Coffee House Business Plan - 7 Essential Elements

Having had a lifetime interest in all-things-coffee may be your inspiration for wanting to open a coffee house of your own. But, having an interest in coffee alone is not enough: you also need to build your new venture upon a foundation of solid business principles.

When undertaking any type of business venture, it is smart to start with a solid business plan. Opening a coffee house is no different. A business plan accomplishes two things:

a. it provides you, the business owner, with an opportunity to lay everything out on the table in order to get a clear view into how the business will be set up, what is required to get things going, and what may still be missing from your current plans.

b. it can give potential investors, partners, and vendors a view into the heart of how your new business will be structured.

If you are interested in created a coffee house business plan, here are the 7 essential elements to include:

1. Executive summary:

This introductory section of your business plan should take up no more than two pages. It should highlight the most essential elements of your plan. Put a bit of salesmanship into the executive summary: remember, some of those who read it may be potential investors. Your goal in this section is to inform the reader - while at the same time encouraging them to finish reading the rest of the plan.

2. Company summary:

In the company summary section of your coffee house business plan, feature a nuts-and-bolts description of your company. Include all of the facts, such as proposed name of the coffee house, the owner's or owners' names, and any information that describes events that led up to the idea for the business.

3. Management team overview:

The credibility of a new business always hinges upon the credibility of its management team. The goal of this section of your plan should be to impress upon the reader the trustworthiness and credibility of your team. Include information on the background and experience of each member, and highlight their main accomplishments in this (or related) businesses up to this point in their careers.

4. Product and customer targeting strategy:

Every coffee house serves a slightly different group of people. Are you going after the commuter crowd? Book-loving, lounging types? Stay-at-home moms? Write out the details of how your choice of a target market will influence your choice of products. Be sure to list out how your products will differ from those of other competing coffee houses in the area.

5. Store design ideas, equipment choices and overall ambiance:

In this section, write in detail about the theme you are going for in your new venture. For example, will it be ultra-modern, contemporary, old-fashioned, European, bohemian, etc.? Describe the type of customer you will be targeting (see #4 above) and weave that into your ideas about the design and overall ambiance of your coffee house. One of the biggest factors to consider is your choice of equipment; the wrong equipment can really look out of place if it does not fit in with your intended ambiance.

6. Proposed location and market analysis:

Successful coffee house owners know that location is especially important in this business. Your coffee house will need to be located near a major thoroughfare, business park, residential area or shopping center. Propose a handful of specific proposed locations for your new business. Also, do some research into factors such as market size of the area and the area's projected growth over the next 5 to 10 years.

7. Financial plan:

A successful business is one that is able to ramp up sales fairly quickly, with the goal of bringing in more revenue than it requires to keep the business running. In other words: it needs to be able to turn a profit. Sit down with a good spreadsheet software program and make educated guesses about items such as number of customers per day, average profit per sale, and the amount of each overhead (or fixed) expense. Then, write up your results in this section.

Hint: if you are numbers-challenged, that's okay: just write out your assumptions and then ask a friend, family member or paid consultant to help you do the math. While you are at it, be sure to make sales and profit projections for 6 months, 1 year, 3 years and 5 years.

Take these 7 essential elements into account as you put together your coffee house business plan.

Visit my site to find out everything you need to know about creating a successful coffee house business plan.

Eight Essential Team Building Skills Learnt From the 2010 South African World Cup

The World cup in South Africa has been extraordinary, with the majority of the competitions favorite teams, and stars failing to perform leading to an unlikely end of the competition. What are the essential management lessons we have learnt from the unpredictable results of this World cup?

Even Nostradamus would of found it hard to predict the failure of Argentina, Brazil, England, France, and Italy to perform up to their expectations in this once in four year football showpiece. Neither have many of the worlds millionaire superstar players performed, being outplayed by lesser known players in the competition.

What are the essential business management skills we can learn from this extraordinary World Cup?

1. Communication Skills

France the once celebrated World champions imploded in almost spectacular style. leading to allegations of no communication between management, and players. This traditional dictatorial style of management- you listen, and do. Could be to blame for the reason team France revolted, and went home to an angry public.

The lesson: Communicate, discuss and evaluate together with your team

2. Motivation

The England team, once the tournaments favorites looked miserable and lacked any motivation when playing- the price an early exit with a thrashing by what pundits claimed was by an inferior team. Obviously the manager did not recognize the signs this team were not interested in performing, in management terms he played the same team that never proved it could not perform..

The lesson: communicate, award those who are willing team players, and change the team structure.

3. Technical Skills

Argentina were motivated, played as a team but one thing Diego Maradona ignored was the need to change the technical side of the team, depending on their opponents. A highly motivated team faces many challenges, and has to be flexible as situations change- the result, a quarter final defeat by Germany.

The lesson: After motivating your team, focus on enhancing their technical skills, and change the structure of the team for any new challenges.

4. Plan B

Brazil, the favorites looked like they were cruising to the final, until they met the Netherlands. They imploded, and looked like they had no other game plan options, as they lost a lead after 45 minutes. Any manager has to have a plan B, Brazil did not.

The lesson: Teams can be changed, options can be kept in case a situation suddenly changes. Lacking a second option could turn success into a long term defeat.

5. Surprise

England and Italy were predictable, they could not surprise their opponents who planned a game plan around this- Germany played the unknown, the surprise factor. Surprise can put any opponent in disarray, unsettle them and beat off the competition. Being too predictable leaves you exposed to your own weaknesses, as opponents soon wise up to them

The Lesson: Unsettle your competition, be more innovative, build up on your strengths and offer an element of surprise.

6. The "Prima Donna" Factor

Being already successful, does not mean you are the best. The banks learnt this in 2008, individual superstars who did not perform- learnt this in the world cup. Performance as a team, over rides past success in team building and creates winners.

The lesson: If big names may not perform, offer options, bring in an alternative, never depend on what was previously successful- as competition changes and prima donnas that do not perform could be replaced.

7. Teamwork

The successful teams in this World cup had all one common factor- Teamwork. Despite their perceived individual limitations, as a team they brought the best out in other, and were willing to sacrifice. Team Ghana, New Zealand,Paraguay, Uruguay, Holland, Spain and Germany performed as a team.

The lesson: An average team can perform better than a team of superstar individuals. If success depends on a team, each player no matter their weaknesses can help outperform the most successful individuals- if they work on how each member can benefit the team in their own way.

8. Invest in Youth

England, France and Italy left out youth and opted out for experience. Brazil and Argentina left valuable young players out of the team- preferring tested professionals.

Germany, Ghana and Uruguay opted for youth, and outperformed their initial expectations. England, France, Italy were outperformed, and shown that youth can beat experience.

The lesson: Invest in the young, experience does matter but youth can bring in fresh ideas, enthusiasm, and ultimately success in an uneven playing field.

Management is often about dealing with constant change, and building a versatile team that can deal effectively with any new challenges relating to this change. To build and nurture a successful team, you need communication, fresh ideas, innovation, motivation and technical skills. Teams also need to change, bring in fresh ideas and invest in youth.

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