Prepare Yourself for The Challenge of Opening a Coffee Shop Business

Prepare yourself for coffee shop business challenges.

Prepare Yourself To Start Your Coffee Shop Business

People love coffee. Espresso-based drinks are more popular than ever, thanks to big coffee giants like Starbucks, Tully’s, and Caribou Coffee – and even your local, independent coffee shop.

With so many coffee shops around, it would be natural for many people to have the desire to start their own coffee shop business. 

Yet, most people often focus on the business's social or fun aspects when they think about coffee shops. This is a natural thing to do. 

In this article, we want to take the time to discuss how to best prepare yourself for starting a coffee business. Whether you want to start a mobile coffee truck, set up a coffee kiosk, open a drive-thru coffee stand, or a full coffee shop, we hope you will be better prepared to do so.

Know Why You Want To Open a Coffee Shop Business

There are many good reasons to start your own coffee shop business. It allows you to express your creative side, meet people, draw the respect of people in your community, and make a profitable business dream a reality.

But to succeed and “stick with it when things get tough,” consider asking yourself some questions, such as the following:

• Do I like fast-paced environments?
• Do I like being in the service industry?
• Am I good at multitasking?
• Do I get flustered and stressed very easily?
• Do you enjoy satisfying customers?
• Can I deal with difficult people?
• Can I afford NOT to get paid this week?
• Am I in a place in my life where my job can completely consume me?

Whatever your answers are to these questions, you must be honest with yourself—no one else’s answers matter. Many people unknowingly “fool themselves” into the challenge that comes with starting up a coffee business – or any business, for that matter!

Coffee shop business challenges

Start Your Coffee Shop Successfully

Prepare Yourself For Starting a Coffee Shop

Certainly, the best way to really tell if you want to get involved with a coffee business is to get a temporary job at a local coffee shop or get barista training.

I have met several people who started a coffee business and invested significant money to close their coffee shop quickly because they didn’t realize what they were getting into.

Now, of course, this isn't always feasible.

If you don’t have time to work at a coffee shop for six months to a year, you should, at the very least, visit several coffee shops or cafes in your area. Be purposeful with your visits.

Try observing the activity – not from a “customer’s perspective,” but from an “owner’s perspective” or manager’s point-of-view. Try garner as much insight as you can apply to your business.

During your visits, focus on the staff's activity, the owner/manager (if possible), and the engagement with the customers from a business perspective. Do you like what you see? Would you be able to see yourself interacting in the same manner?

Success in a coffee business will take lots of planning (and then more planning), appropriate delegating, financial investment, long hours, hard work, commitment, patience, and possibly a little luck (and add squeeze a few more hours of hard work after that). Put simply, the more prepared you are, the more likely you will avoid a failed coffee business.

Picture Your Life as a Coffee Shop Owner

Glimpses of meeting new people, laughing with customers, and seeing your coffee shop POS system ringing with money transactions can be a dream come true.

However, a “day in the life” of a coffee shop owner is often riddled with stress, constant juggling, delegating, and not having enough hours to complete everything done… Then, you have to get up early the next day and start all over again. 

Opening a coffee shop can be profitable, but then again, it may consume your entire life, at least temporarily. You and your family will also feel The sacrifices you make daily.

For example, you will most likely need to open your coffee shop early and get up anywhere between 4 am and 6 am every day. You can also hire baristas to help open for you, but you will always be “on-call” just if your barista calls out sick or has a problem that only you can solve. 

The Reality of Owning a Coffee Shop Business

You may need to make bank deposits nearly every day and occasionally be woken up at night for an emergency from time to time. I have talked to veteran coffee shop owners who told me that they didn’t take a vacation for many years after starting their coffee shop.

We realize most coffee business consultants won't mention these realities. Still, we think they are important and should be confronted before moving forward in taking steps to open a coffee shop.

Consider the following a list of items that you will have to do the work either yourself or delegate the duties to others for your coffee shop to succeed:

• Opening the coffee shop
• Morning and afternoon rush
• Evening rushes
• Closing duties/Morning prep duties
• Administrative tasks

These have multiple and specific tasks and duties that need to be completed if the day can be successful.  Management and barista training will be key to maintaining your sharp edge against changing markets and competition. If there is a log jam in duties not being fulfilled, it can impact your day's success – and tomorrow’s success, too!

Coffee shop business challenges

The Time Constraints of Managing a Coffee Shop 

Managing a coffee shop means juggling lots of important elements. These include your payroll, accounting, marketing, and getting vendor supplies. Additionally, you will also need to go to the bank. And let's not forget about having your coffee delivered on time!

Additionally, you may have to pay for regular pest control work with plumbers, espresso machine repair, or maintenance technicians. You will also have to train baristas regularly. Of course, you will always anticipate local health department visits to pay your rent on time.

You will also want to stay on top of your insurance premiums, taxes, worker’s compensation, and other utility bills. Additionally, you will always be on the “lookout” for new employees as employee turnover is frequently high at many cafes.

If you have a traditional coffee shop business, the mornings will likely be your busiest time. Before you open, you will need to make sure that you have your coffee ready, espresso machines on, your water-filled (if you have a self-contained coffee cart, kiosk, or drive-thru coffee stand), your fresh food, and other supplies and products that you serve.

If you serve bagels or other food items, you will want to make sure all of your spreads are filled, and the ingredients are ready to be used. All this, of course, really happens the night before. These functions are just the beginning of your daily, weekly, and monthly duties and responsibilities.

Do I have what it takes to open a coffee shop?

You may recognize and even feel energized by the challenge ahead of starting a coffee business. To be sure, despite the challenges of starting a coffee shop business – whether it’s a drive-thru coffee stand or mobile coffee truck), opening a coffee shop can have tremendous benefits.

While it takes some financial risks and plenty of personal sacrifices, many people love the experience and enjoy seeing their coffee business grow, flourish, and become profitable. In time, they may even decide to expand to a second and third coffee shop location.

But Wait…there’s more!

Coffee shop business challenges

Questions before starting a coffee shop:

#1: Are you up for the financial risks?

There’s no way around the issue. Starting a business requires money. There are low-cost ways to start a coffee shop, but you may still have to invest some cash. It can be risky. Some people fail at starting a coffee shop business. The benefits of risking your savings can pay off with a thriving and profitable business.

#2: Will you be able to live without a paycheck?

There will be times – some coffee shop owners say many times – that you will not have enough to pay your employees, your bills, and yourself at the same. There may be weeks to work 60 – 80 hours a week and have absolutely nothing left to pay yourself. You have to prepare by having a financial buffer to pay your rent, food, and necessities.

#3: Are you willing and able to make difficult decisions?

As the owner of a business, you will need to make tough decisions. What’s at stake is your business's overall success, so such decisions will include firing employees, disciplining employees, cutting back hours, cutting vendors, and hiring and training new baristas. Good management requires tough decisions to be made all the time. Be sure that you are up for the task.

#4: Will you be able to adapt and endure growing pains?

As you grow and learn the coffee business, you will move up along the “learning curve.” There is no surprise that there will be some growing pains.

There is no “straight line” when starting your coffee business. The steps to opening your coffee shop can vary depending on your personal situation. You can be sure that unexpected events will happen, some employees will be challenging, and finding your own way will require mistakes, bruised self-confidence, and money needlessly spent. Growing pains may require you to hire and fire staff and vendors. After you launch your business and run it for a period of time, you will experience growing pains.

#5: Will you (and your family) be able to adapt to the lifestyle change?

Your business is not simply “a job” that you go to on Monday morning and leave on Friday afternoon. If you’re like most coffee business owners, your coffee shop will consume most of your time. You will be putting in long hours daily, weekly, monthly – for many months or years. Your family vacation may need to be put off, and events that you would love to attend may have to be canceled or missed. To be sure, your lifestyle will change.

Coffee shop business challenges

Your Abilities To Open and Run a Coffee Shop Business

Owning your own business (especially a coffee shop) may be like a roller coaster for the first couple of years. They require an ability to stomach some stressful time.

Ask yourself whether you are at the right time and place in your life where you can stomach this kind of lifestyle. Regardless of what type of coffee business you try to start and open, you will want to have the “stomach” for it. You and your family will be better prepared to open a coffee business successfully by getting everything out in the open.

Do you have excellent people skills?

Owning a coffee shop or a drive-thru coffee stand business requires you to meet hundreds of new people – sometimes daily. It takes a lot of energy. Every customer requires and deserves excellent attention. Customers can be difficult. There will be many customers who may never be satisfied with even the best of service. Still, others will look to bargain for free things because of their unmet perceptions and expectations.

Learning to manage customers, employees, vendors, and other business situations requires excellent people skills. Hiring people can be daunting – especially if you never had experience selecting the right choice among a field of candidates. Generally, the coffee retail industry, like the restaurant business, has a higher-than-normal turnover rate, so you may be interviewing and hiring frequently.

What are your leadership abilities like?

Coffee shop owners and managers need to be leaders. If a business doesn’t have a strong leader, the business may float without any direction. Like a captain on a ship, a leader takes the helm, steers the rudder, and guides the business through heavy seas. Regardless of what analogy we use, business owners need to be good leaders or grow into leaders. You have to ask yourself, will you have the leadership skills to manage and even inspire your employees?

Being right-brained and left-brained at the same time? 

When you own your own business, you will need to be analytical and creative – at the same time. A business owner with only one of those attributes will fail – unless he brings other people on board with the necessary characteristics to ultimately run his business.

Coffee shop owners will need to be consistently creative on various fronts–this is a necessity. Being creative can help you save money along the way to achieving the vision for your business.

Can you handle the pressure?

Coffee shop businesses can create a lot of pressure for business owners – especially for new and learning business owners. If you perform well under pressure, you are probably cut out for owning a coffee shop. Just be aware that pressure will exist and that you will need to function and perform well under it – if your business is to succeed.

Are you flexible?

Coffee shop owners need to display consistency and flexibility. As you will need to work well under pressure, you will also need to be flexible too. Adapting to challenges to do your business work requires nothing less than flexibility. Owning and managing a coffee shop business will require a degree of flexibility. Without it your coffee shop business will ultimately fail. 

Do you have the stamina?

While you might be able to work under pressure for a few weeks, even months, and be flexible, owning a coffee shop requires the ability to have stamina. Your business may need to be massaged and nurtured every day of the week for the first year – or two. Being able to last a couple of years under the strain, stress, and pressure will/may be necessary.

Are you passionate about your coffee business?

Finally, are you passionate about your coffee business? Will you love what you do? If you don’t love what you do, then you will quickly run out of enthusiasm. Understanding the passion behind your decision to start a coffee business is essential before you actually start your business is essential.

Will you know when to ask for help?

Many business owners fail because they are reluctant to seek help or pay for the necessary assistance with establishing their business. While I believe that owning the business and doing much of the “heavy lifting,” there will be times when you will (or should) call for advice or expertise. Smart business people know to surround themselves with people who strengthen their weaknesses.

Being able to recognize when you need help is often a humbling experience. As you open and launch your coffee shop business, you may need to seek help or advice from various experts. We hope our premium resources – such as our Complete Coffee Shop Startups Kit and Coffee Business Blog –  will help you figure out the questions to ask those you bring to help you. 

Coffee shop business challenges

Take a Moment to Reflect and Plan  Things Out

Whew! Take a deep breath.

We’ve covered a lot of things here! Take the time to reflect on the main points and determine how they apply to you.  Reflect and then answer each point. If you need to speak with someone, consider speaking to someone who will be honest with you – and play devil’s advocate with your answers.

Taking the time to reflect and answer the questions honestly will save you a lot of time, heartache, and money in the long run. If you don't know where to start, consider taking a notepad down to your local coffee shop or cafe.

Order a cup of coffee and think about the questions we just mentioned. Picture yourself as the owner of the cafe. What does it feel like? Answer some of the questions or points that we have raised in this article. If you are getting a good feeling about it, you should take another step to move closer to your business planning. 

Moving Forward With Opening a Coffee Shop Business

Okay, Are you ready? If you have answered the aforementioned questions and feel even more confident about your decision to move forward with your coffee business, then you are in good shape!

The next step to setting up your coffee shop is that you will need to figure out what’s in your way between where you are now – and where you want to be.

Usually, this requires some planning.

Planning ensures a greater probability of success in any business. Preparing for your coffee business is no different!  If you are still unsure, start small.

While starting a coffee shop business requires money, it doesn't require money right away. We believe that taking the first step towards opening a coffee business begins with a simple decision: You will do more research. Much of the research can be free or maybe cost the price of a couple of lattes or Americanos.  

Coffee shop business challenges

Get Your Coffee Shop Business Plan Started

Fortunately, we have a simple way to help save you hours, hundreds of your planning dollars, and many sleepless nights of staring at a blank screen, trying to start your coffee business plan!

With its MS Word template, our Coffee Business Plan Guide will save you headaches by explaining each business plan section easily. Our Coffee Shop Startup Kit provides you with this free template, which we believe is an affordable option to learn just what it takes to start a coffee shop.

Additionally, the sections provide you with the information that you will need to understand to move forward with your coffee shop business plan. For the price of a couple of cups of coffee, you'll have your business plan nearly written for you. There is really no other online resource that is this comprehensive and makes everything so easy.

Are You Ready To Get Started?

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Coffee Shop Startups

Based in Seattle, Washington, USA, Coffee Shop Startups is dedicated to providing you with the most relevant information on how to start a coffee shop business successfully. Over the last 11 years, we've helped thousands of aspiring coffee business owners worldwide. We harness the experience, wisdom, and knowledge of many successful coffee shop owners to help you increase your chances of success and profits. We support business owners who want to start a coffee business by providing them with valuable information on starting their coffee business successfully.