Longevity of your cafe

JF

Hi all,

I noticed on the today show this morning that Bar Coluzzi (Sydney cafe) celebrated 50 years serving coffee in Sydney.. It attracted the TV cameras and a huge audience including many well knowns.

Having had coffees there many years back (not for a few years now though), I always thought the coffee was OK (not great), but they ambience, quality of food and great service made having a cuppa there worth while..

Just interested in those of you who own and run a cafe - How long have you been doing it? and are you as pasionate today as you were on day 1, and is your business growing each year (customer base as well as revenue)?

Just interested as from what I understand it is rare these days for a cafe to survive as many years without change of ownership, change in coffee bean etc etc..

A penny for you thoughts??

askthecoffeeguy

I'm entering into my 5th yr with my cafe and we keep going from strength to strength. We just invested 40G in renovations, which, when you consider that the joint is in essence a kiosk with outdoor seating, represents a considerable investment in the business. And we have, prior to renovations, seen an increase in sales in the vicinity of 30% per annum - and we are hoping that latest innovations will also have a positive spin-off effect on sales. If anything I'm more passionate now than when I started, as I'm a lot more experienced for starters, and I've had the added benefit of observing how modifications to the business have improved customer relations / sales over time Also, the never-ending quest for the perfect coffee drives me ever onwards, and, dare I say, we even manage to pull off the occasional "god shot!" Cheers, Pat

sketchy

Hi We have been going now for 5.5 years and have gone from a 15 seat coffee & cake joint to a 28 seat cafe to a 45 seat cafe resturant. we had to move after 2.5 years to make more room, being 150 km from perth we have also purchased a small chiller truck so we can get our own stock which ensures we get the best available. LE PS i'm more passionate today than i have ever been

JF

Pat - how long was it before you started profiting? e.g., in non cafe business, it is usual to expect 1-3 years before making a profit.. Is it any different with cafes? Cheers JF

askthecoffeeguy

we were in the fortunate? position of not having very much money to start off with, in fact, on paper, on the opening day, after financial commitments we had only $400 left in the bank, so it very much a matter of needing to be successful straight away. Also, for the first month I worked the joint on my own working between 12 - 14 hrs per day, which included generally cleaning the place up and putting things right. And because of our relatively low overheads, and our predominant coffee focus, we've pretty much been profitable from day one Which is not to say that we haven't had a fair share of challenges along the way We reached a point about a year ago where we couldn't physically demand any more out of the premises with our existing facilities, and refusing to compromise on quality, our overheads kept increasing which meant either sell or renovate so we've just about finished renovating now and are looking for to a better return! cheers, Patrick

JF

Pat: Great to hear - always happy to hear hard work and ethic is rewarded.. Cheers JF

jy808

askthe coffeeguy wrote:

we were in the fortunate? position of not having very much money to start off with, in fact, on paper, on the opening day, after financial commitments we had only $400 left in the bank, so it very much a matter of needing to be successful straight away. Also, for the first month I worked the joint on my own working between 12 - 14 hrs per day, which included generally cleaning the place up and putting things right. And because of our relatively low overheads, and our predominant coffee focus, we've pretty much been profitable from day one Which is not to say that we haven't had a fair share of challenges along the way We reached a point about a year ago where we couldn't physically demand any more out of the premises with our existing facilities, and refusing to compromise on quality, our overheads kept increasing which meant either sell or renovate so we've just about finished renovating now and are looking for to a better return! cheers, Patrick

Hi Patrick, I feel that I am currently in a position that you once were. I have owned my cafe for just over a year now and had high focus on coffee. This proved profitable, and sales definitely increased. Recently, a brand new cafe with good focus on food and a very appealing layout (to the eye) has opened down the road which has affected sales and profits (my challenge). I'm curious as to how your renovations worked out for you, what work you did to the cafe, and an estimate price? This is a direction I need to take sooner or later to 'keep up'! Thanks J,

Brett_H

Welcome mate... straight into the fray reviving an old thread with an excellent question. I reckon there's a few of us that know the answer to this one but I'm not going to steal Pat's thunder. Welcome again, it's great to have another pro onboard!

FreshCoffee2

jy808 wrote:

...has affected sales and profits (my challenge)....

Firstly, agree with Brett. Secondly, do not discount the effectiveness of perservering in your goal to purvey the finest quality food and beverage. The punters will always take a look at the new kid on the block especially somehing with a flash fit out, and then they will make their decision. If you are doing the right thing many of your regulars will be back shortly.