Phase 1: Establish

Coffee Shop Concept Development

We work with you one-on-one to refine your business concept, mission, values, target audience, product offerings, and brand identity. This strategic process ensures your business stands out, aligns with market demand, and is positioned for profitability. Many of these exercises are covered in our 3-Day Coffee Business Master Class®.

Coffee Shop Financial Plan

A critical factor in a coffee shop’s success is ensuring it’s in a financially viable location with a solid business model. Our consulting service provides a comprehensive financial analysis, helping you determine total startup costs, operating budgets, and long-term profitability. We evaluate key data points such as rent feasibility, projected gross sales, net profit margins, and return on investment timelines, ensuring your business is financially sustainable before moving forward. You’ll receive a detailed financial plan spreadsheet outlining startup investment, operating expenses, revenue projections, and five-year growth potential. This plan allows you to make informed decisions, secure funding, and complete the financial section of your business plan with confidence. A sample of this financial plan, along with expert guidance, is also included in our 3-Day Coffee Business Master Class®.

Coffee Bar Design and Workflow

Now we’ve got a concept, a location, and a menu nailed down. At this point we draft a coffee shop bar design and recommended equipment list based on concept, menu, and workflow. We use our specialized expertise to maximize streamlined ergonomic workflow, and labor efficiency. While many architects boast experience designing coffee houses and cafes, the vast majority have never worked in a coffee shop to know how many steps it takes to do a barista’s job, or where to place equipment to maximize on labor efficiency and minimize collisions and wasted transaction time.

Coffee Roaster Recommendation

Your coffee supplier is a key business decision. We help you choose the right specialty coffee roaster, ensuring quality, consistency, and alignment with your concept and target market.

Phase 3: Refine

Ongoing consulting and support

The only way to ensure long-term success of your coffee business is to continually fine-tune your process, and your people. Once your doors are open, we provide an ongoing support system with checkups, milestones, and ongoing barista training to aid you in this critical aspect of owning and operating your specialty coffee business.

Personal Growth

Our consulting team is genuinely invested in your success as a whole. There’s a reason you started this journey in the first place. As you walk this path there will be days when anyone would question their sanity. We’re here for you. We will constantly be assessing not only your business, but ways we can help you be your best. We will provide you thoughtful and truthful guidance with support and encouragement along your journey. We keep it human. We don’t think of ourselves as coffee business consultants. We’re mentors who truly want to help you grow as an entrepreneur.

Business Evaluation

Our coffee consulting services start with an on-site “big picture” evaluation of your coffee business for strengths and weaknesses, offering insights and ways to improve for future growth.

Operations Evaluation

Our coffee consultants will spend time on site observing your coffee business’ operational processes, customer flow, ergonomics, equipment, retail sales area, customer experience, service, beverage/food quality, execution standards, transaction efficiency, and workplace culture. We will provide a report with suggestions and insight for areas of improvement.

BRAND REVIEW

We will review and provide feedback on current brand presence along with any areas of opportunity for improvement. If desired, following our brand review, our in-house brand strategist and award-winning design team can create the natural evolution of your brand so your visual messaging is on point, relevant, and authoritative.

STAFF TRAINING

Whether on-site or at Texas Coffee School, we provide private training to improve skills, service, and operational efficiency.

Employee Operations Manual

Includes development of a custom coffee program employee operations manual that outlines program philosophy, culture, employee expectations, customer service standards, daily responsibilities, efficiency expectations and menu execution.

Cafe Design

If your layout isn’t maximizing efficiency, we can help refine it to improve workflow, traffic flow, and customer experience.

Merchandising

We guide you in selecting and designing merchandise, packaging, and in-store displays to increase sales and build brand loyalty.

Investor & Funding Support

We assist with funding presentations, ensuring you have the right financials, market insights, and credibility when pitching to investors or lenders.

Coffee Product or Service Evaluation & Critique

Our consulting team will test and evaluate your coffee product or service and provide a detailed report with strengths, weaknesses, areas of opportunity, and insight for improvement (if necessary).

FOCUS GROUPS

We can develop, host, and administer specialized focus groups assembled of
coffee professionals and home coffee enthusiasts for purpose of learning more about perception of your brand and refining products & services before launch.

Architect Consulting

Most architects design coffee shops without understanding barista workflow. We collaborate to ensure designs maximize efficiency, minimize bottlenecks, and support a seamless operation.

Funding Advising

We will participate in funding meetings with venture capital firms and angel investors. Having specialty coffee professionals at the table can add considerable credibility to your project.

BRAND REVIEW

Your brand’s messaging, packaging, and overall positioning matter. We evaluate and refine your brand to ensure it’s competitive, relevant, and compelling.