(1) Deciding the orientation of a coffee shop is the first step to successfully open a coffee shop. For example, is it a luxury cafe, a takeaway cafe or an in-seat cafe? Do you only sell coffee, or (coffee+cake), or (coffee+cake+light meal)? In addition, is it a single-store operation or a compound cafe with different industries (such as operating with a bookstore)? This was all planned from the beginning.
(2) The management orientation of the cafe determines the capital, personnel, menu, location and even the design and decoration of the storefront; First determine the business direction, and then plan other details. On the contrary, many shopkeepers often decide on the design, decoration and location first, and then consider what kind of coffee shop to open. For example, (I really want to open a coffee shop full of Provencal style), their minds are focused on how to decorate Provencal style, which is the most common and fatal mistake of coffee shop owners.
Coffee shop lesson 2: financial planning-opening a shop, you should make a good abacus.
(1) The hardware and software required for the coffee shop are as follows:
1) menu (menu, including coffee, cake and light meals);
2) Money-making equipment (coffee machine, oven, microwave oven, gas stove, milk shake machine, refrigerator, freezer, etc.). );
3) Hardware equipment (air conditioning, lighting equipment, etc. );
4) utensils;
5) Design and decoration (bar design, cafe style and color, tables and chairs furniture, etc.). );
Among these five elements, the menu is the most basic, it will decide which money-making equipment and hardware equipment need to be purchased, and it will also affect the design of the bar. If you just want to open a coffee shop (coffee+cake) at first, the design of the bar is relatively simple. However, if you find that you can't maintain your operation after opening and want to add smoothies, you will find that there may be no place for smoothies at the bar. If you want to add a simple meal at first and don't plan the kitchen, the problem will be even bigger, and even you need to redecorate it locally, which will be a big expense. So at the beginning of your business, you must think clearly about the items sold in the cafe.
(2) The decoration budget is the easiest to get out of control, and the coffee shop fund planning must include the following expenses:
1) money-making equipment;
2) Hardware equipment;
3) utensils;
4) Design and decoration;
5) Rent (first month rent +3 months deposit = 4 months rent);
6) raw materials;
7) Personnel expenses (such as timekeeper's salary);
8) Miscellaneous expenses (water and electricity costs);
9) The reserve fund (rent+raw materials+personnel expenses+miscellaneous expenses) × 5 can maintain the deficit operation of the cafe for at least 5 months;
It is suggested that the budget of money-making equipment, hardware equipment and appliances should not be moved, and only the cost of design and decoration can be changed; As for the rent, it is variable when it comes to the choice of lots. Why do we always warn entrepreneurs not to start with design and decoration when opening stores? Because experience tells us that when many entrepreneurs have millions of cash, the first thing they do is to find a design and decoration company. At that time, they had abundant funds. In order to build their dream cafe, the decoration budget often increases. Obviously, when the budget is only 200 thousand, they often spend 500 thousand when they finish it. The remaining funds are used to buy wealth and hardware equipment. After deducting the four-month rent and deposit paid to the landlord, there is little left. As long as there is a little trouble, the cafe is likely to be unsustainable, either closing the store or letting go.
(3) Every penny is spent on the blade. Some people are willing to buy chairs from 500 yuan to decorate cafes, but others buy second-hand chairs from 50 yuan. With the chair cover, the effect is just as good. Coffee brewing equipment and bar are the core of the whole cafe. In fact, a good two-hole or three-hole espresso machine costs tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan, which is enough for a 150 square cafe. We must not neglect the after-sales service of coffee machine. His experience is that if the espresso machine breaks down, the supplier can't come and fix the machine within 4 hours, and the coffee machine is useless no matter how good it is, because there is no need to do business all day! (4) Maintain the flexibility of decoration design. In fact, the design and decoration are very flexible, so we should adjust measures to local conditions and not invest too much. As for the pure takeaway cafe, the decoration is even simpler. As long as the bar is well designed, others can hardly spend any money.
Coffee shop lesson 3: major-anything is possible without technology.
(1) Since it is a coffee shop, the quality of coffee beans and the technology of brewing coffee are the key to determine the customer's return rate. People in China like the new and hate the old in restaurant decoration. The decoration of a shop may be out of date after three years. If you just want to win with the decoration atmosphere, maybe the media effect will bring crowds at first, but what can a bad coffee shop rely on after the heat goes down?
(2) It is suggested that since you are interested in opening a coffee shop, it is best for entrepreneurs to take charge of the bar at the beginning of opening the shop, and invite 2 ~ 3 full-time or part-time work-study students in the field, which is enough to cope with the daily operation of the coffee shop. This not only saves the staff cost, but also can make coffee by hand, avoiding the situation that the quality of coffee will be different in case the bar staff leaves their jobs and the manpower is different.
(3) How much do you know about the characteristics of coffee beans? Many people don't even know how to make coffee before opening a shop. Before opening a shop, they must spend more time tasting other coffee beans from all over the world. Besides training their sense of taste, they can also study the quality and taste of different coffee beans, find out their favorite coffee beans, or bake their own coffee beans. It takes time to cultivate experience. There are many importers and sellers of coffee beans in China, so it is not difficult to understand coffee beans, because you can surf the Internet more or consult people in the industry, and bean merchants or coffee machine suppliers have offered relevant courses.
(4) In addition, read more books on coffee and listen to related activities, because the threshold of cafes is not high and the competition is becoming more and more fierce. Only making quality coffee is the only way out.
Coffee shop lesson 4: location-don't be superstitious about prime locations
(1) Many people think that the key to the success of opening a store is "location, location, location". As long as you open a shop in a prime location, you are sure to win. In fact, this statement is only half right.
(2) Usually we use Grade A, Grade B and Grade C to distinguish commercial lots. For A-level prime locations, the rent is either too high or there is no market, which is why shops in prime locations usually sell high-priced products. Many gold storefronts in first-class war zones have a monthly rent of at least 10,000 yuan. How many cups do I have to sell a day to split the rent? This does not include personnel costs and equipment depreciation. In fact, as long as it is properly managed, B-level and C-level lots can also have the spring of cafes. Close at hand, the rent is far apart.
(3) Every penny of the entrepreneur should be spent on the cutting edge. The store rent on the main road costs tens of thousands of yuan a month, but if it is in an alley only ten meters away from the road, customers don't mind walking a few more steps, and the rent may vary greatly.
The lot can be divided into department stores, office areas, commercial areas, cultural and educational areas, entertainment areas, residential areas, traffic transfer areas and so on. And you can deeply observe the daily activities and people flow in this area and analyze the success rate of running cafes in this area.
(4) Every place has a different way of working and rest, and people gather at different times. If the coffee shop is in the office area, noon is the most important business hours from Monday to Friday, and you can rest on Sunday. On the other hand, if you open a shop in the entertainment area or shopping area, it is obvious that it is difficult for you to use money on weekends.
⑤ The masses are not equal to Qian Chao. However, "crowd" does not necessarily mean "Qian Chao". It is suggested that entrepreneurs should spend at least one week observing the attributes and consumption patterns of local people when choosing a site. Focus on the scheduled opening place, investigate how many competitors (including chain or single-store cafes, fast food restaurants and bubble tea shops) are around 500 meters, record the number of people entering the store every day and the expected turnover, and evaluate how confident you are that if you enter this battle, you can share the cake or make it bigger.
Coffee shop lesson 5: cost control-how much is a cup of coffee?
(1) If you open a shop, you can't lose money. But many people only know how much a cup of coffee costs, but they don't know how much. Usually, it takes1.5 ~ 20g to make a cup of coffee, and a pound of coffee can usually make 25 ~ 30 cups of coffee. The cost of creamer (or milk) and sugar required for a cup of coffee is about 1 yuan, and it also includes materials such as paper cups, facial tissues and stirring rods. The raw material cost of such a cup of coffee is roughly between 2 ~ 4 yuan. In addition, don't forget to add the cost of rent, water and electricity, depreciation of personnel and equipment, and a certain percentage of profit is the price of a cup of coffee.
(2) Many shopkeepers don't know how to set the price, depending on how many competitors order, they will follow suit. However, this kind of laziness is very dangerous. Later, I found that I couldn't make ends meet and dared not raise prices, so I had to switch to cheaper coffee beans, and a vicious circle began.
Coffee shop lesson 6: customer training-building word-of-mouth with flowing water
(1) Opening a coffee shop is like chasing a girlfriend. Brewing takes time. A few years ago, the profit of opening a coffee shop was quite good, but with more and more competitors and the strong intervention of chain cafes, it is becoming more and more difficult to open a dream coffee shop with its own style. As long as you are a conscientious coffee supplier, you will warn entrepreneurs not to get rich overnight by opening a coffee shop.
(2) Opening a coffee shop is a long-term venture, and it is generally in the stage of burning money in the first three months. Many people hope to make themselves famous through various marketing and advertising activities before opening a store. "But don't have a wedding on the first day of opening!" Zhou Wenpei said very seriously. His reason is that the opening ceremony may not be familiar with the dynamic line of coffee making and customer service process, and some even don't know how to use the coffee machine. The more people come, the more customers complain.
(3) "As long as two or three kittens come on the first day, they will gradually become familiar with various skills and work processes. As long as one cat is not a dumb cat, it will gradually gain fame." Since it is estimated that the crowd flow will not be too high at first, it is necessary to rely on lower operating costs (of which lower rent is the most important) in exchange for time to cultivate customers.