Starting your own coffee shop
We are probably the first generation to have wasted our lives in coffee shops. From casual hangouts to dates, we have all spent a large amount of our time inside these cafés. Even during the time of different festivals, you will find yourself and your friends inside one of these shops once it's past 5 PM.
As you can tell from all this, the coffee shop business is quite good, and that's why you should think about starting your own coffee shop. But before you do, here are a few things you should remember.
Enforce a five minute rule: The five minute rule will only be applicable during special holidays, or when the shop fails to accommodate customers. Basically, the rule states that once you're done with your drink, you'll have to vacate your chair and the shop within five minutes. Failure to do so will earn you a life time ban from the shop. Implementation of this rule will allow you to run your business smoothly without having to deal with people who think that the shop is their family property.
Pumpkin spice latte on the menu: As the Internet says, it's the basic drink for basic people. Make sure it's there on the menu or else you will end up losing a lot of potential customers, mostly people who just want to take pictures of it and put them on Instagram.
Sell oversized cookies: Your counter should display lots of oversized cookies either behind glass or inside a jar on top of the counter. They should be pricey, but affordable at the same time so that customers get confused whether they should actually purchase them or not.
A kids' zone: Every good coffee shop needs to have a kids' zone so that it can attract a wider range of customers. Arrange their play area with a few chairs and tables only. You don't need to keep any additional resources over there as the kids will bring in their own. Just make sure the zone is isolated from the main section of the coffee shop and has a good ventilation system. Oh, and the fire alarm in that section needs to be disabled for safety purposes.
Have a loyalty program: This is you giving back to your customers. Hand out loyalty cards to your frequent customers and watch those edgy teenagers flex their cards to their friends and on their social media profiles. More publicity for you.
Training your baristas: Your baristas should be properly trained to prepare and serve beverages. At the same time, they should also be trained to spell your customers' names wrong. I mean, I am not going to drink a coffee that doesn't have my name written as 'Fayzul Bin Ikram'.
The opportunities are endless when you are running a coffee shop. Make the place a bit aesthetic if you can. Books, funky wall art, beanbags, and other things millennials might like. Also, don't forget to hire a digital ad agency to help you with your social media presence. Do all these things right, and you have yourself a trendy coffee shop.
Faisal wants to be the very best, like no one ever was. To survive university is his real test, to graduate is his cause. Send him memes and motivation at abir.afc@gmail.com
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