Open a Coffee Shop With No Experience

How to start a coffee shop with no experience.

How Do You Open a Coffee Shop With No Experience?

Succeed at Opening Your Coffee By Taking Small Steps

If you want to start a coffee shop but are concerned about the experience level, you are not alone.

The truth is that no one is born with the intuitive ability to start a coffee shop.

The process of starting a coffee shop is learned. Sometimes, the process is learned after many years. For others, it's a quick trial-by-fire experience.

Starting a coffee shop successfully requires a lot of different skills. It also requires a special mindset. The good news is that you can learn these skills and develop the right mindset.

Even famed Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz didn’t start off knowing everything about running a coffee shop in Seattle. The most successful coffee entrepreneur in history had to seek out the expertise of passionate people who worked their way to success in starting coffee businesses.

In other words, when it comes to opening a coffee shop, you have to learn it from somewhere. You either have to get the coffee business experience from working at a coffee shop or through the help of others.

Where do you get the experience to start a coffee shop business?

Let’s first begin with the understanding that having experience matters. Experience can help businesses avoid disasters, costly blunders, and total meltdowns. Experience can also lead a coffee shop to profitability.

But having experience isn't the only thing that matters.

While having experience is always advantageous, it isn't necessary.  In fact, with some empowering first steps, you can improve your chances of starting your coffee business successfully. This is what we intend to focus on today.

No Experience?

Start a Coffee Shop With These Steps

 If you do not have any experience in starting a coffee shop, we believe in doing four things:

• Assess your current level of experience.
• Embark on a pursuit to gain practical knowledge.
• Fine-tune your existing knowledge to strengthen your position. 
• Bring in people or team members that can strengthen your goals.

The good news is that by opening a retail coffee business, we don’t have to “invent the wheel.” Other successful coffee business entrepreneurs have the ability to show us how they did it. We can learn from their experiences and insights to successfully get our coffee shop off the ground.

Let's consider the few steps listed below for starting a coffee shop with no experience:

Step 1: Assess The Experience You Have

Often, people sell themselves short of the experience they have. The fact is that many jobs and careers have transferable skills and traits that can apply when starting a coffee business. If you have accounting or inventory experience, as an example, you’ll be well versed in something you will need to do daily, weekly, and annually.

If you’ve worked in marketing or sales, your skills in communication, branding, and pricing strategies will also be valuable when you start a coffee shop.

Step 2: Increase Your Knowledge Base

You must be proficient in many different areas as a small business owner. In fact, oftentimes, it can seem like you are a one-man band. This is especially true for coffee shop owners. 

You can visit with coffee roasters and attend coffee seminars, workshops, etc. If you live in a more secluded place with not as many options, you may need to take a drive or fly in to get the necessary exposure and experience you need. When you are ready, consider investing in our Complete Coffee Shop Startups Kit. It's packed with multiple guides and hours of one-on-one interviews with coffee shop owners and experts.

Step 3: Get The Experience You Need

There are a variety of ways to get the experience you need to start a coffee shop.

For example, you may consider working at a coffee shop, drive-thru coffee stand, or restaurant to get direct experience working with customers. You may consider taking a seminar in accounting or bookkeeping, which is often offered at your local community college or chamber of commerce.

Additionally, interview coffee shop owners and veterans of the retail coffee business. The reality is coffee shop owners can shed more light on what you can expect when you start a coffee shop.

Step 4: Be Passionate about Starting Your Coffee Shop

Coffee is an amazing beverage. There is so much to learn and appreciate about the complexities of coffee. Now, unfortunately, for most of its history, coffee has been not been given the respect it deserves. But you will play a big role in elevating coffee. Not only because coffee is complex and wonderful, but because it will impact your sales and revenue. 

Areas of Focus To Increase Coffee Shop Experience:

Coffee Shop Skills Needed

When it comes to opening a coffee shop, below is a list of areas of expertise you will need to be familiar with:

• Accounting
• HR Management
• Inventory Management
• Organizational Management
• Marketing
• Vendor Relations
• Customer Service
• Coffee Equipment Maintenance
• Brewing Coffee
• Cooking/Baking Experience (if needed)

If we look at the list, we see that we will need to have familiarity and working knowledge of each of these fundamental areas for us to be effective at running our own coffee business.

While you may need other areas of knowledge, you will probably be able to fit them into one of these general categories.

If you had previously run your own business, this list is probably not surprising to you. Many of the categories can overlap with each other and often do.

Let's briefly discuss each of these needed skills below:

Accounting

Proper accounting is the ability to effectively record and document financial transactions that your coffee shop will get. It also includes the ability to summarize, analyze, and report your daily, weekly, and yearly earnings tax responsibilities.

Inventory Management

The ability to track your inventory going in and out of your coffee shop at any given time is essential. Proper management is critical for maximizing sales and minimizing waste.

HR Management

Human resource management is the strategic approach to managing people, training them, paying them, and building a culture.

Organizational Management

How will you organize your employees? Will you have a manager, general manager, staff leads, supervisors, and others?

Marketing

The ability to market and promote your coffee shop business effectively will help you to boost sales, affirm your brand, and differentiate yourself in the marketplace.

Customer Service

Delivering high-quality customer service – every time – will be essential. Working with customers, mitigating conflict, and developing trust and customer loyalty takes time and diligent work.

For more information on coffee shop customer service, please read our post, How to Deliver Excellent Customer Service for Coffee Shops.

Coffee Equipment Maintenance

Owning a coffee shop means learning how to maintain and service your coffee equipment properly. Knowing how to keep your equipment running smoothly will save you money in the long run.

Brewing Coffee

Brewing and extracting excellent espresso are the nuts and bolts of owning a coffee shop business. The best way to serve the best practice is to get the right type of barista training and coffee education. If you already have the experience, you will need to train every employee on how you want your coffee made.

How to Start a Coffee Shop With No Experience

Other Important Areas of Focus:

Vendor Relations

Retail business owners can work with dozens of vendors and wholesalers. For a coffee shop owner, one of your essential vendors will be your wholesale coffee supplier. Maintaining good relations, open communication, on-time payments, and clear terms will be necessary for every vendor you work with.

Cooking/Baking Experience (if needed)

Depending on your concept and menu, you may need to know how to cook and bake whatever is on your menu. If not, you will need to hire excellent and reliable employees to ensure that your menu items are perfect.

How to Open a Coffee Shop With No Experience

No Experience, Where Do You Start?

Start Where You Are

 Behind every good coffee shop is an entrepreneur with a passion for coffee.

Many coffee shop owners did not start off with every skill listed above. They didn't carry the storied business acumen of great business leaders. Many of them didn't have half the resources, assets, and traits that you do.

But that didn't stop them.

Instead, they took steps to move their dream forward. They started where they were.

One step at a time.

That's my advice to you today. Start where you are.

Take the first step.

Below is a quick list of things you can get started on today to start your coffee shop.

Appreciate The Experience You Do Have

You bring to the table your life's history, your education, and professional and personal experiences.

Never discount your experience.

Honoring the experience you do have is part of developing the right mindset for success. Let your confidence rise by considering everything you have done up until this point in your life.

The truth is that coffee shop owners come from all walks of life. They have different backgrounds, ages, levels of education, and experience.

While it may be helpful to look at your resume, remember that your life consists of a lot more experience than what's written there.

Take a moment to honor what you have done up until this point. Your experience may include your schoolwork, volunteering at a non-profit, working in food service, being a barista for a large coffee shop – or anything in between!

The Biggest Asset Isn't Your Experience

Before opening a coffee shop, many people often don't have the direct experience of starting a business. But they did work to remove the barriers that existed between them and their future coffee shop.

The truth is that your biggest asset when starting a coffee shop is not your experience.

What is most valued is your determination, passion, ability to follow through, and learning ability.

Determine Your Basic Concept

There are a variety of coffee shop concepts to choose from. Whether you start small or you want to go big, the possibilities are everywhere.

Once you have a pretty good idea of what you want to do, the doors will begin to open. Even if you are still unsure at this point, keep exploring until you settle on what you want to do.

Write a Coffee Shop Business Plan

 One of the best ways to get your thoughts on paper is to write a thorough coffee shop business plan.

This plan will help you lay out all the coffee business areas you need to address. It will also help you determine where you might need the most help.

Your business plan will help you better articulate the coffee business you want – and help determine exactly what your next steps should be.

Develop Your Menu

Your menu plays a crucial role in everything. It reflects your target market, your need for coffee equipment, your preferred location, and your coffee shop budget.

What you serve will ultimately dictate how much your coffee shop will cost.

Developing your menu is the fun part. If you are unsure, visit local coffee shops and cafes in your area. Determine what you like and what's missing.

Where would you like to do business?

The next step is determining where you would like to do business. Would you like to open up within a certain radius of your current home? Is there interest in starting a coffee business in the next town or county?

Many factors like cost, affordability, taxes, space availability, commute time, and your target market can help decide where you want to be located.

Learn From Existing Coffee Shop Owners

After you have exhausted everything you can do on your own, such as your research and planning, you may want to bring in people who can help.

In your planning phase, you may need to start looking for local contractors. These might include electricians, plumbers, and carpenters. Additionally, if you have not found the right location, you may need to connect with a local commercial real estate specialist. You might also want to hire an experienced barista or coffee educator to help you practice pulling espresso shots or developing an operational plan for your coffee shop.

Hire Amazing Baristas With a Purpose

Bring in people into your business who have the skills you need to run a coffee shop. A carefully chosen employee can bring additional benefits, knowledge, and experience.

Starting a Coffee Shop with No Experience?

Tips on Opening a Coffee Shop with No Experience

Start Small

Nobody likes taking on too much – too much risk, time, or money.

Our advice is to start small.

There are plenty of small, low-cost coffee shop ideas that you can start to research.

Explore different coffee shop ideas. We've written about various coffee shop concepts that might pique your interest. Get your creative juices flowing!

Additionally, you may also consider starting a drive-thru coffee stand or setting up a mobile coffee business.

The fact is that there is relatively little risk in thinking about and planning a coffee shop business. Knowing what you want is really half the battle.

How to Open a Coffee Shop With No Experience

Trending Coffee Shop Business Articles:

Start Small	Start Small 2

Related Questions:

What if I've been a barista but don't know anything about running a business?

Having real-world experience in retail coffee can be a valuable asset as you start your coffee shop. In many ways, you might be ahead of the game.

However, you may not have any experience developing a coffee shop budget, working on Pro-forma income statements, or financial projections. That's okay. You can learn each of these essential areas without breaking the bank.

It's strongly recommended that you get your concept down and your business plan written. This will expose what areas of running a coffee shop you may be unsure of.

Next, consider exploring what other people have done to start their coffee shop business without experience. Our Complete Coffee Shop Startups Kit delivers expert advice from real-world coffee shop owners that you will want to hear.

How much money can I make starting a coffee shop?

How much income you can make as a coffee shop owner will depend on various factors, including your business's size and scope. Additional factors like location and sales volume will be essential to determine how much revenue your coffee shop will bring in.

For a more in-depth read, please check out How Much Money Does a Coffee Shop Owner Make?

 Before Opening a Coffee Shop With No Experience:

Knowing What You Don’t Know

Everyone needs to start somewhere.

We recommend shoring up your strengths and learning those things you need to know before spending money on your coffee shop. Perhaps you might consider taking a refresher course in business accounting at your local community college if you have the time or an online barista training course. 

Taking a business course while you are saving money or exploring other low-cost ways to start a coffee business may be a long-term appropriate use of your time and money.

If you haven’t worked at a café before, consider working part-time as a barista in a local coffee shop. Many current owners have actually started as a baristas or in customer service.

By gaining the experience you need with “hands-on training,” you will be able to determine for yourself what works and what doesn’t. This is where the “deliberate pursuit of practical knowledge” that we mentioned earlier comes into play.

Are You Ready To Get Started?

Unlock Your Dream Coffee Shop Business with Our Exclusive Coffee Shop Startups Kit!

Ready to transform your passion for coffee into a thriving business? Look no further! Our Coffee Shop Startups Kit is your key to brewing success. Here's why you can't miss this opportunity:

35-Lecture Coffee Shop Business Course: Our kit provides a comprehensive A-to-Z lecture series that covers what you should know and how to plan your coffee business. No more guesswork – follow our proven roadmap for success.

Comprehensive Coffee Shop Business Guide: Our kit includes a detailed, step-by-step guide that takes you from creating your concept to your grand opening.

Expert Interviews and Insights: Benefit from insider tips and industry secrets that successful coffee shop owners and experts share during one-on-one interviews. Learn from the best to stay ahead of the competition.

 Business Essentials: We provide business plan templates, checklists, and resources to streamline your startup process. From permits to menu planning, we've got you covered.

Cost-effective Solutions: Save time and money with our expert advice and budgeting tips. Maximize your ROI and minimize headaches.

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Includes Exclusive BONUS Material!

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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.