* Buy an existing coffeehouse; or
* Start a brand new coffee shop from scratch.

It is absolutely critical that you discuss each option with your accountant and as you can expect there are advantages and disadvantages with each.

Existing coffee shop:

The obvious advantage of buying an existing coffee shop is that it should be an established, successful business. Also, you won’t need to spend as much money fitting the store out, as you would in a start-up business and it is as close to a turnkey business as you can get. On the other hand, if you buy an existing business, you may be buying the problems of the outgoing business owner, for instance increased rent and overheads, a disappointing bottom line, etc. Of course though, you can minimize the risk by carefully considering the business and its full financials with your lawyer and accountant’s expert advice and direction.

Start-up business:

If you start your business from scratch, you can fit your space out as you like from day one. You are completely designing your store from scratch. On the other hand, start-up businesses are riskier because you don’t have a proven track record in the business as you have created it at that location, and it costs a lot more to start a brand new business as opposed to buying an existing one.

Be sure to thoroughly do your homework and research whenever you are considering an existing or start-up business – and remember to enlist a great accountant and lawyer to help you make the right decision.

Chances are you will probably require funding from an outside source to get your coffeehouse business off the ground. There aren’t too many people around who can fund a business on their own!

To secure the finance you need to turn your coffee shop dream into a reality, you’ll need a business plan. After all, the financial institution you hope will loan you money needs to know that you have a great business concept that is viable.

Even if you are fortunate enough to fund your own business, you will need a business plan!

You’ve probably heard of the term, “Fail to plan, plan to fail” right? Basically it means that failure is highly likely if you do not plan your business.

You need to know exactly where you want to take your business, and you need to come up with strategies to help you achieve those goals.

Your business plan will take into consideration absolutely everything: your mission statement, your market position, your finances, your sales projections, your marketing and advertising and your future plans – absolutely everything!

So, take some time to plan and avoid expense and stress in the long term.

Trace Beaney has collaborated on a guide to setting up a coffee shop, based on coffee shop owner Don Clarke’s years of experience in the industry. The guide has been reviewed by Cafe Culture Magazine. You can read this review at: http://www.howtosetupacoffeeshop.co.uk/review.htm

Your Free Top 10 Tips can be downloaded from the website, together with a copy of the current newsletter.

Firstly, Location. It is imperative that you decide on a strategic location for your Internet Cafe. I recommend an area where a sizable crowd pass by on a regular basis; close to a school or a heavily populated residential area is best. As a pro gamer, I would like to find my preferred cafe close to a school exit so finding it will be easy. Placing it close to some eateries or “carinderia” is helpful (discard this if you plan to serve “real” food to your clients, see bottom for further details). Most pro gamers would want to eat at a place just outside or near their Internet Cafe.

Next, make up your mind as to how many computers you want. My guess would be around 15-20 for beginners. You might also want to put in fewer weighing in your cafe’s space and starting capital. More personal computers may translate to higher income; which can be assured if are the only café owner in a residential/commercial area for a few blocks.

Computer Specifications. Being a gamer myself, I would like to play without the annoyances of lag or slow start up. Every second matters when you play MMORPG’s, especially during guild wars or other vital regular events. I would recommend on going for the most recent specs, to give you an advantage on other internet cafes. High-quality specifications allow you a bit of breathing phase before you would need the next upgrade. Owning a technology receptive business means that in the succeeding months, a brand new hardware would be released to make yours the not-so-new in the line. So, investing on those well performing hardware are really a gain.

On the other hand, if you intend on renting your computers to a market made up of students who only want to type their projects, work on the internet, and the like, you can go for basic hardware.

Please remember that the key in this sort of business is decent service. You must have your clients keep returning for more. Maintain your computers by keeping them up to date with first-class computer specs. At present, having a dual core processor is ideal. Along with respectable RAM (1Gb to 2Gb is best), and a high performance video card of 256Mb-512Mb will make a good rentable computer. You could do without an optical drive and a floppy disc drive (which already appear to be outdated with the launching of USB mass storage devices). You can have a CD/DVD writer combo on the server so CD’s can be regulated and monitored before they are used. In addition, you can also add cd/dvd-burning to your list of services.

Next in line are good cafe softwares. You can choose free cafe management software like HandyCafe. They permit the administrator to take control of the internet cafe via functions only available to the server. You can limit the rental time for each client and regulate the bandwidth when heavy downloading affects the entire network. Cafe management softwares often have billing functions that automatically calculate what you should charge your customers. This is a nice feature to use particularly if you want to manage the cafe by yourself.

Food. Most gamers spend less time eating whenever they go online. It is difficult to break the concentration of a playing pro gamer. However, they are people, and people do eat. Whenever they feel the urge to revitalize, you can offer them quick preparation food like instant noodles. But, if you wish to enhance your Internet Café’s income scheme, you can offer “real” food to your customers. This would mean that they won’t have to go look for a restaurant and leave your cafe, thus remain in it while on their favorite games.

Comfortable chairs. I, for one, spend most of my time in from of my laptop or PC. I want to feel snug and comfy in my seat. Long hours in an uncomfortable chair can be exhausting. Consequently, I believe it vital that next to good service, customer comfort ought to be taken into account.

Games and Wordprocessors. After you have everything ready, you can ask your technician, or if you are capable yourself, install all the games and word processing applications on the computers. You opt for OpenOffice applications in place of Microsoft Office if you have a strict budget. Purchasing the licenses for these applications can be very pricey, particularly their operating systems.

I hope you find my guide to putting up your own Internet Cafe useful.

Please check out my blog, http://www.mobileexpressions.blogspot.com for more information on the subject.

Coffee shops are a good investment just like any other food product is. Undoubtedly the most important aspect of setting up a coffee shop (like any normal business) is deciding on a location. It really depends on your preference but if you ask me, you would want your coffee shop to be around people who take the same path on an everyday basis or around college campuses. Why there? People on the go usually don’t have time to brew coffee anymore, if you’re there, they turn to you for their everyday fix. Coffee shops around schools seem is a good idea because students need that little quiet place to study. Libraries don’t allow drinks and food and most of these students would need pick-me-uppers to get through their studies. It’s simple. It’s logical.

Get your business plan straight. It does not cost much to actually start a coffee business if you would stick to basics and drop gourmet coffee. Leave the fancy coffee to the big players, work on your niche. Offer something unique and make names for your coffee. Know how much goes to production, to services and to lease if you’re renting out the place. It is important to see where your money goes and how it comes back to you (and to make sure it comes back).

Do not hold back on equipment. It is of great importance that you have good, functioning equipment if you’re going to run a coffee shop.

Here’s a neat trick – hire one professional barista and then make him train the other less-experienced ones. You’d be saving a lot in cost.

Starting a coffee shop business is not as hard as it looks. Like in any other business ventures, you need to cover the basics first. Get a credible supplier for coffee beans and other ingredients, get good equipment, get efficient manpower and make sure you have a good location. To further entice customers you can join in the campaign that promotes coffee as an excellent source of antioxidants. Bank on the fact that coffee does not only keep you up in the morning, it has also been linked to a lot of health benefits, including protection against liver and colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease, according to some recently published studies.

Health buffs would be all over that but of course they know that already so aside from the health benefits, another angle to consider is the kind of warm environment that your place offers. It’s the secret of coffee shops. The ambiance it offers makes people go back.

Kristel Nicole Eniego is part of VONCORE’s creative writing team. If you want to learn more about call centers in the Philippines or want to find out about outsourcing companies in Asia you can check her profile and give her a message.

A market analysis is a study of the market area and of probable future patterns. It should include the current state of the market, and the nature and extent of competition. The purpose of the analysis is to make it possible to develop more accurate, that is, more fact-based sales forecasts. The method is to identify the pattern or trend of sales over the past and to use this information to project or estimate sales for the period ahead.

Another important issue is how much it costs in selling effort to produce a given volume of sales. It involves two types of costs: advertising costs, and salaries and wages paid for selling. If the business requires sales-people in the field, as a manufacturer might, information on reimbursable travel expenses should be included.

A study of the competition should be included in any market analysis. The competition may be local and well defined, or quite generalized, depending on the nature of the business and of the market. Trade associations and other data-gathering agencies, both governmental and non-governmental, are sometimes helpful in this area. A good deal of the information about competition, such as estimated sales, pricing policies, advertising and promotional costs , services offered, performance of sales personnel, must come from direct investigation, business by business.

Of interest also are whether there are businesses entering and leaving the competition recently, and changes in the competitive structure through product mix or services offered. If there is a lot of flux in the market, we need to look into the causes, and whether they are favorable to our entry.

When evaluating a location, be sure to investigate whether there any plans for proposed changes that may have an adverse effect on the future of the business. Urban revitalization programs, changes in highways and streets, flood-control programs, changes in zoning ordinances, could all severely impact what looks today like a favorable location.

The number of people within the market area and the amount of disposable income they have are important market factors. For many kinds of businesses, the total population is less important than certain segments of the population. A business selling hearing aids, for example, will be interested only in persons who have hearing difficulties, which would generally imply an older demographic.

General population figures are obtained from Federal, State, and local government sources. The Federal census gives not only total population figures but also breakdowns that are useful in many business situations. For most of the larger cities, census figures are further classified by sections within the city, called census tracts, on the basis of certain population and economic characteristics.

Business population figures may be available from numerous sources. The Yellow Pages of the telephone directory and the city directory are local sources that are immediately available. Chambers of commerce, trade associations, and State and Federal government agencies can often be helpful.

Many trade associations report the results of research on consumer expenditures. Other sources of data on income include planning commission offices, employment offices, and utility companies. Many newspapers research and report on building permits and demographic trends, especially in newly developed areas.

A much broader yet vital part of the market analysis has to do with what might be called the general state of the market, that is, overall economic conditions of the market area and of the country. These may be widespread movements such as national cycles of prosperity and less favorable times, or they may be purely local conditions.

Perhaps the prospective entrepreneur favors a particular area, near home for example, and is merely looking for a specific location. It can still be very useful to investigate a couple of other areas, in case the opportunity in the favored area is particularly less than in other neighborhoods. The possibility must always be recognized that the nature and /or direction of the industry, or the competitive situation may prove unfavorable in all the areas investigated.

Options then are to wait for conditions to become more favorable, or to “cast a wider net” geographically or in terms of business niche chosen. In any case, finding out at the analysis stage makes it much easier to optimize the opportunity chosen.

John B. Vinturella, Ph.D. has almost 40 years experience as a management and strategic consultant, entrepreneur, author, and college professor. For 20 of those years, Dr. Vinturella was owner/president of a distribution company that he founded. He is a principal in business opportunity sites jbv.com and muddledconcept.com, and maintains business and political blogs.

There are many things that make up a successful business, when it comes to operating a coffee cart. Having the right equipment is needed, as well as high quality coffee and the ability to serve your customers with convenience. However, all of those things combined are not as important as one single factor, that will determine your success or failure.

That factor is location. The best cup of coffee in the world at the cheapest price is no advantage if nobody is aware you offer it. This means if you’re going to investigate into any coffee cart franchise business, or start your own business, you should first secure your location before spending any other money.

While this seems to make sense, most people do it the other way. They invest in the franchise opportunity or the business, and then they are left with a very unfavorable location, because they weren’t able to get the location they thought they could. It is essential that you are able to negotiate your location in advance before you even dream of doing anything else with your business.

After your figure out your location, then other things can be taken into consideration, such as how you plan to maximize the return on your investment, what type of equipment you will need, the design for your cart, what you will serve and so on.

If you’re thinking about investing in a franchise opportunity, then there are many choices available to you. When evaluating between the different franchise opportunities, there are certain things you need to take into consideration.

First, you have to know what your budget is, it and how much you have to invest. Keep in mind that you have to do more than come up with the initial capital, but also cover the franchising fee and any other ongoing fees that may be associated with the opportunity.

Second, you have to evaluate the franchisor itself. There are many franchises that offer you a so-called “turnkey solution” that is anything but. In fact, if you have any problems or need help with your marketing or training, you might find it is impossible to get ahold of them for such support. Make sure any franchise opportunity you invest in will also offer you support. They should, considering the fees they charge for the rights to the franchise.

The coffee cart business can be very lucrative and simple to run, if you do the right amount of work. Make sure to secure your location first, and then investigate the right opportunities, and you will do well.

Want to learn more about Coffee Franchises? Steven Ross has written a comprehensive set of articles on the topic at http://www.coffeefranchise101.com

Additionally there is not a lot of business to be had besides the I-40 traffic getting off the freeway for a quick bite to eat or traveling thru their town to go to the Casinos in Laughlin or near by Bull Head City, which has recreation areas and good economic growth.

How can some businesses do so well in such run-down areas? Well this discussion came up recently and one gentleman in the area did not even know of the business, yet it still does well. He stated that;

“I ran a wholesale jobber route through the territory you mentioned for 3+ years distributing to c-stores and such. Went ok not really enough mom and pops anymore which were my bread and butter. I never noticed the needles location you mentioned, sounds like a neat idea that might work but needles is such a depressed area.”

Boy you can say that again. Really depressed. They need a complete over haul there. I think part of the problem is the drug issues there, but who would want to live in CA with all the taxes and excess regulations, when you can live in NV or AZ all nearby in that tri-state areas? All the smart people left is my thought?

The oil change place is on the corner across from the Coin-Op, semi full service car wash on the weekends on the road, which goes from Needles to Bull Head City. Can’t miss it, looks somewhat new 3-4 years I guess?

Why do some business succeed like a desert flower in such challenging economic regions? Well it appears to be due to the fact that this business is a family run business; the wife runs the coffee shop area and the husband the oil change bays. There are always people in line.

How do they do it? Word of mouth, customer service and perseverance and now they have built a strong business. You can too, no matter what the circumstances you can over come the odds, beat the heat and make hay. Please consider all this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Or perhaps you already own a coffee shop, and are wondering what you can do to boost sales. Or maybe you want to buy an already existing coffee business, and want to make sure that you run it right. You might even want to add a coffee angle to your existing business. Whatever your purpose, however you may want to become involved with the coffee business, you’ll most likely want to have a coffee shop business plan in place before taking the first step.

There are certain vital questions to be considered. Will it be really worth it? Will you have adequate resources to see it through till you succeed? There are hundreds of varieties of coffee and coffee-based drinks; what drinks should you make? What equipment should you buy? What kind of location should you look for? Do you go it independent, or do you get a franchise from some big player? In short, you don’t know too many things about the coffee business; where do you start? All reasons to have a Coffee Shop Business Plan in place.

First, you need to think about finance. Either you take a loan from the bank or you impress investors so they buy a stake in your business. In either case, you need to write an informed, coherent coffee shop business plan. This should include what you intend to do, how you intend to implement it, what kind of startup finances you need, what level of sales you’re looking at, and how you plan to pay the (private or institutional) investors back. For a drive-thru, you should need something between $40,000 and $150,000. for a full-fledged coffee shop, however, it could be anything between $60,000 and $350,000, depending on your scale of operation.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

To read a complete copy of this article go to Coffee Shop Business Plan and for other business articles go to Small Business Plans.

But before you collect your coffee maker and take out a lease on a quaint corner retail spot, you may want to take a moment to consider what it really takes to start a successful coffee shop.

Of course, the first requirement for a potential coffee shop owner is to have the passion for coffee. Sure, any top graduate from a business school who has more passion for business than coffee can put up a coffee shop, but it is often the personal touch of a coffee fanatic that can spell the difference among customers.

It is important to remember, however, that a coffee shop business does not run on passion alone. It seems that a best shop owner is one who is both passionate over coffee and a hardy dose of business acumen. One critical step, before you begin, is to have a solid and well thought out business plan.

A plan will help you clearly chart your business’s profitability for you and your investor. It will also explain why you want to have your own shop and where you want to go. Your plan will also help identify your possible market and their needs. A good business plan should be extremely thorough. Remember you may need financial assistance to fund inventory, equipment and marketing. And, if you can’t convince the bank why you need a loan and how you are going to pay for it, your coffee shop business will be toast from the beginning.

Once your business plan is completed, you need to turn from strategy and financial issues to functional aesthetic considerations. What are you going to do with all that money when you have no idea what a coffee shop should look like? A coffee shop can’t just be any place or any room. At this point, it’s a great idea to secure the help of an architect or someone with restaurant design on your team. Without such an expert on your side, you may have to study and think up the physical placement of your furniture and equipment yourself. You should consider such things as counter placement, dimensions and space allotment for your equipment. It may help to do some research and to observe successful coffee.

The next step after securing the financial and physical aspect of your coffee shop business is to kick your lust for coffee “up a notch”. Don’t be an absentee owner. Get yourself elbow deep into the details of everything about coffee. As the resident connoisseur you shouldn’t just love the taste of coffee; you should also be an expert in coffee beans, roasting recipes, and unique coffee products. Your diligence will rub off on your employees and attract customers in droves.

The road to the opening and success of your coffee shop is not an easy one. However, with careful planning, a can-do attitude, and most of all – your passion, the road to success can be an enjoyable and prosperous one.

Stan “The Ideas Man” Smith is the author of the popular “Billion Dollar Marketing Secret” eReports and a passionate devotee to the”Glory of the Bean”. Check out his directory of local coffee shops at http://www.localjava.org

Of course this type of sit down coffee shop isn’t going to offer you 100 different flavors for your coffee or latte. Instead they are going to offer you basic coffee but that has been made with the finest ingredients. This is a concept that sits better with customers than one might think. Coffee has been loved by people for decades, even before all of the other options were introduced.

Some of them don’t serve cooked meals, but rather deli style of sandwiches. They can also be a part of a nice bakery. Sweets always seem to go very well with coffee no matter what time of day it is. You may need to try out a couple of these different coffee shops to determine which environment you feel the most comfortable in.

These days it seems like most coffee shops can be very busy and people aren’t feeling personally recognized. Instead of being stuck in a long line you can come in, sit down, and enjoy whatever you want. No one is going to be rushing out the door while you try to drink your coffee and read the newspaper. You can feel free to sit down with your friends and talk while you have a couple of cups.

The personal service that you will find in most of these types of businesses keep people coming back. They love being greeted by name from a friendly waitress. They also know the coffee is going to taste great and the food they may order will be delicious too. These are often independently owned businesses that don’t get recognized by everyone.

There are plenty of customers out there that prefer this type of coffee shop. Yet they find they are hard to locate. Big name chain coffee shops keep on cropping up though. This is a better option than having to stand in line to get your drink and then fighting the crowd to get back out the door.

It does take paying attention to details in order to do well running this type of coffee shop though. Yet you may find it to be more rewarding for you than some other options. It can be a wonderful experience to know you are taking care of the needs of those that really like what your type of business has to offer them.

You can offer a different type of coffee shop that will appeal to customers. One that allows them to sit down and relax while they enjoy great tasting coffee. One that offers plenty of affordable options for them to choose from. Many of these old fashioned business practices can really build you a loyal base of customers.

Karyn Lewis is passionate about great coffee. If you are thinking of opening a coffee shop, and avoiding the common mistakes new owners make, you can read more at her recommended at her coffee business website.

You will have more flexibility for your coffee shop if you have the money you need up front. However, the reality of it is that most of us will have to approach a lender for some type of loan. They are going to take a close look at your ideas for your coffee shop. Make sure the information that you provide them will imply that you have really looked into all the scenarios of this business. The more bases you can cover the more credible you will become.

It can be scary to move forward with plans for a coffee shop with such grim pieces of information being offered to you. Yet you can use all of this information to your advantage. Too many people have found themselves suffering from poor choices with their coffee shop. The biggest problem was that they didn’t realize they had a lack of knowledge before they moved forward.

Too many coffee shops spend all they have to get things in place for the business. They have nothing left to promote it though. They depend on people to just wonder in and discover it. You have to have some money available for various forms of advertising. This will make people curious about your coffee shop. It will encourage them to check it out for themselves.

The location of any business is vital to the success of it. You may find a better deal on a different location, but is it going to help you be successful? Take your time to really find a quality location. Sometimes you will have to invest in having the coffee shop built from the ground up in order to ensure it is a good place.

You don’t have to spend a fortune on the decor for your coffee shop, but be creative. You want it to be someplace people really feel invited into. They should be able to relax and enjoy the atmosphere. For many people that visit coffee shops, this is a vital piece of the experience. If you don’t offer it, they will get their products some place else.

The menu is often an issue that needs to be addressed for a coffee shop. You will likely have a big board to place all the products offered on. Don’t give them so many that it is ridiculous to keep the supplies for them. You also don’t want your employees to feel overwhelmed by all they have to learn. Make sure you provide good descriptions of the products as not everyone will recognize what they are just by the name.

You can learn a great deal about the common problems with coffee shops. Use it to eliminate such troubles for your own business. It is much easier and cost effective to learn from the mistakes of others than to make them yourself. Repeating these mistakes isn’t something that needs to happen though. Do all you can to make sure your coffee shop is successful no matter how large or small it is.

Karyn Lewis writes about the ups and downs of the coffee shop business. Avoid the rookie mistakes many new operators make when they buy a coffee shop and read more coffee related articles at her site.