How do I start a coffee shop without joining a franchise.?
I remember my mom has always wanted to start a coffee shop ever since a I was real young and now I want to start one as well. I just didnt how to start out without joining a franchise, I would want it to be my own.
Firstly, if you have no experience in the coffee shop business, I’d advise that you work in one for the next six months or so doing everything from busing tables and washing dishes to waiting tables and making coffee if they’ll allow you back there and if you have the skills. This will give you some of the work experience that you’ll need to understand and run a coffee shop profitably.
If this is your first business venture, I would strongly recommend that you talk to a business counselor before you do anything especially spend money. I’d call the local office of SCORE (go to http://www.score.org and input your zip code to find the chapter nearest you), the advice is FREE. Ask for someone who has a background in restaurants and coffee shops and they’ll try their best to match you with the right counselor.
The counselor at SCORE will most likely advise you to write a business plan which is very good advice because it will force you to dig out all of the start up details and the costs of starting a coffee shop and force you to also understand all of the aspects of this business including the customers you’ll concentrate on (your market ) and how you’ll get them to find out and want to come to your fabulous coffee shop.
The location of the coffee shop is important but doesn’t make it successful. To prove that all you have to do is walk to a corner in your town where there are several nice coffee shops and you’ll find one or two that are empty while the others are very busy. It has to do with menu, ambiance, and your reputation at the beginning and over time.
You also have to have food handling licenses, the right zoning, the right city and county licenses and permits and you have to be skilled at negotiating with your landlord about who’ll stand the cost of the build-out or the changes to the premises to make it ready for your look and feel. You also have to worry about the normal business planning and management issues related to starting up any business.
Take a look and read some of the articles at:
http://www.ychange.com/small-business-co…
especially the ones about a business plan and starting a business. Also try their Blog and their Bulletin Board.
Hope this helped
Go to http://www.score.org/index.html and in the upper left hand corner, enter your zip code. On the next screen, you will get information in the nearest SCORE chapter. Call them and arrange for a free meeting with a SCORE counselor to discuss starting a coffee shop
SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
SCORE has 389 chapters in locations throughout the United States and its territories, with 10,500 volunteers nationwide. Both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors.
easy. you rent a building. purchase what ever kind of coffee beans you want from a factory that sales it after getting a business license and put a sign up of whatever name you want to use on the building and open up. All you need is money.