It would seem that a common question I have found is “How do i go about starting my own coffee shop?” It is even a question that I have previously sought the answer to myself. To be honest it is not an easy undertaking. Depending upon what area you are looking to operate in, along with many other factor’s the answer to this question can be quite different.

So unfortunately this is not going to be the answer to the question. However what i want to do is give you a little bit of help in finding your way to the information that you can use to answer the question. But what it is going to be is a series of area’s of information that you need to be considering when you are planning your coffee shop business.

While I hate overloading information on people, I hope that this post is going to more just scratch the surface. There will be a lot of topics with a little about each and why it is something that you need to consider. So lets get started, in no particular order, as such.

Location - Initially the location is one of the more important factors, if your location is good more people are going to see you. While if you have a bad location, you will need to put much more work into marketing and promotion, which just makes it harder at the beginning.

Fit Out - The fit out of your coffee shop need not be expensive, but it needs to look professional. Even if you want a bit of a hip/funky coffee shop get things done right and give that professional/quality look to the place. A good way to see what quality looks like is to find almost any newly opened franchise coffee shop and look at how it has been finished off.

Seating - This is one of the first things you should be thinking about before your location or fit out even, while they are both important, if you cannot get enough seats in, you are going to be limiting your business. However also consider the top end as well, if you think you are likely to have maybe no more then 50 customers maximum at any time, then don’t set up a space and seating to have 200.

Menu - What type of menu do you want to offer to your customers. Just coffee and Cake, Maybe a snack menu as well, or would you be looking to offer a full restaurant menu. To some extent this choice can impact how many seats you may need. As more people will be likely to be seated for a store offering a full restaurant menu, then just coffee and cake.

Coffee Machine - In a coffee shop this is an essential item, especially having one that will be able to handle the business you may expect. While you may be tempted to save money here, it is possibly the last place you want to be backing off on having something that is good quality. A machine that will cope with the quantity, but will also be reliable is essential. The last thing you want is the coffee machine broken down, or unable to cope with the quantity of orders.

Point of Sale - It is almost becoming an essential part of a hospitality business to have some form of electronic system to take orders and track what is ordered for each table. While for a long time a paper docket system has been relied on by many businesses, this is really only practical for smaller coffee shops now, if you are expecting to have more then a few tables at a time, consider the electronic systems. This can also be good to improve accuracy in orders, and ensuring that things are not missed when customers are paying.

Cake Selection - Having a good range of cakes will be important to give variety, to your customers. The less range that you have the more chance people will not see something they like and be less likely to purchase.

Whats your drink - Just like with cakes be sure to offer a good range of drinks as well. This really covers everything, you need to offer coffee of course, made in a variety of different ways. Tea, again having at least a few flavors will be an advantage, and their is scope to offer quite wide ranges. Finally having other hot milk drinks will be a good alternative, things like hot chocolate, hot caramel, ect. Having the variety will make it easier for people to change from where they have been buying before to your new coffee shop.

Marketing - This is important to any business, but to a new business even more so. The location will help to some extent, but no matter how good your location is you still need to tell some people that you are there. This can be done in many different ways. A-Frame Signs out the front, signage on and in your premises that catches the eye, Radio Ads, Newspaper ads, handing flyers out, and many more. Also consider things like email marketing where you get customers to provide their email address so you can send them updates, the marketing after they are a customer is just as important as before.

Staff - Another one of those very important parts of your business. In most cases Staff are the face of your business, so ensuring you have staff that are going to provide a good image for your business essential. Ensuring that they are trained with good customer service skills, is essential to ensure that they are going to keep your customers happy, also ensure that they know what they are doing in regards to what they are making for the customers.

Training – In connection with your staff, you need to ensure that they are continuously being trained to maintain their level of competency.  Also to ensure that they are not letting little shortcuts take over, and that these are not being passed onto new staff.

Health regulations - One of the things that is going to change from state to state or sometimes even city to city, is the health regulations. Knowing what these are and keeping within the guidelines is something that you will really be wanting to do. This can be the deciding factor between staying open and being closed down if guidelines are not followed. While sometimes the guidelines may seem strict, they are their for a reason. The last thing you want is to become know as the dirty coffee shop, or the one where everyone gets sick.

Clearing Tables - For staff working on the floor in your coffee shop, clearing tables should be one of the top few priorities, after taking food and drinks to tables. While some people will sit at a table with the remnants of the last customer, there are many that will not. Clear tables and keep as many clear as you can, it will encourage people to see a better image of the store.

Uniform - Set and maintain a uniform for staff. This helps to show a consistent image to customers and keep a professional look about the coffee shop. Providing the uniform will be the most likely way to ensure that the staff will wear it. Ensure you do make it clear to staff what is requested of them in wearing the uniform as well, in terms of general items, such as shoes, hair, jewelery, and other accessories.

While I am sure that this is far from a complete list of considerations when you are setting up a coffee ship, it is really something that I hope will get you thinking about some of the important things. Please feel free to add additional considerations you believe may be important to the comments.

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