8 Tips Before Starting a Coffee Shop Business
July 11, 2023
With how coffee has become a worldwide phenomenon, it is no wonder that many have hopped on the bandwagon in their attempt to compete with large coffee shop brands. Coffee has become one of the most popular and profitable beverages in business since it has become a staple for many people in their daily life. Many have speculated on how much the coffee market industry will rise in the upcoming years, with calculations that this industry has a 7% annual growth rate which may continue to grow as the business market keeps blooming in popularity.
While creating your own coffee shop may sound pleasant in theory but this of course does not escape the risks or challenges of entrepreneurship and business especially in the aspect of competitors in the market. In conclusion, it is a necessity to prepare, research, and calculate beforehand in preparing your coffee shop business to help ensure its success.
You might also want to read about How to Find Overseas Buyer Willing to Buy Your Products, in this case, if you are a coffee farmer and want to export your coffee beans.
Therefore, here are some tips that you need to consider in starting your own coffee shop business:
There are many things to do in order to prepare for your business,with creating a business plan is indeed one of the most important aspects of developing and mapping out your business. In writing a business plan you not only establish base information like your visions, missions, target market, potential competitors, and goals but also help connect you with potential sales and marketing strategies, map out your investments with your goals, and even reveal any weak points of your business. In general, by creating this business plan it can help map and plan out your whole business while reviewing potential problems or weaknesses beforehand and potentially find a solution.
In starting up your own business, there is no doubt that expenses need to be calculated and prepared carefully to avoid any problems arising down the line. Expenses such as buying or renting a location, renovating it, and preparing necessary equipment can be some of the things to consider in calculating the startup funds needed for your coffee shop and its operations. Other common startup expenses can also include licenses or permits, employee wages, marketing and advertising funds, utilities, storage, etc. In mapping your estimated expenses you can organize your types of expenses like for example breaking down your one-time expenses from your monthly and even daily expenses. Having additional back-up funds is also advised to cover operational costs until your business makes profit.
Basic research is always intertwined with starting a business and starting a coffee shop is no exception since acquiring knowledge on what you're investing in is a wise decision. Researching whether through experience, networking, and online/offline classes can definitely help in preparing a business in getting insight from professionals and others for creating a successful coffee shop business. There are many things to research in your coffee shop startup, from common coffee brewery questions (like how to blend your own coffee) to more specific business related questions (like what is the most effective marketing plan for coffee shops). In providing research prior to making your business, it can help you grasp basic and fundamental knowledge, anticipate what may happen, what needs to be devised beforehand, plan future steps to grow your business, and etc.
In determining the most suitable location for your coffee shop is according to a few aspects namely your target market and customers, your startup budget, the opportunity in that area, competitors location, and the condition of the location itself. There may be other aspects that determine your choice of location although these are the usual factors that affect where you search and pick a place. In choosing your coffee shop location, it is noted that it needs to be accessible for people and your target customers while being affordable for you. Further research and investigations are also needed to know the market opportunity and the number of competitors in the area since it will directly affect your sales. The condition of the location itself can be referring to the commercial space of the location, the environment surrounding the location, and the furnishing of the location itself. Since in modern day coffee shops not only require a clean and cozy place for customers to chat or comfortable enough for them to work/ hang out in the location but the environment surrounding the location also needs to look habitable as well as its indoors.
Acquiring the necessary documents are definitely important and what you need to be aware of before opening your business. Although the paperwork that you need to anticipate and prepare varies between countries and specific areas according to the regulations and state laws which may need some research to some extent. Documentations like Employee Identifications, Business License, Sign Permit, Insurance, and others may be the general permits or required documents to prepare before opening your doors.
Finding, networking and establishing suitable relations are essential in operating your business especially in choosing the perfect supplier for your coffee shop. Although careful considerations are needed in selecting the most suitable provider for the source of your coffee brew. Aspects such as the quality of the specific coffee beans or coffee grounds that they provide, the quantity of the product that the supplier can provide for you, the price and deals that you can reach with them. These aspects are to ensure the coffee that you serve is high-quality, and affordable while having some room to grow with your supplier in terms of different varieties of coffee that they can expand upon.
Developing a business of course needs sufficient manpower in order for the business to operate effectively, which in a coffee shop includes baristas and other staff (for example finance, marketing, customer service staff). In building your team with thorough product training and strong communication skills, it can go a long way in establishing positive relations with customers which may result in them coming back in the future. By hiring sufficient staff for your business, it can also help you in handling your business more effectively and efficiently in dividing workloads to avoid or prevent discord.
To wrap up your preparation for your coffee shop business, you also need to devise a marketing plan and business strategy in ensuring that your business has plans on how to reach customers consistently and strategically. This can be done by offering samples, email marketing, spreading word of mouth strategy, developing a social media for online marketing, and many other methods can be done for your marketing plan. In creating a solid marketing plan and strategy, it can help your business to stay on the radar, while helping you gain influence and awareness in the market with potential target customers.
Choose Uniair Cargo as your Logistics Partner!
When starting a business, it is worth noting that you will be heavily involved in the supply chain operations. From upstream and downstream supply chain. So, in search for a reliable and experienced logistics partner can be overwhelming. Uniair Cargo is a trusted logistics company based in Indonesia with an international network to over 40 countries in the world and has been serving business worldwide over the 33 years of our operation and still counting. Not just freight forwarding for international trade, we also provide trucking, distribution, and warehousing across Indonesian big cities. Contact us to learn more.
