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Permalink Reply by nick placakis on January 23, 2014 at 3:21pm

Where in nj are you planning to open.

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Permalink Reply by John P on January 23, 2014 at 6:25pm

Tom,

Based on your post, I do not think you are ready to open. First, Why would you open if you weren't going to be profitable? And second, if you don't know enough about the machine you have or what grinders are good or not then it's easy to see why you question your ability to be profitable.

I personally would not use that machine in a commercial setting. It will work, but it's not going to give you consistently good espresso. But that is not where your problem lies. Psychologically you don't believe in your ability to succeed. And maybe that's because you are smart enough to know that as of right now, you are ill-prepared.

Opening a coffee shop is all about the preparation. It's about knowing the details, about the coffee part, and about the business part. It's about knowing how and why you will be profitable. 

I don't know how much time you have for build out before you have to start paying rent, or if you have a space already leased or owned, but I would advise you to use all of your time gaining expertise and knowledge for yourself. Certainly you can find some answers here, but this is the beginning. If you are not willing to do a bit of leg work, jump through all the necessary hoops and find your own answers and know why they are the right answers, then you are not ready to open a business.

All we can offer are words. You have to have the foresight and fortitude to do it on your own. Put the the work. Put in the time. This will give you the best chance of success.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Carleo on January 27, 2014 at 10:31am

Clifton.
 
nick placakis said:

Where in nj are you planning to open.

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Permalink Reply by Benjamin on March 12, 2014 at 3:37pm

Hey Tom,

We are a coffee roaster in New Jersey. We work with Compak grinders for espresso and Mahlkonig, Baratza, Bunn/Fetco and Ditting for espresso, drip, and bulk grinding. If you're interested in wholesale pricing, send me a message: ben [at] oqcoffee [dot] com If you're interested in purchasing a new or refurb espresso machine, we can work with you on price too.

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