Cafe Kitchen: Relaxed food for friends from the Lantana Café

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Though a relatively old advertising technique, posters and flyers can still be effective in marketing your coffee shop – especially if you have a new product or promotion that you want people to know about. Even something as simple as handing out flyers with a free drink offer can work wonders, as it helps people cross the threshold of your business for the first time. After they have been once, they are much more likely to come a second and third time – providing the experience was positive. The customer isn’t always right, but it’s important that you learn to judge when to give in - and when to stand your ground. Sometimes, the cost of giving away a free coffee isn’t much compared to permanently losing a customer. In other cases, by taking the time to sit with the customer and understand each other’s situations you can come to a mutually beneficial resolution. Train your staff well For many cafes, determining who your target audience is will require looking beyond traditional traits such as age and gender, and instead considering customer characteristics such as: Adjustable legs provide two height options at 1" and 2" intervals so your child can continue to play with the set while they grow No one is going to believe how great your products are if you don’t seem like you believe it yourself. Be energetic, use descriptive words - and remember to smile! Focus on service, not sales

Google My Business – Signing up to Google My Business this service offers your cafe some exposure through Google search and Google Maps when people in your local area search for your business type. For instance, your cafe may show up if someone searched for ‘coffee shops in Newcastle-Under-Lyme’ – if that’s where you’re located. Wares – this includes cups, jugs, mugs, plates, bowls, cutlery and just about anything else necessary to actually serve your products to customers.

Can Bistro furniture be used in Gardens and Outdoors?

Logo – you may want to design a simple icon to represent your brand, so that your cafe name does not always have to be spelled out, or your full logo used. Brand logos exist in our mind as vague representations, so the important thing is to make sure people recognise your logo and associate it with what you sell, rather than perfectly recalling every detail. This means it's best to keep it simple. If you want to sell hot food or drinks between the hours of 11pm and 5am, you'll need to make sure your premises licence includes 'the provision of late night refreshment'. You'll also have to bear in mind your local authority's stance on operating late at night, particularly if you're in a residential area. Your cafe’s brand – its name, logo and any other identifying features – is going to be at the centre of any marketing that you do, so it needs to be clear, unique and easily recognisable. You may find that you benefit from a slight tweak to your logo design, or you may want to consider re-branding altogether. When making changes to your cafe brand, be sure to bear the following in mind: For kitchen staff – you will probably want to consider hiring kitchen staff that are experienced, to begin with. This means looking for someone who has already worked in a kitchen and is able to cope with high-pressure situations. In the UK, we drink approximately 95 million cups of coffee per day. A relatively busy coffee shop can expect to sell around 200 hot drinks every day.

Take the time to scout out the best options for securing a small business loan from a financial institution. You may or may not find your best deal at a bank with which you already have a financial relationship. Organizations like the U.S. Small Business Administration can help walk you through the process of securing your best loan. Temperature – you should keep your cafe at a comfortable temperature so that customers are neither too hot nor too cold. Keep an eye out for signs that the temperature may be wrong – for example, customers wearing coats indoors. Layout – customers are likely to start reading your menu from the upper left corner – as they would a book – and finish towards the bottom right. Bear this in mind when considering your menu’s layout. Cleanliness – ensuring your cafe is always clean – particularly in restrooms – is an important part of ensuring a positive customer experience. You may find it beneficial to keep your menu short and simple, to begin with. As some teething problems are to be expected in your first couple of weeks of opening, you don’t need to overcomplicate things for kitchen staff or baristas with a complex menu. It’s always possible to rethink your menu at a later date and add to it if you feel capable of handling more. What coffee will you go for?Once you have decided what types of food and drink your cafe will be selling, you can start thinking about designing and creating your menu. Remember, your cafe menu does not necessarily need to be a small booklet that customers leaf through while sat at a table. If you want to open a ‘grab and go’ style coffee shop, then your menu could be displayed entirely on large boards above the counter. Colour scheme – the colours you use should be in line with your brand’s personality, theme, internal décor and overall environment. You may find it useful to use tools such as FloorPlanner.com to help you visualise how best to place in your cafe, as well as the logistics of queues and walkways. You may have to try a few different layouts before you get one that really works. Things to bear in mind include: The chances are that, by this stage, you’ve already chosen your business premises - or you have a strong idea of where you would like it to be. The location of your cafe’s premises is incredibly important, but even after you’ve chosen the perfect place, there is still much to be done.

Bistro furniture is perfect for use in gardens, depending on the materials that the furniture is made of. Outdoor bistro table and chairs come in wrought iron, rust-free cast aluminium, stainless steel, or wood and normally come with a weather-resistant finish to make sure they stay high-quality and keep the same classy appearance all year round. This is, arguably, still one of the most important and influential marketing methods there is. No digital advert or marketing campaign can truly trump a recommendation from a friend, so it’s important that you encourage your happy customers to spread the word about your cafe. There are a number of ways in which you can do this, from rewarding those who take part in a refer-a-friend scheme to simply asking your regulars to bring their family or work colleagues in some time. The best way to turn your customers into advocates is to make sure that they have the best experience possible when in your cafe.

Personal injury – yourself, a member of staff or a member of the public could sustain injury on your business premises. Because of this, it’s easy to see how cafe owners may find it difficult to know who to consider their core customers. Performance issues could include poor customer service, failure to meet goals or unwillingness to carry out responsibilities. Conduct-related issues typically involve negligence, poor attendance, bad timekeeping and hostile behaviour.

Sound – the music that you play in your cafe adds to the atmosphere. Think carefully about the style of music that you play, as well as the volume at which you play it. These are all important elements to bear in mind throughout the whole start-up process, as they will influence your cafe’s overall proposition. Have you worked out who your customers are going to be?As well as the business plan and funding options that virtually any business will need to consider, starting a cafe has a number of its own unique challenges that you will need to overcome. Cafes and coffee shops can adopt different serving styles based on their unique propositions. For example, if you don’t currently offer a takeaway service, consider making it part of your proposition. Alternatively, you could add more seating options to cater for people who want to ‘sit-in’ rather than takeaway. Whatever your current style, changing it slightly could increase the footfall and custom that your cafe gets.