how to open

a coffee shop
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE

Bellissimo Coffee Advisors

Contents
Develop a Business Plan 3 Begin Building 13
Find the Perfect Location 5 How much does it cost to open a
What To Look For coffee shop?
Cafe vs Coffee Cart Locations Find Funding
How To Get Your Ideal Location SBA Loan
Angel Investors
Develop Essential Skills 7
City Grants
Barista Skills
Fundraising
Business Skills
Negotiation Coffee Shop Design 15
Networking Flow
Managing Upselling
Hiring 10 Tips
Budgeting and Inventory Plan to Open 16
Marketing Opening Party
Stay Organized 11 Soft Opening
Find Good Partners Grand Opening
Accountant or Bookkeeper Develop Your Employees 17
Business Attorney Grow Your Business 18
Human Resources Menu
Professional Marketing for Coffee Shops
Marketer Websites
Employee Handbook Social Media
Operations Manual Traditional Advertising
Expanding
Coffee Roasting
Conclusion 20

Contributors
Bruce Milletto Matt Milletto
Justin Borge John Leinonen

2 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide

Develop an Airtight
Business Plan
One of the most common questions we get is:
“Do I need a business plan?”
The answer is usually… it depends.
Usually when someone
asks this question, they’re
talking about a fully fleshed
out financially-deep, written
business plan – the type that
you’d take to a bank during the
startup phase while securing
investors or a loan. While that’s
useful if you’re trying to secure
a large loan from an investor
(and wise to consider finances
in the long-term), the type of
business plan we believe to
be most beneficial in the early
stages of opening a coffee shop?
It’s more of a general gameplan
and guideline that helps you
understand how you position
yourself in a competitive market,
what makes you stand out, the
brand identity you need your
3 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide
employees to embody, and so on.
All businesses start with
an idea. Maybe your idea is
entirely unique; you’ve never
seen anything like it anywhere.
Maybe your idea isn’t entirely
unique, but it IS unique to your
area. Whether you want to open
a large cafe or a coffee cart, you
need a game plan.
Your business idea and plans
can run the gamut, but without
a plan, it will likely always be
just that: an idea. A perfected
business plan brings life to
your ideas, and forces you to
consider everything you need to
consider in order to both show
others how seriously you’re
taking your dreams, but also
to provide a roadmap to follow
throughout the life of your
business. A business plan shows
that you’re serious about what
you want to do, you’ve done your
homework, and gives structure
to an otherwise intangible idea.
It’s the road map that gets you
from A to Z.
But where do you get started?
Some people may have gone
to business school to prepare
for this moment, but a great
majority of our customers
haven’t.
“A business plan
shows that you’re
serious about what
you want to do, you’ve
done your homework,
and gives structure
to an otherwise
intangible idea”
That’s where our business plan
comes in. More than anything
else, it is to keep you and anyone
you work with organized
and focused on your goals,
understanding their role in the
grand scheme of things. When
starting a business, the best
advice for starting out is that
you always want to fill a niche.
You need to fully understand the
needs of your future customers.
Are you positioned in a bustling
downtown area full of people
coming and going to work?
Maybe you don’t need a large
space with a lot of seating. But
if you’re near a college, for
example, you WILL need lots
of tables, couches, and chairs
(and outlets for people to charge
customers coming through your trying to do.
their laptops at!). Keeping your
doors, day in and day out. A good Building a good business plan
business plan flexible allows you
business plan helps guide you requires a lot of time and effort.
to address the unique needs of
towards success by forcing you In the early days of Bellissimo,
whatever location you decide to
to think about important details one of our most popular services
go for. Your location and ideal
that may not be obvious at first. was creating business plans for
customer can’t be ignored even
The bonus of a business coffee shops, much like ours.
in the early planning phase.
plan is you can use it to secure Over time, we began to realize
investors, create interest, and there were a lot of consistencies
convince your family and friends showing up from coffee shop
that your idea isn’t just a pipe to coffee shop. Shop owners
dream. It also functions as your would routinely ask the same
basis for training and getting questions, or want the same
your employees as passionate things in theirs. We would
about your shop as you are. charge multiple thousands
Having a business plan conveys of dollars for these business
you’re serious about what you’re plans, and our business plans

One Tip
You may find your concept changing as you work
through your business plan – that’s normal! You
may even find out your idea just doesn’t make
If you’re looking to be one
sense on paper. You can theoretically spend lots of
of the first coffee shops in
time and effort on something only to find that your
your area and without much
idea isn’t working out half way through – it can be
competition, you might be
demoralizing, but working through a business plan
able to get away without a
makes sure you’re not investing thousands of dollars
structured plan. But if you’re
in an idea that’s doomed from the start. At the end of
looking to open a coffee shop
the day, it’s better to lose a little bit of time and effort
in a competitive market – you
than potentially delve into a big, expensive business
will need to have a truly original
endeavor that never had much of a chance to begin
idea, and to understand your
with. Working through these things sets you up for
audience as best as humanly
success when you finally do have that winning idea
possible. THAT is how you’ll get
and location.

4 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide

eventually grew to be such a unique item, we decided to pivot our
strategy into the concept of “let’s templatize this business plan,
make it more affordable, and make it available to a wider audience.”
In doing this, we were able to utilize the internet in a way that we
couldn’t before, and get our tried and true, battle tested coffee shop
business plan in the hands of soon-to-be coffee shop entrepreneurs
around the globe. By lowering the price to a meager $695 (rather
than the thousands we used to charge for one-on-one plan writing),
we have been able to expand our reach, and streamline the process
for thousands on their way to coffee shop success.
If your coffee shop does not currently possess a streamlined,
developed business plan, we encourage you to check ours out

Find the Perfect

Location
Finding the right location is possibly the most
important thing a potential coffee shop owner
can do. Without the right location, everything
else you do is potentially wasted effort.
What To Look For
Traffic. Traffic and accessibility are your essential needs.
Depending on the community that you serve, it can be vehicle
traffic (namely if you’re opening a drive thru or have ample parking,
but foot traffic is ideal). Through marketing and promotions, you
may occasionally attract customers outside their immediate living
and working areas, but you will almost never get regulars. That’s
why you need to be near as many people as possible. Large office
buildings, hospitals, and tourist areas are the most ideal centers
to concentrate on. Apartment buildings are not bad either, but
generally won’t lead to quite as much business. They sound great in
theory, but remember that a majority of people brew their coffee at
home, only going out occasionally. It’s unwise to limit your audience
to only the people who live in a specific building and bank on them to
come down every day.
Any location is a balancing act between cost and benefit. The best
locations are usually much more expensive, and most coffee shops
just have to justify extremely high rent costs. The exception to this
is smaller spaces that may be more affordable. They also allow
for more customer turnover, and can be a great option for coffee
businesses. Namely if your clientele do not need lots of space to sit.
Many coffee shops can be hugely successful in a small space due to
low overhead and a constant flow of customers.
The last thing that can make or break a location is renovations. It’s
tempting to look for a place that was already a restaurant or coffee

5 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide

 shop, but that’s not always the How To Get Your
best idea because a business
already failed there once. At Ideal Location
the very least, it’s important to Finding your ideal location is one
figure out why that business thing, but actually getting it is a
failed and what you can do whole new challenge. The most
differently. When looking at important thing to remember is:
locations that aren’t properly negotiate! Be able to talk about
vented and plumbed, make sure your business what the benefits
to factor in that cost (or talk of it clearly. Data (even data
to the landlord about doing it) that isn’t perfect) can help drive
because it can quickly turn into a your point home. By opening
massive investment. a coffee shop in a space you’re
inherently bringing value to
Cafe Locations whomever owns it, not the other
vs Coffee Cart way around. Leverage that idea
when negotiating for price and
Location buildout. Don’t forget that things
Both cafes and coffee carts want like plumbing and counters are
similar things out of a location. the landlord’s property, so your
Foot traffic is essential, as well landlord may contribute to those
as visibility. However, because expenses. Remember, a coffee
coffee carts are smaller and shop almost ALWAYS brings up
have less overhead, they are the value of a neighborhood and
more flexible with where they adds significant foot traffic to
can be placed. Mobile coffee any shopping center. They are
carts also have he benefit of seen as valuable community
changing locations depending on meeting spaces, and homes
where the best market is. Cafes within walking distance of a
are a bigger investment with coffee shop are more desirable.
a potentially bigger profit, but The very nature of you bringing
they have to be positioned well. your business to a neighborhood
Coffee carts are a little more should be seen as a huge plus
forgiving when it comes to initial to any landlord. However, don’t
investment and location, so they assume that every landlord will
are a popular entry point into the automatically understand the
industry. value your business can bring,
so it’s up to you to help them
understand what they stand to
gain by leasing to your business
and helping you with your
buildout.

6 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide

Develop Essential
Skills
Prepare for running your business. Investing
in yourself is one of the most valuable things
an entrepreneur can do.
Barista Skills
Plenty of people with varied
backgrounds or entrepreneurial
spirits want to open a coffee
shop even if they’ve never
worked in one, and that’s fine!
Strictly speaking, you don’t need
to have been a barista to open a
coffee shop, but it really helps.
A part time barista job while
you work on your coffee bar
can at least get you started with
the knowledge you’ll need. Not
being able to jump behind the
bar or train employees yourself
can be a huge disadvantage
when opening a new coffee
business. You’re guaranteeing
the need for a partner or a
7 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide
having to work for a few years,
we have a solution for you.
By investing in your barista
education and training, you
naturally improve your ability
to train your future employees.
Remember, even your best
baristas will likely not work for
you forever. It is up to YOU to be
able to train future employees to
be able to provide consistently
skilled manager, and then relying
great products that keep your
on their schedule for any other
customers returning happily
employees. You also won’t be
over and over again.
as informed when it comes to
the products you offer because
you won’t have the firsthand
knowledge of creating them and
seeing how customers react.
Certainly, you could work as
a barista for a period of time;
Business Skills
many people do. Working as a
barista is a great method to see
Maybe you’re in the opposite
if a coffee shop environment
position: you’ve been a barista
is right for you. You learn the
and want to open up your own
skills, get practice working with a
shop. Barista skills are vital, but
team, and when it comes time to
a coffee shop needs a lot more
hire employees you have a better
than that to run well. Here are
idea of what to look for, but if
some of the business skills you’ll
you want those skills without
need to be confident in:

The most tried and true
method of negotiation
is being able to assess
and communicate value.
Negotiation
We talked about the importance of lease negotiation before,
but that’s not the end of it. Opening a coffee shop is expensive,
and paying sticker price for everything is often just not feasible.
Negotiation doesn’t have to be hard and you don’t have to be pushy.
The most tried and true method of negotiation is being able to
assess and communicate value.
It might be your business’s value to someone else (like a landlord),
or it might be a machine’s value to your business. In business,
everyone is looking to get as much as they can, but everyone
understands this. That’s why this value language is universal.
Communicating benefits when talking about your own value and
communicating challenges when buying are should help to get
negotiations started off correctly.
In day one of our five day workshops on how to start a coffee
business, we spend a good amount of time teaching negotiation
tactics and techniques for ways to convince landlords that your
business is worth investing their time and resources in. With just
a few simple techniques and concepts worth understanding, we
have seen our students negotiate up to 3 years of free rent in a
new building for their cafes, or negotiated with landlords to do
their entire buildout (saving them tens of thousands of dollars in
renovations).

Networking
Network early and network often.
You never know who might become a valued partner or a
customer. It’s no secret that a lot of people drink coffee. It’s also
obvious that to many consumers who don’t have developed palettes,
there are plenty of options for “good” coffee. It’s easy to pick out
bitter, sour coffee, but identifying the subtle nuances of coffee
beyond it just tasting better is beyond many people, so having
a coffee shop that stands out for other reasons helps bring in Network early and
customers. One way to stand out and start networking is by being network often.
present on the floor and in your community. Humans are communal
creatures; we like seeing other humans. If we associate a face with You never know who
a business instead of just a brand, we are far more likely to want to might become a valued
return to that business.
Additionally, word of mouth is one of the most powerful means partner or a customer.
of getting new customers. By grabbing the attention of one person, It’s no secret that a lot
you might also grab the attention of their friends and family. This
goes a long way towards building up your shop as a real member
of people drink coffee.
of a community. Once you’ve attained that status, you know your
networking is succeeding.
And never underestimate the power of reviews. They say that
a negative review reaches five times the amount of people than a
positive one. By being present in your business, you can drastically
improve the amount of control you have in ensuring your customers
have a positive experience.

8 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide

Managing barista is typically a pit stop in a good job (most people do), there
persons journey through life and is probably a reason for certain
Unless your pockets are very
few make it a long term career. tasks not getting done right or at
deep, you likely will not be
Remember that, and appreciate all. Listen and brainstorm ways
able to afford hiring a qualified
the humanity behind your to make processes easier or
manager in the beginning phases
employees. Let them flourish in more streamlined.
of your cafe. It is imperative that
ways that show that you respect Help your employees feel
you possess management skills,
them, and they’ll reward you by heard and use their insight to
or can learn. Good management
doing a great job of what you improve your business. Treat
is not as simple as “being the
expect out of them. Just be sure meetings as a constructive
boss”. As a manager, respecting
you make it clear what it is you experience. Create a process
and valuing your employees is
need from them. where everyone can feel like
first and foremost. Just making
An unavoidable part of their complaints will be heard
demands is the fastest road to
managing is conflict. Sometimes and addressed, but meetings
unhappy and underperforming
it’s employees in conflict with are NOT that place. Lots of
employees.
each other, sometimes it’s a things can affect people’s
We all like to feel like we’re
conflict between you and an performance, and you never
part of something, so give
employee. Good management know what someone will be
your employees opportunities
means not letting it get personal going through on a given day.
to take part in your business.
and keeping things focused on If it’s not personal, it might be
Encourage them to invent
how to improve performance as something trivial that you can
drinks, take pictures for social
an individual and in a team. address quickly and easily. Be
media, and anything else you can
Remember, YOUR performance sure you’re present, and your
think of for them to take part in
might be what needs improving. employees know that you have
and feel valued. Most baristas
Always try your best to stay an open door policy to hear what
are multi talented so find out
objective and understand the they have to say.
what hobbies your employees
needs of the business, see what This doesn’t mean personal
have. An artist might be able to
other people see, listen to the things can’t affect performance.
contribute to a unique menu
feedback you receive even when Family or health issues are
while a photographer might
it might be uncomfortable. Listen unfortunately common and
be able to take pictures for
to what your employees have often affect work performance.
your website. It’s important to
to say, or what they might seem A sympathetic manager who
remember that even your best
unhappy about. Hold monthly makes an effort to understand
employees will likely not be with
meetings and encourage your those situations can mean a
your company many years down
staff to bring up anything they lot to an employee and talking
the road. (of course, if they are,
feel particularly excited or through what’s happening can
then by all means you’ve struck
worried about. be all that’s needed to get things
gold. Be sure to reward them)
Assuming they want to do a back on track.
– in general, however, being a

9 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide

 Hiring
Nearly every coffee business is going to need an employee at some
point, so this is a skill you’ll need. The most important advice we can
give when it comes to hiring is to focus on personality and attitude
instead of skills. Ask interview questions like:
• How would your supervisor and co-workers describe you?
• Give me an example of a time at work when you went above and
beyond what was asked of you.
The most important • Tell me about a difficult situation at work, how you got through it,
advice we can give and what you learned.
Bar skills can always be taught, but finding someone willing to go the
when it comes to extra mile with customers and for your business is nearly impossible
hiring is to focus on to teach. Like we say above, good coffee is subjective to most
customers, but good service is something they’ll remember. With
personality and attitude every customer, you’re looking to make your coffee shop their coffee
instead of skills. shop, and not everyone can do that. Of course, finding the right
employees is only the first step.

Budgeting & Inventory

Having an accountant in your corner can be a big help, but they
can’t do everything for you. You also might not be able to fit an
accountant into your own budget. What then?
Budgeting skills are vital in coffee where transactional profit
is often low and inventory can make or break a business. Smart
budgeting involves balancing past data with future assumptions to
only spend as much money as you need. Budgets are seldom perfect,
but being able to create one and develop it through observation is It is easy to get in the
essential. habit of placing your
A big thing that many coffee shop owners will forgo is keeping
track of their cost of goods. It is easy to get in the habit of placing
orders and not looking
your orders and not looking at the invoices, but as your distributors at the invoices, but as
raise their prices, you should too. If the cost of milk goes up, the cost your distributors raise
of your lattes may need to go up as well. Otherwise, you’ll start to
notice that your profits are quickly disappearing and you may not their prices, you should
realize it until your profit is in jeopardy. too.
Marketing
We’ll cover marketing more in depth below, but it is an essential
and unavoidable part of a successful business. Effective marketing
starts with outreach, but also includes many more layers to actually
bring paying customers in. A new drink, sales, etc. are all ineffective
if not marketed well.
“How am I supposed to learn all these things if I’m already
working?” You could go to business school, but that path doesn’t
A new drink, sales, etc. make sense or is nearly impossible for many people who want to
are all ineffective if not open a coffee shop. If you want to cut right to the important stuff
while spending a fraction of what you’d spend on business school,
marketed well. our 5-day bundle is perfect for you.

10 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide

 Stay Organized
As a business owner, you can’t afford to wait until
problems arise to develop organizational systems.

Find Good Partners

You’ll certainly need a good
general contractor experienced
in cafe/restaurant spaces (more
on that later) but what about
other partners?
Step one is recognizing your
weaknesses. As a business
owner, you will have to be good
at a lot of things, but no one can
be good at everything. There
are certain gaps that just can’t Human Resources Professional
be ignored, and it might be wise Hiring an HR Professional is
to hire someone to help you in not as common as talking to
those areas. Here are four of the a lawyer, but it should be. HR
most common professionals you brings another perspective to
might want to look for: your efforts that’s not just about
what’s legal (though they can
Accountant or Bookkeeper
help with that too). By talking
Money is at the core of
to an HR professional, you’re
any business, so making sure
making sure all your employee
everything is accounted for
policies are correct and lawful,
and accurate is essential. A
and you can feel confident hiring
good accountant/bookkeeper
and working correctly with your
can alleviate a lot of the stress
staff.
that comes with money and
provide some recommendations Marketer
based on experience. Coffee Getting a good marketing plan
shop budgets can become early can be a game changer for
complicated quickly, so hiring an new businesses. Asking someone
accountant to help, even for a with expertise to help you form
short time, is essential. a long term plan, make contacts,
and execute strategies will pay
Business Attorney
off hugely in the long run. You
You likely won’t need to
may want to hire a marketer for
put a lawyer on retainer, but
a short time to get you started
developing and good working
off and again down the line to
relationship with a business
scale your business up.
attorney is a worthwhile
investment. There are certain
things that you will just need a
lawyer to look over.

11 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide

 The two most important documents for any coffee shop.
Employee
Handbook
Most coffee shops will need
at least one employee even
before they open, so we can
not emphasize enough how
significant it is to get this done
early and correctly. Getting
a thorough, clear employee
handbook early on helps set
expectations and procedures for
anyone you work with. A good
employee handbook must have
the following:
• Defining employees and their
relationships with employers
• Standards of conduct for
staff
• Team member
communications
• Employment policies
• Salary and benefits policies
Each of these sections needs
to be carefully thought out
and written. Once you have
a completed handbook, you
should also have it reviewed
by an HR expert and a lawyer;
your handbook can’t just be an
afterthought. This document
12 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide
lays out everything you expect of
employees and what employees
can expect of you. It makes sure
everyone is held accountable
for what they agree to do. From
a legal perspective, you need
an employee handbook before
one person works one hour for
you. Ask any new employee to
take time to read the handbook
and initial every page. This
simple process both makes
sure everyone is on the same
page as well as saves you from maintain machinery, and interact
potentially spending thousands with customers. It also provides
of dollars in legal fees. No you and your managers tools
business owner can afford to to make sure every employee is
get their employee handbook trained up the same way and to
wrong. However, getting this the same standards. No one can
all right takes quite a bit of blame a barista for not following
time and effort. To help new proper procedure if it was never
business owners focus on their taught, especially when it comes
business, we offer an employee to complicated equipment
handbook template that comes maintenance.
pre reviewed by legal and HR You should treat your
professionals and is designed to operations manual as the
have you ready to go quickly. textbook of your business. It
might not be the most exciting
Operations Manual or glamorous, but it is vital to
Most prospective business making sure your employees
owners know they need an feel equipped to do their jobs
employee handbook, but fewer and consistently give great
know about the importance of an experiences to customers.
operations manual. An operations manual and
Simply put: The employee an employee handbook work
handbook defines relationships together to communicate policy
and expectations, but the and make sure your business
operations manual tells your objectives are clear. Like the
employees how to actually do handbook, any new hire should
their jobs. sign and date a copy of your
An operations manual is a operations manual to make sure
supplement to on the job training it is understood.
and acts as a reference for Want to save even more time?
employees. It limits your liability We also offer an operations
by making sure employees know manual template that has
how to consistently make drinks, everything your business needs.
Begin Building
How much does it cost to open a coffee shop?
Budgets for new coffee shops can vary especially depending on the It’s not cheap, but being budget
equipment you want. To get an idea for what opening a coffee shop conscious can keep things from
costs, here are some general figures: getting out of control. Buying
used equipment is always
Type of Coffee Business Startup Cost Range an option, but try to find out
Full Cafe/Coffee Bar $150-$300k+ how well the equipment was
maintained. Poorly maintained
Coffee Drive-Through $75-250k+
equipment can end up costing
Coffee Cart/Mobile Operation $20-$75k+ more than brand new, and in
the long run it can mean terrible
One of the biggest expenses in a coffee shop is your initial value.
equipment. Here are some estimates for the big pieces that you’ll
see in most shops. Find Funding
Equipment Average Cost Whenever opening any
business, doing it with as little
Espresso Machine $9000
debt as possible is ideal. That
Grinder $2800 means your first funding strategy
Coffee Brewer $2200 should always be saving up.
Being frugal can be hard, but
Pastry Case $4800 it’s a good test to make sure
Undercounter Refrigerator $1800 you really want to open a coffee
Upright Refrigerator $2500 shop. Even after saving money,
chances are you’ll need funding
3-Compartment Sink $1100 of some kind. Here are some of
Dishwasher $3600 the safest ways to get capital:

13 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide

SBA Loan
A lot of businesses start
off with a Small Business
Association Loan. sba.gov makes
connecting with lenders about
as easy as it can be. These loans
are still very much loans, with
all the trappings and potential
challenges, but they are usually
more tailored to fit businesses
like small coffee shops and might
have more generous repayment
terms. Still, we recommend
taking the smallest loan you
possibly can.
Angel Investors
Angel Investors are becoming
a more popular means of finding
funding. They are investors
who have specifically stated
their interest in small business
who might have a hard time
finding other loans, hence the
term angel. However, there
are far fewer angel investors
looking to invest in hospitality
businesses, so this method can
still be challenging for coffee
shops. Usually, you’ll need some
kind of unique hook beyond
just good coffee, like extreme
environmental sustainability or
a focus on charity work.
City Grants
Cities are often looking for
certain kinds of businesses
to open. Driving tourism and
spending is always a value
proposition, and sustainability
is becoming increasingly
important. Investigate your
local government’s website for
grants to see what you’d have
to do for them. Applying for
grants is often a somewhat time
consuming process, but it can
pay off greatly and put you on
the map for your city.
Fundraising
Fundraising has one major
pro and major con. The con is
fundraising usually does yield
that much money, but the pro is
that money doesn’t require you
to repay it. Fundraising is always
more effective if you are already
well known in a community and
fundraise through a community
event. Putting on a party further
cuts into your bottom line, but
just asking for money cold will
not net you anything.

“Should I try crowdfunding?”

Sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have popularized
crowd funding, and a few coffee shops have had
success using those platforms. We caution against
it because of how difficult it is to deliver rewards
while you’re opening. Managing a campaign is also
incredibly time consuming during a period where
your time is very precious. This is a recipe for upset
backers and a bad reputation. A much better use of
crowdfunding is for a specific event or addition once
you are already open and have an established brand.

14 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide


Coffee Shop Design
The best coffee shops are designed with purpose.
Coffee shop design is a topic
unto itself, but we’ll give you
the two most important design
considerations right here: flow
and upselling.
Flow
All products have a certain
psychology to them, and coffee
is no different. Don’t just think
about who your ideal customer
is, but also their state of mind. A
lot of people getting coffee are
tired or grumpy, sometimes both.
That’s why it’s very important
to your customer experience to
make your shop easy to navigate,
your menu understandable,
and you offerings clear. Internal
signage helps, but flow really
starts with design. The path
from walking through the door
to coffee in hand should be
immediately obvious and easy to
navigate. A good contractor with
cafe experience goes a long way
15 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide
towards helping you develop a
good flow.
Upselling
Coffee is a high margin but
low cost product. We’re being
honest here, just selling coffee is
often not financially wise. Most
cafes need to raise the average
“ticket price” of their customers
to stay viable. You don’t need
every customer to buy food,
beans, or merchandise, but you
need a number of them to. That’s
why most coffee shops place
their pastry/food case near the
ordering station to make adding
on food easy. Positioning other
addon items like beans along the
path to ordering is essential. As
people walk in they are visually
prompted by your additional
offerings.
10 Coffee Shop
Design Tips
1. A first impression lasts a
lifetime.
2. Always try to keep in mind
that your goal is to serve
people efficiently, especially
during peak times.
3. An order counter near the
front reduces the feeling of
being lost as you walk in.
4. Design the back of the bar
before you create your menu
5. Use ergonomics to help
prevent accidents while
reducing frustration.
6. Study lighting design blogs,
books and magazines for
ideas, but don’t try to come
up with a lighting plan
yourself.
7. Be sure that the chairs you
choose can be repaired,
repainted or replaced when
they wear out.
8. Plan for music from day one.
9. The educated client with
strong ideas gets the best
work from the design
professional.
10. Be your own first customer.
Plan to Open
Things will be a little rough around the edges,
but the sooner you can start getting customers
through the door, the better.
Waiting until every minute place to see how your bar flow Grand Opening
detail is perfect will probably is working with a more forgiving About two weeks after your
mean you’ll never get open. audience. Some things will likely soft opening, you will want to
We recommend opening in 2-3 need to be reworked, and that’s hold a grand opening. This is
stages, starting with a soft open normal. your big party with as much
and ending with a grand opening. marketing and promotion as
Soft Opening your can muster. Make sure
Opening Party A soft opening usually everyone is ready to go and
Your opening party might be coincides with your opening provide the best possible service.
your soft open, or you may want party or comes shortly after After a grand opening, it’s
to separate them out. At your when the wrinkles have been normal to dip back down in
opening party, you should invite ironed out. This is the time customer count quite a bit.
friends and anyone who helped to do a little marketing and a People are reluctant to change
with your business at any stage little promotion, to let business their routine. This dip is where
as well as potential business slowly start to build. There are your hard work on customer
partners and promoters. Expect still likely to be new issues and service and superior product
to give out a lot of coffee to challenges to work out and this will come in handy and the real
thank these people and get slower drip of customers helps marketing begins.
them talking about your shop. really get your systems solidified.
The opening party is also a great

16 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide

Develop Your
Employees
Training new employees is a never ending
responsibility that business owners can’t skimp on.
By training employees
well, you make sure they feel
confident and ready to provide
the experience you want
customers to have.
When first training
employees, it can be beneficial
to run through exercises that
emphasize efficiency. For
example, give a new barista 4-5
drink orders and task them with
making the drinks as quickly as
possible without rushing. Allow
new baristas extra time to think
it over, and talk through the
process with them. Come up
with a few of these exercises
(even better if you come up with
them based on real life scenarios
specific to you shop) and work
through them. Be encouraging
when the barista gets things
right and gently correct by
explaining the reasoning behind
doing things a certain way. The
more your baristas understand
the “why” of things, the more
you can trust them to make good
decisions independently.
You can follow up with training
by holding friendly contests
among your staff or barista
throwdowns with other cafes in
the area. Baristas can compete
on things like latte art, drink
efficiency, and whatever else
you might want. These should
be fun above all else, and latte
art throwdowns can be great
publicity events.
Attempt to make training
fun, but if your coffee shop
takes off, you or your manager
might not have time to train. As
a business owner you stretch
yourself incredibly thin, so we
offer a way to pick up the slack.
Online Barista Training is a
learning platform accessible
from any computer that cuts
your training time down by up
to 80%. We supply informative
videos, instructions, and quizzes
to educate baristas on all the
fundamentals, so they can hit
the ground running on the bar.
Normal training might take 10
hours on the floor, with Online
Barista Training it can take 2.
Grow Your Business
The real work starts after your first opening boom.
Menu
The most straightforward way
to grow is having a menu with
popular staples and rotating
specials. When creating specials,
consider seasonal flavors and
unique combinations. In the
age of social media, the visual
appeal of a drink also can’t be
understated. A drink that looks
fun and iconic and tastes good
is a better marketing tool than
a drink that tastes amazing
and looks normal. Of course,
an amazing looking and tasting
drink is ideal, but if you have to
make a sacrifice, don’t take visual
appeal for granted.
Your menu should also take
into consideration what your
customers want and where
you’re located. If you have a lot
of parents with kids, consider
offering some kid friendly
options. If you have a lot of
busy business people, consider
offering subscription services
or refills in your branded mug to
make their daily coffee trip as
easy as possible for them.
Marketing for
Coffee Shops
Marketing is a crucial part
of owning a coffee shop
that many business owners
(understandably) don’t always
devote enough time to. There
are hundreds of ways to market
your shop, but some are more
18 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide
useful than others. Do you have a lot of customers
Websites in their teens to mid 20s? An
aesthetically pleasing instagram
Don’t try to get by without
feed and a snapchat geotag
a website. A few businesses
are probably worthwhile
manage to do it, but they are the
investments.
exception. You want a site that
Are your customers just a little
is above all easy to navigate.
older? Don’t neglect Instagram,
90% of your visitors are there
but it doesn’t need to be as big
to see your menu, you address,
of a focus. Instead, encourage
your hours, or your contact
customers to leave Google
information, so make those
reviews and consider investing in
things easy to find. If you want
some targeted paid advertising.
to add more info about your
Are your customers middle
story, staff, or anything else, do
aged and older? Maintaining
it! Having several pages on your
site is generally a good idea, but
your Facebook page becomes a
you just need to make sure your
little more important, and good
service is a huge focus.
most important info is easily
It’s important to try out
accessible.
different social media platforms
Social Media and methods to see what sticks.
Everyone wants a good A lot of baristas are younger
social media presence, but how and probably more invested
important is it to your specific and up to date with current
business? social media, so ask for their
opinions. If you have a barista
who is particularly skilled at
social media, let them take the
reigns for a while. It’s a great
experience and frees up your
time a little.
Traditional Advertising
Are newspaper, radio, or TV
ads worth it?
Maybe, it depends on your
market. Newspaper ads are
great for smaller, hyper local
communities. Radio ads can be
surprisingly effective among
older demographics in a slightly
wider range. The only avenue
we seldom recommend is TV ads
because of their expense. The
other challenge with traditional
advertising is that it can be
difficult to track exactly how
useful they are while digital ads
can tell you exactly what your
budget is returning.
Whatever marketing you do,
consider asking customers what
brought them in and regulars
why they like coming back. Their
answers are the best way to
actually figure out what works.
As you find your niche, reinvest
even more into marketing.
Expanding
Opening another location
sounds like it would be easier
than opening your first location,
but really it is just as complicated
if not moreso. Unless your brand
is incredibly strong, there’s no
guarantee of success in one area
leading to success in another.
A bad expansion move can sink
not just the new location, but the
original location as well.
When looking to expand, it
is vitally important to take the
same steps as opening your
first coffee shop. Finding a good
location, doing market research,
19 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide
developing your menu, etc. are
all steps that can’t be taken for
granted. Also, consider that your
time will now be split between
two places. A good manager at
each who can run things when
you’re not there is paramount.
Coffee Roasting
Coffee roasting is a topic many
coffee shop owners consider at
one point or another. Roasting
simultaneously has a lot of
competition, yet a lot of room
for growth. Much like the beer
industry, more and more micro
roasters are becoming popular,
and home roasting has been on
a steady incline. With that mind,
we recommend business owners
start small if at all. Roasting is
an entirely different business
model than running a coffee
bar and can be a huge financial
drain if not done carefully. We
recommend waiting until at least
your second year in business to
consider expanding to roasting.
If you do decide to move
into roasting, it can be a very
rewarding field. The roast can
affect so much about the coffee
experience, and from a business
perspective it can be a great way
to diversify. A lot of coffee shops
aren’t interested in moving into
roasting, and that’s completely
understandable. Roasting is only
one way to grow your business,
not the only way. That being said,
Bellissimo’s roastery has been
HIGHLY successful in getting our
beans in the homes of people
within the Pacific Northwest.
Water Avenue coffee is the 2nd
highest grossing roastery in the
Portland area and we’re not
slowing down – there’s good
money to be made in roasting!
(not to mention, you get to work
directly with coffee farmers all
over the globe).
We see more and more
people interested in roasting,
so we offer a 1-day Intensive
Roasting Workshop where we
teach you all about the roasting
process and provide a good
base for you to start exploring
on your own or communicate
with your local roaster more
effectively. Whether for home
or commercial roasting, learn
all about the equipment and
process behind coffee. (fun fact –
most people are surprised to find
out that light roast coffee has
MORE caffeine in it than dark
roast because it’s spent less time
in the roaster, and thus, has had
less of the caffeine cooked out of
it!)

Conclusion
The coffee industry is a
fascinating and rewarding place.
Coffee professionals get to
meet all kinds of people, and
building your own space is a
totally unique feeling. We hope
this article is a great starting
point for taking your first steps
into this amazing industry. If
you have any more questions,
we have a variety of resources,
workshops, and expertise to help
you through any stage of owning
your own business. Once again,
we’re here to help.

20 How to Open a Coffee Shop: The Definitive Guide