Central Perks: How to Open a Coffee Shop People Call Home

Are you thinking about trying to open a coffee shop in your city or town?

At first, the people who live in your area might ask, “Do we really need another coffee shop?” There are, after all, more than 30,000 coffee shops scattered across the country.

But you can put their minds at ease by going above and beyond to create a coffee shop that is different from all the rest. In a perfect world, you’ll be able to turn your coffee shop into a place that feels like home for everyone who comes to visit.

It won’t be easy to do this. But if you’re successful, it’ll make your coffee shop stand out and allow you to say, “Told you so,” to those who doubted your vision.

Here are some of the steps you’ll need to take to create a coffee shop that has a homey feel.

Secure the Proper Funding

When most people decide to open a coffee shop, they get caught thinking ahead about all of the wrong things. They spend too much time dreaming up the perfect coffee concoctions and next to no time laying down a solid foundation for their business.

Don’t make this mistake! Instead, begin your coffee shop journey by securing the proper funding for your new business.

To do this, you’ll need to create a business plan that shows the need for a coffee shop like yours in your community. You’ll also need to find a lender or an investor that will provide you with seed money to get your business off the ground.

Find the Right Location

Once you’re able to get your hands on the money you need to jumpstart your coffee shop, you can look around for the best location for it.

You want to pick a place that’s easily accessible to a large group of people. But at the same time, you don’t want to put it on the busiest corner in your city if your goal is to make it feel like home to people.

Try to find a building that’s situated near an office building, a school, or another structure that houses a large group of potential customers. But try not to pick one that’s positioned on a busy street that will make your coffee shop too noisy for anyone to enjoy.

Come Up With a Great Name

Remember the coffee shop from the TV show Friends referenced in the title for this blog?

It had so many great qualities that made it a pleasant place for people looking to escape the hustle and bustle of New York City for a few minutes. But you could argue that the best part about it was its name, Central Perk. It got people’s attention and made them want to stop in for a cup of coffee.

The name of your coffee shop should do the same thing. Instead of naming it something generic like Hot Coffee or Joe’s Coffee Shop, come up with something memorable that will capture people’s attention when they see it.

Pick Out Cozy Furniture and Attractive Fixtures

You can pick the best possible location for a coffee shop and come up with a great name for it, but no one will want to hang out in it if it’s not comfortable inside!

To make your coffee shop the place to be, you’ll need:

  • Comfy couches
  • Oversized chairs
  • Tables and desks for people to work at
  • Light fixtures that provide adequate lighting
  • Artwork and other things hanging up on the walls

If you put all of these things into your coffee shop, people won’t want to leave. They’ll make your shop warm and welcoming to everyone who walks through the front door.

Serve the Best Coffee

You can open a coffee shop and enjoy success without serving the best coffee in the city. As long as your shop makes people feel good when they walk in, you won’t have trouble attracting a ton of business.

But why not go the extra mile and serve people coffee that’s every bit as good as the atmosphere that you’ve created?

Find out how to source coffee beans from the right places. This will put your coffee shop over the top.

You should also find the right equipment to make your coffee as well as the right mugs and other dishes to serve your coffee and any foods that you’ll offer to customers.

Provide Top-Notch Customer Service

Unfortunately, a lot of the smaller coffee shops throughout the country have earned a reputation for being a bit snobbish when dealing with customers. Many casual coffee drinkers are scared off by shops that appear to have coffee aficionados working at them.

Whether you decide to hire coffee experts or college kids looking to pick up part-time jobs, you should put a big emphasis on providing great customer service. Each and every person who comes to your coffee shop should be greeted with a smile and a few kind words.

You’ll be amazed by how much better your coffee shop feels when you have employees who are willing to bend over backward to be nice to customers.

Invite Local Musicians to Play

Good music will attract crowds to your coffee shop day and night. You should keep this in mind when you’re picking out what to play in your coffee shop.

You should also think about bringing in local musicians as often as you can afford to do it to play for your customers. People will enjoy having somewhere they can go to hear live music played by those who live in their community.

Open a Coffee Shop Today

Yes, picking out the kind of coffee you’re going to serve when you open a coffee shop is important. But there’s so much more to it than that!

You also need to pick out everything from the right location for your coffee shop to the right decorations to hang up inside of it. These might seem like small things, but they’ll go a long way towards setting your coffee shop apart from the pack.

Check out our blog to find more tips on opening a small business and setting it up for long-term success.