Talk to me about owning a coffee shop

[feralunderclass]

This is all in my head theoretical. I'd love to open a coffee shop, with a sort of theme/inspiration of a city I love in the ME. It would have quite an extensive tea/coffee menu, but simple food/sweets that I'd buy locally. No cooking necessary I'd do that in my house in the evenings. My cat would be asleep in one of the chairs. I'd have beautiful reference books on a shelf for people to peruse. It wouldn't feel like work, because in between chatting to customers I'd sit and have a coffee myself and read.

Has anyone had a coffee shop, and what was it like?

Oh amazing, your cafe sounds very similar to my fantasy cafe. Mine has a name and several members of staff already. It will be a crafting cafe, and DH will be the breakfast chef because he makes a mean fry up. I will bake the cakes.

Have you also been reading too much chick lit?

I love your fantasy, OP. I can imagine myself there now, drinking a flat white, reading a fascinating travel book and stroking the cat. We're all allowed to dream.

I have two possible names. Although I only intend to pop in when I fancy, I don't really want any staff. they won't have the same goals/passion that I have for the place. I don't read any chick lit and there certainly won't be any in the cafe but perhaps I should? Do thriving cafes with lovely customers feature heavily?
@JoanOgden Im glad you are enjoying the vision too!
Sorry about the closure of your friend's cafe pp, there are loads closing around me. IMO the independent ones are offering nothing new. Mine is the exception obviously!

I've got a coffee shop and I did think I would just worn occasionally but no, I work every day. Open til close. But I really really love it. I have to work this much at the minute as it's new ish and I would rather take the profit than pay a whole extra member of staff. It's hard work, very hard. Very stressful but I honestly wouldn't change it for the world. You really need to have a business head (mine wasn't great but it is now) and can't do it without prior experience as it's not as simple as it looks

I have!

Oooh welcome! Please feel free to tell us about your shop. I love that you are really loving it!

It does have a little niche to it, I don't want to out myself by saying what but I think that's what makes 99.9% of my customers not dicks! I really feel like Im chatting to friends every day when I'm there, the working in the shop itself is what I love so much. Chatting to everyone, looking after them and yes even cleaning up after them, some of us are not too precious to do that 😂.

But the hard bits are the staff (mostly a nightmare) the worry about the economy and trying to find ways to make sure people still come whilst still making a profit etc etc

Oh, you should open it up next to my imaginary wool shop! I don't get many customers but the ones who do come in are lovely and so complimentary about my knitting and my taste in shop decor.

Sounds great! On a purely business level, how much profit do you make on a cup of tea or coffee? I'm trying to work out a fair price for my lovely, clean customers.
@ProvisionsOnTheDock its quality of customer, not quantity. Mine too will basque in the decor and we will have many a discussion on what inspired me. I love wool shops (the trendier ones in my town are called 'yarn shops') I can't wait to be your neighbour 😊

Maybe just do what my Nan did. She lived in a seaside town, and just stuck a couple of tables and chairs in her front garden along with a sign Tea and Coffee. She did quite well out of it. She then went on to sell second hand books alongside the tea and coffee and actually earnt enough to open a,second hand bookshop near a big university and she made a killing.

I have, it ran me ragged as I did all the real work. Employees were lazy and disrespectful. It was hard to turn a profit. I'm traveling in a bus turned tiny home right now. But my kids are almost grown, one is going to culinary school soon and another wants to do a pastry arts program, so we're thinking about opening a coffeeshop/cafe as a family venture. They are great kids, hardworking and respectful. I have the whole vision planned out too :) My advice is to start small, keep the menu small, take baby steps towards the bigger plan. I did well selling my own knitting and lots of specialty baked goods like gluten free brownies, etc. I did supply my baked goods to another coffeeshop as well, so obviously I bit off more than I could chew..as I always do! That's why I say start small, and hopefully I take my own advise next time ☺️

To be fair, my (imaginary) staff are more business partners, who are going to run the crafting workshops.

You should definitely read some chick lit. Usually the heroine is heartbroken and runs away from her old life and opens a cafe. Then there is a slightly grumpy but devastatingly handsome handyman or neighbour (sometimes he is both) and they get off to a bad start, but usually get together after she has catered for a wedding or some such event that had a disaster but he saved the day (e.g. by fixing the oven so she could finish baking 120 scones in time for the reception). Anyway, the cafe is always a huge success and she manages to win around all the locals who were suspicious at the start.

Maybe I should give up on my cafe dream and start writing chick lit instead...

Your decor sounds awesome, but I think we have a different demographic. I want cozy sofas and throws, plates that don't break if I drop one, mugs for large drinks if you want one. But we should def be fantasy coffee shop mates. I'll be in Shrewsbury or on the Welsh coast. You?

I need a second hand version for my shop

My fantasy chit lit fantasies involve just a book shop,no coffee shop. That's odd. Why don't I meet him in my own bookoffee shop?

If your coffee shop is busy enough to make even a modest profit, you won't have time to sit and read.

How do you know your cat will be asleep rather than jumping up on the tables, sticking its nose into the food or making a run for the door every time it opens?

When are you opening? I'll be there! Love eclectic decor, I love the coffee shops of Istanbul where streaming plants, zellige tiles, stained chandeliers and random music instruments play versus bland standardised ones on my high street. Please be open late night, have poetry smack downs and make my 8th cup free.

Glass blowing on the mezzanine would certainly save on heating, but might cause one or 2 tiny H&S difficulties.

@feralunderclass it's 20p cost to me for the coffee and I sell for £3 but that's not including all the overheads. Simply speaking I need to take £180 every day before anything is profit and that's when I work alone with no staff helping me. On busier days I have people in (Fri Sat sun)

I'd love an imaginary coffee shop too.

Mine would be dog friendly and have nice dog blankets on the floor for them to lie on, with comfy sofas, board games to play and paperbacks on the shelf to swap. I'd only sell drinks and nice cake in mine so I wouldn't have to get too busy in the kitchen and could spend time stroking the dogs and chatting.

In the real world, I'd get free range dogs coming in and barking at each other, the place would stink of damp dog constantly and I'd get sick of constantly washing the blankets/vacuuming the dog hair. People would come in and ask for smashed Avo on sourdough and give me bad reviews on trip advisor because I'd only got cake.

A friend of a friend moved down to Cornwall to open a coffee shop. It's off the beaten track so they don't get many tourists, I don't think. They do have some regulars and they open in the evening for various groups. The coffee and cakes are fantastic, apparently ( I haven't been). She was originally in partnership but the other person dropped out. They had a couple of setbacks which weren't necessarily foreseeable. It just doesn't make enough money. I really admire the fact that she wanted to do it and did it, but it is just not viable, in its current location and form.

I wrote a massive post, tagging everyone and the app glitches and I lost it all 😭.
@TinklingToadstools your nan sounds amazing! Unfortunately I don't live on the seafront or anywhere nice, otherwise a living room tea shop would be amazing!
@SleepingStandingUp sorry but there will be no talk of plastic/melamine products in my shop. Absolutely none of those bath sized cappuccino mugs either. I'll upload some images of my decor/glassware later. Location still to be confirmed. It will need to be a bit hip/Boho, not sure if Welsh coast fits?
@SchadenfreudeIstMeinMittelname my dcat is 12, he doesn't jump, socialise or like people. He will sleep in a designated chair all day.
@Chaitales are you looking for a job? You sound as if you understand my vision. I won't be able to pay you, but the the free beverages, delightful customers and overall ambience will be worth more than money. Thank you for mentioning plants. This is very important, all of the plants will have been propagated from mother plants that people have obtained from around the world - no garden centre stuff, thank you. Every plant will have a story that the customers will love to hear about. There will be a scrapbook thing with pictures of each plant and its story. Customers will loving finger the plants and view them as old friends. If anyone brings in a cutting (with its story) they will receive a free beverage.
@BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn the glass blowing will be very small scale, none of those massive pipe things. Everyone will make a tea glass, which they will donate to the shop.
@fuckssaaaaake how many cups of tea/coffee do you sell a day on average? My shop won't have many overheads, and many patrons.
@sgvibes your dog cafe is my idea of a nightmare. You can't go in anywhere now without dogs humping table legs and making a racket. Staff rub dogs then don't wash their hands 🤢. When I'm in power dogs will be banned from eateries (assistance dogs excluded, obviously).
@Florence4170 it seems coffee shops just aren't profitable 😔. Thankfully I don't need to worry about that.

@feralunderclass there will be absolutely no dogs in my coffee shop either. Sorry (not sorry) dogs.

I feel sure that that feature alone will win me many many customers.

I am not sure when I will be able to open it though, so in the meantime I will definitely come to yours. Will you be decorating for Christmas?

If you don't want to take on staff but only intend to pop in when you fancy, how will you maintain regular opening hours (which are essential if you want repeat business; very few customers are likely to travel to your cafe on the off chance that it might be open)?