coffee business strategies

So many of the people who go into business for themselves do so without truly understanding what it is going to require. The first couple of years that you put into your business will be one of the hardest battles you have ever fought. Before you go out and spend $5,000 on a brand new espresso machine, take some time to really consider if you are willing to make these sacrifices.

Below I am going to outline some of the major reasons that people go into to business for themselves, and then I will explain what each statement means to a new business owner.

Going into business means that I can be my own boss!

This is one of the biggest misconceptions in the business world. Opening your own business actually means that you go from having one boss to having hundreds. Every customer who walks in your door, every employee who is on your payroll, every vendor who sells you something vital to your business…they are the real boss. You have to listen to everyone involved in your business, and make sure to take their advice. For example, I set out to run a coffee house. I wanted to have the finest brewed espresso and coffee for miles. I didn’t want to spoil the integrity of the coffee aroma and atmosphere by serving food alongside my glorious drinks, but after several requests for food being put on the menu, we decided that we couldn’t ignore what the customer wanted. Now we are one of the most popular lunch spots in town, and I would say that nearly 40% of our revenue is devised by food sales. In this instance the customer, my boss, spoke, and I had to listen or I risked “getting fired.”

If I go into business, I will have the freedom of setting my own schedule!

This statement is actually true, if by “setting your own schedule” you actually plan on working anywhere from 12-18 hours a day, never getting a day off, and dreaming of your shop during those hours when you do get some precious sleep. You do get to choose your hours of operation, but if you lock your doors and call it a day, then you are doomed to fail. When you aren’t with your customers you have to be cleaning, prepping, doing book work, doing research, networking, etc. I put in between 60 and 80 hours a week behind the counter, but I still tie up an extra 20+ hours a week just keeping the business running. I personally believe that if you only put in a 40 hour work week, you will be doing it for the rest of your life; however, if you are willing to put in the extra time for the first couple of years, you have a good possibility of being able to walk away from the business for a weekend to take your family camping, or go on a vacation. If you want to make every one of your son’s little league games and attend all of your daughter’s piano recitals, you will soon learn about the problems time is going to cause. Remember that you don’t have a “schedule,” you have a business, and you don’t get a “day off,” but you might be lucky enough to have one day a week that you can do a majority of your work from home.

Owning my own business gives me financial security!
I only even mention this point because I’ve heard it so many times from new business owners. Again, this is something that will come after you have invested thousands of hours, thousands and thousands of dollars, and a great deal of effort. In this industry better then half of the shops don’t survive 90 days, and most of the ones that do survive are not turning over a profit for three to five years. As a business owner you will most likely be the lowest paid and hardest worked employee for quite a while. When I opened my first business I had to put all of my stuff in storage and sleep on the floor in the restaurant. I put in over a whole year’s worth of work in under sixty days, and averaged making less than a dollar an hour of money that went into my pocket. Before I scare any of you away by saying this, take into consideration that this first business failed, and like a captain, I refused to jump ship while I still could have saved myself. With the new business I have been able to pay all of my bills, feed my family, and make sure that employees are taken care of, but I still don’t get to go out and have a good time very often, that will come with time.

I have only outlined three of the major reasons to go into business, and my intent is not to try and talk you out of it, rather, I want to educate you on what owning your business is going to mean. Ever since I started working for myself, I have been unable to hold a real job for long because the gratification is so strong that putting money in someone else’s pocket disgusts me. If you are willing to give your business everything you have, put all other obligations on the back burner, and never stop chasing your dream, you are bound to be a successful person, even if it doesn’t happen right away.