Many new coffee house owners we work with have misconceptions about the work running and opening a coffee house takes.  One of the most prevalent myths is when you open your coffee house doors you will be inundated with business. If I had $1 for every person opening a coffee house who said to me, “Everyone is excited about me opening a coffee house and they all say they will hang out at my coffee shop once it’s open” I’d be sitting on a mountain of money.

Here’s the problem; when anyone starts a new endeavor they begin by talking to those people closest to them. Of course friends and family are going to be excited you are opening a coffee house. Unfortunately, this excitement often creates a false sense of enthusiasm, which leads to a false sense of marketing responsibilities. In my experience only 1 out of 100 new coffee house owners actually get the amount of traffic they thought they would after opening their coffee house.  The other 99% has to work on it.

When opening a coffee shop business it’s crucial to get the community at large excited about your business, not just your friends and family.  The only way to do this is by setting up a marketing plan that takes the focus out of your coffee shop and into the streets of your community.  In our opinion, grassroots marketing is so critical that we teach our new customers tactics how to build and implement a marketing plan when running a coffee shop. If you are considering opening a coffee house and would like some more information on marketing check out the last post I wrote on Networking with Businesses in Your Community, visit this section of our website, or contact us using the form to the left.