What Makes a Great Coffee Shop?

What Makes a great coffee shop?

Your Coffee Business

What Makes a Coffee Shop Great?

If you have ever dreamed of owning your own coffee shop, you may have thought about all the great ways to make it unique.

You'll want to leave your mark, from your coffee shop’s name and menu to the colors on the walls – and everything in between. Many coffee shop owners first set out to open a coffee shop that offers something unique, memorable, and extraordinary.

And yet, many miss the mark of greatness. Over time, a great vision sometimes turns into a mediocre business simply trying to stay afloat.

But what makes a coffee shop great exactly?

Indeed, “greatness” is subjective. What's excellent for one customer may not be for the next.

Still, there may be common denominators that great coffee shops possess. In this post, I'd like to think about a few core elements you may want to have as you develop your coffee shop concept and planning.

What elements will you want to shore up if you currently operate a coffee shop? We'll discuss them below.

What Makes a Great Coffee Shop Business?

• Serving great coffee
• Having a mission and vision
• Developing authenticity
• Offering superior and unique products
• Staying customer-focused
• Create an ambiance
• Be less transactional and more personal
• Be welcoming and inclusive
• Offer memorable experience
• Continuously adapt and be willing to change
• Offer convenience

What Makes a Great Coffee Shop?

I believe that greatness doesn't just happen.

Starting a great coffee shop requires thoughtful planning, trial and error, and tenacity. It requires work and follow-through. It requires effort, planning, and investment to maintain.

Consider the following elements and embed them within your coffee shop business planning. Each one has the potential to bring your coffee shop one step closer to greatness.

Serve Great Coffee

To have a great coffee shop, you'll need great coffee. Offering the highest quality coffee is essential to having a superior coffee shop and coffee brand. This means investing in your coffee beans by finding a passionate wholesale coffee roaster. It also means delivering the best coffee beverages – with the best-pulled espresso and milk. 

Having a Vision & Mission

Every great business stems from a vision. Your coffee shop will likely encapsulate your vision. And if you don't have one, it will probably show.

Take some time to develop a clear coffee business concept and theme and then work to blend them harmoniously into a single vision and mission.

Your vision should embody clarity:

• What is it that you want to achieve?
• What kind of experience would you like your customers to have?

Once you’ve settled on a vision, consider drafting a vision and mission statement to help provide you with your North star of planning.

Developing Authenticity

We all know fake when we see it.

So instead of trying to be a coffee shop that doesn't fit your personality, create a coffee business that you'd enjoy as a customer – one that offers natural charm and is authentic to you.

Chances are that if you develop something appealing to you, others will also gravitate to your business.

When starting a new coffee shop, the good news is that most new coffee shop businesses have a clean slate. Craft your business to grasp your vision and consistently adhere to it – authentically.

Developing genuine authenticity – consistently – can catapult your coffee shop to a new level of greatness.

Easy Street Café and Records is one of those coffee businesses that has displayed its authenticity for over 20 years. Its down-to-earth vibe is crafted more for function than for display. It’s not just about the coffee here – you won’t find latte art or fancy coffee drinks—just delicious Americanos and a vibe that leaves you thinking about coming back.

Superior and Unique Products

Great coffee shops offer excellent coffee, food, and other items. So whether it's your shade-grown Guatemala coffee, freshly-baked muffins, or bacon and cheese breakfast burritos, you'll want to offer a unique menu that your customers love.

Dare to be different and do it well.

Your delicious menu items are always a deal-maker when defining what makes a coffee shop great. After all, your customers’ entire experience will partly revolve around your menu.

Your coffee shop menu doesn't have to be elaborate or lengthy. You don't have to be everything to everybody.

By sticking to what you do best and aiming for constantly trying to perfect your craft, you'll take a giant step towards greatness.

Staying Customer Focused (Customer Service)

An excellent coffee shop wraps its vision and concept around the needs of its customers and executes every single time.

This is because coffee shop owners understand that customers are the entire reason for their success.

Having good customer service is essential. However, your coffee shop customer service must always be switched on in a fiercely competitive environment where online reviews last forever.

That means your baristas must be well-chosen and well-trained to deliver high-quality drinks and customer service on every order.

That means EVERY ORDER .

While you may think that you are in business to serve coffee, you're in business to stop various pain points with your customers (the lack of coffee being one of them).

Always strive to stay customer-focused, and you'll have one of the elements of greatness in your bag. Take the time to hire amazing baristas and invest in barista training. No doubt, your efforts will pay off.

Create an Ambiance

Every great café has its unique ambiance and feel. This ambiance isn't a mistake, either. It takes work to develop a great setting.

As we stated earlier, you'll want your vision to gel harmoniously with your ambiance. This will help keep things authentic.

Several things can help you create the ambiance we want to create. They include things like the use of natural lighting through open windows, interior lighting, furniture and fixtures, art and tables, the use of music, interior colors, flooring, and plants.

The coffee bar's design, the espresso machine's location, the point of sale system, outside seating, and other elements of your coffee shop will impact the ambiance. Additionally, the temperature settings will also be an essential factor for your customers’ experience.

Less Transactional (More Personal)

We all know what it's like to feel like cattle when we purchase something. Whether at the local DMV, your local store, or a coffee shop – no one likes to feel just like a number.

Yeah, that feeling sucks.

Deep down – we all want to feel appreciated for our patronage. However, coffee businesses are much different from your shopping at your local pharmacy – and at least they ought to be.

Typically, we have choices. And we want our options to be rewarded with great coffee, good service, and a little personal touch.

Be Welcoming & Inclusive

Being snobby doesn’t have a place in retail coffee – or anywhere.

Yet, I have wondered why some new coffee shop entrepreneurs set out to establish a snobby business.

It’s as though their entire coffee business revolves around their ego.

I’ve met baristas (sort of) who were seemingly disgusted that I was ordering coffee from them, lest I break their meditative state of making a pour-over coffee.

Snobby doesn’t make one great. And snobbish interaction will lead to the eventual death of a coffee shop.

It’s okay to be confident… but don’t let your ego be the face of your coffee business.

Instead, every barista and staff member should be warm, inclusive, and welcoming. Utilize the time to have a positive interaction with each customer. Exude gratitude that they have chosen to walk into your business today and buy from you. Most likely, they have choices.

Inclusive also means making your coffee shop accessible to people with disabilities, as the ADA act requires. You might also want to make your coffee shop kid- or pet-friendly if your concept allows this.

Memorable Experience

Creating a memorable experience is among the top things that customers love when recalling their time at a business.

By creating a memorable experience, your café or coffee shop cuts through the noise of the marketplace and establishes you as the coffee shop to go to.

A memorable experience can be a little treat that you offer your customers or a sample of your new product, whether it’s coffee, tea, or pastries. It can be unique holiday decorations. It can be excellent customer service that leaves everyone entering your coffee shop with a smile on their face.

Continuously Adapt and Be Willing to Change

In a world of change, even greatness has to change and adapt. Over time, our customers change, our preferences evolve, and we all need to mix things up to stay relevant.

You'll need to grow and evolve to stay competitive in your target market. This requires you to listen to your customers, employees, and your coffee shop financials. You should add new products or equipment to your coffee shop to follow the latest trends in the coffee business. Sometimes, change requires money, so you need to plan it out right.

Occasionally, being able to adapt means saying goodbye to ineffective employees and practices or cutting down the existing partnerships. But we all know the old saying: “When one door closes, another one opens.” When you eliminate something that’s not working, you finally have time and space to create a more robust menu, employee team, and better customer experience.

Easy & Convenient

You want to have an excellent workflow in your coffee shop to allow your patrons to enjoy the best experience possible. This doesn’t necessarily mean your design or decor. Rather, you’ll want a  layout that minimizes lines, traffic jams, and likely spillages in front and beyond the coffee bar. You want to smoothen the flow of your customers in, out, and around your coffee shop.

It’s essential to have your coffee equipment always clean and well-maintained. This also results in more efficient service and high-quality drinks.

Cleanliness is another significant factor that customers always notice. If you want your shop to look “Instagrammable,” make sure your counters are spotless and your restrooms are sparkling clean.

Conclusion

Your First Steps to Creating an Amazingly Great Coffee Shop Business:

• Serving great coffee
• Having a mission and vision
• Developing authenticity
• Superior and unique products
• Staying customer focused
• Create an ambiance
• Less transactional, more personal
• Be welcoming and inclusive
• Memorable experience
• Continuously adapt and be willing to change
• Convenience

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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.