Practical experience of starting a business in a coffee shop

Li Jinzhi and Wu Jianfang, the first travel website of China Tourism News

"as long as I believe in something, I will stick to it to the end and do it better." From knowing nothing about coffee and drinking only instant coffee, he now knows how to drink coffee and is madly infatuated with the taste of coffee. Li Jinhuan's entrepreneurial experience, like that performed in the South Korean drama Coffee Prince No.1, is full of warmth and romance. Although starting a business is more tiring and bitter, as long as the customers feel good, I will be very happy.

On November 27 last year, in the "Happy style" coffee shop on the third floor of the canteen in area An of Fujian normal University, the reporter met Li Jinhuan, who majored in convention and exhibition in Grade 08 of the School of Tourism of Fujian normal University. she is the "general manager" of the cafe. "cheerful, capable and stable" is the reporter's first impression of the university student boss. With the strong aroma of coffee, the "Coffee Girl" from Chongqing tells the story of her business.

Talking about his original intention of setting up a coffee shop, Li Jinhuan felt that it was a pure coincidence. She still remembers clearly that at the end of March last year, the leader of the Tourism College talked to her, "the college wants to restart this entrepreneurial project. If you want to recommend you to participate, first take out a planning book and look at it." Li Jinhuan has the typical character of most Chongqing girls: enthusiastic, confident and resolute, she did not hesitate, accepted it, and took a day to submit a real plan, which moved the leaders of the hospital, and the plan was passed immediately. Li Jinhuan became the "general manager" of the project.

It is understood that the coffee shop project is one of the projects of the Fushi University Entrepreneurship incubation Base, which has come to a standstill due to the lack of management of seniors and seniors due to problems such as time and energy. In order to support students' entrepreneurship, the school provides free space, equipment, water and electricity and other infrastructure, as well as 3000 yuan of start-up funds and other support.

It is the first step that costs troublesome. The first thing Li Jinhuan encountered was the problem of decoration. The coffee shop covers an area of 130 square meters, and because it has not been managed for a long time, the house is a mess and a mess. Apart from adding new equipment, there is little 3000 yuan of venture capital left. In order to save money, Li Jinhuan and her team designed it themselves, such as setting up a picture display wall in the coffee shop to show the wonderful moments or good times in the coffee shop, and designing Kraft paper cover around the incandescent lamp to soften the light. set off the atmosphere; invited two schoolmates to work on murals for three days and three nights In order to invite the school's "double smoking" rock band to cheer for free on the opening night, Li Jinhuan communicated many times. After seven days of preparation, the coffee shop finally officially opened on April 1, and the effect was surprisingly good, and the whole game was full.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Due to factors such as unfamiliarity with coffee and inadequate publicity, the business after opening became worse day by day, and after a month, the turnover was only 3,000 to 4,000 yuan.

Li Jinhuan is not a person who gives up easily. In order to change this situation, she and her team learn about coffee and carefully observe the coffee-making process by searching the Internet and interviewing professional baristas. Now, they have mastered most of the coffee ingredients and practices, and can get the best coffee ingredients at the cheapest price.

At the same time, making use of her experience of opening a clothing store outside the university, Li Jinhuan adjusted the strategy of coffee shop management. according to her own interests and strengths, she divided the team members into seven departments. there are marketing department, purchasing department, publicity department, office, new product research and development, finance department and human resources department to match the new and the old to make the best use of people and provide better service for customers.

What kind of coffee customers choose, the menu plays a very important role. "We put a lot of effort into menu design. At present, all of our six menus are designed by hand, concise and generous, adding a lot of creative elements. " The reporter saw that these menus have a warm series, the King of Sea Thief series of animation, the Mediterranean series, and so on. Each painting on each menu shows a theme, with Mediterranean amorous feelings, warm and romantic couples, wild and unruly king of sea thieves, and so on. In short, the design of the menu adds a lot of color to the products. Whether it is cappuccino, matcha, latte, royal, Campbell blue and so on, customers have become popular choices.

In addition, they also organize activities, launch membership cards, open Weibo and other ways to increase publicity efforts. Li Jinhuan told reporters that providing a venue to organize classes for various colleges party; members of the "Happiness style" coffee shop can enjoy a 20% discount; and timely publish coffee knowledge, new coffee products and discounts and other information on the coffee shop's Weibo. The reporter saw that as soon as the Weibo was opened, it was welcomed by many netizens. Such as @ KillaLin: suddenly found a guide sign of happiness style by the side of the road. There's a lot of feel. " @ Li Aona: Super coffee literacy paste, this is good, introduce to children's shoes. "

No pains, no gains. The elegant environment of the coffee shop, the faint smell of coffee and the warm service of the team make the business more and more prosperous. Li Jinhuan said: when business is good now, the daily turnover can reach more than 1000 yuan at most, and the expected performance has been achieved.

"I have gained an effective team and made a lot of friends." Talking about the experience of starting a business for half a year, Li Jinhuan told the reporter proudly that now the management and operation of the coffee shop has slowly embarked on the normal track, and the management work has also been slowly taken on by the younger brothers and sisters. Yang dysprosium, who majored in tourism management at level 11, was also selected as the "reserve manager."

Li Jinhuan said that he will not start a business immediately after graduation, but wants to have more experience in the market so as to lay a solid foundation for starting a business in the future.

China Coffee Trading Network: www.gafei.com