Start & Run a Coffee Bar (eBook)

You, too, can take advantage of one of today's most popular and profitable business ventures--a coffee bar/tea shop. PREFACE x
iNTRODUCTION xi
PART 1 — GETTING STARTED 1
1 Prepar ing A Bus iness Plan 3
1. Why Prepare a Business Plan? 3
2. Your Vision for You 4
3. How Should I Start Out? 6
4. Customer Profiles: Finding Your
Target Market 7
5. What Type of Coffee Bar Is Best? 9
6. Choosing Your Products and Services 11
7. Risk Assessment 14
8. The Business Plan 15
2 SETTING UP YOUR BUSINESS 18
1. Choosing a Name 18
2. Your Business Structure 20
3. Start-up Costs 26
4. Licensing 30
3 INSURANCE 31
1. Obtaining Insurance 31
2. Planning Your Insurance Program 32
3. Types of Business and Personal Insurance 33
4 SECURING A SITE FOR YOUR COFFEE BAR 36
1. Where Are the Best Locations? 36
2. Mapping It Out 40
3. The Site Selection Criteria Checklist 40
4. Evaluating the Competition 45
5. Evaluating the Financial Viability
of the Site: The Pro Forma 46
6. Making an Offer 52
contents
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7. How to Negotiate Your Lease 53
8. The Key Consideration in Making Your
Final Site Decision 54
5 DESIGNING YOUR OWN STORE 55
1. Creating Your Business’s Identity 55
2. Your Coffee Bar’s Look 55
3. Your Staff’s Look 72
6 GETTING TO YOUR OPENING 78
1. How to Do Cost-Effective Plans 78
2. How to Get Permits and Licenses 79
3. Putting the Job out to Tender 79
4. Things to Do and Buy 83
5. Supplier Considerations 86
6. Storing Your Order 91
7. How and When to Open Your Doors 93
7 BUIL DING A WINNING TEAM 97
1. How to Find Great Staff 97
2. Employment Standards 98
3. How to Interview 101
4. How to Make Hiring Decisions You
Won’t Regret 104
5. Deciding How Many People to Hire 105
6. How to Train Your Staff 106
7. Station Designation 112
8. How to Find a Great Manager 113
8 HOW TO KEEP YOUR COFFEE BAR CLEAN 116
1. Keeping Your Coffee Bar Clean 116
2. Cleaning Tips 117
3. The Importance of Dishwashing 118
4. Specific Dishwashing Instructions 119
5. Keeping Your Coffee Bar Well Stocked 120
vi Start & run a coffee bar
PART II — THE PRODUCT 121
9 ROASTING COFFEE 123
1. Coffee 123
2. Decaffeinating 125
3. Roasting 126
4. The Different Roasts 129
5. Roast Samples 130
6. Coffee Flavoring 131
7. Storing Beans 132
8. Cupping 132
9. Selling Roasted Beans to Your Customers 134
10 MAKING AND SERVING COFFEE 139
1. Which Coffee Should You Serve? 139
2. Grinding 140
3. Measuring — How Much Coffee for
How Much Brew? 140
4. Brewing Equipment 140
5. The Steps to Brewing Success 144
6. How to Serve Your Coffee 146
11 THE SECRETS OF ESPRESSO SUCCESS 148
1. ESSSSSpresso 148
2. The Espresso Grinder 149
3. The Espresso Machine 150
4. Six Steps to a Terrific Espresso 152
5. Crema 153
6. Espresso Troubleshooting 153
7. Training Tips 154
8. Espresso Menu Items 154
12 SPECIALTY COFFEES 156
1. What Are Specialty Coffees? 156
2. Foaming versus Steaming 156
3. Six Steps to Steaming Milk 157
4. Six Steps to Foaming Milk 158
5. Specialty Coffee Menu Items 160
13 TEA 162
1. The Contemplative Beverage 162
2. A Brief History of Tea 162
3. Growing Tea 163
4. Types of Teas 163
5. Market Potential 163
6. Tea “Brands” 164
7. Five Keys to Great Tea 164
8. Cupping Tea 167
9. Serving Tea 168
10. Selling Tea to Your Customers 169
11. Teahouses — To Build or Not to Build 169
PART III — OPERATIONS 171
14 THE MONEY EXCHANGE STATION 173
1. The Money Exchange Station —
Where It All Happens 173
2. The Till: Policies and Procedures 173
3. Eleven Steps to Customer Service at the
Counter That Will Wow! Your Customers 175
4. Special Requests 181
5. Long Lineups 181
15 HOW TO MANAGE A SUCCESSFUL COFFEE BAR BUSINESS 183
1. Business Management 183
2. Employee Management 188
3. Product Management 192
4. Financial Management 198
5. Facilities Management 206
16 BUIL DING SALES 211
1. Sales Objectives 211
2. Marketing Objectives and Strategies 212
3. Getting New Customers 212
4. Keeping Your Customers 220
5. Getting Your Customers to Spend More 223
6. Getting Your Customers to Come Back
More Often 226
7. Marketing Plan 228
17 expanding and franchising 232
1. Expanding: When and Why 232
2. Franchising 233
AFTERWORD 234
Contents vii
SAMPLES
1 Business plan outline 17
2 Start-up budget 27
3 Pro forma 48
4 Staff application form 99
5 Interviewer’s form 102
6 Training completion certificate 112
7 Brew record 143
8 Manager’s meeting form 191
9 Inventory order sheet 194
10 Daily prep sheet 197
11 Daily cash sheet 199
12 Weekly summary 201
13 Month-end income and expense statement 203
14 Media thank-you letter 221
15 Marketing calendar (Valentine’s Day) 230
CHECKLISTS
1 Site selection criteria 42
2 Coffee bar design and layout 59
3 Pre-opening checklist 81
4 Station completion sign-off 110
5 Opening checklist 184
6 Closing checklist 186
TABLES
1 Types of coffee bars 13
2 Tea names 165