To open a coffee shop and start a business, you have to do these seven things.

"I really want to open a small shop of my own!" "I envy you that you have your own coffee shop!" These are the words I have heard most in the two and a half years since I opened the shop. But if you can't do the following seven, don't open a store easily:

1. Love the things operated by the store very much

Note that I use "love" instead of ordinary "love". Because the store is faced with a lot of setbacks and tedious things, if not something relentless, persistent love, it is impossible to stick to it. And no matter what you run, you will delve into it only if you love it, understand it only if you study it, and make money only if you understand it.

If you say to me with deep pockets, "I don't open a shop to make money, it's purely because I like it, even if I'm willing to lose money." believe me, when you keep putting your energy into something and you'll never get anything in return, you won't have that enthusiasm anymore.

2. A heart that can persevere in doing things

Opening a shop, especially a coffee shop, is not like what many people think. As a coffee shop owner, you can sit by the window with a cup of strong coffee, surf the Internet, read books, and chat with friends. Opening a shop means that from personnel management to material management, and even to trivial matters, you may have to deal with them yourself, unless you have made a business. There are mature management models and reliable management talents, so if you don't have a "persevering" heart, you'd better patronize your favorite cafe and support other people's business.

3. It will not hurt to invest money even if it is wasted.

Everyone wants their store to be a treasure trove of money for themselves, but this possibility is not 100%.

Ten out of 100 people like coffee, five of them want to open a coffee shop, and one succeeds. Although the figure mentioned in this sentence is only a general figure, it is sufficient to show that it is not easy to make money for shops, especially cafes. When you invest, you should clearly understand that the money thrown in may be wasted. It doesn't matter if you lose it, don't feel sorry, and then decide to open a shop.

In addition, in addition to the initial investment, you need to have a stop-loss limit. For example, investing in a store, from rent, decoration, etc., and perhaps including transfer fees, will cost a total of 1 million yuan, and when you need to pay the rent again, there will be a lot of costs, such as purchase, staff wages, and maintenance costs. if you haven't reached the profit point during this period, you need to invest again, so when you invest up to how much, whether to invest another 1 million or 100000, you need to stop the loss in time. Stop reinvesting and consider transferring or withdrawing. This meaning is very similar to buying stocks.

4. "Heroes don't help."

Seen too many examples, a few good friends and even best friends, everyone wants to open a shop, and then a slap on the thigh, you put together ten thousand and I put together eight thousand, together to open a shop. At first it was you and me, but after a long time, even relatives will inevitably have differences, not to mention just friends. In the end, it made chickens and dogs jump, go their separate ways, and there are too many examples of old age and death to come and go. So, if you can open your own shop, try not to use your friends' money.

5. Have a good mentality in the face of tricky passers-by

It is possible that the guests who come to cafes are basically of high quality, which is much better than small restaurants and small restaurants, but you must still have a good attitude in the face of tricky passers-by. Because as the saying goes, "when the forest is big, there are all kinds of birds." even if 99% of the guests are high-quality people, 1% of people may have various reasons to make things difficult for you. Of course, in addition to the guests, it is possible that the neighbors around your store may also embarrass you. But in any case, the old saying "harmony makes money" is true. Even if the other person hits you on the left face, you don't have to stretch out your right face to fight, but at least learn to smile and say sorry and look for the reason from yourself first. Even if you don't make any mistakes, you can't argue with the guests.

We have encountered guests who help us bring tea and water for other guests when they are extremely busy, but meet by chance but do not hesitate to spend their own time and energy to keep their paintings, see that the toilet is clogged, and even other guests who take the initiative to help us handle it, or even other guests who take the initiative to help us clean the toilet seat (gem: www.Cyone.com.cn/). But at the same time, we have also met guests who drink and make trouble, those who talk loudly and affect others, and even those who rub their poop against the bathroom wall. In short, you may have all kinds of "adventures", but you must always have a good state of mind in order to cope with all kinds of oddities.

6. There is another kind of normal mind

Coffee has been on the rise for only 20 years. In the eyes of the Chinese people, a coffee shop can sit in a place where it is dark with a cup of coffee. Some people complain that domestic coffee is too expensive, which is what we always complain about before we open a shop.

For example, since entering the Chinese market in 1998, a cup of coffee has easily cost more than 30 yuan, while in other countries, the price of Xingji coffee is only half of that in China. For example, in Malaysia, the price of a cup of cappuccino is only 8 MYR, even if it is converted into RMB, it only costs more than ten yuan.

After years of operation, we understand that it is not only the house prices in China, but also the concept of coffee consumption in China that has led to the high price of coffee in China.

We met such guests when three big boss-looking people came in and ordered three cheapest cups of coffee to the bartender (our American price is 20 yuan, cappuccino is 22 yuan), said to sit for a while and leave, and then stay for 10 hours, if people who do not open a store think there is no problem reading here, then please hear me out. Later, their fourth friend arrived. before the fourth friend came in, the three guests changed the leftover coffee into a "new" cup of coffee, and then said to the later friend, "this cup is for you, you are too late. It's already cold." if you think it's weird enough, then please continue to hear me out. Within 10 hours, these four are talking about hundreds of millions of real estate deals. In this way, four "billionaire" bosses chatted with me for 10 hours and spent a total of 60 yuan.

Just imagine, if your shop has 100 square meters, in addition to the area of the operating room, the guest area can sit 40 guests, and these 40 guests spend 60 yuan in 10 hours like these big bosses, then you can only get more than 200 yuan in running water every day. You know, in Beijing, it is difficult to find a storefront of less than 3 yuan per day, while a store of 100 square meters costs at least 300 yuan a day, which is estimated to be the store price outside the sixth Ring Road, not including your water, electricity, labor, materials and other costs.

We have a friend's coffee shop also met this kind of guest: a cup of 10 yuan pudding to sit for a day, scraping the Internet power not to say, but also take out food. On another occasion, a girl ordered a single cup of coffee with her. the single order was 15 yuan and the double was 18 yuan. she drank the cup all morning and was ready to order another one when she asked the landlady, "can you keep up with the cup and add up to 18 yuan?" The area of her house is not large, but it is difficult to say what to say when meeting such a guest. This directly affects the turn-over rate and running water.

If you open a coffee shop in China, you may face such troubles every day. So you have to have another kind of normal mind.

7. Like cooking and opening a restaurant are not the same thing at all

Know a lot of friends, from like to like to open a shop and then close the shop. You know, you like to make coffee, cooking, dessert, to really open your own shop, is not the same thing.

Like to do, is to make it for yourself, when you are in a good mood, grind coffee beans, beat foam, stir-fry, bake cakes, and then take photos and send them to Weibo and moments to show petty bourgeoisie life. And open a shop, no matter you are in a good mood or bad mood, you have to do it, and you can't do it according to your temper.

A friend was very good at taking pictures, and after giving birth to a baby, she stayed at home full-time, posted some desserts and three meals a day on the Internet, and the cutlery and dishes were beautifully laid out. she told me that she especially wanted to open a small restaurant of her own. Sell these snacks that you are good at making. I said, "if you can't stand the smoke and fire every day and keep repeating those dishes for your guests, you smell like lampblack every day, and you don't have time to take pictures and send them to your moments."

That's all I can think of. I believe this is enough to discourage some people from opening a shop. As a matter of fact, there are a lot more problems in opening a store than I have listed. Please take care of yourself.

/ Wang Lian / tr. by Phil Newell)