiling) downstairs... very nice space.

The rent is around $6k/month (not negotiated yet, and pretty standard for downtown chicago... but will a coffee/dessert bar be able to sustain that rent in that area?)

I counted (and also getting pedestrian info from the city) 50+ people walking by every 5 minutes around 3pm on Saturday. Also visited the Starbucks and was there for 30 minutes... 88 people came in during that time with an average sale of $3.80.

Since I am concerned about the rent, though it is not negotiated yet, I was looking into expanding my menu and including soups.

Sorry for the long post... any advice would be greatly appreciated. Help!!!!
~aliya

 

[ElPugDiablo]

I counted (and also getting pedestrian info from the city) 50+ people walking by every 5 minutes around 3pm on Saturday. Also visited the Starbucks and was there for 30 minutes... 88 people came in during that time with an average sale of $3.80.

Aliya, you need to know more traffic patterns than just one 3Pm on one Saturday. You need to know rest of the day, and rest of the week. Not to mention summer vs. winter, rain vs. shine. If that particular Starbucks can sustain that kind of volumn for 5 hours per day, and day in and day out, it translates to over a million in revenues, a huge winner. I checked about five years ago, my WAG back then was that an average Starbucks that opened 16 hours per day did about $600,000 a year - still a very good number.

Now the question is how much business can you take away from Starbucks, plus how much business can you develop on your own?

 

[Aliya]

Hey Diablo,

Yes, I have been doing daily traffic counts at various times of the day. Still very stable numbers, but afternoon is sluggish. Thanks for your reply!!
~aliya

 

[ralphshade]

Belissimo

While I have to agree that $2500 for a week of training is steep, and not something I would recommend if that is all it covers, I would recommend Belissimo as consultants. Whoever the people were that came in to shoot the video, it is unlikely that they were from Belissimo if they made those statements. Furthermore, Bellisimo has been in business as consultants for at least 15 years, and I do not believe that they make videos for other companies. It sounds more like they were a video company or marketing group, rather than any kind of coffee consultant.

 

[CoffeeKat]

rent to sales ratio

Aliya~

You're right to be concerned about high rent in the location you're scouting, but you might be able to pull it off. This is a good rule of thumb to follow: rent and loan payments combined should not exceed 10% of gross sales. So....now you do the math. For 6k/month, gross sales should be at least $60,000 monthly. That translates to about $2,000 daily (assuming you're open 7 days a week). Divide that by the number of hours of operation to come up with an average hourly sales goal, and then try to determine if you can meet it.

The 10% figure I used comes from a great book from Bellisimo, "Achieving Success in Specialty Coffee". It's a great resource, and worth every penny in my opinion.

Good luck in your efforts. I predict success for you, because your postings indicate a willingness to do your research

 

[Aliya]

CoffeeKat~

Thanks for the feedback! I also have that book by Bellissimo and think this is a good rule of thumb... I will keep you guys updated.
~aliya

 

[Overflowing Blessings]

I, too, am considering making my coffee cafe a dream come true. These comments have been very helpful to me and have provided lots of sites to view and consider.

Ayala, where are you as far as plans to open the doors to your shop? How long have you been conducting your research? You seem to really be on the ball as far as doing your homework!

JC