Posts Tagged ‘Coffee’

Most of what I am going to talk about here is geared towards the new coffee shop. However, it can be utilized and directed towards an established shop. When I wrote my business plan, I made sure I had marketing covered from many angles because most traditional forms of marketing do not work in the specialty coffee business. When opening your coffee shop, you should know what types of advertising and marketing are actually worth your money.

Outside of your regulars, coffee is an impulse buy because the customer saw your sign. Aside from your regulars, most folks do not set out to ‘go to the coffee shop’ like they would to a restaurant (unless you ask them to so more on this later). You need a steady stream of customers outside of your normal morning commute business.

The morning commuters are your bread and butter, the rest helps fill in the revenue holes. These are your impulse buyers. They are going to come to you mainly via your sign outside, so instead of sending out 10,000 post cards to your neighborhood residents, spend that money on a premium location, visible sign and branding your image. You’ll be glad you did:

As far as your signage, get one that is AS BIG AS POSSIBLE. That is, as allowable by your city ordinance and landlord, without being tacky! The bigger the sign is, the more visible it is.

By branding your image, you are identifying your existence within your community. Be sure you have a unique logo. If you cannot design it, get one custom made by a professional! I have seen a lot of cheap looking logos that do not help the image.

Another step in branding your image is to secure your shop’s name on the world wide web by registering the domain name. Try to get all the domain tags: .com, .net, .org, etc. This is for email, and your website. You will be glad you did because it gives you a more professional image. Remember, the more common your business name is, the more difficult getting it registered online is going to be because the name may be taken.

As for your website, get one! If you can do this on your own, more power to you here too. I know just enough to be dangerous but you can get a nice website, even with online sales capabilities done economically. Check around locally, I bet there are a few web gurus in your area.

Here is where you have the chance to have every customer take your name with them when they leave allowing others to see it. Whether you have sleeves custom printed or you use stickers and put one on each cup or protective sleeve, they are all part of your branding. Be sure the design is clear and defines your shop well. The same goes for stamps. You can have a rubber stamp made to stamp your whole bean coffee bags with. Note that the brown Kraft paper bags are what you’d need for this. If you use the foil bags, your stickers will work well for this too.

Press releases are an inexpensive way to tell the world what you are doing. A carefully crafted press release sent to the right person at the right news outlet can be the best form of advertising for you. Just be sure that whomever is on the press release as the contact person is actually available to be contacted.

Another great form of marketing is your use of tee shirts, caps and other wearable’s. These are walking billboards for you courtesy of the folks that buy them. You can give them away if you want, it’s all good advertising. Yes, they are expensive but I consider this great advertising and an expense under that category. Better, yes if you can make up the cost on them. But put this cost into your advertising budget. See if you can get them locally, if not there are several reputable companies on the internet. You will pay about .00 each in the end, but again the investment is very well worth it.

Where would we be without business cards? Think about it: how many people have you run into that do not have a business card for whatever it is they do for a living? Not many that I can remember. This is your time to tell everyone you meet that you are in the coffee business. Everyone you meet should get one of these and a few to spare. Do not be shy about handing them out!

Menus are a great example of simple marketing. These are the take out type so try to keep it simple. Under four pages, printed on an 8.5”x11” sheet of BRIGHT colored paper and folded in half is best. You can leave them at area businesses if they allow it. You can also put them on your counter by the checkout and anywhere else your customers will see and take them. You can have them copied at any copy place, or see if you can have a local copy shop do them. They should cost about .10-.15 cents each. All you need is a place to make them on a copy machine. Menus printed on a printing press will be more expensive in most cases.

Support materials are also a good way to advertise your products. You can usually get POS materials FREE from any supplier you are using. This goes for tent cards to put on your counter to full color posters to hang in your windows. Check with your distributor. If they do not keep these kinds of materials on hand, a call to the manufacturer can usually get them in your hands relatively quickly.

Vinyl lettering on your vehicle is another form of advertising, and another type of moving billboard. There are several places online that will allow you to use a particular vehicle template to design your lettering. Again, check around locally for better service and pricing. I had vehicle lettering made for my SUV: rear window and both rear side windows or under 0.00. Your vehicle will essentially become a moving billboard.

Vinyl lettering can be gotten for your store windows too, which will be similar to your vehicle lettering. Check with the same source.

Word of mouth is an excellent source of marketing. Customers can be your biggest and best marketing source for you. It can also backfire on you if you tick someone off or if a customer ends up having a bad experience at your shop, for whatever reason.

Make every effort that all customers are satisfied before they walk out of your door. You may never have the chance to do it again and everyone that that dissatisfied customer meets may be told of the unfortunate incident at your store. They may not come to your store if there was ever that chance they would.

Talk to the world online via your blog. This has got to be the best invention since a website and the internet itself started. Where else can you talk about nearly anything and let the world read it? You may just develop a following not only locally, but around the world.

Have event nights. This is great for weekends and ‘dead’ times. Earlier, I spoke about customers coming to your shop if you asked them to. This is where you have that chance. Events that will bring in business are almost plentiful. A few examples are trivia night, open mikes, singer-songwriter and other music performances, book signings and poetry. It can also be just about anything else you can think of that is of interest to others. A word of caution about playing DVD’s and TV/cable shows: Most of these are copyright protected and although you may not think you are breaking any laws, it can be construed as such. It’s a royalty issue because you are making money on your beverages, in your establishment showing a DVD bought for ‘personal’ use. Just be careful here. Some satellite services allow this with a paid subscription, however.

It’s been my experience that this coupon mailers are usually a waste of money in the specialty coffee industry. There are way too many coupons in most of these mailers and most recipients throw them out. I know I do.

Internet advertising is good if you can limit to advertising locally using your zip code. You can reach a captive audience on the internet. It’s relatively inexpensive because you choose what to spend on each ad and only pay per click. This is also good if you choose to sell whole beans online, however if you do not roast in-house this may be cost and inventory prohibitive.

Be careful when using coupons in any form. Coupons tend to cheapen the specialty coffee industry so I do not recommend using them. Bogo’s (buy one get one) are ok for some advertising, like opening a new coffee shop but, you will get your bargain seekers that wait for those coupons in order to patronize you. You could create more monsters!

You will also, occasionally get regulars that bring in the coupons. Even though they are as deserving of the coupon as anyone else is, your aim is to get NEW customers so the ‘coupon’ doesn’t always work. The only way I recommend a coupon is for a first time customer. You can usually get mailing addresses of new residents from your chamber of commerce and do a select, targeted mailing to the new residents only.

So there are some easy, mostly economic ways to effectively advertise and market your coffee shop. Remember, your customer service and quality will always have to be top notch but you can skimp on some advertising dollars by being crafty and conservative.

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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Price: 9.95

Opening A Coffee Shop A to Z – eBook
The insider’s guide to opening and running your own profitable coffee shop. Includes many bonuses including grant and investor sources along with a plethora of recipes you can use for your business.
Opening A Coffee Shop A to Z – eBook

Highly Profitable Healthy Coffee Franchises Warrants Cupofmoney.com to hold International Conference Call Educating Entrepreneurs

(PRWEB) November 11, 2005

Cupofmoney.com an affiliate of Gano Excel, announced today that the response for their home based healthy coffee franchise concept has been met with such a positive response and the company has received so many inquiries, that they will be holding an international conference call educating entrepreneurs on their innovative concept on Thursday, November 17th at 6:25 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, 9:25 Eastern Standard Time.

Entrepreneurs that are interested in finding out more about these highly profitable franchises should listen in to this educational call, by calling 512-439-6599 and entering PIN CODE 986164#.

On this call, many successful franchisees will give their testimonials on the world’s first healthy coffee and how they have sold as much as $ 10,000 or more of healthy coffee beverages in a single day.

Cupofmoney.com recently launched a website offering entrepreneurs the opportunity to participate in the lucrative billion dollar coffee industry, marketing the world’s first healthy coffee. The Company has adopted an affordable home based gourmet healthy coffee franchise concept that is making waves all across North America. In fact, during the past month, every new healthy coffee franchise that the company has launched has become profitable within its first 30 days.

For as little as $ 1000, entrepreneurs can start their own home based gourmet healthy coffee franchise. They can retail the products, set up additional sales teams across North America, and market products through an online store that will be available to more than 80 countries within the next 5 years. The company’s “direct to door” shipping elimates the huge overhead and inventory expenses that are required to run conventional coffee shops.

The Company is so confident in their products and business that they have adopted a “try it you’ll like it” concept and will allow entrepreneurs to try the business concept for 30 days for only $ 100 with a “Puppy Pack”. This gives entrepreneurs a turn-key website with e-commerce capabilities, 30 days of web hosting, 6 boxes of Gano Healthy Coffee and 6 sets of marketing materials, one set to go with each box of coffee.

Recent tests have shown that once someone tries the healthy coffee for a week, they will typically switch to healthy coffee over their regular brand. With the rise in demand for gourmet coffee shops across the nation, and Starbuck’s coffee houses springing up on every street corner, the company believes that its home based business franchise concept, will stir up a new level of excitement in an industry once only dominated by a handful of players.

Gano Café is the world’s first great-tasting healthy coffee that provides energy and vigor, while reducing fatigue. Ganoderma, provides the lift in energy that coffee drinkers look for, but without the caffeine jitters. Gano Café helps the body fight disease the way nature intended. Ganoderma Lucidum (the natural substance in all of Gano Excel’s products) is said to help enhance health by removing toxins from the body and then building up the body’s immune system.

Ganoderma Lucidum is the scientific name for a species of Red Mushrooms and is said to be more powerful than Ginseng. Known as the “Miraculous King of Herbs,” Ganoderma (also known as Lingzhi in China, Reishi in Japan, and Youngchi in Korea) is listed as a Superior Herb in Sheng Nong’s Pharmacopeia, an ancient Chinese Herbal Text dating back over 2,000 years.

Here are some coffee industry facts:

Coffee is the second largest commodity in the world – next to oil.

Starbucks buys over 100 million pounds of coffee each year.

2.4 billion pounds of coffee are sold per year in the United States.

The United States is the world’s largest consumer of coffee.

The entire U.S. population consumes more than 500 million cups a day.

A typical cup of coffee contains approximately 138 mg of caffeine. The unique blend of ganoderma in this product neutralizes the caffeine dramatically to only 9 mg per cup, but still provides that “lift” and boost in energy that coffee drinkers are looking for, but without the caffeine jitters.

For more information on Ganoderma Lucidum or to try a free sample of these healthy beverages visit www.cupofmoney.com or contact Darren Little at 604-771-1901. For a brief overview of the business call 1-512-404-1228. Listen to boxes 2 and 4.

About Cupofmoney.com:

Cupofmoney.com markets a variety of products which contain the life changing, life enhancing ingredient Ganoderma Lucidum, including the world’s first healthy coffee. Ganoderma is known as “the miraculous king of herbs” and provides an extensive list of health benefits including increased energy and vigor. Ganoderma has history dating back in the Oriental culture for over 2,000 years and is more powerful than Ginseng. The world’s first healthy coffee is now available online. Distributor inquiries are welcome at www.cupofmoney.com.

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Coffee People Extra Bold Wake Up Call Bold for Keurig Brewers, 24-Count K-Cups (Pack of 2)

• Coffee K-Cup for Keurig Gourmet Single Cup Brewer; no messy grinding or clean up
• Airtight (unlike pods) to lock in freshness and flavor
• Brewing occurs inside the K-Cup so no flavor residue is left behind to spoil the next cup.
• Pack of 2, 24-count boxes (48 boxes)
• Dark and rich coffee
• Extra bold and dark coffee

Coffee People Wake-Up Call Keurig K-Cups do not come with a snooze button. So when this full-bodied coffee kicks things off right with its rich flavor and lively finish, you had better be ready to wake up. Coffee People Wake-Up Call Keurig K-Cups are extra bold in flavor, and ready to give you that morning kick in the pants that so many of us need to get started. Coffee People Wake-Up Call Keurig K-Cups will wake you up in the morning, with one small caveat – you need to get out of bed, and

List Price: $ 27.90

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If you are also a coffee lover then it is quite possible that you agree with me when I say that the taste of my coffee doubles when I sip it from my favorite coffee mug. A boring traditional mug is long gone and coffee mugs nowadays are designed in accordance with different preferences or personalities of coffee lovers.

The elegant and delicate cups are nice when you have some special people visiting you.
In fact, these are the preferred vessels to serve in, in the so-called “polite society”. But notice, I am not talking about the coffee mugs. When it comes t coffee mugs, they are appropriate for the less-formal social setting, where one is sitting with friends and having fun sipping coffee or may be during a brain storming session in office.

There are different styles, shapes and styles in which coffee mugs are available. Metals, porcelain, plastics and glass are the materials that are normally used to produce coffee mugs. The shapes of these mugs are varied and can be anything from a usual circle to a heart-shape mug.

Ways to use coffee mugs

In the recent times, coffee mugs are perfect souvenir items, decoration items and novelty items. In fact, big business organizations nowadays customize coffee mugs and use it as a promotional item that rolls in both fun of drinking coffee and profit for the business, together. Needless to say, for many coffee lovers, it is still a coffee mug that holds their coffee in the morning and gives them a good start for the day every morning.

So, there are different types of coffee mugs that are available in the market to suit the preferences of different coffee drinkers:

Porcelain mugs

Porcelain coffee mugs are one of the most favorite among coffee drinkers since ages. There is nothing that can deny the fact that porcelain mugs are more capable of resisting the heat than metals and plastic mugs and also somehow gives a better flavor to your coffee as well. You may find macho, whimsical and pretty designs of these cups. However, one drawback of these coffee mugs is that they can break easily. And they also don’t have lid attached over the top so as to avert coffee from spilling, unlike many other coffee mugs. 

So, if you are working on a computer or on papers with some important official work, you would definitely prefer mugs made from any other material that has an arrangement to prevent coffee from spilling.

Travel coffee mugs

For such people, there are travel mugs, i.e for coffee drinkers who wishes to avert accidental spills. These mugs are made with an amalgamation of plastic and metal and have the capacity for insulation that keeps your coffee hot for a longer duration. Usually, the coffee in these mugs is sipped from the hold inside the lid so as to avoid any spills. Such coffee mugs are perfect when you are driving.  

Puzzle mugs

The name sounds unusual. Isn’t it? So are these unique mugs. These novelty mugs require intuitiveness and manipulation if you want to drink from them. Confused? Well, this is what they do! These mugs have a hidden drinking method that you have to find.
Hence, coffee mugs enhance the experience of sipping coffee even more, especially when the mug suits your preference. So, make a careful choice to add onto your coffee drinking enjoyment.

jalimaTM.jpg

New York, NY (PRWEB) March 12, 2008

Jalima Coffee (http://www.jalimacoffee.com/) in conjunction with Gillies Coffee will host a coffee cupping at the upcoming third annual Coffee and Tea Festival at the Metropolitan Pavilion in NYC on April 12-13, 2008. Attendees will experience a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness a coffee cupping; something quite spectacular, something that most consumers have never, ever seen.

On Sunday, April 13th, 2008, Marcela A. Zuchovicki of Jalima Coffee will lead an interactive coffee cupping and tasting session at the 3rd annual Coffee and Tea Festival NYC. Similar to wine tasting, and rarely seen in public, cupping allows the participant to evaluate and compare different coffees on five major characteristics: flavor, acidity, aftertaste, fragrance, and body.

Ms. Zuchovicki, seen recently on the Food Network hit show Unwrapped: Caffeinated will be using some of the very best coffees from around the world, including beans from Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, Hawaii, and others. This demo will deliver a rare opportunity for consumers to see what goes on behind their favorite cup of Joe.

The two day festival will feature everything related to coffee and tea and will offer attendees the opportunity to sample different coffees and teas from around the world. Jalima Coffee was started 3 years ago by three women and lifelong friends, each professionally successful and all at a crossroad looking for a new challenge. A business idea was launched to start a specialty coffee venture to capture the most delicious flavors in the world: high altitude, organically grown coffee, bird friendly from the cloud forests of Mexico and to build a company committed to bio-diversity: social responsibility, economic sustainability and support of preservation of ecological projects and the environment.

Since August of 2005, the Jalimas (Janet, Libe and Marcela) have placed their line of exceptional 100% Arabica specialty coffees in approximately 250 specialty stores and gourmet food markets throughout Northeast, Florida, and the Mid Atlantic region of the USA. Jalima Coffee products can be found in some of the renowned gourmet food destinations in New York City such as Amish Markets, Garden of Eden, Georgia’s Bake Shop and Zabar’s in New York City; all 26 King’s Super Markets in New Jersey; some of the Whole Foods Markets in VA, MD, DC, OH, and specialty stores in the west coast of Florida to mention a few.

Since 2006 Jalima Coffee has been available at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/105-9716309-8166819?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Jalima+Coffee&x=22&y=18) and through www.jalimacoffee.com, making Jalima Coffee available anywhere in the U.S. and beyond. Through the company’s website and internet catalog, Jalima Coffee is also sold to members of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities at over 400 member campuses and their students, faculty, staff and alumni in the US. Quite an impressive start for the new kid on the block!

To compete with the big guys, naturally, no small order but these three women entrepreneurs will accept nothing less. Their focus these days is on building brand awareness, loyalty and expansion of their products, origins and distribution network regionally and nationally. Making Jalima Coffee a household name in the competitive specialty coffee industry will take unyielding belief in their product, their mission and themselves.

Tickets are on sale now for the 3rd Annual Coffee & Tea Festival: NYC will help raise funds and awareness for Cup for Education, the official charity of the event. Cup for Education helps the poor and rural coffee communities of Central and Latin America build schools within their communities and provide the basic tools needed to educate the future generations of coffee farmers. Visit www.coffeeandteafestival.com for more details. Limited exhibitor opportunities remain. Inquiries should be made immediately to 631-940-7290.

Jalima Coffee plans to continue its outreach to consumers through exhibitions and seminars to raise awareness of not only the exceptional quality of high altitude Mexican arabica coffees, but also the important mission of social and environmental responsibility in the coffee industry. Jalima Coffee (www.jalimacoffee.com) was conceptualized in December 2004. Since its inception, Jalima has partnered with several organizations to support social, sustainable, educational and ecological projects such as the El Triunfo Conservation Fund in Chiapas, Mexico, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) to support their educational initiatives, Andares, A.B.P. that provides work opportunities for the disadvantaged, and many others. Jalima Coffee has a line of three biodiverse coffee products from Mexico: Jalima Certified Organic Coffee from Chiapas, and H&A Gourmet Coffee, Regular and Decaffeinated from Veracruz.

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De’Longhi Latte, Coffee, Espresso & Cappuccino

DIGITAL PROGRAMMABLE MENU SETTINGS- allows you to adjust start time, auto shut-off and clock. You can adjust temperature of the coffee and water hardness. Plus, there are five settings for coffee strength: extra-mild, mild, regular, strong, and extra strong. Three buttons allow you to easily choose the size of cup you want: ristretto(small), espresso(medium) and large (American coffee). The three settings can be customized to your preferred taste.PATENTED SINGLE TOUCH CAPPUCCINO AND LATTE includes a 25 oz. milk container, two detachable lids, one for frothed milk for cappuccino and one for steamed milk for latte. It also includes a unique automatic cleaning function with the easy push of a button. Plus, the entire container is detachable, so it can easily be placed in the refrigerator. All parts are dishwasher-safe. Place the cup under the nozzle and press the button. You’ll get a perfect cappuccino or latte every time! Amounts of frothed / steamed milk and coffee are adjustable.WHAT YOU GRIND IS WHAT YOU BREW the compact and patented Direct-to-Brew System with Thermoblock technology provides excellent heat distribution and it’s removable for easy cleaning. The beans are ground instantly to ensure the freshest espresso or coffee. 15 BARS of PressureNEW PROFESSIONAL-QUALITY LOWER-PITCH CONICAL BURR GRINDER integrated lower-pitch burr grinder produces consistent, fresh and aromatic espresso or coffee. Grind settings allow you to adjust the fineness for all types of beans. DOUBLE BOILER WITH NEWESPRESSO BOILER no longer wait between espresso and steam. And with the improved stainless steel piped aluminum boiler the water heats faster and is more durable. INSTANT REHEAT FUNCTION heats the core of the machine, ensuring that Magnificamaintains an ideal temperature for brewing. ***Please allow 2 weeks for delivery of this item.
List Price:
Price: 1495.95

Start & Run a Coffee Bar (Start & Run a) (Start and Run a…)

Secrets of espresso success Build a winning sales team Create customer loyalty Do you dream of having your own coffee bar? Coffee bars (and tea shops) are springing up on every street corner. Now you too can start and run one of today’s most popular and profitable business ventures. If you enjoy meeting people and love coffee, this may be the business for you! Two entrepreneurs who’ve set up and run successful coffee bars share their inside knowledge, answering questions such as: W

List Price: $ 18.95

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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.