by Andrew Hetzel
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The retail specialty coffee industry is unique in that it attracts as many admirers of the product (coffee fanatics) as it does those who are looking for a lucrative business investment, probably more. It is human nature to focus on those things that are of greatest personal interest to us, and in the case of the coffee fanatic that is all things coffee! So, for the good of your business, I ask you to put down that glossy espresso machine product brochure and step away from those roasted coffee samples and the tiny single serving bottles of flavoring syrups. Let’s spend the next few moments talking about something even more important than the product, the critical business issues that will define your retail coffee business - I promise that it will be worth your time and that you can go back to the taste testing when we’re done.
A word of caution: this document is not intended to be a paint-by-numbers template to start a coffee shop. If you are one of the millions of proudly self-professed “Dummies” that requires a handbook in order to start your coffee business or learn Microsoft Windows, you had better stop reading now. There are plenty of books that cater to the DIY market segment of this industry; we aimed to do something a little different here - something a little more thought provoking for those preparing to make a serious financial or emotional investment.
With alarming frequency, my associates and I respond to questions from new and prospective coffee shop owners, such as, “what sugar free syrup tastes best?” or “should I pick the San Macaroni 5-group espresso machine or the La Spaghetti?” New entrants to the retail coffee industry tend to focus a large portion of their valuable time and resources on coffee shop gear, products, logo colors and other minutia that may affect the style or identity of a business, but in fact, do not define that business and are probably not the factors that will lead to its eventual success or failure; whereas, it may be nice and even helpful to know which synthetic concoction gives your calorie counting and diabetic consumers the best sense of real chocolate in their cafe latte, the resulting drain of your time away from the real issues may commit your new coffee shop to failure, even before your shiny new La Spaghetti is out of the packing crate.
If you have already started your new shop and recognize the example questions above as being yours, don’t worry, it’s never too late to start fixing the items addressed within this document. For all others that may be considering starting a new coffee shop but have not yet taken action, we hope that the ideas listed herein will be helpful to give you some insightful reflection on the true issues that will impact your business so that you may continue to pursue your goals with a new found sense of confidence.