What do you need to know to open a successful coffee shop? To make a profit, please customers, and have a business that can survive in the long term.

Although coffee shops have sprung up in the past 3-5 years, the coffee shop business can still grow if the shop is managed and marketed well. Today, MHA invites you to learn what you need to know to open a coffee shop in order to be successful, satisfy customers, make a lot of profit, and have a long-term business. It will be divided into 6 main topics as follows:

• Know your target audience. You need to understand that coffee shops in different locations have different customer groups. For example:

• Coffee shops in educational institutions: Customers are students. They usually come in groups with friends and have purchasing power. Although some menus are expensive, they can share the cost of coffee or dessert. Coffee shops in this area must have a variety of menus because this group likes to order other menus besides coffee, such as blended cocoa, chocolate, smoothies, and add cakes, pies, ice cream, or bingsu to the menu. If you are near a university, there should be power outlets and free Wi-Fi or a meeting room because during exams, students often come to study and order a lot of coffee.

• Coffee shop in office area Customers are working people - office workers. Shops in this area must focus on coffee menus because this group of customers mainly orders coffee. There will be a lot of customers coming in and out. Many customers will choose the shop based on speed - not a long queue, more than the taste of the coffee because they have to rush to buy and go to work. Therefore, the big question is how to make the fastest and most delicious coffee. As for the dessert menu that is suitable for this group of customers, what can be eaten with coffee and bought to eat at the work desk, such as croissants, sandwiches, cookies, etc. The shop can add special coffee menus, such as Cold brew, which is extracted in advance and put in a cabinet, which will increase sales for the shop. Electrical outlets and free Wi-Fi must also be provided.

• Coffee shops in gas stations . The main customer group is drivers, so the coffee must be strong and have a lot of caffeine. They are in a hurry, buy quickly, go quickly, and don't sit in the shop for long. So the coffee should be available quickly. There is no need for power outlets or Wi-Fi. The shop must open early and close late in order to sell in time. Sold with snacks that can be taken to work or in the car conveniently. This group of customers can become regulars because they drive past every day.

There are still many locations that need to understand their customer groups well, but in summary, we need to know first “who the customers are, what age range, when they drink coffee, and what they like to drink or eat” so that we can plan the menu and manage the shop to meet the needs of the customer group as much as possible.

2. Know your competitors , especially the coffee shops in the same area as yours.

Within a radius of 5 kilometers, we must definitely analyze the competitors' selling points first and plan to make the store different from the competitors by analyzing the following store elements:

• What is the coffee menu of the shop? Both the shop's drink menu and the desserts that are sold. What is the most outstanding menu that the shop recommends? What desserts are there? You may have to try them to see what is the real highlight of that shop.

• What is the price range of each menu item? Is it premium or medium? And what customer group does it target?

• What style is the shop decorated in? Because coffee shops generally have their own character, which is reflected through the decorations inside and outside the shop, as well as the uniforms of the staff.

• What promotions are there? In addition to discounts, exchanges, free gifts, you have to look at what media competitors are communicating on and what marketing strategies they are using.

Let's think simply that we must not be afraid of our competitors, but we must analyze carefully. No matter how good our competitors are, our shop must be better than that.

3. Know your coffee. Different coffee varieties have different flavors and caffeine content, which makes them suitable for different customer groups. For example:

• Arabica has a distinctive aroma, soft taste, sweet and sour flavor, soft body, low caffeine. Arabica likes cool weather, 15-24 degrees Celsius, must be grown in high areas above sea level, about 800-1,000 meters or more. For Thailand, it is often grown in the northern provinces, mountain areas such as Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Lampang, etc. The taste will be different in each planting area and roasting style.

• Robusta is rather pungent, its flavor is stronger and more bitter. It is grown in low areas, at an altitude of only 500-600 meters above sea level. It likes humid air and a temperature of 24-36 degrees Celsius. In Thailand, it is usually grown in southern provinces such as Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani, etc. It is mostly used to make instant coffee because it has a higher caffeine content than Arabica.

Due to the different characteristics of coffee beans, it also affects the choice of coffee for each group of customers. For example , students do not like to drink coffee that is too strong or bitter. We may choose to use medium-roasted Arabica coffee. For gas station customers , they may use Robusta or dark-roasted Arabica coffee to get a stronger, stronger taste, suitable for driving. Office workers tend to like coffee with a lot of caffeine to stay awake all day. They may use Robusta mixed with Arabica coffee to give a fragrant aroma but a more bitter taste.

4. Know the equipment. The first thing that we usually think of when thinking of coffee shop equipment is:  

• Coffee makers: There are many models and prices at various levels for coffee makers. Some models cost hundreds of thousands of baht, which will result in a high price per cup of coffee. For newly opened shops, it is recommended to look at your own budget as a primary factor and also at the number of target groups. If you calculate that you will have sales of more than 100 cups per day, you need to look at a coffee maker with a large boiler (boiler) of 7 liters or more and have 2 brewing heads in order to be able to make coffee in time for the busy orders and to be able to brew all day.

• The coffee grinder is the same. It must be stable. The ground coffee powder must be consistent. And do not add heat to the coffee because it will reduce the aroma. For beginners, try using an automatic grinder first because it will cause less loss, brew quickly, and the taste is stable.

• TAMPER for pressing and spreading coffee powder before entering the brewing machine. It can be considered a barista's guide tool. It is usually included with the brewing machine. Or try finding a macaron-style TAMPER to use because it helps control the taste very well no matter who is pressing it in the shop.

Photo from HOUSE WORTH

• Blender: To make blended drinks, you need to buy a size that can blend ice and produce a good speed per glass. You should choose a blender with a high wattage, or 1500 watts or more.

In addition, there are measuring equipment such as shot glasses, measuring cups, scales, which must be considered to buy with standards because if the amount is incorrect or the measurement is not correct, it will affect the taste of each cup of coffee. For refrigerators and snack freezers, choose the size that is appropriate for the shop as well. In summary, choose to buy equipment with standards or reliable brands and consider the after-sales service of the equipment as important.

5. Know the coffee recipe. You must first learn the basic coffee recipe, at least 5 recipes, which are:

- Espresso - Latte - Iced Cappuccino - Iced Espresso - Iced Mocha Frappuccino

For coffee brewing recipes, there are many institutes that teach them. You can take a course or try studying coffee recipes and basic menu making methods for free! In the course, Open a coffee shop to make money (click to apply in the upper right corner). And for the mixed drink menu, you can see the recipe and method in 5 Mixed Drinks to Make Money! That Entrepreneurs Should Have in Their Shops. Click to read now. 6. Know the coffee business marketing. Starting a coffee shop just because you love it cannot make your shop survive in the current business system. Therefore, we need to understand the coffee shop marketing first. We can start by studying the feasibility of the business. We need to know who our coffee shop sells to, where our customers are, and how much customers are willing to pay. Are there any other distribution channels? How do we operate? How much are the operating expenses? How much is the total investment? Let’s think of a hypothesis first and find information to support our shop idea. Then we will see how profitable or loss our shop will be. When we see the feasibility, let’s try to make a business plan first. Because making a business plan is like testing a business on paper before actually investing. This will help us choose the right business management strategy to generate the most profit. A business plan needs to collect real data or conduct market research to collect data. In addition, a business plan can also be used to request funding from financial institutions.

Even though it sounds complicated because it is a matter of business management, it is important to understand it in detail first. And if you want to understand the feasibility of the coffee shop business, try studying more in the free course, Studying the Feasibility of the Restaurant Business (click to apply at the top right corner) by Professor Seth Sethaphong Phadungphisut, Managing Director of Genosis Co., Ltd., a consultant for restaurant and franchise businesses. These 6 points are just basic information before you decide to open your own coffee shop business. If you are not satisfied, try studying from a free course. Open a coffee shop to make money by Ajarn Benyapa Naowarn, a coffee making teacher and 4-time barista champion, nicknamed the "Witch of Making Coffee" and owner of Benyapa Coffee Academy, to gain more ideas on opening your own coffee shop. Come back and find out more tips on managing a restaurant business with MHA in the next episode.

You can learn more about “Coffee” in other topics here.

• 5 things you need to know before entering the coffee shop business

• Delicious coffee, don't overlook the choice of coffee grinder

• Deep dive into choosing the right coffee machine for your shop.

• Choose a coffee maker that meets your needs for greater value.

• “Ice” is clean and safe, and you can choose it. Just have an ice maker at your shop.

• Win over customers with popular drink menus that are popular in coffee shops.

• Increase your coffee shop's revenue with daily special menus.

• Transform a simple coffee shop into a place where everyone must check in.

• Turning casuals into regulars, attracting new customers