The mental journey of a fashion editor turning to a cafe.

Pay attention to coffee reviews (Weixin Official Accounts vdailycom ) and find a beautiful cafe to open your own shop

Chen Pu used to be a fashion editor. She loved coffee and decided to give up her job and concentrate on opening her own cafe. Now she is a partner of C5café. From fashion editor to coffee shop owner, Chen Pu has what kind of idea, in the coffee start-up process and what experience, with these questions we began to coffee start-up hero interview.

What kind of opportunity did you have to open this cafe? How long has this idea been brewing?

To be exact, for me, who has been working in the media, I never thought I would run a coffee shop. This was completely out of plan. In the past, my only contact with coffee was to pack a cup of coffee into the office every day. That's all. Why did you open the coffee shop now? It was also a moment of thought. All kinds of favorable conditions and people were obtained by chance. A few years ago, when C5 Art(West Five Gallery) opened, I met the partners of the gallery. Later, we became very good friends. We have always liked the quiet courtyard where the gallery is located and the three rows of white bungalows. At the beginning of 2014, C5 began to prepare for some renovation, and then wanted to make a cafe as an auxiliary facility for the gallery. It happened that there was also a large glass sunroom in the gallery, which was especially suitable for making a cafe, and at the same time, it could enrich the whole C5 format, and I was also free at that time, so we made this cafe together. Almost without any preparation process, the decision came down happily and immediately began to act.

2, never done the industry, there will be some worry?

Because I have been working in the media before, I am used to being curious about new and strange things, so I am always excited and attentive when I have the opportunity to try something I have not done before. It's not my dream to open a cafe, but to open a cafe from scratch, to run it well, to manage it well, to try to understand how to get more people to know and be willing to sit down, and to be willing to come all the time, is itself a very interesting and worth studying. I like it. There was such an opportunity, and I didn't give it up.

Of course, having the right time, the right place, and the right people are also key driving factors. At the moment of deciding to open a coffee shop, the hair boy from Hunan's hometown happened to be studying barista at a coffee school in Beijing. When he heard that I was going to open a coffee shop here, he happily decided to stay in Beijing to help me. The partner recommended another particularly reliable and experienced clerk, who was just about to end his own western restaurant in Fangjia Hutong and could also make coffee and some simple western meals. These innate conditions really gave me the courage and confidence to open this cafe.

3. Does it seem to be opening soon? Will the upfront investment be large? How many staff?

It took less than three months from the idea brewing to the official opening of the cafe. It's probably the most aggressive thing I've ever done since I was a kid.

Because there is no hardware transformation and large-scale decoration, so the early investment is mainly in indoor furniture, soft clothing, equipment, appliances and so on. At its current size, the cafe has maintained a configuration of 1 professional barista/store manager +2 shop assistants, and this year will add 2 more waiters with adjustments and the opening of outdoor areas. From the opening to now, the existing three people have basically become all-round players who are proficient in coffee, simple meals, desserts and service. I think I am still very lucky. One reliable employee can save me 10 times more energy, not to mention three. This gives me more time to think about how to make coffee taste better and desserts taste better. To find more resources to enrich the products slowly, to make the coffee shop environment better and more comfortable, to let more people know, and to let me have time to go to Europe. Japan and other places to study and study.

Opening a cafe requires a lot of different expertise, how did you learn?

Before I opened the cafe, I once thought that as long as I had money and taste, find a good place, buy a coffee machine, find a barista, and then find a clerk, the cafe could be opened. In fact, it was not until I opened it that I knew that no matter how small the cafe was, it was best to master at least the following two kinds of professional knowledge: First, the knowledge of opening business management, such as cost control, employee management, financial accounting, etc.; The second is the professional knowledge of coffee itself, such as coffee tasting and production.

As a media person, liberal arts background, the most annoying and least good at numbers and arithmetic, after opening a cafe, but also forced to learn to look at the cost every day, look at the income every day, do Excel reports every month, calculate gross profit and net profit, how to increase the customer unit price and customer order quantity, adjust the cost. At first, it was really a headache to face this pile of numerical reports, but these necessary knowledge had to be mastered. It is said that there are peers who have accurate cost control to 5 cents. It is really full of emotions. The road to learning is indeed very long.

The experience of managing employees is basically a concrete analysis of specific situations. After all, the problems and situations faced by each cafe are different, but the key point is to let employees stay at ease and give full play to their strengths.

Coffee expertise is the same, because they do not make coffee, please a professional and reliable barista is essential. Of course, I also intend to go to a training course to systematically learn professional coffee knowledge and coffee making technology. After opening a coffee shop, I realize that the coffee industry is actually an industry that needs coffee expertise very much. At present, the barista is a professional barista who graduated from a professional coffee course. I also read some books on coffee professional knowledge myself, often learn and consult with the barista, and invite coffee roasters who provide coffee beans to train us.

5. The design of the cafe is very distinctive. Is it a designer or a design made by yourself?

Coffee shop interior decoration, layout, appliance selection are all their own ideas, not to mention design. We did not change any structure and layout of the original house at all, but adapted to local conditions, combined with the original gallery and gallery yard and the characteristics of the surrounding natural environment, adding the simple and crisp style of Japan and Northern Europe that we like. The principle is: not only to be different, but also comfortable and pleasant, but also to be harmonious with the surrounding environment without feeling of discord. For example, because the whole cafe is in the glass sun room, very transparent, in order to echo with the lush outdoor yard, it is necessary to put green plants, but not too much, preferably with outdoor plant varieties are not the same. So I chose a group of three giant succulents (sky-measuring ruler) with simple and striking lines.

There is also the choice of utensils. In my opinion, utensils are containers that carry food. They are not complicated and difficult to understand. The relationship between them is equal. There is no need to highlight one or the other. There is no need to emphasize them. It should be normal and comfortable to be together. Therefore, we chose a complete set of coffee cups and saucers designed by Japanese famous architect Masayuki Kurokawa. The white coffee cups and saucers with simple lines removed redundant colors and designs. They have both oriental low-key and western modern design, echoing the environment and tone of the whole cafe.

"In terms of promotion, first of all, it must be Internet and print media coverage and exposure, followed by regular menu updates and seasonal drinks, and a variety of interesting and sustainable salon activities with various professionals... Although for C5café, only one identity is coffee shop, but I hope it can be more and more interesting."

C5 Coffee, the namesake of the cafe, is popular, as are hand-brewed coffee, mixed berry pie, apple tarts, avocado yogurt shakes and healthy black rice salads.

6. How many difficulties have you encountered? How did it work out?

Sometimes I feel lucky that I can open the cafe in such a short time with zero experience, and there are really not many obstacles and difficulties encountered. But in the preparatory period, let me spend the most energy to do homework, is how to make good coffee, I think this is the basis of a good coffee shop, no matter how good the environment coffee is not good to drink, no one will be willing to come again.

The quality of coffee beans themselves, the condition of the bean grinder, the amount of coffee powder, the speed of coffee machine water, the quality of milk, these subtle differences will affect the taste of coffee, so at the beginning of the store, we can buy all the imported boxed milk and fresh milk from various countries on the market. One thing we do every day is to carry out different experiments, finally choose fresh milk, and determine strict ratio standards, so that different shop assistants can make uniform quality coffee.

From workplace talent to cafe owner, I have to say that Chen Pu is brave and passionate. These are all derived from his love for coffee, which we can clearly feel through interviews. In the interview, Chen Pu also shared some coffee start-up experience, from the accumulation of the early stage of the store, the operation of the store to the solution of the later problems are involved, I hope these experiences can be helpful to other entrepreneurial friends.