So You Want to Open a Coffee Shop? Things to Think About Before You Start

Opening a coffee shop sounds like a wonderful idea.

Good coffee. Nice people. Great music. A beautiful counter. Maybe some plants. Perhaps a really good-looking espresso machine sitting proudly in the middle of it all.

And then reality arrives.

Someone needs to open the shop at 6:30 in the morning.

Someone needs to order milk.

Someone needs to clean the coffee machine.

Someone needs to work out why yesterday's espresso tasted fantastic and today's tastes like a bicycle tire.

And someone needs to pay the bills.

Running a coffee shop is a lot more than making coffee.

That's not meant to put you off. Quite the opposite.

If you understand what you're getting into, running a coffee shop can be incredibly rewarding.

Start with the concept

Before you start looking at espresso machines, think about what you actually want the business to be.

Are you opening a small neighborhood café where people come every morning?

A specialty coffee shop?

A breakfast café?

A place aimed at tourists?

A café inside a hotel?

A takeaway-focused operation?

There isn't one correct answer.

But your answer will influence almost everything else.

The size of the shop. The equipment you need. The number of staff. Your menu. Your opening hours. Even the type of coffee you should serve.

Don't start with the coffee machine

This might sound strange coming from a coffee roaster.

But don't start with the coffee machine.

Start with the customer.

Who are they?

What are they looking for?

How much time do they have?

What are they prepared to pay?

What do you want them to remember about your shop?

Once you understand that, the coffee machine becomes much easier to choose.

Your menu matters

A huge menu sounds attractive until you're standing behind the counter trying to make twelve different drinks at the same time.

Every extra item means more ingredients, more storage, more preparation and more opportunities for things to go wrong.

A smaller menu that you can execute consistently is often much easier to run.

And remember that coffee is only part of the operation.

Food, milk, syrups, teas, cold drinks, pastries, takeaway cups and everything else add complexity.

Think about workflow

Where does the customer order?

Where do they pay?

Where does the barista make the drink?

Where does the milk come from?

Where do dirty cups go?

Where does the finished coffee go?

These things sound obvious until you have twenty people waiting for coffee and discover that the fridge door blocks the person trying to reach the grinder.

Good coffee shop design isn't just about making the space look beautiful.

It should make the work easier.

And then there is the money

A coffee shop can be busy and still not be profitable.

That's an uncomfortable truth, but an important one.

You need to know what your drinks cost you, what your staff cost you, what your rent and utilities cost you and how many coffees you need to sell to make the numbers work.

You don't have to become an accountant.

But you do need to understand your numbers.

The dream is important.

The spreadsheet is important too.

And somewhere between the two is your coffee shop.

— Henning  Al-Gharb Coffee Roasters, Algarve

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