Super Newbie

[crosswinds]

I hope someone will be able to help me. I need to find a company to lease me equipment and show me the ropes. I am a part of a church that is starting a cafe and we really want the whole nine yards. I do have a couple of teens who know how to operate the equipment they use in the shops they work in, but I know nothing. We will be hopefully opening in 2 months. If someone could send me some information, I would love it. By the way I live in the Dayton Ohio area.
Thanks,
Cheryl

 

[barefoot]

find a local roaster near you. I know in the general midwest area there are some super great ones:

The Roastery in KS
Intelligentisia in IL
Paradise Roasters in WI

a good high quality roaster can help you purchase or lease good quality equipment.

And I managed a big cafe at our church for a while and the reason it still loses money is because all the people who work there are:
1) young people
2) who don't like coffee and can't stand espresso
3) are volunteers
4) treat it like a ministry rather than a business.
5) And have little or no training

If you are charging your customers money for a product (coffee) then it is a business. What happens when you have the above four things is that everyone just goes back to buying Starbcuks becasue the quality at your cafe is terrible and they are NOT willing to trade their money for bad coffee. We stopped providing our coffee to our home church cafe because of these things. People complained to us all the time and blamed us for the bad coffee. Now the church is awash in starbucks cups and the cafe basically just sells smoothies and snacks.

remember that even though it is a church and a ministry to the body, it is still a commerce transaction and a business. So find a great roaster who is adamant about quality and provides trainng programs.