Want to open a dream coffee shop? The professional barista said, "you must have the courage to lose money!"

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Over the past few years, Taiwan seems to have blown a "coffee wave". There are many cafes with their own characteristics, and every holiday, they are almost full of friends, no matter whether people fall in love with the beauty of tasting coffee, or simply like the elegant atmosphere, it is undeniable that "coffee" has become one of the drinks inseparable from the life of the people in Taiwan, and many people even volunteer because of this. To "open a coffee shop" as a dream.

It's just, is opening a coffee shop really as beautiful as you think? BeautiMode interviewed B1 (Youzi Yi), the owner of DoDidDone coffee shop, to hear how many joys and sorrows there are behind building a coffee shop from scratch.

"for friends who want to open a coffee shop, basically we will say to him, 'you'd better not open it!'"

B1, who used to study chemistry, never thought of owning his own coffee shop, and the imagination bubbles flying in other people's minds had never been rendered to him. He just wanted to find a work-study opportunity that he liked after school. During the twists and turns, B1 stayed in several well-known coffee chains and gained valuable experience in several special shops. At that time, the boss encouraged him to take part in the coffee master competition to prove himself and see what others were studying. Then, he accidentally fell into the fancy world of coffee, unable to extricate himself, and finally even had his own storefront.

"but for friends who want to open a coffee shop, basically, our industry will say to him,'it's best not to open it!'" B1 said firmly and with a little helplessness, regardless of whether or not you can really bring a good cup of coffee to the guests, money is actually the biggest problem. Many people may not have thought about how much it would cost to open a shop, especially a coffee shop. Take B1's own store DoDidDone as an example, including decoration, furnishings, large and small products, Italian coffee machine, bean grinder, bean roaster and other projects, spent at least 4 million yuan Not to mention the amazing store rents in Taipei, the eye-popping electricity bills every summer, the salaries of infield and outfield employees, and so on. In the matter of opening a coffee shop, it is always "easier to burn money than to make money".

"if you just have a dream, coffee is really not as simple as you think. Although everyone can make a good cup of coffee at home, seriously, running a coffee shop is definitely not just about making good coffee. It's just a basic requirement." B1 said so.

As a judge of many barista trials in Asia, B1 thinks that running a coffee shop is not as easy as he thought, and often uses his own experience and his friends' experience to dissuade other people with dreams.

Is it a dream to open a coffee shop? "that's not true at all! The money won't come in by itself! "

"there are a lot of realistic factors that you can't imagine. Usually the coffee shops you know are making money, only a few, but you won't know that there are more losers and closures." So we all thought that opening a coffee shop was the first step to realize our dream. We felt that we could make a good cup of coffee for ourselves, sit at the bar and watch the traffic outside the door, and enjoy the spiritual promotion of "all the world is cloudy and I am alone, and everyone is drunk and I am awake". It's best not to have too many guests come in and spoil such fun. B1 immediately broke the fantasy and said bluntly, "that's not true at all!" The money won't come in by itself! "

From the moment the store opened, employees had to test whether coffee beans were at their best, to run around to prepare ingredients, to keep trying to develop new drinks and desserts, to cope with an instant influx of guests, to get through the cold in their ears with only music echoing, to wash hundreds of pots and pans back and forth, and to work hard every month when they received the bill. and then take out the hard-earned money again. In addition, you have to think about how to let more people know about your store. How to make more money in the same business hours? How to compromise between reality and ideal?

The only rule of Calvin Klein's successful promotion is not to focus on the goods.

Know your own position and characteristics and make unremitting efforts to improve the technology.

As for how to let the guests in? B1 believes that a coffee shop must have a major focus, whether it is professional coffee, exquisite desserts, or intriguing interior design, etc., you have to know what your advantages are: "you have to know this place." what can you give to sitting guests? what kind of guests do you want to attract? " These things are questions that have to be carefully considered even when the idea of opening a store is in its infancy. With the change of the answer, the location of the store, the way of decoration, the way of selling goods, and so on, will all be different. only by confirming the core position and realizing that you are unique and irreplaceable can you have the confidence to dare to be different and attract more consumers with common values.

"in addition, many people will come to me if they want to open a shop, so I ask him, 'how much money do you want to prepare? How many visitors do you want to set? How big is your store? Many people actually have no idea, and even think that coffee is a very cheap thing, as long as 2000 yuan, learn to open a coffee shop.'" B1 continued: "if it is your own family drink, then we should be simple, but you want to give it to others, you want to sell that price to convince others, only this is not enough, only class, study is not enough."

Hidden worries under the torrent of global competition

"in fact, what people are more worried about now is whether Taiwan will become Hong Kong in the future. Will only coffee shops under the group survive in the future? " According to Euromonitor, a market survey company, coffee shops are by far the fastest growing in all the catering industry, and the region with the most growth in the future will fall in Asia. In other words, the competition among coffee shops in Taiwan will only become more and more fierce in the future, and not only the independent coffee shops that people like to inquire about one by one, but also chain coffee shops with huge funds and backed by powerful consortia will move in one after another. although affected by globalization, more and more people may drink coffee, but this is bound to have an impact on Taiwan's original coffee industry. And that's why coffee makers advise people not to fall into the hole.

But if this doesn't ward off the idea of opening a coffee shop, B1 smiles and suggests, "you still need plenty of ammo. You must have money to open it." Then he changed his tone and looked serious: "in fact, it mainly depends on the size of the store and the personnel. What is your size?" You can also open a very small shop with only one seat, ah, it means money, but you can do it simply, get a bicycle and sell coffee! It's just that you have to have the courage to have no guests at first, the honeymoon period is about a month, and your friends will come, and then you have to lose money all the time, so you have to have the courage to lose money. "

B1 said that people in the coffee industry are now generally worried about whether independent coffee shops can still survive with the arrival of large groups.

Notice of rule adjustment and explanation of important adjustment contents of 2018WBC World Barista Competition