7 Tips to Start a Coffee Shop

Coffee shop businesses are popular in every form, whether that be artisan, big chain brands, pop-up carts, or even just an addition to a retail store. Whatever type of coffee business you might be considering, here are 7 useful tips to get you started:

1. 1. Know your market – Obviously finding a location is one of the main requirements for starting your business. Wherever the shop is situated means that price, customer base and competition will vary. In the middle of the city, you will likely get a lot of customers, but the cost of rent will be considerably higher than in a quieter location where you may have a more niche customer market. Once you have found the perfect location, you will need to focus on exactly who will be walking in and use this to create the right atmosphere.
   2. Advertise your business – It can be a difficult task making people aware of a brand new business. However, marketing your coffee shop is key to getting customers through the door when you first open. Advertising should begin before the shop is open as you can still provide information on the products you will be selling and even some tasters so potential customers know what to expect.
   3. Keep track of all your expenditures – Make sure you shop around for everything and never impulse buy even if they are really cute looking table decorations! Instead, stick to your budget and get quotes from more than one supplier before you make a decision. It is vital you keep track of everything you purchase for the shop even if it is small, otherwise you will struggle to work out when you start to get any kind of profit back. It will be far more headache-free to stay on top of everything from the very start and be really organised with managing outgoings. Bplans gives some top tips for creating an efficient business plan.
   4. Quality is key – Price is not the only reason for shopping around. You need to ensure the products you are producing and sourcing are top quality so that you stand out among the many other coffee shops out there. If your products are consistently good, you will get people coming back and increase positive publicity simply via word of mouth.
   5. Hire the best baristas – It is all very well buying the best coffee you can find, but you also need a great team of skilled baristas who can also can provide excellent customer service while they work. As Richard Branson says “If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” Therefore, it is important you build a good relationship with your employees as they will in turn be more reliable and willing to impress.
      Another significant factor to consider is how will things be served; over the counter or table service? This has a lasting impact on the type of experience customers receive.
   6. Keeping saving – While you may have the funds to open a coffee shop, it is a really good idea to keep saving anyway. You never know what surprise expenses may arise during the process of planning, building and eventually running your new venture. Opening a coffee shop still requires a lot of planning and in the meantime, you will still have other commitments and a job that you may not want to drop so suddenly. Could you consider running the coffee shop as well as doing another job?
      It is all the more necessary to use an immediate advance for your coffee shop business if you are worried about expenses as it gives you very flexible repayment schemes; if your revenue is smaller one month, the repayment percentage does not change.
   7. Invest in growth – You have the idea, now you need to get down to logistics. As demand for your business increases you may require additional funding to grow at the rate of demand. An immediate advance for your business could be the answer in this case. As a flexible and affordable funding alternative, its perfect for small businesses that process card payments regularly. You receive an instant cash injection which you then pay back using a small, pre-agreed percentage of the money your business makes in the future, whenever a customer pays using their credit card or debit card.

Nobly can offer you further information on what to think about when planning your new business idea. You can never be too prepared when starting something new. Good luck!