Advice for New Business

[bseverance]

My wife and I recently turned in plans to our small town government for a new coffee house. What we are looking to do is build a "tiny house" and make a drive through on both sides of the building for people to make their way through without a dine-in option. Our shop would offer coffee, espresso drinks, smoothies, and homemade baked goods. I'm looking for some advice on starting this up from anyone who has run a business like this before.

I have run numbers and know our break even point on profit which is helpful. What I don't know, however, and what I can't seem to find, is what the average transactions per hour and other important analytics are in a similar situation to mine (small town drive-thru).

Obviously goes without saying that we know we need good quality and good equipment but what other advice would you give someone who is just getting started and what could I expect my location to potentially do knowing that it will take time to grow? Any and all advice would be helpful, we're targeting a soft opening to get our feet wet in late June. Thanks.

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

I take it you've already selected the location?

 

[bseverance]

Location

We have a location picked out. We own another business and have adjoining land to put the structure onto. It's roughly 2 acres in the middle of town.

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

I am a big believer in the adage "The three most important things to success in business are: location, location, location." I'm sure you're familiar with it too. Being in the middle of town on land you already own or are buying has advantages that could make it the ideal location, even if it would not rank in the top three if you had to lease the space and make your evaluation based on the demographics of the 'ideal' location. What is your estimate of cost of construction? For something eye catching, check out Dinermite Diners. If you plan for a little bit of seating, at least you'd have options if the drive through only option does not pan out. That's all I've got for you. I'm really good at spending other people's money...lol! Hopefully there are members here who will help with the analytics you're looking for. Best of luck!

Peaberry

 

[peterjschmidt]

That's a pretty ambitious time-frame, to get something built, equipped, stocked, etc. You didn't say if you have a background in coffee or food services. Who's going to be producing the espresso drinks? This isn't meant to be a debbie-downer, I'm just curious.

 

[bseverance]

My wife has experience as a barista and we will be bringing in help for the training to make sure that we are fully equipped for the rest of our staff.

We are building the house ourselves and think it'll run close to $70k to get it done and in place after researching material cost to build the structure, stock it, and prep the area.

I agree that the time frame is pretty aggressive, if it needs to be pushed back it won't be a huge deal but we are targeting July in order to have a goal currently. You're not a debbie downer, I understand the realism so no worries.

 

[chast]

Debbie Downer?????

 

[PinkRose]

Debbie Downer?????

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Downer

 

[JBick]

Goes without saying today, but be sure to establish a strong online presence. Check out Yext for managing all your online directory listings. This will help ensure you come up at the top of the google search results when someone is searching for a local coffee shop.

 

[emilyscoffee]

Where will be your biz located? I should be interesting in to supply you with my coffee beans.

 

[4scoffee]

I'm a coffee distributor which import high quality coffee from Vietnam. I can ship you a free sample of our coffee if you want.

 

[ensoluna]

I'm a coffee distributor which import high quality coffee from Vietnam. I can ship you a free sample of our coffee if you want.

High quality coffee from Vietnam....
I am very interested to know what are the "high quality" coffees that you are importing.
can you give us more info on the coffee themselves?
such as : Varietal. what kind of process. soil info in Vietnam. possibly farm info with altitude. cupping profile...etc

these info will help us to understand more about your coffee.
thanks

 

[4scoffee]

High quality coffee from Vietnam....
I am very interested to know what are the "high quality" coffees that you are importing.
can you give us more info on the coffee themselves?
such as : Varietal. what kind of process. soil info in Vietnam. possibly farm info with altitude. cupping profile...etc

these info will help us to understand more about your coffee.
thanks

Thanks you for your interest! Since this is someone else thread. I don't want to be rude and promoting our products here. I have include some new info about our coffee in our coffee review thread. Please checked for additional information.

 

[PinkRose]

Thanks you for your interest! Since this is someone else thread. I don't want to be rude and promoting our products here. I have include some new info about our coffee in our coffee review thread. Please checked for additional information.

Thank you for being considerate and starting a new thread. This thread did get off track a little bit.

 

[lilypieces3]

well ,,supposedly you are in good foot traffic.. that is number one...home made baked goods and coffee are also a good idea..but since this is gonna be the first time that the bar is about to stablish its name..giving first what people need in relation to the product you are offering..
a coffee shop--you can offer homestyle cooking like in breakfast-- hotdog and egg and hotchocolate espresso and coffee...
hamburgers are also a good sell
to all incoming visitors for sidekick menu..thats the time your proud coffee prduct will come into a place..advertise it so much...
it is also good my friend to display a photo of your past customers,, their wonderful comments--service, food etc
to display it inside your store to feel the new customer that this resto served several customer ended happy..

You can also boost your resto audience by offering free wifi..maybe putting a post few meters from your store
or close to hiroad.

lastly, rewarding the customer is good thing to win them....like starbucks...they started the collect all stickers and once you collected 10 sstickers you have free tumbler or planner some kind of stuff...but just a reminder..dont put the burden customer counting just to be rewarded.. good example is when some airline companies launch their miles visa...accumulate it then you will have free ride..

Some customer do not remember how many points do they have..