Starting a Coffee Shop? Avoid These 3 Serious Mistakes

If you’re planning on opening up a new coffee shop this summer — congrats! You’re going to love making everyone’s morning when they come in and enjoy a nice, hot cup of coffee. Running a coffee shop isn’t as easy as pie, however, (though pie will certainly help) so it’s important that you are careful throughout every step of the process both during preparation and actually running the store.

Here are a few mistakes that you should avoid at all costs so you don’t put your newfound coffee shop at risk of failing.

Forgetting wooden stir sticks, coffee cups, and all the other essential equipment
If you don't get enough wooden stir sticks, creamer cups, lids, napkins, and all the other necessary items, your store is going to have some frustrated customers very soon. No one wants to stir coffee with their fingers because it's typically scorching hot; wooden stirrers can do the trick and are very easy to obtain. Just make sure you are planning ahead and know exactly what items to get and how much to have a successful coffee shop.

Not making enough coffee in the morning
Roughly 65% of all coffee is consumed during breakfast time. If you don't overdo it each morning on the coffee production, sooner or later you're going to have some angry customers as they sit and wait for your employees to make more coffee. You should always be ahead of the coffee demand (30% of coffee is consumed between meals) at all hours of the day, but you really need to step your game up in the early morning. If people can't get their daily fix of energy inside hot coffee cups from your store, they will surely go somewhere else to do so.

Not having a comfortable environment
Another major mistake you should try to avoid is having an uncomfortable environment in your store or at least not focusing on your store's interior as much. If you have nothing but cold metal chairs in a dark room, people aren't going to feel to comfortable sitting down and hanging out inside your shop. Make sure you get bright colors, powerful lights, and fun couches and chairs for your customers to enjoy.

It's very easy to run a newfound coffee shop into the ground and being successful is going to take some work. But if you work hard, get the right equipment, focus on your customers, and serve great coffee, you're going to be absolutely fine.