# Opening a new coffee shop



## Pjordan (Feb 6, 2011)

Hey guys, hoping I could run a few questions past you as there seem to be a few experienced heads hereabouts!

Having lived in sydney for a few years, one of my favourite coffee shops was Barefoot Coffee Traders in Manly, http://www.barefootcoffee.com.au/a very small shop which focussed on selling great coffee and waffles well, and not becoming distrcated by any other fads. I'm planning on doing likewise here in the UK, having developed passion for coffee and worked in one of the big chains for the past year.

My planned location is between the train station and town, and I'd love people to be able to text me orders when they get off the train, then collect them on the way through, the walk is about 2 minutes. Has anybody tried this before, did it work?

Secondly, I've put together a cashflow forecast, which makes it look relatively promiosing, needing only about 50 transactions per day at an average of £3 to pay. Is this likely in the first few months? I know where I am at the moment we're merrily doing 500 customers per day, but how much of this is due to the green mermaid?

I'd love to either get together and chat with somebody with some experience in doing such a thing, I'm happy to travel or for some advise online, I'm sure there's something I'm missing, it seems so feasable, I cannot see why it hasn't be done already!

Thanks in advance for your help guys

Paul


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## RolandG (Jul 25, 2010)

Hi Paul,

I'm not an expert in this area - but I thought I'd give you my thoughts anyway







There are certainly experts on the forums, so hopefully they'll chime in with more knowledgeable advice.



Pjordan said:


> My planned location is between the train station and town, and I'd love people to be able to text me orders when they get off the train, then collect them on the way through, the walk is about 2 minutes. Has anybody tried this before, did it work?


I've not heard of the idea before - could be good. I'm not sure whether you might find practical issues - what about texts being delayed? will people have expectations of being able to collect and go instantly and not allow time for paying? what if you have a queue of customers already when the text arrives - will they have to queue and wait for their drinks to be made even though they texted ahead?



Pjordan said:


> Secondly, I've put together a cashflow forecast, which makes it look relatively promiosing, needing only about 50 transactions per day at an average of £3 to pay. Is this likely in the first few months? I know where I am at the moment we're merrily doing 500 customers per day, but how much of this is due to the green mermaid?


A known brand will help ensure a minimum number, definitely. Footfall is very hard to predict - is the location you're looking at frequented by people other than commuters (and remember that commuters are heavily focused in the morning rush hours)? if not, how demanding/discerning are those commuters - will they just get their coffee at the first convenient location they come to (or last if they're rushing for a train)?

Cost of drink all depends on who your audience are and who your competition is. Also consider location - spending £3 or more for a commuter outside London is quite a lot (not sure about within London?)- I work on a train station platform and I'd say the average spend per person is less than £3 (even with non-drink bits: note, this is entirely guess work!).



Pjordan said:


> I'd love to either get together and chat with somebody with some experience in doing such a thing, I'm happy to travel or for some advise online, I'm sure there's something I'm missing, it seems so feasable, I cannot see why it hasn't be done already!


My main thought would be to make sure you've accounted for all your costs - are you looking at a shop, cart or kiosk? Have you included wages for yourself?

I found this a good read for helping me think about different costs and mechanisms to plan for.

If you just want an informal chat, I suggest finding a coffee place doing something similar to you (not too local to where you're looking might help here!) and go in when they're fairly quiet and say hello! If they're smallish, there's a good chance that the owner/s might be around and are more often than not happy to provide their immediate thoughts. If you want something more thorough, you might need to consider paying for consultancy (and there are a few very knowledgeable people out there who might provide that).

That's my opinion at least


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

Hi Paul,

I run a mobile espresso bar in Aberdare and quite a few of my customers text or ring with orders to collect a few minutes later. Works pretty well as long as you are not flat out when the text comes through! I think £3 is asking a bit much though, I charge £1.20 - £1.60 fo coffee and £1 for muffins or flapjacks, I don't think my customers would pay a lot more in one go but I suppose it depends where you are in the country! Good luck with the shop, and if there ar any supplies you need when you set up, give me a shout!

Andy


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