4 Tips To Starting Your Own Coffee Shop

Have you been thinking about opening up your very own coffee shop? Being the owner of a coffee shop and/or café can be very rewarding, though it can also be hard work. You will get to meet new people every single day, and you will find those loyal customers that will come in each day and eventually have a "regular" order. You will get to serve customers delicious cups of coffee and maybe even scrumptious sweets if you decide to go that route. Best of all, you will get to all of this while feeling great about it and pursuing your passions and talents. However, as you go about your business plan and getting your space ready, you will want to keep these things in mind:

1. Don't Put Off Choosing a Coffee Vendor

Where are you going to get your coffee from? Since coffee is going to be your main focus, you don't want to put finding coffee vendor off until the last minute. You will want to reach out to several different vendors and get to know their products. Find out about their services, resources, shipping policies, discounts, support, etc. Find out as much information as you can about each one so that you can make an informed decision. Ideally, you should choose your vendor a month or two before you are going to open your café doors. For more information or advice, contact a business such as Absolute Bottled Water Co.

2. Do Your Coffee Homework

While you don't necessarily have to know about coffee in order to open up a coffee shop, it most certainly doesn't hurt to know a little about the history and its origins. You will also want to make sure that you are well-versed about the coffee that you are serving in your own shop, as some customers may have questions pertaining to this and you should come off as an expert.

Take some time to also peruse other coffee shops and taste as many different coffees as you can. Take note of the quality and flavor of the coffees that you sip. You will want to become as knowledgable as you can with this particular form of caffeine before you start serving it to customers.

3. Hire Baristas with Personalities That Pop

It takes a lot of time, patience, practice and enthusiasm to become an expert barista. However, it is something that can be taught. What cannot be taught is how to be pleasant and animated to customers. When a customer comes into a coffee shop, they want to see a barista full of life and with a smile on their face rather than a barista who is down on their luck with a frown on their face.

4. Keep Your Menu Easy and Simple

Since you are just starting out, you don't want to over-complicate your menu. While you can go beyond coffee by adding some pastries and bagels, you don't want to add too many different coffee options. After all, you aren't sure what your customers are going to want just yet. For example, there are many decaf options that you could offer, but are your customers going to even want decaf espressos? Is the expense justified? Wait to add something that you aren't sure about and try to keep your initial menu to a dozen or so high-quality, unique items that will impress your customers.