Business plan on how to open a coffee shop from scratch and promote it, how much it costs to open a coffee shop. Drink on the go: how to develop the “coffee to go” format in a tough competition Cafe promotion: the main rule is word of mouth

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Entrepreneurs Boris Rodionov and Andrey Ustyantsev were the first to open a point selling “coffee to go” in Barnaul. In 2013, when they founded the Kennedy’s Coffee brand, they had no competitors in the region. Now the situation has changed: the demand for mini-coffee shops has increased, and starting this business still does not require large investments. Andrey Ustyantsev, co-founder of Kennedy’s Coffee, told the website about how to choose the ideal location for a mini-coffee shop in a provincial town and why you shouldn’t invest in expensive equipment.

Boris Rodionov, 29 years old, and Andrey Ustyantsev, 29 years old, entrepreneurs from Barnaul, co-founders of a chain of mini-coffee shops. Today the network has 9 own points, 2 of which are developed as franchises. The company's turnover is 3 million rubles per month.

First with new format

Boris and Andrey did not immediately enter the coffee business. Both worked for hire in the IT field, then tried to implement two business ideas: producing clothes with university symbols and opening a laundromat. Both projects didn’t work out; only the idea of mini-coffee shops, which the partners started working on in 2013, was successful. There was a demand for coffee, unlike the other two ideas.

“A small rental area is the main advantage of the coffee-to-go business model,” explains Andrey Ustyantsev, one of the co-founders of the Kennedy’s Coffee chain. - Another plus is that coffee, unlike many other goods, has a very high markup: 150-400%. And the opening costs are small: our first location cost 400 thousand rubles. Today we need about 500 thousand.”

It took the entrepreneurs six months to launch – this is a long time for such a project. It was due to the lack of freely available information: in 2013, as Andrey Ustyantsev assures, there were almost no articles about the coffee-to-go business format on the Internet, and there were almost no Russian companies working in this area. There was only one way out - to look for people who possess the necessary knowledge.

“We found such a person in Barnaul: he was servicing coffee machines,” says Andrey. - He helped us come up with the technical implementation of our first point. A coffee machine for such a business must be connected to communications, the mini-coffee shop must have water, a sink, etc. At first it all seemed very complicated, but in fact it turned out to be easier.”

This is how the first points of the Kennedy’s Coffee chain appeared in Barnaul, where you could buy high-quality coffee 30-40% cheaper than in stationary coffee shops. The name was not chosen by chance: it should have evoked consumer associations with a foreign brand and cheerfulness. "Kennedy" is an Irish red fox whose activity is similar to that experienced by a person after drinking coffee.

Fight for a good place

Today it is much easier to find information about the “coffee to go” format, because it has become popular. On the other hand, it is now difficult to find a suitable location for such a point that would not be occupied by competitors. And the key to success, according to the experience of the co-founders of the Barnaul chain Kennedy’s Coffee, is in the location.

“We opened our first point in the popular Vesna shopping center with high traffic, which attracted people with the European mass market Pull&Bear and Stradivarius, and the Bakhetle grocery hypermarket. So we were lucky: we could have found a place that was not so interesting commercially, and development would not have proceeded so quickly,” states Andrey Ustyantsev.

When opening the first point, the main advantage of Andrey and Boris was that they became the first in the local market. And therefore, rental managers were very interested, although shopping centers are usually reluctant to cooperate with small tenants. Now the situation has changed: according to partners, with the opening of each new shopping center in Barnaul, rental managers receive more than 30 applications from mini-coffee shops alone.

Kennedy’s Coffee mini-coffee shops are located mainly in large shopping centers in Barnaul. Before opening a new location, entrepreneurs take special measurements of traffic. The administration of the shopping complex often helps them with this.

Since a glass of coffee is an impulse purchase, it is important that the coffee point is in the path of a large number of people. Ideal if she is in a store with a large flow of visitors, as well as on her way to work or school.

“As for street retail, in Barnaul it’s a rather complicated story, it seems to me,” says Andrey Ustyantsev. - However, if the city has tourist pedestrian streets, a point there would be quite appropriate. Universities are also suitable: there is a constant traffic of people and a clear demand for coffee. In 2014, we came to the local universities of ASU and Altai State Technical University with such a proposal, but we were unable to reach an agreement with their administration. Although the idea itself is workable, it was implemented in Novosibirsk.”

Franchise freeze

At the start of their business, Boris Rodionov and Andrey Ustyantsev thought about opening a franchise of some chain of mini-coffee shops. But in 2013 there were no such proposals. Then they decided to launch their own franchise - and sold 25 units to different cities of the country, including Moscow.

But the shortage of aisle spaces did not allow Kennedy’s Coffee franchisees to develop successfully. Today only two points remain open. And in the last two years, the Barnaul chain of mini-coffee shops has not sold franchises.

“When we launched this project, it was possible to open a point along with a lump sum payment for our franchise for 350 thousand rubles,” says Andrey Ustyantsev. - The partners were required to find a suitable place. Not everyone succeeded: we immediately warned many that they had chosen the wrong location - but people still opened up. In addition, we entered the market too late with such an offer: other franchises had already appeared by that time. So it was not possible to “actively break into” other cities; we were always already in second or third position.”

The focus on franchise expansion outside the region provided Kennedy’s Coffee with a high-quality corporate identity. At the launch, it was not made on the knee, but was ordered from the most famous branding agency in the city, Punk you brands. Andrey and Boris believe that high-quality brand design and PR are especially important today due to increased competition. The Kennedy’s Coffee chain is actively promoting itself on social networks, inventing and offering various promotions to subscribers.

Beans and machines for delicious coffee

There is no single brand of coffee that all operating mini-coffee shops would like to prepare - there are a huge number of them. You can buy grains for cooking anywhere, says Andrey Ustyantsev. However, if you focus on the most mass audience and at the same time make a profit, you need to buy good, but not elite, freshly roasted grain. Premium-segment mini-coffee shops operate in Moscow, but in other cities there are unlikely to be enough buyers for them.

“We haven’t changed suppliers for the last two years – we found a good taste that suits us. We work with a single variety from Colombia, Dulima region,” notes Andrey Ustyantsev. – We purchase a large enough volume so that our roaster can bring green beans of a certain variety especially for us. We use about 4 tons of roasted beans per year. There are about five well-known coffee roasters in Russia who buy green beans from exchanges and roast it. Mostly such companies are located in Moscow, but we work with a roaster from Novosibirsk. Our coffee is roasted a week before we brew it.”

As for coffee machines, mini-coffee shops, according to the founders of Kennedy’s Coffee, should not overpay either. There are very well-known and expensive brands on the market - for example, La Marzocco. One such car can cost 1.5 million rubles. For mini-coffee shops, this is an unreasonably high price. Therefore, such equipment is usually purchased by classic coffee shops (and not all of them).

At Kennedy’s Coffee locations, baristas operate coffee machines that cost 150-200 thousand rubles. For a novice entrepreneur, there is also the option of taking a used car. In this case, Andrey Ustyantsev advises taking a machine with at least two “groups” (“group” is a place for a horn with a portion of coffee for brewing).

“The specificity of the coffee-to-go business is that you necessarily serve many guests at a time every day (otherwise there is no point in creating a point), explains Andrey. “Due to the way a coffee machine works, it needs to have at least two groups, otherwise the quality of the drink will suffer.”

Dilute the menu with fresh juices and smoothies

The business with mini-coffee shops has a seasonality: in the summer people drink less hot drinks than in the cold season. But the Kennedy’s Coffee chain has learned to maintain more or less constant demand by changing the menu.

“In summer, sales drop by 30-40%, cold drinks compensate for part of this decline. Only last year we were able to launch a summer menu with the required assortment and on time - already in March,” Ustyantsev shares his experience. “This was not done right away, because cold drinks require an ice maker, and there are a number of technical nuances.”

The assortment in a mini-coffee shop needs to be changed not only in the summer, but also at other times of the year, each time offering something new, says Andrey Ustyantsev. In the fall it is worth adding special warming drinks, and in the summer - fresh juices and smoothies, different types of snacks. Then the mini-coffee shop will have high sales at any time of the year.

Given average rents, employee salaries, coffee bean prices, and traffic, one location in a provincial town needs to sell at least 50 glasses of drinks per day to operate at a profit. Kennedy’s Coffee began selling coffee at prices starting from 79 rubles per glass. Today its cost varies from 99 to 159 rubles.

To increase demand, we recently organized coffee delivery by courier. This offer is especially beneficial for companies, because for orders over 500 rubles, coffee is delivered free of charge.

Further, Kennedy’s Coffee plans to develop as an independent chain. In 2016, the company opened two new points, in 2017 - one. Entrepreneurs do not set specific plans for the number of mini-coffee shops: the rental market is very changeable. “We constantly monitor interesting rental sites and monitor the situation in other cities,” says Andrey. “Because the points of attraction for people in Barnaul and other cities are changing quickly: new shopping centers and residential areas are appearing.”

Hello, dear readers! Today I again interviewed Alexey Kornelyuk, who is the owner of his own chain of coffee shops, Coffee Space and Coffee Woods in Novosibirsk. Alexey also sells franchises of his coffee shops to other cities and today more than 24 franchise coffee shops have already been opened. In today's article, Alexey will tell you how to open a coffee shop from scratch, list the main stages of opening your own coffee shop, and also tell you how he opens coffee shops.

- Alexey, hello! How long ago did you open your first coffee shop and how many do you have now?

Hello Nikolay. The very idea of opening a coffee shop came to me in 2013. After studying this niche for a long time and working on the concept of my future business, on January 1, 2014, I managed to open it. At the moment, I have 4 coffee shops and 27 outlets operating on a franchising model.

— Why did you choose this type of coffee shop format (in shopping centers)?

To be honest, I never focused only on shopping centers; our coffee shops can be found in business centers and street pavilions. I always asked the question “Where is our target audience?”

And based on this, we studied the numbers (traffic ability - cost per 1 sq. m).

— How much money did you invest in opening the first coffee shop and what was it spent on?

I bought my first coffee shop from my colleague, who later became my confectionery supplier.

I bought it from him for 250 thousand rubles +/-. Why did you outbid?

Because there had already been a contract for a luxury place and everything was ready, my task was to remodel the point so that it would change radically and bring in more money.

Of course, now I understand that I overpaid. If I had done it myself, the amount would have been less, but it’s not a fact that I would have avoided mistakes.

— Where did the idea come from to name the coffee shops Coffee Space?

By brute force method. The perfect name will never appear in my head completely by accident, I just went through combinations of words that sounded concise and interesting. And starting from the name, I made a space theme, and no one has ever done that.

— How quickly did the first coffee shop and subsequent ones pay for themselves? How much money does the business make now?

I opened the second coffee shop 3 months later, that is, I simply invested the funds that were supposed to pay for the first coffee shop in the creation of the second coffee shop. If we talk about Novosibirsk, then it’s from 45 thousand in a bad month and 130 thousand in a good month. The average figure is 70-80 thousand, of course, net profit.

The situation in capital cities is different; the guys from St. Petersburg do one and a half times more.

But of course, we should not forget that everything depends on the businessman. If he works on the business, he gets the amount he deserves.

For example, we made a net profit of 28 thousand in one day (of course these were holidays).

— What is the area occupied by one coffee shop? Have you calculated the efficiency of reducing/increasing the area? Nobody wants to pay for squares that only eat up rent money.

The fact is that the rental department imposes its own conditions, it can be payment for 1 sq.m, or it can be payment for the entire place. In the second case, we can occupy 2 sq.m. or 8 sq.m., but we will still be required to pay the Nth amount of money under the contract for the entire place.

If we are talking specifically about paying per square meter, then of course it is worth thinking about reducing the total area in favor of functionality; the entire space should work and bring in money. For example, the situation with my first point was not the best. There the price for 1 sq.m was 8 thousand rubles, for 6 square meters I paid 48 thousand. This point could easily be reduced to 3-4 sq.m and means saving 16-24 thousand rubles monthly.

— How do you choose locations for new coffee shops and choose for existing ones? What do you pay attention to? What are the indicators of a place that is attractive to you?

It is not always correct to judge by the overall traffic, and especially to believe the statistics provided by the rental department. Yes, they have counters that count the number of people who have come in, but let’s not forget that there are employees (who are not your clients) and these employees go to smoke 5 times, which means that 1 person can, in statistics, apply for 5-7 Human.

It is important to understand who else is our target audience, since these are young people, then it is worth paying attention to educational institutions that are located nearby.

There are also traps that can ruin a business.

First, you should never take general traffic statistics for granted, since what is important to you is local traffic, that is, the number of people who pass exclusively near a potential location.

Secondly, have you probably seen in your city when tenants are constantly moving out of one seemingly advantageous place?

The thing is that there is a gap between “pass by” and “buy”. For example, if the window in the pavilion is turned the other way and the buyer has to go around to make a purchase, then you deliberately reduce revenue or there is a flower bed in front of the pavilion, this is also a barrier between your customers and the money in the cash register.

— Nowadays there are mini-coffee shops in every shopping center. How do you fight your competitors? Or are you just looking for a shopping center without competitors?

No, you can only find a place without competitors in a bad shopping center.

As a rule, even if there are no coffee outlets there, there are stationary coffee shops where you can not only sit down and drink coffee, but also eat.

Promises of delicious coffee won’t surprise anyone, that’s what everyone says. Therefore, you need to prove not in word, but in deed, the only problem is switching clients from a competitor to you. Since habit already works there, which means buying in a trusted place is still safer than in a new, as yet unknown place.

Marketing is used, the task of which is to provide tangible benefits; people love to buy, but no one likes to pay.

So the challenge is to make an exclusive offer so that the potential customer can pay the minimum but still get a product that is head and shoulders above the competition.

For this, a comprehensive loyalty program is used (social networks, flyers, discount cards, bonuses, etc.)

When the client decides to try it, it is important not to screw it up and make amazing coffee.

And this is a question about the product and the skill of the barista.

— What legal requirements are these types of coffee shops required to comply with?

According to SANPIN, running water must be present at the point; if you only make coffee, no freshly squeezed juices, then a sink is not necessary, the staff needs a medical record, all tax deductions, the pension fund, the social insurance fund must also be paid.

If you have a UTII tax system, you may not have a cash register and punch out receipts for yourself.

You must have certification for all confectionery products, since in case of poisoning they will ask you first.

— List all the stages of opening a coffee shop from choosing a location to starting sales step by step, which you went through when opening your coffee shops.

Search for a location (I advise you to select up to 10 options so that the choice is constructive)
Development of a design project for an island, if it is a shopping center or business center.

A computer model is needed for two things:

First of all, for furniture makers who will make an island based on the drawings.

Secondly, visualization is needed for presentation to the shopping center.

Search for furniture companies and send commercial proposals, choose contractors based on price and deadlines. As a rule, people always draw different prices, so the more offers you have, the better, there will be plenty to choose from.
Search for coffee companies that rent out a coffee machine + coffee grinder. In my opinion, you should not buy equipment at the initial stage, as this waste will greatly burden your budget.
Choosing the coffee blend you'll be working with is a choice worth trying and exploring all the options available to you.

Because in addition to the coffee bean itself, it is important to understand where it grew, what variety it was and how the bean was roasted.

Search for confectionery companies that can provide you with their delicacies.
Searching for personnel, ideally you need to have 3 candidates for 1 point.

Search and purchase of consumables (cups, lids, plates, bags, etc.).
Search and purchase of equipment for work (receipt printing machine, cash drawer, refrigerator, display case, lightbox, LEDs, etc.).
Creating promotions for a month in advance, as it is very important to have a plan ahead.
Preparation for technical discovery.

— What equipment do you use to make coffee? They say that a lot depends on the quality of the coffee machine. This is true? How not to make a mistake with equipment?

Not entirely true. Basically, everything depends on the professionalism of the barista; even the most expensive coffee machine can make tasteless coffee.

Under no circumstances should you use automatic coffee machines, especially the push-button type, where you press the button and a liquid that vaguely resembles coffee comes out.

Coffee equipment must be professional; it is advisable to take a two-group coffee machine. It looks solid and you can make any drink with it. Of course, there are different coffee machines and coffee machines. There are a lot of models. A good coffee machine costs from 200 thousand to 2.5 million.

And our goal is to save money and at the initial stage, you can rent equipment.

— How many glasses of coffee are sold per day in one coffee shop on average? And what determines the increase/decrease in the quantity sold?

From 47 to 150 glasses per day. It all depends on properly structured marketing, as I said earlier, this is a whole series of work both to attract new audiences and to retain old ones.

It is important to understand that your main income will come from regular guests, which means you need to do everything to make new guests want to become regular customers.

I would almost not use promotion on the Internet (social networks) at the initial stages. Because there is no point in advertising something if a subscriber of the group lives on the opposite side of the city and he, as you understand, is unlikely to go for a glass of coffee while stuck in traffic jams for 2 hours.

Buying coffee is an emotional choice, which means the desire to drink coffee arises when a potential buyer passes nearby and his visual background is filled only with you. Hence another task: to design the coffee island so that it is very different from all competitors.

Therefore, we pay attention to the through traffic, who is passing through, what kind of people are they and how can they be stopped to buy our coffee?

A well-designed point will help you with all this. For example, signposts on the way, animators, etc.

You must be a visual irritant so that a passing person will at least see you.

— How to properly design a coffee shop, signs, menus, etc.?

Before answering these questions, it is useful to take the consumer's side and ask yourself a slightly different question: “As I pass by, what would make me stop and buy a coffee?”

The point should be attractive and at the same time different from the rest. No clunky details, everything should be stylish and intuitive.

The menu should be readable and, preferably, written in large font. People love to buy, but they don't like to pay, remember!

The name of the assortment is in large font, the price is slightly smaller.

And don't forget to put 9.99 on the end. Even though it's pop, it still works.

Psychologically, 69 rubles for coffee is perceived better than 70.

— How did you look for coffee suppliers? And how do you generally find suppliers with high-quality raw materials? What requirements do you place on suppliers?

To set requirements for suppliers, you must first understand this issue. So you understand, there are a great many companies that sell their coffee blends and, like everyone else, claim that they are the best.

If we talk about the ABCs, then there is an unspoken rule by which you can determine how high-quality the coffee mixture is. Composition of coffee beans. The most common are Arabica and Robusta.

Arabica is considered a more expensive grain (it has a bitter taste).

Robusta, a cheaper alternative (creates a sour taste).

So, if you don’t want to taste sourness and get better quality raw materials, pay attention to the composition of the coffee mixture; the more Arabica beans, the more expensive the mixture.

You should look for suppliers on the Internet; as a rule, there are plenty of them in every city.

— What processes did you carry out independently, and what did you delegate? What do you advise to delegate last, and what, on the contrary, as early as possible?

But the question remained of how to control them, check them, calculate them, reward them, etc.

Since I had 3 people working at my outlet, I conditionally singled out a more responsible favorite, whom 2 months later I appointed as a barista-administrator. And it turned out that I delegated almost 90% of the work. All I have to do is purchase consumables, pay rent and control revenue from the point.

— How many employees work at one coffee shop and what is their salary?

As I wrote earlier, it is advisable to take 3 people.

2 will work on a permanent basis, and the third person will provide backup if someone gets sick.

Salary depends solely on the outlet's turnover. The higher the turnover at the point, the higher the payment per 1 hour.

We have a table in which all possible payment options are written verbatim.

But this is a trade secret.

— Do employees undergo training or do you hire people with experience? Who does the training?

My practice has shown that most often it is necessary to train staff. At first, I did it myself, then the senior barista-administrator began to train, and I only certified and made the decision to hire or not to hire.

— What requirements do you place on employees?

Like all employers, I welcome such qualities as: attentiveness, responsibility, punctuality and sociability.

When choosing candidates, you should pay attention to 2 things.

Intuition. She rarely lets you down and if you feel calm, then this person is worth hiring.
Time. It acts magically, reveals a person, showing all his shortcomings and advantages.

— Is there any theft by employees? How do you deal with this?

Of course there is, or rather it was. Ignorance of all the subtleties leads to the fact that you will miss a large amount. In this regard, I can give the following advice:

Initially, build a trusting relationship with the staff; you are not only an evil boss, but also a partner.
If a coffee shop operates smartly, then it has a CRM system (cloud software), which displays what was sold per day, exactly by item.
Of course, the barista may not punch the receipts, then a universal sign will save the day. “If you were not given a receipt, the purchase is at the expense of the staff”
The coffee grinder has portion counters that clearly show how much coffee has been prepared.
Cameras.

— Did you learn to brew coffee yourself and come up with recipes, or did one of the hired specialists fine-tune these processes?

I took courses, read relevant literature, and attended master classes to improve my coffee making skills.

Our brand book contains a personnel assessment checklist, using which you can accurately assess the staff’s skills.

— Did you come up with any specific drink recipes or do you have a standard range? Are there signature methods of making coffee or signature drinks?

We have developed our own recipe for cold drinks, which are completely different from (strawberry paradise, chocolate delight and similar names).

I attracted professionals in this niche and together we came up with completely unimaginable things.

— Are the prices for coffee in your coffee shops average, higher, lower? And why?

Before pricing, we analyze our competitors.

At the initial stage, it is better to set prices below market prices so that people try it.

And then gradually raise the price, arguing that you have changed the coffee mixture, thereby increasing the quality.

— Do you have the opportunity to pay at the coffee shop with bank cards? And what is the percentage of card payments in relation to cash? I noticed that people began to use cash less often if they had the opportunity to pay by card.

Of course, you can also pay with bank cards. The issue is resolved with the help of acquiring. It is enough to contact the bank where you have it and they will give you complete information on payments using the card. Since 100 rubles is in almost every person’s wallet. It is convenient to pay with a card in a store, but cash works better in a cafe.

— How much have sanctions and the crisis affected you? Are you buying less coffee? Did you have to raise prices significantly due to high raw material prices?

Touched on this little is said, every supplier, no matter if it’s milk or cups, said that he was raising prices. For example, in 2014, the cost of a glass of cappuccino was 12-16 rubles. now 24-28 r. I won’t say that the crisis has greatly affected revenues, since the issue is easily resolved by raising prices. Especially if competitors also raise prices.

— How promising is it now to open new coffee shops and promote a new brand? Or is it easier to buy a ready-made brand in the form of a franchise? It seems to me that the market is already oversaturated. Or I'm wrong?

They talked about oversaturation in 2014, then 2015 and now in 2016; it’s better not to philosophize on this topic, but to open a business, for example, as a franchise. Time is against you. Saturation depends on purchasing power, if coffee shops open and make money, why waste time and better open as early as possible.

A franchise is something that will help an entrepreneur save money. Of course, out of ignorance you can make a great many mistakes and lose large sums (as happened to me at the very beginning).

You just need to remember about the cost and markup. When there is a markup, it is very profitable to work in the coffee shop industry and it is stupid to lose this opportunity.

— How difficult or easy is it for a newcomer to get into this business now? Is the financial barrier to entry into business increasing every year?

Even if an entrepreneur already has experience in business, this does not mean that he will open a coffee shop with ease and without mistakes.

Catering is a separate industry. She is radically different from everyone else. Here you need to act and think completely differently.

The most difficult thing for a beginner is to get competitive prices.

For example, we reduced the rental price for our partner in St. Petersburg to 970 thousand rubles (per year). That is, if he tried to do it himself, he would hardly succeed. It was easier for me to negotiate with the landlord, since I already have experience opening a coffee shop and I have an idea of the rental price in various retail locations in St. Petersburg.

It's the same story with coffee equipment. A Russian person is cunning and if there is an opportunity to make a fool of an inexperienced person, he will not miss it.

And of course, due to inflation, the threshold entry into this business has increased; for the regions this is about 120-180 thousand investments. For St. Petersburg and Moscow 250-320 thousand.

— Will such a coffee shop be profitable in small towns or should we only consider cities with a population of over a million?

A good coffee shop will be profitable everywhere, unless, of course, we consider very small settlements with a population of less than 30 thousand people. Everything depends not on the total population, but on local traffic. In addition, in the regions, rent is cheap, salaries are low and there is less competition. This needs to be used.

And yet, I advise you to try yourself, but it’s better to open a franchise, the entry threshold is not that high, but if you do everything according to our instructions, you will earn from 50 to 120 thousand.

— Are you expanding the chain of coffee shops in your city or have you settled on franchising, selling franchises to other cities?

I have 4 coffee shops in the city and that’s enough for now, but I have 3 more businesses, and I simply don’t have time to expand.

— What are your plans for the development of Coffee Space?

So that in every city there is our partner who will proudly answer that he owns a Coffee Space coffee shop.

Well, go beyond Russia, for example to the CIS countries.

Have a financial cushion. Analysis is one thing, but reality is completely different. Be prepared for financial pitfalls. If you start from scratch, during the first 3 months you will definitely work at zero.

We will personally come to you and guide you by the hand at all stages of our work.

90% of people are sure that opening coffee to go is easy. On the one hand, they are right. The only clarification is that you can simply and easily open coffee to go only if you know how to do it correctly. Despite the fact that at first glance the format of coffee to go seems simple, like any other business, ignorance of the subtleties and nuances can turn a profitable and promising business idea into an unprofitable enterprise that operates at zero and sucks out the last pennies.

To avoid such a situation, you need to know where to start and which stages of the business you should pay utmost attention to.

For example, you need to start by identifying the target audience for coffee to go. By asking yourself who will buy your coffee, you can adjust the design, strategy, and concept of your small enterprise to the needs and requests, interests and desires of specific people - your future customers.

The target audience for coffee to go is mainly young people aged 18 to 24 years. In 70% of cases these are girls.

Students, young professionals, low-level managers - these are your potential clients. They value low prices, friendly service, efficiency and social activity. Of course, older people shouldn’t be discounted either; there are also fans of takeaway coffee among people over 50. But if you face the truth, answer yourself the question: how many of these fans will pass by your takeaway coffee outlet every day and how many of them will think about purchasing?

But it is the number of people passing by, coupled with their “quality” (belonging to the target audience) that is the key to the success of a coffee to-go outlet. Finding a place like this is half the battle for coffee to go.

However, we should not forget about another important fact for the coffee to go business. This is the taste and quality of the coffee itself. If you prepare delicious invigorating drinks, people will come back to you and recommend you to friends and acquaintances. This way, you can ensure that spontaneous purchases are reduced and the number of regular customers increases.

We will talk about all these subtleties and other important details further.

Investment size

Opening a takeaway coffee shop can be considered a business with small investments. According to the experience of entrepreneurs who have opened their own takeaway coffee points, you can spend 200 thousand rubles, and the upper limit of starting capital is unlikely to exceed 400 thousand rubles.

This difference in initial capital is explained by ample opportunities to save.

Of course, the amount of funds required to start will largely depend on several large expenses, without which it is simply impossible to open a takeaway coffee shop. Firstly, this is rent, which we will talk about a little later. Secondly - equipment.

Coffee machines for coffee to go

If the flow of customers depends on the choice of rental location, then the ability of the point to quickly and efficiently service this flow will depend on the equipment on which you will prepare coffee.

A professional coffee machine and coffee grinder are the main means of preparing and selling coffee to go.

There is no point in bringing a home coffee machine or even a super-automatic coffee machine to your coffee spot. Firstly, such equipment will not be able to provide the required quality of the product, and secondly, it is not designed for constant and uninterrupted operation. And if the coffee machine breaks down, you won’t sell a single cup of coffee anymore. Remember, the miser pays twice: time wasted, money wasted.

That is why many entrepreneurs try to purchase high-quality, foreign equipment, the cost of which can be 150, 250 thousand rubles, or more. If you don’t have that kind of money, but working with professional equipment is still a priority for you, renting equipment or buying used coffee machines can come to your rescue.

Typically, coffee equipment is provided for rent (even free of charge) by coffee bean suppliers, subject to the purchase of a certain volume of coffee from them. At the same time, they also advise on the selection of the necessary list of equipment depending on the expected amount of work (for example, single- or double-chamber coffee machines) and provide maintenance and repair of equipment. However, even in the case of free rent, many companies require a security deposit - from 20 to 50 thousand rubles.

As for used equipment, its purchase will cost no more than 100 thousand rubles.

What else will you have to spend money on?

You will also have to spend money on a sales counter or the design of a rented kiosk. Naturally, when developing the appearance of a coffee to-go outlet, you need to pay attention to ensuring that it attracts attention and attracts glances. The appearance should evoke a reflexive desire to drink coffee or tea. The name on the sign should not subtly hint that an invigorating drink is being poured here, but shout about it, so that a person understands at first glance that you are offering coffee, and not selling donuts or SIM cards...

Returning to the investments required to open a coffee-to-go business, it is also worth mentioning all sorts of little things that are nevertheless important for comfortable work without failures or hiccups.

Purchase of consumables for preparing a variety of coffee drinks - milk, toppings and syrups; additional assortment - snacks, sweets and snacks; purchase of disposable cups, lids, spoons; purchase of bar equipment.

By the way, there is an option to save on the purchase of consumables - for example, disposable tableware, if you can cooperate with other takeaway coffee owners who purchase unbranded cups.

Step-by-step instruction

Having calculated the required amount of investment in the coffee-to-go business, it’s time to start taking action.

To begin with, register your business legally. It would be best to register yourself as an individual entrepreneur and submit an application to the tax office to choose the UTII taxation system. This tax will allow you to pay less due to the lack of employees and the small rented area on which the activity is carried out. Taking into account the minimum required area of a coffee to-go outlet of several square meters, you will pay an average tax of about 3,000 rubles. In addition, for individual entrepreneurs on UTII, a cash register is not required, which means you can issue a check only upon request using a regular CPM (check printing machine).

The OKVED code for the coffee-to-go business is 55.30 “Activities of restaurants and cafes.”

Despite this OKVED, there is no need to obtain any permits, since there is no full-fledged kitchen, which means there is nothing for the supervisory authorities to check. All that is required of you is to notify Rospotrebnadzor about the start of activity. You should wait for inspections from the SES only if there are complaints. If you are lucky, you will have your first meeting with inspections only in three years.

Attention to the workplace

It’s worth taking care of ordering a sales stand in advance. It will take at least two weeks to design and manufacture. Provided that you already have a chosen rental location.

The process of installing a counter, bar or kiosk equipment can also cause difficulties and problems that will lead to a postponement of the planned opening date.

For example, you need to take care of proper energy supply in advance. If it is not there, you will have to call an electrician and install an additional line, which will need to be agreed upon with the landlord. Therefore, all issues related to electricity, heating or water supply must be resolved at the stage of signing the lease agreement. At the same time, the contract itself should not be concluded for a long period: your expectations about traffic may be erroneous and in practice the pedestrian flow will not be converted into buyers and clients...

From coffee to cookies: how to choose a supplier?

Naturally, in parallel you need to look for suppliers of consumables and raw materials.

And first of all, you need to decide on a supplier of coffee beans. If your customers don't like your coffee, everything is lost. Delicious coffee is one of the main components of the success of a coffee to go business. There are a huge number of coffee varieties that suppliers can offer. Your own taste, advice from the suppliers themselves, and analysis of competitors will help you navigate your choice.

If you purchase your own coffee equipment, you will not depend on a specific coffee supplier and the range of varieties offered may be much wider.

Find out whether the variety you choose is suitable for classic coffee drinks, since it is the usual espresso, latte, cappuccino, Americano and mochaccino that you will specialize in. The volume of the initial purchase will depend on the conditions under which you sign an agreement with the supplier, whether you will rent equipment, etc. There is no need to be afraid of numbers of 10 kg or more.

A small 200 ml glass of coffee requires 9 g of coffee, and 18 g for a 400 ml glass.

Thus, the purchased 10 kg of coffee will cost just over 1,100 small glasses of coffee. At the same time, an operating coffee to-go outlet in a passable place sells much more per month.

In addition to the coffee list, it is necessary to create a menu and a list of additional assortments. Will you sell a variety of chocolates and sweets, or maybe ready-made sandwiches or even baked goods?

If the answer to this question is affirmative, you should look for profitable suppliers or partners who could provide you with the required amount of products, usually not too large. You can buy chocolates or oatmeal cookies at wholesale markets and stores, as well as in stores such as Metro, Lenta and Auchan.

Of course, the main component for a coffee to-go outlet will remain coffee as a drink, and various sweets and “snacks” are necessary rather only to increase the average bill and the convenience of the client. You are unlikely to be able to make money from chocolates or pastries. Still, the margin on resale of other people's products is small.

In general, the volume of additional assortment does not exceed 5-7% of turnover.

The assortment of snacks and coffee accompaniments will change - some items will disappear, others will be added. It is definitely necessary to experiment with the assortment, but only when the operation of the outlet stabilizes and the changes do not entail a sharp decline in revenue.

Barista for coffee to go

An important factor in the success of a coffee to-go outlet is the professionalism and competence of the barista. This person must not only prepare delicious coffee, but also serve customers correctly, communicate with them, and be able to upsell, thereby increasing the average bill. Finding and hiring such a person may pose certain difficulties both at the launch stage and during the first time of working with coffee to go.

When opening their first to-go coffee shop, entrepreneurs often personally stand at the counter and serve their first customers, working 12 hours a day without days off or lunch. But such work on two fronts quickly becomes exhausting. In any case, an entrepreneur will need a replacement or a full-time employee. At the same time, hiring a professional barista is not always possible. Mostly young people who don’t have the slightest idea about how to prepare coffee correctly apply for the vacancy of a barista at a coffee shop to go. She is attracted by the flexible schedule, hourly pay, etc.

Careless young baristas bring their friends to work with them for coffee so they don’t get bored. And instead of working, they organize a booth.

A special feature of working with the staff of a coffee shop to-go is a high staff turnover - which will stop only when you hire the right person - friendly, honest, hardworking and responsible, who will also quickly master the art of making delicious and high-quality coffee. Agree, such people, especially young ones, are rare today...

Therefore, the future owner of a take-away coffee will initially be faced with the task of finding and training a reliable person who can replace you at the counter. Subsequently, if you do not stop at opening one coffee shop to go, the need for employees will increase. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately determine the stages of selection and training of employees, as well as develop a shift schedule, a system of motivation and control.

One of the options for motivating baristas is bonuses or premiums for exceeding the sales plan and the absence of comments (a percentage of total revenue or a percentage of each coffee sold above the plan).

But even the motivation system does not insure against unscrupulous workers who do not show up for their shifts, create a booth at the point, or simply treat work superficially. The owner of a takeaway coffee is faced with the acute issue of monitoring an employee or shift worker.

Alternatively, you can install a surveillance camera at the takeaway coffee shop and thus monitor the employee online.

Regardless of which option for working with staff you choose - carrot or stick - when opening a coffee shop with you, be prepared that at any moment you will be forced to personally stand behind the counter and work as a barista.

If you are planning to open a takeaway coffee shop, know that all your profit will depend primarily on the location. At the same time, choosing a suitable location for a coffee to-go outlet can be one big problem.

A couple of years ago, when no one had heard of takeaway coffee, landlords, especially large shopping and business centers, did not understand how you could make coffee in three square meters and refused to rent. Today, almost all the tasty places in more or less large shopping centers and business centers have long been occupied.

However, the rental market is quite competitive and involves a change of tenants. It's just a matter of price. If you find a sweet spot, but it's occupied, it's worth starting negotiations with the owner or rental department, find out the rental rate and offer to pay more, or convince that your coffee to-go spot can generate additional traffic and attract a certain audience.

By the way, you can open a takeaway coffee shop not only in big cities, where the lifestyle encourages people to do everything on the run, including drinking coffee, but also in small towns. Moreover, it’s even easier to find a good place for coffee to go in a small town - there are fewer points with high pedestrian traffic in small towns, which means the likelihood of choosing a bad place is reduced.

However, it is still quite easy to make a mistake when choosing a place to rent for a coffee to go outlet. It often happens that a location seems to have high traffic, but it is only possible to evaluate its quality once you start working. For example, it may turn out that there is simply no target audience among the traffic passing by. Or the point itself is not located in the flow of people, as it should, but “around the corner.”

When considering locations for coffee to go, you don’t need to limit yourself to rental options in shopping or business centers.

You opened a coffee shop. The premises have been found, furniture has been purchased and equipment installed, a menu has been developed, and experienced baristas and waiters will go to work tomorrow. The business is ready to open, but will the visitors come? The establishment will be empty if you don’t take care of proper advertising of the coffee shop.

Let’s take a closer look at simple but effective methods of promotion. For example, what could be more banal than flyers and leaflets. But these advertising tools work! Most potential coffee shop guests more easily perceive information presented in the form of attention-grabbing text and pictures.

Text for advertising a coffee shop

How to design a flyer so that guests want to stop by? Follow simple rules:

Basic information is printed in large font
If you are giving something as a gift, be sure to include an attractive photo of the bonus

Make the offer clear. The text for advertising a coffee shop must be composed and positioned so that a person immediately understands the essence of the promotion.

Description of a coffee shop for advertising: nuances

Coffee is not just a warming drink, it gives vigor and good mood
A cozy interior does not exist on its own: it will help guests relax and unwind

Mention the emotions your coffee shop evokes. Make sure your guests know they are welcome.

Do you want to relax and get a charge of positive emotions? Add aromatic syrup to your favorite coffee! What's your mood today? The menu has over 20 options to choose from.
How to cheer up in the morning? Start your day with coffee! Only until 10.00 10% discount on coffee to go!

Such information is placed on a sign or in a display case. Don't try to put it on a flyer; it will most likely be ignored.

A photo for advertising a coffee shop should not contain unnecessary details. Cups of coffee and satisfied faces of visitors are quite enough to attract guests. Creative advertising for a coffee shop does not always work and can scare off visitors. Be careful!

Advertising for coffee shops: which promotions are effective

The easiest way to win over your guests is to offer them a small bonus. Which stocks give the best results?

Discounts on coffee to go. This option is especially relevant for small coffee shops. Don't be afraid of competition from coffee kiosks: prices are often about the same. However, it is much more pleasant for visitors to wait for their order at the counter than on the street.
The principle of a “locomotive” product. Works well when selling “coffee + dessert”. Visitors are offered coffee and a muffin or pasta (ice cream in the summer). Since such a “set” costs less than each of the products separately, guests usually choose it.

How to attract people to a coffee shop using the Internet?

When you open your business, it is very important to get high traffic of visitors. In addition to those advertising tools that we have mentioned, an important component of marketing is promotion on social networks.

Using the check-in function. The guest checks in at the coffee shop and marks its location. By sharing it with friends on one of the social networks, she receives a free drink or dessert.
Advertising when connected to the Internet. Having gained access to wi-fi, the guest goes to the establishment’s website and sees current promotions and offers. This is a great example of unobtrusive advertising for a coffee shop.

Advertising for coffee shops: how to retain regular visitors

Remember that it is important not only to attract new guests, but also to maintain the interest of those who have been visiting the coffee shop for a long time. Use proven methods:

Discount system. With each subsequent order for the guest, the discount increases. It may have restrictions: for example, it does not apply on weekends or only applies during a certain period of time.
A compliment from the chef. A small treat from the establishment always has a positive effect on the reputation of the coffee shop. Will recommend her to friends and acquaintances. Remember that word of mouth is one of the most effective options for promoting coffee shops.
Invitations to events. For example, master classes, presentations. An opportunity to spend a holiday in a coffee shop with a discount available only to regular guests.
Small surveys in order to find out what visitors lack and what they would like to improve.

How to increase sales in a coffee shop?

We looked at how to advertise a coffee shop and increase traffic to the establishment. Use different marketing tools. As a rule, it is the combination of effective outdoor advertising of a coffee shop with promotion through the website and social networks that gives the desired result.