I have been to many coffee houses and many offer couches as a sitting option. But I notice that mostly they go unused. I think the TV show Friends offered the stereotype that couches are how people like to sit and relax in a cafe...but I think in gen
Read more…In my quest to open my own shop, I've always assumed that I would start from scratch, or maybe re-open a failed location with my own brand, style, etc. However, I'm looking at an opportunity to purchase an existing business that has been operating fo
Read more…So I'm working next week in So Cal and will be in LA and San Diego for a couple of days. Besides the usual suspects (Intilli, La Mill, Elan) do you know of any other good cafes in those areas I should stop and check out. If you happen to work in one
Read more…I'm curious about how other coffee shops utilize the internet, and how they present themselves online. What does your cafe website look like? What do you primarily focus it towards (or what are your goals with it?) What sort of upkeep do you practice
Read more…I have a small bakery and have been doing some of the bookkeeping with the assistance of a bookkeeper, but with the back and forth and me not being a total expert in quickbooks, I still feel I don't have a complete financial handle on how the cash is
Read more…Article from the Seattle Times over the weekend. Starbucks is asking for some rent reductions in some areas. I'm curious - how many people here have thought to ask to re-negotiate rents in this economy. At the world tea expo this year one of the reta
Read more…Up front I must say that I am against this concept, especially for coffee orders. I have yet to work anywhere this actually works. The person ordering has never come picked it up on time, people come in to order coffee wonder why they have to wait to
Read more…Hey all, I was just going over the numbers for the year with the Owner of the shop that I manage, and we were discussing ways to increase profitability while keeping our overhead & prices generally the same as they have been. It seems that on average
Read more…Generally speaking decaf costs more. I've contemplated a decaf price uplift but haven't implemented it yet. Most shops charge an uplift for alternative milks like Soy, how 'bout decaf?
Read more…After a year of hard work, we’ve taken our new coffee site www.ROASTe.com live. Bootstrapping in this perfect-economic-storm is tough, but our ride is just starting. Many of you provided feedback while we’ve been in a beta – thank you! Best, Eyal
Read more…We'd like to have our mocha, white mocha, caramel, and chai in liquid/sauce form for making drinks. This is especially important for blended and iced, but nice for hot drinks too. What companies make good ones? Any companies sell these in powder fo
Read more…http://www.startingabiz.com/starting-a-coffee-shop-business/ Bruce was interviewed for a podcast last week which was aired today on StartingABiz.com ... some great insight to everything involved in opening a retail coffee business. It's a well done
Read more…How many coffees (espresso, cappuccino and americano) must a trained barista be capable of making on a 3 group machine??
Read more…I live in College Station, TX and the local coffee shop that I used to frequent is unfortunately no longer in business. They were the only shop in town that offered drinkable coffee in my opinion. I really cant believe that they had to close because
Read more…I want to introduce the drip bar method to our customers but, I am concerned with how demanding this process could be. What exactly do I need to think about when operating a drip bar at our shop is my question? Press pots are a given, but I am also t
Read more…Organic Milk, how many coffee shops offer and use organic milk. How cost effective would this be or not be for a coffee shop? I haven't had a chance to mix any drinks using the organic syrup, but I was curious about those baristas out there making al
Read more…I'm opening a micro-roasting company this fall and need to find some demographic info to include in my marketing strategy. Does anyone know where I can find find some specific numbers and studies for people in the southeastern region or the us in gen
Read more…I have heard often in my research that most places could never survive selling coffee drinks alone. It's the additional menu items that bring them to a break even/profit. Thoughts on this?
Read more…In the places I work, I pick up things and I'm constantly learning. But, I want to know more and advance my skills up to a higher level. Problem is, I have never heard of a barista school here in Hawaii. Does anyone know anything about this? Anything
Read more…Hello there everyone, recently I've decided to move to a foreign country, and been thinking about opening my coffee shop elsewhere, but I'm wondering about the start up cost in the US or Canada, while in Mexico you can run a place with arround 25K to
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