Build a Cafeteria

When passing a coffee shop, who can resist the smell of hot coffee?
Coffee time is guaranteed in the daily life.

Set up a coffee shop, become the owner of your own business and make a profit with the sweetest drink consumed. With this article you will learn in detail, everything you need and all the steps to be taken to open a cafeteria.

1. Cafeteria Market

Offering good times, a good experience and serving good coffee at the same time requires a lot of care that must be taken into consideration. The menu is a strong point and should be made with care, with diverse products and options, for example, salty, gourmet sweets, sandwiches, special breads, juices, vitamins, different beverages, etc. With this, the clientele can increase, for supplying more consumer needs.

2. Identifying the Types

If you have a business that relates special moments and gastronomy, it is the cafeteria. The great differential of the most popular coffee shops is still the espresso coffee, made in specific machines.

2.1 Types of Cafeteria

Entrepreneurs have the option of two coffee shop models:

  • Restaurant is the famous “Café”, it is open all day until around 11pm, like restaurants and snack bars. It serves various types of coffee, fast meals such as snacks, sandwiches, omelette, quiche with salad, some bar drinks, juices, etc.
  • Kiosk is usually located in shopping halls, galleries, and does not have space for the circulation of customers.

2.2 Types of Client – Defining the Target Audience

To open any business, it is of utmost importance to know the target audience to be reached. Observe the surroundings where your coffee shop will be located, make notes and research. It is necessary to do a market research to know the market better, gathering information regarding demographic characteristics, purchasing power and the behavior in general of your future consumer.

2.3 Location

Keep in mind that the location of the coffee shop will directly influence your business. Finding a good point is fundamental, in this business you need visibility to sell in high volume, because the markup is high, but the unit value of the coffee is low. For this you need to define which type of coffee shop you will choose, restaurant or kiosk.

3. Structure

Kiosk is much leaner and needs the purchase or rental of the kiosk and a space to accommodate customers at the tables around it.

The restaurant is already bigger, its basic structure should count with a minimum area of 12 m2, composed of a hall, counter, raw material stock, cleaning material warehouse, kitchen, bathrooms for clients, bathrooms for employees and an office.

3.1 Layout / ambiance

The layout must meet all the needs of demand and comfort, both of the employees and their customers. The products, both in the kiosk and the restaurant, must always be well organized and its strategic disposition.

The environment of a cafeteria must be pleasant and well hygienic, because it is fundamental that the customer feels at ease, this will facilitate to conquer a faithful public. Comfortable furniture, music, lighting and adequate ventilation, WiFi, available sockets and even to mix the coffee with bookstore or magazine.

3.2 Colors

To create a complete atmosphere work based on the color palette that will be part of the brand branding, design and decoration. The warm tones, such as red, orange and yellow, sharpen the appetite. The cold tones, such as green, blue and purple give an air of exclusivity. It is indicated to mix the tones, balanced with the architecture and visual of your environment, creating the ideal contrast.

3.3.1- Coffee Machines

The Cafeteria needs a good coffee machine to be successful. The variety of types and brands of espresso machines is very large, they are subdivided into several different categories and models.

4. Menu suggestion

The coffee shop can stand out for having a different menu, with more coffees, flavors, blends, alcoholics and of course, novelties!

Add fast foods, such as snacks, gourmet sweets and options for a light meal, such as lunch and dinner. For example, omelette or frozen products such as quiche, pies, pasta, etc.

5. Team

The team will depend on your structure and demand, but initially it will be enough 3 employees. It is important to have a team that has knowledge about coffee or basic notions of barista, but having a specialist behind the counter would be a decisive factor for the success of the business.

When hiring employees, provide training, because they will be the right arm of your business preparing food and creating relationships with customers. The service, agility and quality of services are essential factors for loyalty.

6. Disclosure / Advertising

Cafeterias are frequented by a very wide audience, of different ages, style and sex. Of course it will have a target public that will be more frequent, however, its structure, marketing and service must be complete in order to reach every kind of public.

Look for help from specialists to create your brand, develop the visual identity of the business, they will help you on color, shape and name. Plan events, exhibitions, books, etc. This will help you attract the attention of the population and will attract customers to your coffee. Create discount or bonus actions, this will help in the loyalty of your customers.

7. Procedures

Understanding only about coffee and its product is not enough. To open the coffee shop you need to have a basic notion of management concepts and understand about the market, because you need to be prepared for all the problems that arise. Assemble a spreadsheet with all the information of your company: your strategy, products, values, fixed and variable costs, competitors, etc.

8. Investment

In other words, machinery, decoration, space rental, payment of employees’ salaries on the first months, working capital, expenses with accountant, with the opening of the company, taxes and a computer with management software for the cashier. This is relatively low capital compared to a traditional coffee shop and several other types of business.

9. Cafeterias

Search for coffee shop references, it will be important for the development of your project and source of ideas. For that, we will show you some famous coffee shops.

10. Success Tips

Throughout the article we gave tips on how to succeed when opening your coffee shop. Be always informed about the news, and know in detail the information of the type of coffee, its quality, ways of preparation, to be able to offer products of extreme quality to the public that already knows the product and is in search of different things:

  • Sell the ground coffee;
  • Serve the coffee always very hot, because it shows the aroma;
  • Coffee and distilled, have in your menu, they combine and a lot;
  • Keep the coffee shop always clean and organized;
  • Invest in the ambience;
  • Ventilation / Acclimatization of the adequate environment;
  • Make available books, newspapers, magazines for reading, WiFi, outlets;
  • Offer tasting;
  • Know your client;
  • Listen to your client, suggestions and criticism are important for improvement;
  • Be present in the media, advertise, give space for your client to praise / criticize you and for the public to know the business;
  • Make promotional actions, gifts;
  • Hire with wisdom;
  • Invest in employee training;
  • Always have news on the menu;
  • Have good service and agility as a great differential;
  • Presence of the owner in the business, is fundamental for success in the business.