Coffee shop management experience sharing: find out the characteristics to keep pace with the times, create a sense of freshness and achievement

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What you should know about food.

There are hundreds of ways to open a shop, so you might as well listen to the entrepreneurial talent of the coffee shop who has opened the shop for many times. "Design Restaurant Entrepreneurship: the Chief Food and Beverage Design consultant teaches you to create a store that people want to step in at a glance." author Zheng Jiahao specially interviewed Gao Zhenyu (Xiao Gao), an elder in the coffee industry, and asked him to tell readers what eyebrows should be paid attention to.

Author = Zheng Jiahao (space designer, owner of "chair coffee")

Xiao Gao has set up Kuroshio Coffee, trilobite and Coffee Freedom since 2001. He is a respected senior figure in the coffee circle. At present, he is the owner of Yinle House, a combination of coffee, Japanese curry and wine, and the owner of "one Coffee". (photo courtesy of = published by Mahaus)

Q1: when I opened a coffee shop in 2001, what was the entrepreneurial atmosphere at that time? how is it different from that of young people opening a coffee shop today?

At that time, it happened to be a turning point in the old and new coffee era. at that time, most of the coffee shop owners were retirees or people with coffee-related experience, usually older, had spare money on hand, and opened the shop for interest or leisure to make friends. Not to make a living as the main purpose.

Because I do not belong to the ethnic group with spare money to do interest, I have spent several years studying different coffee markets, whether it is the bar of Chinese or Western restaurants, chain cafes, and independent cafes. When I came into contact with coffee in 1996, I didn't open my own coffee shop until 2001. It was the Kuroshio, a time-honored coffee shop in Yongkang neighborhood. Later, I came into contact with whisky, cigars and other fields one after another, and I wanted to combine these new elements and open coffee shops with different style orientations. therefore, I hand over the shops that have stable business conditions and style positioning to friends, and I am a new shop brewing the next stage every once in a while.

Compared with today's coffee entrepreneurs are generally young, most do not want to work in the company system, want to have their own space and time, coffee shops that meet these conditions have become one of the ways for the younger generation to realize their entrepreneurial dreams. Many young friends who want to open a coffee shop and start a business have especially come to talk to me. I find that the common problem is "I want to open a shop before I'm ready". My dream is too vague and I don't take into account the reality. I may just like to drink coffee or like the atmosphere of the coffee shop. But I never thought that if I had to make coffee in front of the bar eight hours a day six days a week and do the same thing over and over again, the time was actually tied up. When you find that opening a coffee shop is not as good as you imagined, if you don't have enough interest and motivation, and if you don't have a comprehensive plan to open a shop, and encounter financial, personnel and other problems, it's actually very difficult to support it for a long time.

Point: establish dreams and consider reality, otherwise it will be futile.

Yinle House, located in Yanji Street, Daan District, Taipei City, is one of the best delicacies in the pockets of Japanese curry diners. (photo courtesy of = published by Mahaus)

Q2: will advise people who want to open a store and start a business, how and what "preparations" should be made?

I belong to the type that does things conservatively and evaluates and plans well in many ways. Before opening a store, I will write a "shop plan". Think clearly from the location of the store, target customer group, space style atmosphere, beverage menu collocation, customer unit price, operating cost, turnover reserve, stop point, etc., the abstract and emotional dream, the use of rational and digital planning documents to clarify the overall outline. Usually in the process of writing a proposal, you will find some problems. In fact, what difficulties will be encountered in the implementation of things that were originally very simple or beautiful? in the stage of talking on paper, you will be able to think about how to adjust or find a solution. Instead of waiting for problems to happen before finding solutions, or turning a blind eye to them, this is not the correct concept of opening a shop and starting a business. It's important to have ideas, and it's even more important to be able to implement them.

Point: detailed planning before opening a store is not only imagined, but also needs to be written in black and white. At the stage of talking on paper, you can think about how to adjust or find a solution.

Q3: after many entrepreneurial experiences, what do you think is the most important key to the success of opening a store?

I think the first thing is to find out the characteristics of the store, this feature should not be too ordinary, if "irreplaceable features". Many people will say that they want to open a restaurant with a good atmosphere, good decoration and good coffee, which is not an irreplaceable feature. For example, the atmosphere is good, what kind of atmosphere is it? A relaxing bistro is still like the soothing atmosphere of a late-night canteen. This atmosphere is conveyed by space, music, atmosphere or people. If this feature can be remembered by customers, it will have a degree of recognition in the vast sea of shops. It will make people want to come again.

In addition, opening a shop is a service industry, even in a coffee shop. It is not necessarily a good thing if you indulge in professionalism and technology. After all, many people go to cafes just to feel the atmosphere and force customers to accept the professional side of coffee. Sometimes it will be counterproductive. It is better to use a step-by-step approach to cultivate customers' interest in coffee if they are interested and want to know more. And then have the motivation to know more.

I also encourage young people to come to my store to study, or to go to other stores to watch, which will help to find their own shortcomings and see the strengths of others. What I fear most is to stop learning and open a store that must keep pace with the times in order to bring new experiences to customers and continue to create a sense of achievement for themselves.

Point: find out the "irreplaceable features" in the store.

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