Outside of your regulars, coffee is an impulse buy because the customer saw your sign. Aside from your regulars, most folks do not set out to ‘go to the coffee shop’ like they would to a restaurant (unless you ask them to so more on this later). You need a steady stream of customers outside of your normal morning commute business.

The morning commuters are your bread and butter, the rest helps fill in the revenue holes. These are your impulse buyers. They are going to come to you mainly via your sign outside, so instead of sending out 10,000 post cards to your neighborhood residents, spend that money on a premium location, visible sign and branding your image. You’ll be glad you did:

As far as your signage, get one that is AS BIG AS POSSIBLE. That is, as allowable by your city ordinance and landlord, without being tacky! The bigger the sign is, the more visible it is.

By branding your image, you are identifying your existence within your community. Be sure you have a unique logo. If you cannot design it, get one custom made by a professional! I have seen a lot of cheap looking logos that do not help the image.

Another step in branding your image is to secure your shop’s name on the world wide web by registering the domain name. Try to get all the domain tags: .com, .net, .org, etc. This is for email, and your website. You will be glad you did because it gives you a more professional image. Remember, the more common your business name is, the more difficult getting it registered online is going to be because the name may be taken.

As for your website, get one! If you can do this on your own, more power to you here too. I know just enough to be dangerous but you can get a nice website, even with online sales capabilities done economically. Check around locally, I bet there are a few web gurus in your area.

Here is where you have the chance to have every customer take your name with them when they leave allowing others to see it. Whether you have sleeves custom printed or you use stickers and put one on each cup or protective sleeve, they are all part of your branding. Be sure the design is clear and defines your shop well.

The same goes for stamps. You can have a rubber stamp made to stamp your whole bean coffee bags with. Note that the brown Kraft paper bags are what you’d need for this. If you use the foil bags, your stickers will work well for this too.

Press releases are an inexpensive way to tell the world what you are doing. A carefully crafted press release sent to the right person at the right news outlet can be the best form of advertising for you. Just be sure that whomever is on the press release as the contact person is actually available to be contacted.

Another great form of marketing is your use of tee shirts, caps and other wearable’s. These are walking billboards for you courtesy of the folks that buy them. You can give them away if you want, it’s all good advertising. Yes, they are expensive but I consider this great advertising and an expense under that category. Better, yes if you can make up the cost on them. But put this cost into your advertising budget. See if you can get them locally, if not there are several reputable companies on the internet. You will pay about $15.00 each in the end, but again the investment is very well worth it.

Where would we be without business cards? Think about it: how many people have you run into that do not have a business card for whatever it is they do for a living? Not many that I can remember. This is your time to tell everyone you meet that you are in the coffee business. Everyone you meet should get one of these and a few to spare. Do not be shy about handing them out!

Menus are a great example of simple marketing. These are the take out type so try to keep it simple. Under four pages, printed on an 8.5″x11″ sheet of BRIGHT colored paper and folded in half is best. You can leave them at area businesses if they allow it. You can also put them on your counter by the checkout and anywhere else your customers will see and take them. You can have them copied at any copy place, or see if you can have a local copy shop do them. They should cost about .10-.15 cents each. All you need is a place to make them on a copy machine. Menus printed on a printing press will be more expensive in most cases.

Support materials are also a good way to advertise your products. You can usually get POS materials FREE from any supplier you are using. This goes for tent cards to put on your counter to full color posters to hang in your windows. Check with your distributor. If they do not keep these kinds of materials on hand, a call to the manufacturer can usually get them in your hands relatively quickly.

Vinyl lettering on your vehicle is another form of advertising, and another type of moving billboard. There are several places online that will allow you to use a particular vehicle template to design your lettering. Again, check around locally for better service and pricing. I had vehicle lettering made for my SUV: rear window and both rear side windows or under $100.00. Your vehicle will essentially become a moving billboard.

Vinyl lettering can be gotten for your store windows too, which will be similar to your vehicle lettering. Check with the same source.

Word of mouth is an excellent source of marketing. Customers can be your biggest and best marketing source for you. It can also backfire on you if you tick someone off or if a customer ends up having a bad experience at your shop, for whatever reason.

Make every effort that all customers are satisfied before they walk out of your door. You may never have the chance to do it again and everyone that that dissatisfied customer meets may be told of the unfortunate incident at your store. They may not come to your store if there was ever that chance they would.

Talk to the world online via your blog. This has got to be the best invention since a website and the internet itself started. Where else can you talk about nearly anything and let the world read it? You may just develop a following not only locally, but around the world.

Have event nights. This is great for weekends and ‘dead’ times. Earlier, I spoke about customers coming to your shop if you asked them to. This is where you have that chance. Events that will bring in business are almost plentiful. A few examples are trivia night, open mikes, singer-songwriter and other music performances, book signings and poetry. It can also be just about anything else you can think of that is of interest to others.

A word of caution about playing DVD’s and TV/cable shows: Most of these are copyright protected and although you may not think you are breaking any laws, it can be construed as such. It’s a royalty issue because you are making money on your beverages, in your establishment showing a DVD bought for ‘personal’ use. Just be careful here.

It’s been my experience that this coupon mailers are usually a waste of money in the specialty coffee industry. There are way too many coupons in most of these mailers and most recipients throw them out. I know I do.

Internet advertising is good if you can limit to advertising locally using your zip code. You can reach a captive audience on the internet. It’s relatively inexpensive because you choose what to spend on each ad and only pay per click. This is also good if you choose to sell whole beans online, however if you do not roast in-house this may be cost and inventory prohibitive.

Be careful when using coupons in any form. Coupons tend to cheapen the specialty coffee industry so I do not recommend using them. Bogo’s (buy one get one) are ok for some advertising, like opening a new coffee shop but, you will get your bargain seekers that wait for those coupons in order to patronize you. You could create more monsters!

You will also, occasionally get regulars that bring in the coupons. Even though they are as deserving of the coupon as anyone else is, your aim is to get NEW customers so the ‘coupon’ doesn’t always work. The only way I recommend a coupon is for a first time customer. You can usually get mailing addresses of new residents from your chamber of commerce and do a select, targeted mailing to the new residents only. So there are some easy, mostly economic ways to effectively advertise and market your coffee shop.

Remember, your customer service and quality will always have to be top notch but you can skimp on some advertising dollars by being crafty and conservative.

Tony DiCorpo is a coffee shop owner, operator, barista and entrepreneur. He is also a coffee shop business consultant. He has authored many articles on the specialty coffee business and a business plan package that can be found at tonys-coffee-shop-business-plan.com

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.

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

SBA – So many sources push SBA loans, SBA LOANS, SBA LOANS! Let me first say, the Small Business Administration loan program is awesome, if you can get approved. Although they have loosened up some of the requirements lately, it is still somewhat tough to get approved.

First of all, the government does not loan the money. The standard program is a bank loan though there are some micro loan programs available that use funds from capital groups. Most of these loans are normally collateral loans, and they are backed by the US government similar to HUD and FHA home loans. What that means is that if you should happen to default on the loan, the government will reimburse the bank for certain percentage of the loan amount. That is good for the bank, and good for you if you can qualify for one of these loans. They are tough to get I’ll say again, and there is a lot of paperwork to fill out and file. You also have to have good credit, very good assets, low debt to income ratio, and unencumbered collateral.

Some SBA loans can take some time to get approved and then funded, but if you are approved, they usually have up to a 7 year repayment period and a favorable interest rate. It’s best to talk to an approved SBA lender for particular details, as the bank calls the shots, the SBA only backs the loan. You can work with a local SBA office as well for details or go to www.sba.gov

Personal – This is the easiest form of financing, but less likely for most people. Try to put all you can into this venture from your own pocket without ruining your marriage, family or jeopardizing your home. If you do get financing, you will be required to pitch in at least 25% of the total you need to start your coffee shop anyway. The more you have in, the more the bank knows how serious you are and more likely they are to fund you. They also know the more you have in personally, the less likely you are to run when the times get tough.

Cash is king. Liquid assets are a great source of funding. Liquid assets are assets that can be converted to cash quickly like stock, bonds, or a 401(k). I only recommend any retirement plan as funding as a last resort. This is what I did when I ran into capital problems and could not get a loan because I was maxed out. It’s best though to leave this money alone and search out other options.

Real estate equity – This is a good source of funding if you have enough equity in your home or another piece of real estate. The interest rates are usually favorable as well.

Friends and family – if you cannot put in as much as you need to, friends and family are a good way to raise additional capital. Just be sure it’s clear how you structure the money deal: are they investors, partners, both? Are you issuing them stock in your corporation? Whatever the deal, get a contract attorney to draft the paperwork to make it legal. It will cost you about $500-1000 or so for this service and when it’s done, you will be glad you did it. Spell out all details.

I once saw a guy invest in a restaurant and the owner wanted a loan only, so they had a repayment plan but not any written contract stating what was what. The investor assumed he was now a ‘partner’, as in part owner and started showing up daily, scheduling meetings, wanting to rearrange the store and making menu change suggestions. That was not a pretty situation!

Investors – most high dollar investors want to see success before they pony up cash to someone they do not know. However, it can happen at the beginning though. You need to surround yourself with PWM: People with Money. This can also be the friends and family route. Ads online and in the paper are ok, but will most likely bring you more weirdoes than real investors.

Join local business organizations, talk with the Economic Development Corporations and chambers of commerce in the areas you are looking to open and ask them for investor referrals. A lot of investors shy away from seeding food and beverage related businesses unless it is a liquor establishment but they are out there.

Non-traditional lenders – aka private equity firms, capital groups fall into this category. Their guidelines are less stringent but again, most want existing businesses looking to expand. They also are not normally looking for food industry investments because the risk is too high and search out tech type companies that have a higher return. However, this is again certainly not the law.

Banks – traditional lenders, they are tough ones to get on your side if you have NO money to kick in or marginal to bad credit, and no collateral. Sometimes just a lot of work, a lot of talking and an awesome coffee shop business plan may just be the thing you need to get them to help you. A banker on your side that believes in you, and you have established a relationship with could be what stands between you and a funded loan. Treat them like gold.

Credit Unions – usually most do not do much in the way of business financing, but for those that do, their guidelines are slightly more relaxed than a traditional bank, like those for personal financing but you will still have to qualify.

Credit Cards – I am not recommending this option! If you do use them, be sure they are a very low interest rate, even 0% with some of the introductory rates some banks give. You may want to have back up cash in case you run into problems with one.

Be careful, however because after the intro period is over, the rate may go higher than you think if you are still carrying a balance. Also, if you are late one time, you run the risk of getting rate-jacked. That is when the credit card company jacks the interest rate to the default rate, as high as 29%! Yes it should be illegal but unfortunately for us, it is not. They can also raise the rate whenever they want regardless if you are in default or not. It’s in your agreement with them; i.e. the fine print. Once the rate is up there, it is very difficult to get it lowered again. Chase is the most famous for this. Just be careful!

Credit cards are good for purchasing however, if you get the rewards points or airline miles programs. I have several I use for purchasing and have gotten several airline tickets and thousands of dollars in gift cards for using the cards and getting points. Besides that, you can effectively buy more time for your accounts payable if you plan the billing dates correctly.

So whatever source(s) of funding you choose for starting a coffee shop, be sure you know what you are up against. Do your research and talk to the people that can help you. Stay focused, and well informed regarding your planning stages. Be sure your prospective lender gets a copy of your coffee shop business plan. All lenders will want to be sure you know what you are up against! Good luck.

Tony DiCorpo is a coffee shop owner, operator, barista and entrepreneur. He is also a coffee shop business consultant. He has authored many articles on the specialty coffee business and a business plan package that can be found at tonys-coffee-shop-business-plan.com

People ask quite often of the importance of a business plan when starting a coffee shop. My response is always a statistic: Most businesses fail within the first year due to lack of planning but coffee shops have a higher failure rate due to their nature. If you don’t have anything to plan your course by, how can you move forward? Any business vision is blurry without a written plan.

Your plan takes time to write now, but it’s designed to help you avoid costly mistakes later. The true value of creating a business plan for your endeavor is not the finished product, but in the process of writing it.

Experience has taught me that while planning to open a coffee shop, templates and generic plans will not help you much except for the typical form the plan should follow so be very careful. You need to make yours unique, and as coffee shop friendly and specific as possible.

When I wrote my original business plan I read and studied quite a few versions of them on the internet, and picked out sections I liked best. I rewrote it until I was satisfied and then gave it to my banker. He said it was the best business plan he had ever seen. So I put the plan to use and opened my coffee shop, and made lots of mistakes!

My banker loved it but he was not a small business person, nor anyone that was familiar with coffee shop operations. Had I wrote the plan realistically and pertaining specifically to a coffee shop I’d have avoided a bad location, incorrect demographics, lack of capital, and a lot of other mistakes.

You have to be realistic with your prospective numbers and in many ways you have to get creative, especially with marketing. The specialty coffee business is unlike a lot of other food service businesses because of its nature. Writing your coffee shop business plan will force you to think about your business in a way that you will always have to think about it: it’s unique.

And just because you open your shop and may be open for a year doesn’t mean you can put the plan away. You should always be tweaking it. Trust me you will always be a business person and thinking about what you can do different and new. Things change, markets change and trends change so your business has to change as well to adapt. Otherwise, you will be closed before you know it.

It bears repeating: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. It’s as simple as that! Be sure you have a specific business plan when starting a coffee shop. Your plan won’t be worth beans otherwise!

Tony DiCorpo is a coffee shop owner, operator, barista and entrepreneur. He is also a coffee shop business consultant. He has authored many articles on the specialty coffee business and a business plan package that can be found at tonys-coffee-shop-business-plan.com

When Alfred Peet died in his sleep a few weeks ago he was a sprightly 87. He passed away peacefully hopefully dreaming of coffee trees laden with ripened cherries. While most people have never heard of him, Peet is widely recognised as being the father of modern “specialty coffee” in the industry. He was a Dutchman who became an American. He had traded tea for Lipton’s in Java, lived in Sumatra, worked in the business in New Zealand before, finally, settling down (somewhat) in the University suburb of Berkeley, California. It was at Berkeley where he founded his roastery in 1966 and Peet’s Coffee was born. Alfred Peet was passionate about coffee. His roasting exploits legendary and his ability to commentate, roast and put out fires simultaneously are famous. His experiences while living in Indonesia had given him an affinity with farmers who grew coffee, as well as a thorough understanding of the origin, the place where coffee was grown. This background, combined with his love of roasting, resulted in a place where coffee was not just a cup of Java, but something exotic, living and with a story.

From Alfred Peet’s inspirational example came many of the coffee cultures that now are household names today in America and around the world- Starbucks being the most famous of these of course. The original founders of Starbucks- Baldwin, Bowker and Ziv Seigel originally leant their roasting trade from Peet, in fact Peet roasted for them in their early years. Many others in the industry in America today also passed through the Peet’s Coffee experience. In fact when Howard Schulz purchased Starbucks, Bowker and Baldwin moved across and purchased Peets Coffee- Alfred Peet retiring to a role of Coffee Mentor for the Industry as a whole.

Today most coffee drinkers, from Surabaya to San Francisco, recognise Starbucks and its logo, but the name “Alfred Peet” often draws draws blank looks.

Specialty Coffee today is at a crossroad- an important junction in deciding which direction coffee will be heading over the next decade. In the last 10 years many new comers have entered the business. It is estimated that the global coffee sector today is valued at over US$80 billion. It is no wonder that with these revenue numbers, the industry attracts a mix of business people with mixed agendas- who often see the potential bottom line rather than education and passion as being the driving force in what they do. Traditionally the specialty coffee industry has been built on the strong foundation of sharing knowledge and experience- with the supposition that by helping each other the industry will be strongly quality focused. However a number of the more recent arrivals in the market are perhaps choosing coffee for the perceived easy profits, rather than for a real passion for coffee or its heritage. As a result many of the traditional methods of exchange are not as effective, or used as frequently as they have been in the past.

Globally Coffee is in a position where consumption is beginning to slow down and opportunities to grow coffee are becoming more difficult to find in the traditional coffee consuming markets- Europe, USA, South America and Oceania. The easy answer if to look at new emerging markets- China, India, Pakistan and Indonesia are prime targets. These countries either have low coffee consumption (Indonesian’s, for instance, consume 500gm per person per year vs. Norway’s 12kg per person per year), or have reasonable consumption, but historically are tea consumers (India). The new markets are also very suggestible to western branding- in many cases the strength of branding has been shown to be more important than the product itself. This presents a number of opportunities to strong western brands and of course new local brands to emerge. However it does not necessarily equate to long-term longevity of specialty coffee in these new frontiers.

In the more mature markets, the patterns of consumption have changed markedly over the last 15-20 years. The traditional, lower quality coffee products such as instants, are being replaced by roast and ground coffee (drips, plungers etc) and of course Espresso Based Drinks (cappuccino, latte, espresso etc). Fresh roasted coffee has many advantages over the instant coffee. It is more flavoursome and more importantly has a greater link back to where it originally came from. This means that customer awareness is also on the increase- bringing into the spotlight the actual paper trail of where the coffee comes from, who picked it, what price the grower get from it etc. To consumers in countries such as New Zealand this is very important- as generally there is a linkage between quality of coffee and the return the farmer or grower gets. The correlation is the better the return to a farmers, the better the coffee will be. Higher returns means more time can be spent in the origin country looking after the crop, pruning, selective harvesting, proper intensive drying and packing/storing the coffee once it is dried.

The role the specialty coffee industry plays in all this is very important. Retail shops that source and supply only the best coffee help to sustain the industry both upstream and downstream. This means the farmers and workers will be rewarded and the consumers will have access to quality coffee, hopefully growing the business further.

Unfortunately the reverse is gradually becoming more often the norm. Cafes, coffee shops and roasters entering the market all over the world tend to look for short-term cost advantages to try and fuel their business models. To achieve this they either buy poor quality coffee, as cheap as possible or average quality coffee…likewise as cheaply as possible. Cheap coffee equates to, at the best, very average finished product. This in turn means generally a poor perception of the place selling the coffee. This would perhaps be OK if there were not so many cafes now selling poor quality coffee. As it is it means that poor quality coffee is often accepted a being the norm- hence having the result of putting people off drinking coffee.

In many ways the industry can be seen as having come almost full circle back to where it was in the early 1970’s when instant coffee and coffee sitting on hotplates for 10 hours were seen and accepted as being normal coffee. This is what pioneers like Peet worked so hard to change. It is also why the crossroads the industry now stands at are so important.

The choices are really quite simple. For coffee to evolve and grow further there needs to be education of the retailer and the customer. The global industry is built around national organisations that play a varying role in providing advice and education to those in retail or wholesale. The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and the SCAE (Specialty Coffee Association of Europe) are two such organisations. However to become members of these organisations is as simple as filling out a form and paying a fee. Often the motivation of the people joining is just to get a sticker to put on their shop door, knowledge is a secondary motivator. There is talk that membership should involve some form of basic enter test and then continuing education via the internet- which would at least help to provide tools to pass information on to those drinking the coffee.

Looking at those in the industry who do things well, is also a great way of building and planning the future for specialty coffee. In the USA quality roasters and café operators such as Allegro, Blackstump Coffee and Intelligensia have taken industry standards to a new level. Buying quality coffee, hiring quality staff and imparting quality knowledge to customers buying their morning coffee has proven very successful for these companies. So much so that it is an unquestionable part of their corporate culture. All of these companies also practice something unique- they regularly visit their growers in countries such as Indonesia, Guatemala, Kenya, Brazil and Colombia. To take this one step further, they do not just visit and spend a few nights- taking photos of a grower’s coffee trees, they maintain regular contact with those growing the coffee. This approach must be seen as the future for coffee in competitive, quality driven markets. It is true relationship coffee where the roaster becomes by default part of the farmers extended family.

Passing knowledge on to those who buy a coffee everyday, and arming them with information on what type of coffee they drink, how it is grown, who grows it, when it is picked, how it gets to them gives all power to the customer. It is a very important, yet lagging piece of the future of coffee globally. Being able to learn the differences in tastes/cupping qualities has some snob quality, but more importantly it helps the buyer to differentiate between good, average and poor coffee. Here lies the problem. A successful café founded on the principles of sustainability and true coffee culture has nothing to fear from education. A café selling poor quality coffee is unlikely, or perhaps unable, to want to educate clients about quality.

A failure to address quality, education and sustainability in the business sector (from the farmer to the retail customer) will ultimately result in consumption patterns falling further. Quality issues- especially over the counter and in the cup, need to be addressed. If not unfortunately those to suffer will be the grower or origin country, rather than the retailer. With current economics a grower in Indonesia receives only around 2-5% of the cost of the average cup sold in America or Europe. If demand drops off, the Arabica business ultimately will fall back into a cycle of commodity pricing rather than specialty pricing that many quality origins now enjoy. Competition from other beverages, and lifestyle choices, compete with the disposable income that coffee comes from.

If Alfred Peet was still alive, undoubtedly he would just carry on doing what he did well and loved, roasting coffee and sharing his knowledge and experience with anyone willing, and wanting to learn and listen- a model to all of us in the industry today.

© Alun H.G Evans, Merdeka Coffee, 2007. The writer reserves all moral rights to this article. May only be reproduced.

Alun Evans is a coffee roaster based in West Java, Indonesia. His company Merdeka Coffee, is pioneering relationship coffee with farming communities throughout the country. He can be contacted day (or caffeine fuelled night) at alun@merdekacoffee.com

They will really appreciate being able to choose the size of coffee, tea, or cappuccino that they purchase. They will also like being able to choose the types of additions they get inside of such drinks. Pay attention to what customers ask for though. There are plenty of additions and substitutions to deal with at any coffee shop.

You do have to be careful with this concept though. Keep in mind that the more selection you offer to customers, the more your employees have to learn too. You definitely don’t want them to be overwhelmed by what they have to learn in order to do their job accurately. You will find that consumers respond well to a wide menu selection when they can read what is in each drink. They will also respond well to drink specials.

You should have to decide if you want to offer foods in addition at your shop. While doing so can increase sales, it is also going to require more work on your part. There are many different types of foods you can choose to offer in your coffee shop though and they will likely sell very well.

You can offer packaged foods to your customers or homemade ones. Make sure you display what you have to offer in a way that is quite appealing. They may not have walked in wanting a slice of apple pie, but after seeing it, they are going to be very tempted to order it.

It is also possible to offer a nice lunch menu in your coffee business. Customers can come in and enjoy something light. A sandwich with a cup of soup or a bag of potato chips is a better option than visiting the local drive up window for a greasy burger and French fries. It is also going to give them the chance to sit in a nice environment to eat their lunch than trying to drive back to work and eat it at the same time.

If you prefer to keep it simple an only serve drinks at your coffee shop that is fine. You may have your hands full just taking care of that part of your coffee shop business. Maybe in the future you will be able to choose to expand your menu. It is better to start out small though if you are worried about being overwhelmed by it.

The menu offered for your coffee business is important. It needs to be enticing enough that customers will come back again and again. Some coffee shop locations get enough traffic to be profitable all day long. Others aren’t in such a prime location for that to happen. Make sure you take the time to carefully evaluate the possibilities for your particular coffee shop.

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.

1. First, it is essential that you pass on the price rises to your customers. Your suppliers are passing on their higher costs to you; if they tried to absorb the increases and keep their prices to you stable, they would go bankrupt. So, you have no alternative but to pass on the increased costs to your customers. You should bear in mind that your customers are already aware of the rising cost of food, and any increases you make to your beverages or snacks will come as no surprise to them. Remember, also, that whilst restaurants may suffer as customers give nights out a miss, a quick visit to the local coffee shop will not seem so expensive in comparison.
2. Treat the current economic environment as a challenge, a chance to beat your competition by focussing on great customer service and introducing promotions, such as one coffee for the price of two for a limited time, or by introducing new items.
3. Try and reduce wastage. This could simply be by reducing electricity bills – ensure lights are switched off in staff areas when rooms are not in use, such as stock rooms. Review settings for your air conditioning. See if you can reduce the hours worked by your staff – there may be certain times of the day or week when you do not need so many employees on the shop floor.
4. Looking at your suppliers, you may need to bargain a little more, and perhaps pay earlier in order to achieve further discounts. Perhaps switch your orders to lower priced goods with good margins.
5. You could also bring in a few cheaper lines that can be picked up at the till. For any unhappy customers, offer a 10% discount voucher to be used on their next visit. Offer discount vouchers for purchases over a certain level, say £15. You might also consider reducing slightly your top selling items in order to increase volume of sales.
6. To recover the costs on items where suppliers have increased prices, you will need to increase the amount you charge in your shop. Don’t do this all at once, introduce the higher prices on a couple of items each week. This way you should be able to maintain your margins without losing customers.
7. Ensure your premises, and your staff, are immaculate and reflect the type of service your customers cannot find anywhere else.

And remember, most coffee shop frequenters are looking for a comfortable environment and friendly staff. If you can provide that, they will be willing to pay a little extra for their coffee.

Tracey Beaney

Tracey Beaney has collaborated with former Coffee Shop Owner Don Clarke on a step by step guide to setting up a coffee shop. It has been reviewed favourably by Cafe Culture magazine, a UK trade magazine for the cafe industry. It is being translated into Turkish by a publishing company based in Istanbul, and is currently being edited for the US market. To read the review see http://www.howtosetupacoffeeshop.co.uk/review.htm

For your coffee shop opening to be a success, make no mistake about it: you will need to advertise.

One of the best, most effective ways to advertise your business is to seek some free publicity.

1. Really make an event of your launch and invite a local celebrity to come along. Create a news story, then issue a press release and send it to your local media. Local media love local stories, so be creative! Come up with something that the journalists at your local media outlets will love.

2. It’s also a good idea to try advertising on your local radio stations. As a general rule, set aside 1% of your budget for advertising if you can. Radio advertising can be quite economical. Just call your local station for an advertising fee schedule and see what they can do for you.

3. Local advertising companies with experience in restaurant and hospitality launches can also be great resources for you. Just make sure you convey your budget to them, so they can determine if they can work with you. Also be sure to get them to itemize everything they can do for you – and at what cost. You need to know what you will be getting.

Launches are exciting, so make sure you get really creative and have lots of fun when planning yours!

The launch is what you make it.

And then, perhaps you can begin to relax and drink the coffee?

Think again!

Marketing your business isn’t just something you do at launch time. It’s something you need to do continuously.

You need to be in the minds of your customers and prospective customers, so they get their coffee, tea and cake from you – not your competitors.

So – you need an ongoing approach to your marketing and advertising.

When it comes to marketing your business, you really can be as creative as you like! Here are just a few ideas to get those creative juices running:

4. Create a website so people can find you online

5. Provide printed brochures so your customers can take away and pass onto friends

6. Now and then, offer special promotions. Perhaps two coffees for the price of 1 at times of the day when you are normally not so busy.

7. Perhaps consider offering a wi-fi service to attract business people or college students to your coffee shop.

What you can do is really only limited to your imagination, so start brainstorming today!

It’s amazing how one simple – yet creative idea – can get people into your coffee shopand returning.

Most importantly, always keep up your marketing efforts! Marketing is an ongoing thing and the more marketing methods you use, the better.

Tracey Beaney has written a guide to setting up a coffee shop in collaboration with Don Clarke, a former coffee shop owner. It has been favorably reviewed by Cafe Culture, a trade magazine for the UK coffee shop industry, and also by a Turkish publishing company who are currently translating it for the Turkish market. An edited version will shortly be available for the US marke