Do You Wonder Why Some Coffee Shops and
Coffee/Espresso Drive-Thrus Thrive, While Others Struggle Just to
Get By or Go out of Business?
Starting a
Coffee Shop or a Coffee Drive-Thru is easy! All you have to do is rent a space, remodel, install the equipment,
get the permits and you are in business!
Starting and Running a Coffee Business that
Makes Money is NOT that Easy!
As an individual with limited resources and clueless about this
business, but ready and willing to join the coffee race,
can you open a coffee shop or a drive-thru and become
successful? After all, you have never seen the back
of an espresso machine or worked in any kind of a food
operation. How would you know what to do or where to start?
Can you make sure that whatever money you invest won't be
wasted? And can
you compete against the likes of Big Bucks$?
Of
course you can!
You,
as the owner-operator of your own business could do much
better serving your customers than a chain! and be prosperous and
be highly successful!
Here's what one coffee owner wrote us in
September, 2007:
Just
dropping a line to let you know that C. Coffee is heading into its
second year this November. It has been growing steadily. Thanks for
your initial start up advice. I've been able to stick with the true
coffee house format -- not an easy thing to do in this part of the
country. Quite a bit of research and physical labor went into making
it all happen.......Sales are not off the charts, but we're
covering our costs and growing steadily. OK -- so I'm bragging just a
little -- because we have outdone most, if not all our "competition"
including *rbcks through presentation and customer satisfaction. I'm
eager to move into our second year exploring coffee and the arts!
Martin H..
You could design your shop for a more efficient
operation, provide better and faster service, prepare better
tasting drinks, and take better care of your customers!
And
you could open for half the cost of a franchise or a chain,
without paying any franchise fees or royalties!
There
are hundreds of independent successful coffee concept operators
all over the country, some of them right next to $$bucks, doing
very well!
And
here is where you start.
When you finish reading this web site you
will know what it takes to start a Successful Specialty Coffee Business!
Isn't that
what you are looking for?
After thirty-five years of experience in this
business, having opened sixteen of our own coffee shops and over 200
independent shops and drive-thrus for people that "did not have a clue", in every possible
location all over the country, we learned what works and what doesn't.
And so will you - but only if you read this!
Warning!
If you "don't have the time or the patience to read all this stuff",
where will you find the time and the money to correct all the mistakes
that you will make by jumping into this business without a clue, or
worse, with information provided to you by friends, relatives, coffee
roasters, espresso equipment suppliers, or an "experienced" employee
from another coffee
shop ?
If you still can't find the time, please
go here:
"Coffee
Business for Dummies"
Please check the links below or on the right for
your specific area of interest.
Note: The pictures on this site represent some of
the coffee shops/drive-thrus that we consulted for.
Coffee & Drive-Thru California
Running a successful Coffee Business is a
great way to make a good living!
Unfortunately, as we travel all over the country helping
people to open independent coffee shops and drive-thrus (over 200 as of
Oct. '06), we come across many opportunities that have turned into disasters.
Many coffee businesses fail because they make some
BIG MISTAKES
during the planning and execution stage, not because they don't have
enough money or are using the wrong espresso machine or coffee! What
is important is to know how to use the money that you have in order to
generate the "most bang for your Buck!" And this is what this website is
all about!
Who is Afraid of the Big $$$bucks?
"A quick note, Alex. Four years in, our coffee shop is
still going strong. We won "Best Espresso Drinks in the Triangle" from the independent food critics.
And, news of news, the Starbucks store located across the street has
decided to shut down this coming Friday. Superior product and superior
training does win out in the end. Thanks for all you've done for my
business."
Mike
**********
"Alex,
just wanted to let you
know that coffee shop is finally in
business and doing double of what we had expected at the
start! I followed most of your advise and suggestions from
your booklet and must say that it has been the key
ingredient in our start-up and hopefully continuous success.
Without it, we probably would have made some costly mistakes
and started slower. Thank you, and I hope you come to see us
some day!"
Dwight
***********
You MUST know what steps to take in order
to succeed - BEFORE you start spending your hard earned money!
Don't you think so?
Training and Consulting Programs
No matter what coffee concept you are
planning, you will be investing at least $6000 just for the espresso
equipment and supplies, and from $50,000-$300,000 for a coffee shop or
drive-thru.
Don't you think that before you proceed to spend your money
and
your time, you should get at the least the answers to the following questions, so you
won't be wasting your money and your time?
-
Will it be worth it?
Will
I get what I want out of it?
-
Will I have enough money to
do it?
-
I
don't know anything about this business, where do I start?
-
What equipment or coffee should I use? .jpg)
-
Where do I learn how to make the drinks?
-
I
found a great location, but Starbucks is across the street,
can
I compete with them?
-
Should I get a franchise or be independent?
-
Is the
coffee market getting saturated?
-
I saw a
coffee shop for sale, should I buy it?
-
Etc. etc!
If you want to succeed and run a
profitable SPECIALTY
COFFEE BY THE CUP BUSINESS,
here is what you have to
do
BEFORE you can sell your first latte:
-
Gain an overall understanding of the COFFEE BY THE CUP
RETAIL BUSINESS.
The coffee business is not "about making drinks". We can teach
you how to make the best espresso drinks in your town in two to
three hours, but you still won't understand the nature of the
business. We have people calling us every day
with questions about "what espresso machine or coffee should
I use?" Machines or coffee do not matter if you don't
have the money, a location, a design, a sensible menu, an
effective marketing strategy and understanding on how to put
it all together and make it work!
-
Write a Business Plan.
What is a Business Plan? It is simply a projection that
tells you and your investors what you intend to do, how you
intend to do it, how much will it cost, what is involved,
what your sales will be, and how you intend to pay them
back. In other words, the people putting up the money or
leasing you the location want to know whether you
yourself understand what you are doing and have the
necessary expertise to do it.
-
Get adequate financing.
How much? For a drive-thru from
$60,000-$250,000, for a coffee shop from $60,000 to $350,000. However,
spending more money will have little to do with the success of your
business. The most important factors won't be how much you spend on
equipment, decor, furniture or the brand of coffee you will be using.
-
Find a Proper Location:
What is a good location?
Similar to Starbucks, or any place
that is "highly visible and easily accessible by a large
number of demographically correct potential customers."
-
Design your shop not only for looks, but also for speed and
efficiency of operation. An architect that never worked
behind the counter of a busy coffee shop would not have a
clue on how to do it right!
-
It is not how much money you invest, it is knowing
how to use it so as to generate the "biggest bang for
the buck"! This
is where experienced consultants like us, with over thirty years of doing this, and over two hundred openings of shops and
drive-thrus, may save you thousands of dollars
in mistakes and show you how to maximize the potential of
your location.
-
You should implement an effective,
"espresso focused"
marketing
strategy in order to sell mostly espresso based
drinks. Why? Because
that's where the real money
is!!! What counts in any business is not how much you
sell, but how much you have left over after you pay all your
bills and operating expenses. You will make more money by
selling $500 in espresso based drinks than $900 in coffee
beans or food.
-
You must understand correct espresso preparation
techniques for improved drink taste and speed of
service. Most of the so called "baristas" across the country
are not properly trained.
-
You and all your
employees should be trained in all
phases of the operation, especially in espresso marketing
strategy and correct drink preparation techniques.
Don't you think that you should
learn, or at least understand, all of the above BEFORE you start
spending REAL MONEY on leases, designs, equipment, supplies etc. etc??
All of the above points,
and more, are covered in Alex's
"Espresso
Business Success Program"
Coffee Drive-T
Coffee Drive Thru
Coffee & Drive Thru
If you do it right, the
coffee/espresso by the cup business offers generous financial
rewards and personal satisfaction. However,
should you jump into it without understanding of what makes it
"perk",
you could miss a golden
opportunity, risk your investment, waste precious time and
destroy your dream!
Our
definition of "doing it right" is to do everything possible -
within the limits of your budget - so as to maximize your
sales and profits. After all, you do want to makes
some money, don't you?
Here
is where you start:
A Quick Start-Up Guide
Why some
Coffee Concepts don't do well:
Though the location of a retail coffee business is the
single most important
element for its success - or lack of it - there are other
reasons why coffee shops, drive-thrus or additions of espresso
to some existing business may not be doing well:
1. Lack of an effective marketing strategy: If you do not know how to attract customers when you first open
and
how to sell them espresso based drinks instead of brewed
coffee, your revenues may be greatly reduced; it may take
you longer to return your investment and it will be harder to
build a great number of loyal daily customers, which is the base
of any successful coffee by the cup business.
2. Improper shop design and equipment layout:
If your work area is not designed for speed and efficiency of
service, it may take you much longer to prepare the drinks, the
customers will be inconvenienced by waiting longer than needed,
you will sell less in a given time period, tire your employees
sooner and irritate your customers. Unfortunately, many espresso
work areas around the country are designed more as monuments to
the architects' ego than to the customers convenience and speed
of service!
3. Poor taste of the product:
If your customers do not like the taste of your espresso based
drinks because of faulty preparation techniques (not
equipment or coffee), they either won't order it again or won't
come back. Unfortunately, most of the espresso served in this
country has no relation to the real thing, and the only way it
can be consumed is by drowning its thin, overheated, bitter,
flavorless, overpriced taste with some fancy flavored syrup.
By the way, the taste of an espresso based drink has more to do
with the way it is prepared than with the coffee or equipment
being used. We had some terrible cappuccinos prepared
with $11.00 a pound coffee on a $10,000 machine, and some
excellent ones made with a $5.00 a pound coffee and $3000
machine.
4. Wrong kind of coffee blend or roast
used for the US market: The best of beans used for excellent
espresso in Italy may not be proper to prepare the (mostly) milk
based espresso drinks consumed in the US.
5. Lack of understanding of espresso extraction
process: If you do not understand this process, and how it
influences the taste of the espresso based drinks, it will be
very difficult for you to prepare the best tasting product,
regardless of the coffee you are using. Unfortunately, many
coffee bar operators and so-called "baristas" have no clue! This
reduces customers satisfaction, frequency of return and the
amount of money in your pocket!
6. Not having a true standard
of product taste comparison:
Most of the owners, managers and employees of coffee bars/houses/carts
in this country have never tasted a properly prepared "cappuccino!" You would be amazed to
know what a slight variation in grind, extraction time and
proper combination of steamed milk could do to the taste of a
cappuccino or café latte! And to your bottom line!
7. Lack of focus
on what your main product should be: If you try to please everyone
with an extensive menu, you may end up pleasing no one! You will
be much better off if you specialize on fewer menu items and
preparing them correctly.
8. Not being a daily espresso based drink consumer yourself: How can you sell with enthusiasm and understand what you serve
to your customers if you do not like the product yourself? Many
times, when we ask the owners or operators if they drink what
they serve to their customers, they tell us they only enjoy
"that blended frozen sweet stuff".
Before you
proceed, you may want to check the links (scroll up, look right) dealing
with your specific area of interest.
Our
Consulting Programs
OPPORTUNITIES IN THE COFFEE BUSINESS
For a shop to generate enough revenues from one product
(espresso based drinks/coffee), selling at an average price of $2.92, the business has
to meet certain
requirements in location, work area design,
appearance, marketing and product taste so as to attract enough
customers and bring them back day after day.
Most
of the independents do between $100,000 and $500,000 a year in
sales. There are coffee houses in some college towns that do
over one million a year, leaving for the owner around $250,000
in profits!
However, your sales and
profits
will vary greatly depending on your location
and
on what you mostly sell: food, beans, brewed coffee, or
espresso based drinks.
Generally speaking,
if you know what you are doing, and
assuming that you pay around $2500 in rent and your gross sales
are $25,000 a month, you could put in your pocket about $8000 a
month. And you probably
could return the investment in your shop in a year or so,
provided that you have a decent location.
There
are thousands of communities across the country ready to offer
people like you the opportunity to make an excellent income with
the right kind of a coffee concept, without having to invest
$300,000 in a franchise!
As an
example, Starbucks invests $320,000 on the average to open one of their
shops. Our clients have invested on the average from $63,000 - $120,000 to open
their shops. You would be surprised how many customers ask: "Is
this a franchise?" We've helped to open over two hundred shops in
most of the states.
The single most important factor for the success of a retail
coffee business is the location.
There are still thousands of prospective good locations
available all over the country. However, good locations are not
going to wait forever! Will your shop be one of them?
The "retail specialty coffee by the cup business"
is more rewarding, pleasing, and
requires less start-up capital than most fast food concepts. And
it can be a lot of fun! Though it may seem simple to an
inexperienced person - after all, what's so complicated when you
are dealing mainly with one product, coffee - it is
a complex business.
Though it is important to have enough
capital to complete the project, it is more important to know
what areas of the concept deserve the most attention. And let me
tell you, equipment, decor or the brand of coffee that you will be using
are not on the top of the list!
Is there room for independent coffee shops?
The
specialty coffee/espresso by the cup business is growing at a
tremendous rate, but only about 18% of Americans drink some kind
of specialty coffee at the present time, and that includes
"gourmet" coffee purchased at the supermarket.
In 2006 there
were around 11,250 coffee shops, kiosks
and drive-thrus in the country. If you compare that to 54,000 pizza
outlets, we think that there is plenty of room to grow! Besides,
many of them have no idea on how to operate their
shops efficiently and maximize the potential of their locations,
and they are in danger of better and smarter competition opening
nearby and putting them out of business.
Though many good locations in larger cities may be already taken
by the big chains, and some areas of the West Coast seem to be
saturated with coffee shops and drive-thrus, the rest of the
country is wide open and waiting for you! There are
virtually thousands of locations available all over the country.
Alex opened shops in small towns, such as, Ottawa, Il.,
Davison, MI. Dubuque, IA, Bloomington, Il. Scranton, PA and many
more within the past year. Michael recently opened shops
in Moscow, ID, Regina, Canada, Moorpark, CA, Liberal, KS and a
drive-thru near Fort Worth, TX.
We talk
much more on locations in our
FREE
thirty page "How to Make Real Money with Espresso"
e-mail report and in our book "Espresso
Business Success Program".
Here are some of the contents
of this FREE report:
1. Where to Start? How much
Capital do you need?
2. What Makes a Coffee Concept
Successful?
3. What Earnings should you
expect?
4. Location: The Key to your
Success
5. Effective Marketing of
Espresso
6. The Importance of Proper
Drink Preparation
Please click here to request this
FREE Report
We send it by e-mail ONLY.
Please enter "Coffee Biz Report"
on the subject line.
We won't
e-mail it without it.
Your FIRST STEP:
"How to Open a Successful Coffee Business" Book &
DVD
Choose one of our
Training and Consulting Programs
Questions?
Contact Information
Why don't you include this
site in your "Favorites" now- it may get lost.
Coffee
Business Advice
By
the way, when we say "espresso" we mean all the drinks
prepared with espresso as a base, and not necessarily straight
espresso, which at this time represents less than 5% of espresso
drinks served in this country. we may also refer to "espresso" as
"coffee" without making a distinction.
Our
definition of a "coffee shop" would be an establishment similar
to Starbucks, serving mainly coffee/espresso drinks and some
pastries, no sandwiches, soups or salads.
Regardless of what coffee
concept you are planning, by the time you are ready to open your
business, you will have invested at the minimum $5000 just for the
espresso equipment and some supplies, and $60,000 to $300,000 to open a
coffee shop or a drive-thru in a good location.
Though no one can guarantee
that you will be successful in any business, you can take steps
that will minimize your risks and maximize your chances of success.
Your degree of success - or failure - will depend on
how
much you understand this business BEFORE you start spending real money
on leases, designs, remodel, equipment, supplies and marketing.
Click here to find out what are the SEVEN
BIGGEST MISTAKES and how to prevent them!
Click
here to learn How to Start a Coffee Shop or a Drive-Thru
This is your first step if you are serious about this business!
Here are some
of the contents of Alex's "Espresso Business Success Program":
-
A
Business Plan to present to your lender or landlord
-
An efficient
design and equipment layout of your shop or
drive-thru
-
A
complete equipment list, with my suggestions of where to get
what
-
A
very detailed initial supply list
for your opening
-
An
"espresso focused and friendly menu" - so you sell more!
-
An initial
"espresso marketing" program
to jump start your business
-
A
video tape that shows
correct drink preparation techniques,
and much more!
-
Included in the price of this program is my personal, over
the phone consulting
with you, that may cover a prospective
location, design, equipment, suppliers, or any other coffee
business related matter. Just this consultation alone may
save you thousands of dollars in preventing mistakes!
Before
you call us
about a drive-thru, PLEASE do your home-work that we suggest on
our
Drive-Thru site.
Most of the Coffee Businesses that do not do
well made some mistakes. You can
PREVENT those
mistakes by reading the following site:
Coffee Biz Mistakes
If you think that you can "wing it" on your own, go here:
"Coffee
Shop Business for Dummies"
Note: We will be happy to talk
to you without any cost or obligation about any coffee related business matter.
Please go here:
Contact
Oksana or Michael Fisenko with Alex
& Associates
Coffee Business Consulting and Training Options
For your specific area of interest please
go here:
Coffee Shop Business School. Three
Day Class will Teach "What to Do and How to Do it!"
Training and
Consulting Programs
If
you are in a hurry, and want to know right now HOW to
take the right steps, please go directly to Alex's:
"Espresso
Business Success Program" - Book & Video
Alex &
Assoc.
6107 SW Murray Blvd. PMB 297
Beaverton, OR 97008
Phone & Fax 503-590
9423 Pacific time 9 am- 6pm
e-mail:
alex@espressobusiness.com
If you are
curious to know who we are and why should you take our
advice, please go here: References
You
will find answers to most of your questions here:
Coffee Biz Q & A
Alex Fisenko
helped companies and
individuals to develop successful espresso concepts for the last
30 years. He provided initial "espresso expertise and
inspiration" to some of the biggest players in the field.
Besides having opened and operated 16 espresso bars for himself,
he traveled all over the world helping clients to open successful
espresso bars, including South Korea, Thailand, Belgium, Saudi
Arabia, Canada, and many US states. He was also an "Espresso
Business Seminar" Presenter for the Coffee Fest Organization in
Seattle. Now, his wife Oksana and his son Michael are carrying
on Alex's legacy. They will be happy to speak with anyone
interested in opening up his/her own coffee concept, and work towards
making this a highly successful business for their clients.
For customer loyalty punch cards:
alex@espressobusiness.com
http://www.coffeeshopbusiness.com
http://caffe.home.mindspring.com
©2006 Alex Fisenko &
Associates – All Rights Reserved
