With 100 million coffee drinkers in the United States alone, it’s no wonder the industry is booming. Serving quality coffees with delicious snacks in a relaxing and trendy atmosphere is the idea pioneered by Starbucks–––a hugely successful business model.
Thinking to start a coffee shop by making the best use of entrepreneurial spirit? Follow this guide to make it a success.
Learn 3 basic options for starting a coffee shop:
- Franchising
- Initial Investment Can be High
- Brand Recognition and Loyal Customer Base
- Lower risk
- Be Your Own Boss
- Buying an existing business
- Less risky – buyer already knows the process or concept works
- Profitability–buying a brand name
- Developed relationships
- Starting from scratch
- High risk
- Requires the most effort
- Most flexibility and the potential to maximize profits
1. Create a solid business plan
Whichever option a person chooses, the business plan for starting a coffee shop should include the following key factors.
Title Page––includes business information starting with the legal name
Table of Contents:
1. Executive Summary
2. Business/Industry Overview
3. Market Analysis and the Competition
4. Sales & Marketing Plan
5. Ownership and Management Plan
6. Operating Plan
7. Financial Plan
8. Appendices and Exhibits
Moreover, this document spells out exactly what the business is about, how it will be profitable, plans for growth, explores competitors, defines the customer base, and provides troubleshooting strategies (in advance) should an owner need help achieving goals.
Take help of the business consultant
Before someone dive into creating a long-form traditional business plan, we recommend seeking a professional help who can better validate the ideas. The business plan consultant helps business owners to make informed decisions, considering the market and financial factors; therefore, it would be a great idea to take help from them.
2. Find the right building
For a coffee shop business, the person needs to find the right location. It could be something centrally located like shopping malls or any other place where people gather to spend time. Besides, it’s important to check that there’s no competitor nearby.
3. Create a floor plan
A solid floor plan is essential for a coffee shop. Customers love the good ambiance and a seating area that’s comfortable. There are a few basic steps to developing a floor plan:
- Determine the area to be drawn
- Measure and draw walls and doors, and pertinent furniture so that the plan will be accurate
- Add architectural features
- Add high-quality furniture.
A designer can help produce a good floor plan but might cost the person a lot.
4. Shop around for everything
When planning to open a coffee shop, keep a list of all the things and compare prices. Before buying anything, try to get at least two price quotes for each product; use the internet to maximum advantage and look for the prices on everything from espresso machines to comfy chairs.
5. Start marketing before opening
Marketing on an opening day doesn’t excite people. The good strategy is to start marketing a few months before opening a coffee shop.
What affordable marketing options include?
- Creating a presence on social media (Facebook and Instagram) it’s free advertising.
- Dropping off free coffee to local people with a flyer that promotes the opening day.
- Doing a small direct mail campaign.
- Giving away coffee samples, before opening, at a few local events.
- Calling everyone, including the media and other influencers, to tell them about plans to open the shop.
Start with a Soft Opening
A soft launch of a coffee shop is not for the general public. And it is the opening of a business for a very few numbers of people (friends/colleagues, influencers) to test the new business services and help to make improvements.
Trust us there’s no better way to celebrate a soft opening with friends and family members who can give genuine feedback about everything. A soft launch not only gives owners a little practice run before the restaurant’s grand opening but offers other advantages too.
- Prepare the staff
- Iron out logistics of the location
- Build anticipation
- Make adjustments
By the time the coffee shop grand opening day arrives, the entrepreneur will already have a huge audience waiting for the opening.
6. Call influencers
Basically, influencers come in a variety of forms. The entrepreneur must reach out to every single blogger, social media bigshot, local celebrity, reporter, and public speaker. At this point, it is very important for an entrepreneur to get close to the influencers by throwing them a party or offering any other perks.
There are many local and regional media influencers who can take the business to the next level within a short period of time. But before reaching them out, do check the number of followers that they have on social media platform––one Instagram post from them can inspire hundreds of thousands of people to make their way to a newly established coffee shop.
7. Draw People Attention with Deals & Discounts
The promotion of a coffee shop must be inspiring that requires people to make a purchase. For example, “offer to buy one get one free drink” or “X% off on all bills over a certain amount of “get a free drink with purchase of X meal”. Remember, the goal is to impress people to visit the shop and make a purchase, so be smart when offering free meals.
Last words
After months of meticulous planning, it’s now time to open your coffee shop. The above steps would help you in making your new business successful but the most challenging part is to gain people’s hearts by offering the taste they would love to have again and again. Trust us; the coffee business can be extremely profitable if done right.
Thank you for reading!
Please share this article with others and don’t forget to follow these nifty tips to have a successful grand opening of your coffee shop.
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