Coffee is more than just liquid but also the experience
Allow me to be negative for a second. When you think coffee could never go wrong, it could. Coffee is not just about the liquid but the overall experience. Some places really fail to understand this when they try to establish a cafe. Having a coffee shop is trendy these days. A few million in the country could get you a nice place to build your dream coffee shop. Some of you know that I explored many coffee shops, reviewed them here. I also talked to business owners and more. So, you could say, I learned a pretty great deal about the industry.
Now, there are some things to consider before opening a coffee shop. Are you able to manage it? Have you got enough experience to run a good coffee shop? Have you learned what's missing from all the other coffee shops out there?
I will talk about it from a customer perspective.
Today, I visited a rather new place in town. The location of this place is just in front of one of my favorite coffee shops in town that serves creme brulee. By now, this coffee shop already has a competitor, just in front of them. This coffee shop location is underground, a literal basement of a book store just above it. The weather was awfully hot. When you think I live in Indonesia and am accustomed to the heat, that’s not always the case. I am fine with 16 to 29 C but that’s about it. This underground coffee shop has rather poor ventilation and even some AC is turned off; Compared to the other one that has functional AC and also proper ventilation. Maybe you could forgive it because it’s new but it’s actually a turn off. It means, this place isn’t well-thought. The layout of the AC wasn’t covering all the area which it should. This mundane thing is actually important when building a coffee shop/cafe especially these days. Poor ventilation is such a turn off and could hinder someone to spend more in the place. A happy customer could potentially lead to more spending.
Logically, when you first open a coffee shop, you want to show that you have the best barista and staff. They tend to leave a great impression on the customers unless you don’t have any standard and are okay with poor service and poor coffee. One of the things that coffee shop/cafe owners need to have is a bell. That would really help when there is nobody attending the order section. I had to wait for 25 minutes only to be met with someone who doesn’t seem to be the barista. I was right. That person took another 30 minutes just to make an iced caramel macchiato with fancy equipment that was on the table. The horror!
From the table I sat, I was observing her. She was on the call with another person who sounded to guide her making my coffee. I have to say, the coffee wasn’t bad but waiting for long in the heat was such a turn off.
Another thing with having a cafe in the basement would mean poor network reception. I could understand if the cafe is going to implement no gadget policy but looking from the building, they even have what seemed to be a meeting room. So, if you want to build an underground cafe/coffee shop, a meeting room/space wouldn’t really be suitable.
I remember having a conversation with my uncle whose friend own a coffee shop. Despite not making profit, he continued because of pride rather than actually enjoying being in the industry. Not just my uncle, I also talked to my sister who told me that her BF is going to open a coffee shop too. I had to call her and then ask her a lot of questions just in case she and her BF are only doing it because it’s trendy. Having a coffee business with a fancy place is surely trendy but it’s better to have a simple place that actually sells. A lot of people I know do that because they have money to drain but for those who don’t think twice before opening a fancy place.
To summarize, here's the bullet point version.
- Don't dismiss the comfort and little things that make the customer potentially happy and willing to spend more!
- Do not leave the counter. Provide some sort of assistance/sign if the barista is leaving the counter.
- Hire at least an experienced barista.
- Know your audience
- Don't open a coffee shop just because it's trendy.
Do you have any bad coffee shop/cafe experience? Let’s talk in the comment section!
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 | Mac is a jack of all trades. A typical introvert in love with literature, books, technology and philosophy. She is also so into nootropics, productivity, minimalist lifestyle, cybersecurity, and languages. Other than that, she is passionate about cooking and traveling. In her free time, she enjoys learning various things. If you like her content, don't hesitate to upvote, leave a comment or a feedback. A re-blog is also appreciated. |
I admire your patience!! 👏
hahaha otherwise, I wouldn't have the story to tell and for coffee shop to learn.
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this one sums it all.
opening a coffee shop and spending a lot of money yet failing to deliver a good impression to the customer will definitely kill your place. a place as big as that should be well planned right from having the idea.
Saw some coffee shop closed down as well. Not to mention, changing their theme to fit in the new trend, the latter is fine but closing down means you can't survive with loyal customers. During the pandemic tho, loyal customer is needed.
Oh my Gods, I would have left waiting that long! No way a coffee shop should be that slow.
Things that turn me off besides wait time, are the air conditioning being on too high, which is common here, and too loud music playing. When I am still wearing my jacket inside because it is 30 or 40 degrees difference (Fahrenheit) to outside (yeah, they really do that), it's not comfortable. And if you can't hear your conversation or even concentrate on your work because the music is like a dance club, it also drives me right out the door. Quiet music is okay, but geez some of them blast it and I hate it. :/
Hahaha yeah, I would have left but I waited 😂 just because my fav coffee shop to work from was still closed. I eventually left after I checked the other coffee shop was open. It pays off. At least, after that horrible experience, I got to taste familiarity. A lot of coffee shops around me are like that, they play really loud music but those are places I avoid most of the time. Not to mention, some of them is filled with smokes from cigs.
Thankfully it's illegal here to smoke inside most public places, but sometimes people vape inside and it smells even tho it's not technically "smoke." I don't know if the law considers that to be smoking or not, technically, but I've seen people doing it in coffee shops without anyone stopping them.
You have so much patience to wait an hour for a cup of coffee. I would have walked out!!!
I was about to but the moment I looked away my phone, the girl came out from the staff room and directly asked me " what do you want to order?". Then, another nightmare comes 🙃
This is an excellent post. Consumers are now becoming more sophisticated in their choices. This probably has to do with the availability of reviews online that teaches us what to look for when engaging with a product or service. Businesses need to pay more careful attention to the little details of the experience, as you indicate.
I find it funny how you suspected that the person wasn't a barista, and then you overheard the conversation over the phone. Hopefully the owners will learn to better manage their coffee shop as they get the hang of it.
☕️
It's tougher to run business these days. First, if you're not tech savy, you lost a lot of potential customer. At the same time, if you are tech savy, online reviews are insane. Some people just won't buy stuff if some bad reviews coming over your establishment. It's gonna take a while to build another trust. Also, barista has some sort of vibe around them, generally what I see around is that they are not dressed cheerfully(love to dress in plain dark color pallete), often they look pretty somber and with face projecting secrets. I hardly see any cheerful barista 😂 even the ones at starbucks projects the face of "numb little bug", it's a song btw and quite relatable for many.
Funky beat. Excellent. I know what you mean about the understated color palette of a barista's attire. I wouldn't trust coffee made by some dude dressed in a Hawaiian shirt. :)
Hello Mac,
I take it you waited for one hour without leaving to get to write this honest feedback, right? I commend you for that!
You've highlighted such valuable points.
The concept of a basement coffee shop below a book shop sounds perfect. However, the big drawback is you've mentioned is poor internet reception.
I cannot imagine a business opening up without ensuring that the staff are well trained. That's sad really.
Your great take away point;
I appreciated reading this review, but felt your pain, especially considering that you missed the opportunity to have a créme brûlée at the air conditioned shop.
If leaving, this topic wouldn't come to mind. Inside the place, I literally want to write a rage reviews 😅 but I held back and checked out my notes then wrote this after about 3 hours. Setting up a simple place works for anyone that has never dipped themselves in business. It's really about making a bit of profit and learned the industry in whole and also the management. Then growing it bigger. It would be bad if business first started big then downsize it.
🤣
Good decision, but I do understand that feeling 😂
Coffee is more than a drink; I understand the point you want to get to. Only those who are passionate about coffee know what caffeine means to us. I believe that in addition to good care, there must be a pleasant atmosphere. There are many elements that I take into account to sit in a coffee shop; If The do not comply, the coffee will be bitter. 🙈 I wish many coffee shop would see this post, only then the world would be better 🙈
haha I really wish so! that would be nice if anyone who wishes to open a coffee shop/cafe read this.
from the start my guess was it is about the coffee (yes, many things can go wrong!) and 2-ndly, I thought you gonna open your coffee shop yourself! (probably with HIVE tokens being accepted )))
anyway, Mac -- I enjoyed reading your story with all those twists.
ps. personally, comfort and unique atmosphere / design of the place and friendly barista / personal are the key features for me, to evaluate the certain coffee shop.
Hahahaha, I hope I can open my coffee shop with hive payment. It would be nice but unfortunately, illegal where I live🤣 comfort and barista, those are important to me as well. Thanks for checking out @qwerrie !
ok, lets not go illegal :)))
unfortunately, where I live, there are some very visible frictions that they are going to prohibit crypto, or at least take it under 146% control of the state. so... no sweet and fun perspectives for me too...
at least I can share more free !PIZZA with you 🤸
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