How to Start a Coffee Shop 1-2-3
Coffee Shops, Espresso Carts, Mail Order Gourmet, Mobile Coffee Service &
more...
Coffee drinkers seem to be a growing market. A coffee business is one of the most popular businesses to
start on this website, in fact. From starting a coffee shop to espresso catering to coffee drive-throughs to
mail order coffee to coffee gift baskets to providing a mobile coffee service - you've got a lot of
money-making opportunities if you are interested in entering this lucrative field.
If you love coffee (or even if you don't I guess), you can find a coffee business that will fit into your
lifestyle. Below, you'll find several coffee business start-up guides, business plans and tips below to help
you maximize your profits from your coffee business. Be creative - with popularity comes competition. If you
want customers, you need to stand out.
Step-by-Step How to Start a Coffee
Shop
Learn how to open your own coffee shop with help from Restaurant & Coffee Shop Expert Tom
Hennessy. Tom has over 25 years experience in restaurant ownership, and has successfully operated his own
coffee shop for 12 years.
Imagine the perfect person to learn from - Tom can show you inside tips and expert advice that you can't
find anywhere else.
How to save $100's starting your business:
- Step-by-Step Instructions on How to Get Started: Create a coffee shop business plan in a snap,
know the most profitable location for your cafe and get effective systems for running your daily
business, including budgets &
bookkeeping with awesome samples and checklists
- Resources to Contact and How to Start with Minimal Cost: find financing, how to hire employees,
get discounted equipment
- How to Get Customers ad Turn a Profit Quickly: plus using customer feedback to grow your
business, develop a "Frequent Customer" program and reach coffee customers through the internet
- Get it Risk-Free >> Start a Coffee Shop
rated by customers
Starting a Coffee Shop Business Checklist:
- Obtain the necessary business licenses. Check with your local government office to find out which licenses and permits you need for
your coffee shop and how to apply.
- If you plan to operate your coffee business out of your home, check with your local government office about zoning ordinances and possible land use
restrictions
- Put together a business plan. You can find downloadable business plan templates online, which make
business plan writing easy. (Coffee Bar | Cafe | Cyber Cafe | Bakery)
- Set up a business bank account with your local bank. Make sure that the bank is FDIC is
insured. It is important to keep your coffee business and personal finances separate, and often your
banker can help with small business loans or financing.
- Arrange a meeting with an accountant to discuss tax strategies and ways to maximize your business tax deductions. You can get referrals from other business owners you know
or sometimes your banker.
- File your fictitious business name with the county clerk, or if you want to form a corporation, find
out the advantages of incorporating your business
- Meet with an insurance agent to discuss insurance you may need for your cafe. The IIABA (Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America) is a good place to
start. You can also get free quotes online for business insurance
- Set up your business phone system. Whether you use a toll-free 800 phone number, a multi-line phone system, VoIP or simply add an
additional phone number to your existing service, you'll want a designated line to establish a
professional business image.
- Order business cards. One of the cheapest ways I know of to advertise a business. See how you can
design your own professional business cards online, plus simple tips for increasing your sales >>
Free Business Cards
- Get a website. Save money by creating your own website with simple online design programs, or outsource the job
to an affordable website designer. Whether you sell coffee products online - or you use a
website to display cafe menus or business hours, it's important to take advantage of this low-cost
marketing resource that can help you get more customers.
Coffee Business Resources to Save You Money:
Hire Help the Easy Way:
Easily find a team of experts to help you build your business - virtually. Save money in overhead
costs, get work done more quickly and eliminate payroll hassles.
- Website Designers and Software Developers
- Marketers, Salespeople and Telemarketers
- Accounting and Bookkeeping Assistants
- People to handle Customer Service and Administrative Tasks
- oDesk makes outsourcing easy and affordable so you can grow your business faster.
- Get a Free Tour, Post a Job
Coffee Shop Marketing:
Order business cards. Often overlooked, business cards can be a very efficient and low cost
advertising method. See how you can design your own professional business cards online >> Free Business Cards. See also: 30-50% off Postcards, Brochures and
more Design your own marketing materials online using professional templates. Designs provided, printing
done for you.
Get Free Publicity - Besides advertising in your local yellow pages and placing
ads in newspapers and neighborhood mailers, you can save money by sending a press release or
"letter" to your local paper announcing the grand opening of your new business.
If you can offer a special discount or hold an event and tie it in with your grand opening, publications
will find this more newsworthy and are more likely to publish news about your storage company. Your press
release can be short and simple, and you can find press release samples you can follow on this page:
How to Write a Simple Press Release
Offer coupons in neighborhood mailers or local newspapers to attract new customers to
try your coffee and check out your cafe. You can use mailing services or design your own coupons
using online coupon creators.
Local Search - More and more
people are looking for local businesses online (instead of the traditional yellow pages) - and you don't
want to miss out on this market. Local Search sources that are affordable and receive substantial traffic
include: Google Local, CitySearch, Yelp and Super Pages.
Advertise your coffee shop or cafe online for free with CoffeeHouseCorner.com. Free listing includes your restaurant location, contact
information, description and photo, if you choose.
Grow Your Coffee Shop Income
Using Proven Marketing Methods
If you are serious about getting lots of customers, and you don't want to pay thousands of dollars to an ad
agency, the Small Business Marketing Bible shows you how to attract a steady stream of
coffee drinkers - on the cheap.
Get the 1-Day Marketing Plan outline and over 29 proven success systems
that you can use over and over to increase profits and grow your coffee shop, including:
- Foolproof salesletter template, proven ad writing checklist and how to create an irresistible
offer.
- How to turn incoming phone calls into clients and turn one-time buyers into lucrative lifetime
customers.
- How to use other people's customers to get new business.
- The secret to getting free referrals when you ask - 90% of the time.
- Maximum profit pricing strategy and how to double your sales with simple packaging
techniques.
- 4 techniques for doubing sales - with no additional customers.
- Get it Risk-Free >> Small Business Marketing Bible
Make Money in Your Own Coffee Business
A 2001 survey by the National Coffee Association indicated that over 100 million people
drink coffee on a daily basis and that nearly 60 million more occasionally consume coffee. Based on average
drinking habits, the daily coffee drinker will consume multiple cups per day - totaling hundreds of millions
cups of coffee being consumed every 24 hours.
Such enormous consumer demand coupled with the growing trend toward gourmet coffee presents an opportunity
for the enterprising coffee lovers to take their double shots at generating income while working in an industry
which makes their coffee passions percolate.
Coffee-loving entrepreneurs can choose from a wide range of opportunities available to find ones that best
matches their tastes. Interested in starting small? Start with a couple machines and a cart. More grand
ambitions? Consider a coffee shop franchise.
The Specialty Coffee Association of America's "Market Report" forecasts that the number of coffeehouses in
the U.S. will grow to 15,000 by the year 2006. Will one of those coffeehouses be yours?
You can take a couple different paths to
starting your own coffee themed business. One option is to buy the equipment and supplies yourself,
building your own identity and business systems.
The other option is to purchase a franchise and benefit from their proven image, proven systems, and
established supply chains. Let's look at some examples of coffee related businesses that you could start for
yourself.
If you choose the independent route you can use a wholesaler such as Mr. Churro's to help get you started.
Mr. Churro's is Miami-based wholesaler of professional grade machines for making espresso, coffee, and hot
chocolate.
Beyond acquiring equipment from Mr. Churro's you would need to work out other details of your business
details on your own. For example, you would need to find a coffee bean supplier, find a suitable business
location, and also learn how to run a coffee business.
For a more turn-key type of operation, The Coffee Beanery, a global franchise based in Michigan, provides
franchisees with a wide menu of coffee based drinks as well as an attractive breakfast and lunch menus. The
franchisee benefits from a proven image, a proven menu, a fully developed method of operation, and an
established supply chain. It might cost more to purchase a franchise, but if you are new to business, the long
term benefits might outweigh the short term higher startup costs.
Coffee News USA is a third type of coffee related business opportunity. Unlike the previous two examples,
Coffee News USA does not involve making and selling coffee beverages.
Instead, Coffee News is publishing opportunity in which the franchisee provides a free local edition of the
weekly Coffee News newspaper to restaurants and coffee shops. The franchisor provides most of the content, and
the franchisee sells advertisements to generate income.
These three business opportunities a just a few of the coffee related businesses that are available for
coffee lovers. Most of the other opportunities are franchises, but not all franchises are created equal.
Examining each business opportunity carefully can bring to light some important differences that might lead you
to an opportunity that is better suited to you than another.
With over 300 million cups of coffee being consumed daily in the US, a coffee-related business opportunity
should be a strong consideration for the enterprising coffee lover. Contact information for Mr. Churro's, The
Coffee Beanery, Coffee News USA, and more than 400 other specific business opportunities is available in the
eBook, "Mind Your Business 101: How to Select & Start Your Own Business," for only $16.98 USD at
www.LinkertonPublishing.com.
About The Author C.S. Deam is a small business owner. His eBook Leverage Yourself Out of the Rat Race
is available for immediate download at www.LinkertonPublishing.com where you can sign up for FREE
E-Courses & Newsletters to help you on your path to self-employment. csdeam@linkertonpublishing.com
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