Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tom Sweeney on December 28, 2010 at 9:01pm

Rocket,

I will be serving espresso & espresso drinks and possibly fruit smoothies as well, but maybe not right away for the smoothies.   I'm looking at possibly an Astoria Gloria 1 group machine, but I also have a line on a used LaSpazial "new EK" 2 group machine that I can get for a real good deal.  The specs on the Astoria say max 240 espresso's an hour, but I don't know how you could really do that.  I'm not an experienced Barista, just someone who enjoys good coffee and wants to start a business, so there will be a big learning curve, for a while.

 

Rocket said:

Couple questions; You serving espresso? How many heads on your machine?

Permalink Reply by sage on January 5, 2011 at 5:32pm

tom, best of luck with your new coffee truck venture/adventure!  i started out in '02 with a mobile unit, and with every event i mostly came away disappointed that more people didn't buy from me.  not trying to cry on anyone's parade, but in my experience it just seemed that with any venue i worked, it was impossible to get everyone's attention simply because of either being set up in not the best location, being a small trailer/kiosk, not having a coffee cup flag flying up in the air at 50'!  a train station sounds quite plausible...what area are you in?  these are commuter/subway trains?  if you can, the one piece of advice i would offer is to be able to offer your higher end priced drinks in addition to regular coffees, and additional "add-ons" as well: muffins, cookies, biscotti, etc., etc.  those add-ons can often help fill in the gaps if there is a slow day, etc.  wish you well, keep us updated!  pics?

 

sage

the coffee hound

Permalink Reply by Shadow on January 6, 2011 at 5:43am

Tom, never pay attention to the extracting capacity of any machine. That would be assuming one can grind, dose, tamp and extract every 30 seconds all day long and of course demand will never be that high for most places, not to mention the toll it would take on the equipment, boiler recovery, etc.

 

For a mobile business a GOOD 2 group should be fine as well as a decent grinder that is capable of grinding several lbs. an hour if needed. IF you grind and dose efficiently you can hope to get 120-140 double shots out of a 5 lb. bag. Of course this is dependant on dosing, minimized waste, etc.

 

I agree 100% with Sage as you just can never know what to expect customer-wise. I think if you believe you might get 50% of those passengers it is setting your sights way too high. Highly unlikely that will happen until you have been there for some time and are established. It's good to dream big, but that creates more of a letdown when things don't go the way you plan...

Permalink Reply by Shadow on January 6, 2011 at 5:57am

It's good that you have done some homework on this and of course ask questions on things you are unsure of. Take into consideration seasonal changes (which influences the way people spend/travel), holidays, weather patterns, etc.

 

If possible have some help during those peak times. That person can assist by taking orders/money while you do the drink slinging. We have been at events in which it took 3 of us to keep up with demand. My wife taking up to 10-12 orders/money at one time, my daughter running the smoothie station and me running the 2 group Aurelia and doing most of the drinks except for the smoothies. We've had times where it was non-stop for 3.5 hrs. making drinks as fast as possible one after another, using 100 lbs. of ice in that 3.5 hr. time frame, 10-12 gallons of milk, etc. On a positive note we were doing about $100 per hr, which is rather nice. BTW it's good to have them order/pay before you make the drink because they will be sure to stick around a bit instead of simply walking away. Also, taking multiple orders can minimize wasted time/effort when steaming milk, mixing large batches of smoothies, etc. Will add more as I think of it....

Permalink Reply by Tom Sweeney on January 6, 2011 at 10:06am

sage said:

tom, best of luck with your new coffee truck venture/adventure!  a train station sounds quite plausible...what area are you in?  these are commuter/subway trains?  if you can, the one piece of advice i...etc.  those add-ons can often help fill in the gaps if there is a slow day, etc.  wish you well, keep us updated!  pics?

 

sage

the coffee hound

 

Hey Sage

Thanks for the great feedback.  I'm trying to do as much research as possible, before I pull the trigger.

I'm thinking of converting a motorhome for the truck - already hooked up with plumbing, electric, etc.. 

I am in the suburbs of Philadelphia and these are commuter trains - pretty consistant with the number of cars in the lot every day.  I will also look to do events on the weekends and possibly try to set up at a local university after the train station.  I'm not looking to get rich (be Ok if that happens), but I think I need at least $150 day profit to make it worthwhile, more if I hire part time help.  Anyone think this is feasable?

 

If this were to lead to a brick & mortar store like you that would be OK also. 

 

Permalink Reply by Tom Sweeney on January 6, 2011 at 7:37pm

Shadow said:

It's good that you have done some homework on this and of course ask questions on things you are unsure of. If possible have some help during those peak times. That person can assist by taking orders/money while you do the drink slinging. We have been at events in which it took 3 of us to keep up with demand. My wife taking up to 10-12 orders/money at one time, my Will add more as I think of it....

 

Shadow,

Thanks for the reply!  I'm trying to do as much research as possible.  I'm developing a market survey postcard that I'm going to leave on every car, at the train station, to see if I can get a decent enough sampling of results to decide if it's worthwhile.  I've been thinking 50% is high - I sat at the station the other morning and very few people had coffee with them - this is either bad news or an opportunity & I don't know which.  sounds like I'll need to go with a 2 group machine, which is what I thought originally.  I could get my Dad (retired) to help out and run the register etc.. at least until I get through the startup  & learning phase.  If I get less than 100 customers, especially if they all order just coffee, it won't even be worth waking up that early so I definitely want to find a plan B if the train station doesn't work out.

 

Thanks for all the insight guys - Keep it coming :-)

Permalink Reply by Shadow on January 7, 2011 at 8:19am

It's good to know you're researching it before leaping in. One of the most difficult things might be obtaining permission to even park there... Lots of times just getting a solid YES can be harder to come by than paying customers.

 

Regarding expectations, common thought on something like a permanent location is that you can typically expect to see 1-2% of passing commuters as customers. Might not sound like alot, but if you're in a spot that might see 50,000+ cars in 24 hrs. it's not a bad number. Being in an area like you're looking into and having a captive audience could possibly be much better since they will be in that location and you will be there for their convenience.

 

The motorhome idea is a good one, especially for having a bathroom onboard. That's about the only thing I don't like about being mobile. One of the neatest mobile setups I've seen yet is a converted ambulance... you know the wide/boxy type? Great support vehicle for this type of work, but fuel efficiency might leave a bit to be desired....

Permalink Reply by Shadow on January 7, 2011 at 8:24am

Say you were to have 100 customers... it's highly unlikely most of them would stick with lower priced items like drip coffee. You should have plenty of people that don't mind shelling out money for espresso based drinks, chai, etc. Especially if they like what you make and become addicted to it.

 

I will say coffee isn't huge profit like some tend to think. Once all overhead is paid off and all you have is COGs, operating expenses (fuel, permits, insurance, etc.) it can be lucrative.

 

Don't just focus on daily spots for commuters though as there should be plenty of street fairs, music festivals, auctions, real estate open houses, birthday parties, etc. your services might be useful at. You just have to dig to find them, let them know what you do and go from there.....