For many entrepreneurs in the Food and Beverage industry who have a passion for coffee, starting a coffee shop business is an exciting challenge.
Today, many of us prefer to have our snacks and drinks prepared by someone else. Everyone knows and loves coffee, and there are those who cannot live without it.
Starting a business that thrives on coffee culture is a smart decision, seeing as it’s an industry that continues to expand and gain more popularity every day. But what is it about this plant and its humble bean that makes it such a good product to build a business around?
1 – An Ancient and Legendary Drink
Preparing Coffee is an ancient tradition that has its roots around the Horn of Africa. Different cultures claim it as their own: the Ethiopians claim Kaldi, a goat herder, saw how excited his goats became when they ate the beans of the coffee plant. Yemenis have Sheikh Omar, from Mocha (yes, it’s a place), who, starved and exiled in the desert, and is said to have accidentally brewed coffee while trying to find a way to eat the beans. The drink sustained him for days, and he is said to have been made a saint after bringing it back with him to Mocha. Coffee is such an important substance that there are legends and disputes over its origins.
2 – Coffee is Always in Season
Because the coffee plant tends to grow mainly in tropical and equatorial climates, it is available year-round. In the climates that are closer to the equator, there is barely any difference between the seasons, and there tend to be lots of sunshine and rainfall throughout the year. This is a fantastic advantage for anyone who is looking for a product that can be sold year-round, and means your business should never run out of stock!
3 – Preparing It Isn’t Rocket Science
More like black magic! Yes, the preparation of coffee requires some education and equipment but fear not the internet is here to help you without costing a penny. What you will inevitably have to buy though, is the equipment, such as coffee grinders, which you can get from CoffeeDino.com. There, you’ll find comprehensive and comparative ratings and reviews of the top-level products available to you on the market.
4 – Generous Profit Margins
Obviously, the first thing that will come to most people’s minds when thinking about a business will be profitability and profit margins. These will, of course, depend on you and your own business skills – you have to put in your time, think about the volume of your sales, track the costs your business will incur, and depend upon how well you can market yourself.
If you do things well and pace yourself, your profit margin can climb up to the 60-80% range. Higher quality products will mean a lower margin, but will also mean more affluent customers who could help your business grow by word-of-mouth.
5 – You Are in Control of Your Hours
Almost – you can’t really get away with staying closed all day and open all night if the main thing you sell is coffee, which most of us tend to consume in the early hours of the morning. You are likely to be swamped with work, but you will have the privilege of choosing how and when to allocate your time so that your work life and personal life can work synchronously. This can prove to be particularly valuable if you are running another business in tandem, or are really busy at home.
6 – You Get to Become a Hub for Community
Coffee truly does and always has brought people together. Like all good things in life, when we enjoy them, we tend to want to share the experience. Your coffee shop already has that potential, all you need to do is set out and get started. One thing you need to remember though – location. Always think about where you are setting up, and what kind of people live and work around you. They are your footfall, and they have the potential to become your future regulars.
Whether you are looking for a different way of making money or are the kind of person who can bring people together around an age-old tradition and craft, a coffee shop can really be a wholesome enterprise to undertake. Remember, that in order to be successful, you need to be prepared and well equipped! And most important of all, you must know your customer and your product.
