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A friend of mine wishes to open a cafe and don't know where to start from. I cannot help him but ask people from such kinds of forums if they ever tried to initiate something like that. When a person is eager to open his/her business and knows nothing about that, it's kinda tough. However he doesn't plan making something huge and popular like Starbucks, for example but the quality as all of us know is the key to success. So please give me some hints, if you know something

Hi paul77! I don't know much about such businesses but I think some major rules can be applied to any of them:
first, let your friend open a small cafe - to see how the business develops; it would be an ideal variant to open such a place in a zone where there are no cafes, etc. or too little to be a serious rival...
If your friend is a skilful barista, good for him, if not, it would be a money and time saving to hire a professional barista who will ensure quality and speed which is aslo very important. If this step is impossible, then he should buy a good, even professional coffee maker with a good reputation and look for some barista training. Remember - the quality is the key to everything (almost)! Good luck!

I would say quality and price is key. I remember just a few years ago Coffee was fifty cents a cup, now in major cities it's like $2 a cup. McDonalds and other chain restaurants are serving $1 coffee, but I am sure if your friend serves a good quality signature cup of coffee, in addition to others of course, for under $1 in a metro area, they will do well.

Agree with Beanz! Not only quality but also price is very important when opening a business. When a person sees a new place, the two main questions are always - price and quality. So if you wish a place full of people and if your goal is the middle-class market, make an affordable coffee with an acceptable quality!

I'm not sure where you're friend is located but I will say I wish him luck if in the US. Anything food/beverage related is quite the venture here with all the health department rules and regulations, along with all the other regulations. My tips would be to first, make sure that he knows how to run a business. Just wanting a business isn't enough. The other tip would be that location is going to be an even bigger factor than the quality of the coffee/food. Quality is obviously important but cafes need to be where there is a lot of traffic.

Quality is the key! That is for sure. I'm thinking start off cheap and then work up to a higher price after he gets a customer base. Hire nice people that are fun to interact with too.

Agree both with JavaJane and LoriL:
Quality is the key but the number of people visiting or residing the area your friend wishes to open his cafe. You can brew an excellent gourmet coffee but if there's no one around to taste it, your efforts are vain.
The price for you coffee is an essential part too. You'll have to sell your service at a lesser price until you have a stable number of loyal clients where prices are not as essential as they were at the beginning.

Let he will begin with crowded places - undergrounds, squares, parks, markets...

Beyond the product served, they need to be mindful of the debt/income ratio. I was told once that it is very difficult to start a business if you have a poor credit rating. Thinking about this, it does make sense if you need to finance equipment or have lines of credit that you work off of.

Also, at this point in life, I'd think offereing free Wi-Fi would also be a boon inside the shop.....perhaps that is a given?