Archive for the ‘Starting A Coffee Shop’ Category

Dark Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans Bag 6 Ounces (170 Grams)

Both coffee and cacao beans have a long history in Costa Rica. Hundreds of years ago cacao beans were first used as currency by indigenous tribes. Before the introduction of coffee in the early 1700s,
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Before starting with a coffee shop, it is a must to create a business plan which will help in running the coffee shop business in an expedient manner.

The business plan of a coffee shop should begin with how the owner proposes to manage the day to day operations of the coffee shop which includes interacting with the customers, dealing with the suppliers of stock material, management of financial records etc.

The next part of the business plan should consist of all the equipments and tools required to run a coffee shop along with handling of their daily operations and their maintenance which also includes all kinds of preventive maintenance as well.

The most important part of the business plan for the coffee shop is the financial aspect of it. The finances can be managed by the individual alone or a loan can be taken from the bank. Usually the loan officer asks for a cost effective and efficient business plan which shows the estimated growth of the investment made by the bank.

Also the business plan should include the location of the coffee shop. Usually people prefer to set up a coffee shop in their homes as they start the business in order to reduce the starting the costs. Buildings or shops can also be rented or leased or else if the owner has capital, he or she can also opt to buy a building.

Before starting the business, it is imperative to do a complete and thorough research about the coffee shop business.

As a successful businessman with many years experience of running a shop fitting company and setting up and running coffee shops, Don Clarke knows the two most important factors for a successful shop are location, location, location and staff.

With regard to managing staff, Don quickly realized something that was contradictory to accepted beliefs: the customer does not come first – your staff should come first! If your employees are happy, then they will give excellent service to your customers, and your customers will be happy. So, it is worth taking note of the following points:

1. Teach your staff how to handle difficult situations. If you observe them handling a difficult situation badly, do not criticize. Tell them “I don’t know how I would have dealt with that problem – I’ll need to think about it”

2. Treat your staff with courtesy and respect. They will usually give the same in return.

3. Discuss your training requirements with your supervisors before you begin to train your staff, so that your management structure is cohesive and working towards the same goals.

4. Set weekly or monthly training sessions. Use these sessions to highlight strengths and weaknesses of your staff, and ask your staff if there are any points they wish to raise.

5. NEVER reprimand any member of staff in front of other staff or customers. If you have a complaint with their work, discuss this in private.

6. If you have a problem with a member of staff, raise the problem you wish to discuss and finish with praise. If you manage your staff with tact, they will listen to your complaint without resentment.

7. Finally, remember – you are creating a team, without your team you do not have a business.

With regard to the location of a coffee shop, many people overlook this starting point. They look for a shop that will cost them the least rent and tell themselves that their shop will be run so well that people will flock to it. But remember, consumers are fickle! And lazy! If your shop is not in the right place, whatever you do and whatever you offer, your business will be limited by its location.

So, don’t commit yourself to any premises until you know how many people will pass by your shop each day. You will be investing a huge amount of your time and money into your new business and you really won’t want it to fail. Put aside as much time as possible to find the best position for your shop. Take a clipboard and stand outside a popular coffee shop – count how many people walk past the shop and how many stop for a coffee. Do this at different times of the day, and different days of the week. Take a note of the nearby shops that are attracting shoppers – you need your coffee shop to be convenient for people who “shop ’til they drop” and then need refreshment.

On average, customers tend to spend around £4 a head in a coffee shop, perhaps slightly more in expensive areas. You can use this as a basis to work out how many customers you will need per day to cover your costs and make a profit. So, if your operating costs, which will include repayment of setting up costs, wages, food, utility bills and last, but not least, profits, require you to make £3500 per week, you will need at least 125 people per day spending a minimum of £4 each, to give you the £500 needed per day, based on a 7 day working week.

So remember – do the maths first and foremost and make sure your shop is in a location where it will have enough passing trade to cover your costs. Treat your staff well and you are on the way to turning coffee into gold!

by Wootang01

While the most popular video games generally involve shooting zombies or fighting dragons, there are some that are more educational and adult in their offerings. Coffee Tycoon is among these games. This game is among the business simulator games that are popular on the Internet today. They are oftentimes associated with the various social networking sites and, quite often, friends will participate in each other’s simulated businesses as customers or in other roles. This game requires you to build up your coffee empire starting from scratch. Get 1 million people to come into your coffee shops and you win the game!

Coffee Tycoon actually requires players to buy recipes. This is not too different from actually owning a coffee shop. Oftentimes, the quality of these shops is dictated by the abilities of the baristas and their knowledge of different types of brews. People do tend to be very picky about the coffee that they drink and, to that end, baristas are oftentimes required to learn a variety of new drinks starting on their first day on the job. As your coffee shop acquires more recipes in this game, you’ll find that your customer count also increases over time.

Coffee Tycoon also allows you to serve all the typical coffeehouse customers. Everyone from the mom and dad with their kids in tow to the surly construction worker looking for a strong morning brew will show up at your shop. This, again, is much like real life. While coffee shops were oftentimes hangouts for artists, musicians and alternative people in the past, they’re very popular with a broad demographic, today. They offer an alternative to establishments that serve alcohol and, partially because of that, they enjoy a broad-based appeal with all age ranges of customers.

Coffee Tycoon will also allow you to see what it’s like to actually run a chain of coffee shops. You’ll have managers and executives who are in on the game, as well. As your success increases, so do the offerings you can present your customers and, of course, that leads to still more success. For those who want a game that offers them something different and fun, this is a good choice. It is based on simple web technology and will run in any browser capable of displaying multimedia content. It also requires no download to your computer to play this game.

Check out the detailed description of how I made it (as well as other video game related projects I’ve done) here: ultra-awesome.blogspot.com Hello, I’ve been working on this for a few months now. A while ago I decided I was running out of room for many many videogames and their boxes etc. (I’m one of those fanatics who insists on having everything with original boxes). So I built this, to replace my current coffee table, it has space inside it to store game boxes etc. Made from MDF and painted with a variety of oil based and acrylic paints.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

I have found a good article on coffee shop equipment needs. Read and learn about coffee shop equipement needs.

Starting a Coffee Shop Equipment Needs

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Tony_Dicorpo]Tony Dicorpo

So you have decided on starting a coffee shop! Congratulations! In my coffee shop business plan package, I go into more detail regarding equipment but due to space here, I am only going to give you some basic ideas of what to consider when looking at your coffee shop equipment needs.
 
First of all, do yourself a favor and DO NOT buy any used coffee shop equipment needs unless you know the exact age, where it came from, who used it, and that maintenance records are verifiable. I am only referring to anything with a motor or compressor. Used sinks, tables, counters, etc are fine as long as they are in decent shape. All other coffee shop equipment needs, be VERY careful!

Even if you get it from a friend, you might be assured by them that the coffee shop equipment needs was maintained properly and often, however did they get it used and can they get that guarantee from whom they bought it from? And how old really is it?
 
As you may have guessed, I fell into this trap and had things breaking down when I did not expect it shortly after I opened my coffee shop. Yes even my espresso machine. I was in a bad spot then! Luckily I had access to a one group machine for backup and a local guy was able to fix the other fast but you may not be as lucky.

I eventually upgraded to mostly new coffee shop equipment needs when, but this can be avoided by getting new coffee shop equipment needs at the start. You will be glad you did it, trust me!

Starting a Coffee Shop Equipment Needs

Cash register or POS computer? – A computer POS (point of sale) system is good there is no doubt about it. These are the ones that have the touch screen monitors and such. However, they are probably (and arguably) best for analyzing your sales and inventory only, and not much more. They do not speed up your customer line.
 
If you want one of these guys, be prepared to pay about $5000 for a base system. The price goes up for multiple terminals and printers, monitors, a kitchen printer, etc.
 
In my opinion though, a POS fast food register that has price look ups (PLU) and department categories is sufficient for most coffee shops. Try to get one that allows you to download the information to your computer. Most have this feature today. It may, however increase your manual inventory and sales tracking if you have to put this info into your accounting software and spreadsheets manually but it can be a big money saver. If you get in the habit of entering the figures daily, you will not have a huge amount of data entry to do at month’s end. You can usually get these types of registers for about $800 or so.

If you end up opening other stores, I think the touch screen computer POS may be the way to go then because it will make your management and inventory control much easier, and you can link all of your stores together and control them from one place.

Espresso Machine

This is the Mack daddy of the whole business, your life blood. DO NOT SKIMP ON IT! However, having said that there is the line of overkill you do not need to cross either. I say, two group maximum, if you need more power or want a backup, get a one group as well.
 
The feasibility of a three or four group is great but it’s difficult to get more than one person working on them due to spacing of the group heads, etc. Ordinarily, you do not need more than one person pulling shots and making the espresso beverages anyway. It is almost impossible for one barista to use all four groups at one time so you be the judge! However that may be up to debate if you get REALLY busy. However, a two group is always my choice.

There are three basic types of espresso machines: Semi-Automatic, Automatic or Super Automatic. Well My choice is always the automatic because you can program them to cut off a shot at 23 seconds, or whatever you choose but still do it manually. The semi-automatic requires manual shut off by the operator.

The super automatic machine will grind the beans, tamp, pull the shot, shut it off and even discard the used grounds. Yes, I am serious. I believe you lose a lot of ‘art’ when you use one of these. You’d be surprised at the amount of people that love to see a barista set up and then pull a great shot. These super autos are also big bucks. But if all you want to do is move your cattle call through the line, this is the machine for you!

The boiler capacity should be large enough for a big rush, 9-14 liters should be sufficient. You do not want to run out of steam or hot water in a rush and with a smaller boiler that will happen! Trust me on this from experience!
 
Buy a machine based on the availability to get parts and service locally. Do not buy based on price alone, or ‘coolness’ or ‘features’ of a machine. They are all good these days. Features will not mean anything if you cannot get local service on your machine.
 
As far as water softeners, the choice to get a whole water system softener is going to depend on where you are located. In central Texas, the water is VERY hard but I chose to not soften my whole water system, just for the espresso machine. If you are not familiar with hard water, this is what causes lime build-up. It’s a white, crusty looking build up that will kill your $5000 or 10,000 espresso machine. It clogs up the piping that in time, builds up to the point of the water not being able to get through. Then your machine needs to be completely taken apart and de-limed. Not pretty and not cheap!
 
You will most likely have to have a complete de-liming performed several times over the life of your machine, however if your water is very hard and you do not soften it for your espresso machine, you will most likely have to have it de-limed at a minimum of once per year. This will get time-consuming and expensive, even if you learn to do it yourself. I had my one group de-limed for about $900 so do the math.  Avoid lime scale build-up by getting a water softener.
 
Espresso Grinders

You will need one for decaf and one for regular espresso. There are several manufacturers and models. I will tell you though to be sure it’s automatic and has a doser/coffee hopper. They make a doserless model that grinds right into the portafilter and though this is freshly ground espresso, it does not work well in a rush! The units with a hopper allow the hopper to fill with ground espresso and have a lid to keep out the air. The bigger units have a bigger hopper and vice versa. Also, these have a bean hopper that you can get about 2 lbs of espresso beans in.

Bulk Coffee Grinder

These are the types you see in the food store bulk coffee aisle. Be sure to get the full scale version, not the shorter one. The only difference I can see is the taller one is easier to get a bag under to grind beans for customers. The shorter one is not! Try to have one grinder for regular and decaf, and another for flavored coffee if you will serve it. Using the same for all three will make the regular and decaf coffee taste like the flavored coffee. This grinder will need proper maintenance and burr replacement after so many hours as well. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on this.

Coffee Maker (drip)

Be sure to buy for your volume. Automatics are best as they are plumbed to a water line. Pour over units will you need to fill manually! The air pot brewers are the better fits because they brew the coffee directly into the air pots. There are single unit models and double unit models. You will save a lot of time especially in a rush, with a double brew unit.

Pastry Case (refrigerated and non)

There are several different sizes. Take your floor space into consideration but also buy for capacity and visual display. A nice, attractive unit that holds and displays a nice array of pastries is key for merchandising. Dual zone cases are a good idea because they let you have part cold, and part room temperature (dry case) pastries that do not need to be refrigerated.

Blender

There are several models to choose from but some have features you just won’t need. Be sure to get a commercial blender. Consumer units do not have the heavy duty types of motors that commercial units have. That means they will break down a lot faster than a commercial one! I would suggest you give Vitamix a look here.
 
Sandwich Prep Unit

These come in single, double and triple door units. Of course, plan for your overall room but your needs as well. The larger units have more capacity inside the unit, but the bigger plus is the prep top area that has more compartments to put meats, vegetables, etc in. If you are planning on a regular deli and Panini service, I would say the double door unit would be good. You may even get away with the smaller one!

Under Counter Refrigerator

Do yourself a favor and get a double door unit. These are basically like the sandwich prep units but without the top compartments. The inside capacity should be big enough to hold a good portion of your dairy, as well as opened soy cartons, smoothie mix, bottled water and soda (if you do not have a larger unit or merchandiser for water and soda. Plan accordingly.

Storage Refrigerator

This is for the back of your shop. This will be your commercial refrigerator in the back area to house your back stock of refrigerated items such as milk, as well as your baking ingredients, food items, etc. There are double and single door units.

Ice Maker

Getting an ice maker that can make an average of 600-1000 lbs per day is good. It will give you enough and still be able to make more within 24 hours. In a busy shop, you’d be surprised how much ice you can go through: sodas, fruit smoothies, frappes, frozen chai.

Freezer

You will need one of these to keep your ice cream, and other food ingredients that can and need to be frozen.
 
Oven

Get this based on your baking level. A 1/4 size may be too small and a full size may be too big. The median unit is a 1/2 size and has 3 racks.

Convection oven? Most pastries, pies and other baking can be done well in a convection oven. That is an oven that has a blower wheel that disperses the heat evenly and faster throughout the oven. Therefore your baking time is usually cut in half.
 
Panini Grill

Cast iron (non-ceramic) with ribbed plates are the better units. With the ribbed, rather than flat plates you will get the ‘grill marks’ on the bread and that always looks impressive. I recommend a double plate unit so you can effectively grill up to four Panini at once if you have a large order.

Three Compartment Sink

This will be essential per most health departments for wash, rinse and sanitize. If you have a commercial dishwasher, it usually overrides the 3 bay sink. However, most restaurants have both. You don’t need a big one, just one big enough to get your biggest ‘washable’ piece of baking or cooking hardware into.
 
Hand Sink(s)

Check your health department requirements because you may need a hand sink every so many feet or based on how many employees you have, or based on your floor plan. These are sinks only big enough to wash your hands in and that is it. That is why they are so small.

Furniture

Pick and choose what is in between comfortable and not. This will help you avoid squatters that love to stay all day. Ordinarily, people in your store is a good thing but not if they are taking up space and just being comfy! This will include your tables and chairs, as well as couch, wing hairs, etc. If you are an eclectic coffee house, good finds can be had at Goodwill and other resale shops.

Phone

Just get one that you can hear when it rings! A cordless phone is a great idea.

Radio System

If u can, get extra speakers and have one in at least all four corners for best sound quality.
 
Credit Card Machine

This is the swiper w/pin pad – If you accept credit and debit cards, this is essential. Usually they are purchased from your credit card processor. Leasing one of these is usually a rip-off. Try to buy it outright.

Prep Tables

These are stainless steel or aluminum and great to make a kitchen prep area. They clean easily too. They come in various heights and widths, with or without a backsplash and usually have a shelf underneath.

So there you have some information to get you started on planning your coffee shop equipment needs for staring a coffee shop. Be sure you take your floor space into account when figuring the sizes of your coffee shop equipment needs. Also be sure you account for your anticipated customer volume. Early planning is key to having the right coffee shop equipment needs to begin with.

Tony DiCorpo is a coffee shop owner, operator, barista and entrepreneur. He is also a coffee shop business consultant. He has authored many articles on the specialty coffee business and a business plan package that can be found at http://www.tonys-coffee-shop-business-plan.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Starting-a-Coffee-Shop---Equipment-Needs&id=1305920] Starting a Coffee Shop – Equipment Needs

Great article, isn’t it. I hope you have learn something about the coffee shop equipment needs.

Find out how you can start your own coffee shop using less than $25,000 or less and none from your own pocket. Check out this book on starting a coffee shop. The coffee shop equipment needs is also covered.

coffee shop equipment needs

Everyone is star struck with the success of Starbucks and dreams to open coffee shop. After all, who could resist the feeling of open coffee shop, spend the whole day interacting with customers, having no worries over deadlines and be your own boss at the same time. However, unseen behind the scene of every successful coffee chains, there are many hours of planning and hard work to make them into the success that you see them today.

You may have heard that 95% of all new startups fail within the first two years. Most of the time, the failures are mainly due to the lack of proper strategy and execution. In this article, I shall lay down the steps to open coffee shop.

Steps  to open coffee shop

Step 1-Write A Business Plan
Like doing anything, you begin starting a coffee shop with a plan. My favorite habit of Stephen Covey’s 7 habits of highly effective people is to begin with end in mind. If you do not know where you want to go, it does not matter how you go there. To be effective in business, you need a business plan before you open coffee shop. In this case, you need an opening a coffee shop business plan.

In simple words, it is a paper stating where you want to go and how you plan to go there. Of course, you need to be more specific than that if you want to open coffee shop. The minimum things you must have given a lot of thoughts are qualitative and quantitative factors.

The qualitative factors to open coffee shop, among others, are as follows:

a) Specific target market-As you are not selling to everyone, it is important to know details such as who your customers are, what their buying habits are and their demographics;
b) What your competitors are doing and what is your unique selling proposition (USP);
c) Location for opening a coffee shop and the coffee shop layout;
d) Starting a coffee shop equipment needs; and
e) Marketing strategies.

Quantitative Factors to open coffee shop, among others, as follows:

a) Startup costs;
b) No of employees needed;
c) Monthly operating costs;
d) Financing costs; and
e) Breakeven analysis.

Having a solid business plan have 3 advantages before you open coffee shop:
a) It show you the roadmap to operating a coffee shop;
b) It is a blueprint for your investors; and
c) It makes bankers more confident that you know your coffee shop business.

Step 2: Location
After having a business plan, you should have done an extensive research on the coffee shop industry and come up with your own USP. Next, you need to find a good location that has good traffic, right demographics and willing buyers before you open coffee shop. In short, you are looking for a hungry crowd. The location must also suit your USP and marketing strategy.

Step 3: Staring coffee shop equipment needs
The most important thing to remember before  you open coffee shop is not to order any old and outdated equipment. The lists of equipment needs are too extensive. You can refer to the article here.

Step 4: Open Coffee Shop Marketing Strategy

The marketing strategy depends on your branding. You want to establish a brand in the minds of your customers as the place they want to come back again and again before you open coffee shop. This brand image must be consistent with your other promotional materials such as postcards, web presence and the way your staffs interact with the customers.

You can get free publicity by writing press releases to your local media. Of course, you must add the news angle to the release so that the media will find you news worthy.

You can also take a leaf from Starbuck by having your own t-shirt and mug with your company logo on it. When your customers are wearing them, it is free advertisements for your open coffee shop.

Step 5: Cost of starting a coffee shop
Again, this is a very big topic by itself. Basically, we can break down the costs to open coffee shop into startups and monthly operating costs. Startup costs are costs of renovation and design of the layout, equipment costs and setup costs like licensing, permits and so on.

Monthly operating costs are like the cost of renting or leasing a location to open coffee shop, hiring of staffs and utilities. At the minimum, you should have a buffer of 3 months in case there are not enough sales before you open coffee shop.

The quantum of the costs to open coffee shop really depends on your strategy. If your USP involves having an upscale coffee shop, then your renovation and food must reflect that. The cost will be higher but you can also charge a premium pricing. You must also balance it with the demand and supply equation.

It may look scary when you add up all the figures but then if you know some good negotiation tactics, you can save a lot on some start ups before you open coffee shop. An entrepreneur was reported to have started a coffee shop for less than $US25,000. For example, you can negotiate on leases, doing a barter trade for free equipment or joint venture with other businesses in the local area.

Step 6: Starting a coffee shop funding sources
This is a critical step as most business fail because of lack of funds. Before open coffee shop and start buying equipments, hire an architect to design the coffee shop or even hire a single staff, you need to plan your cash flow requirements and sources of findings.

Here I will list down some sources to open coffee shop you can consider but the details will be covered in other articles. These are:
a) Own savings;
b) Family members and friends;
c) Supplier financing;
d) Bank borrowings;
e) Investors; and
f) Government grants.

Conclusion to open coffee shop

These are the necessary steps that need to be taken to open coffee shop. However, these are only the initial steps. There are other equally important steps you need to run a successful coffee shop. These steps are covered in the other article.

Find out how you can open coffee shop using less than $25,000 or less and none from your own pocket. Check out this book to open coffee shop.

open coffee shop