How to Open a Community Coffee Shop: Operational Strategies for Small Coffee Businesses

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The Evolution of Coffee Spaces

Once, people loved to spend their days in "third spaces" – a cup of coffee, a laptop, and a pair of headphones, whiling away the hours in bustling city center cafés. Today, people prefer community coffee shops, where in familiar surroundings, they can chat with strangers they've never met before about their lives.

In recent years, many small community coffee shops have gradually appeared in the neighborhoods where we grew up. Below residential buildings filled with the aromas of daily life, next to large trees at alley entrances, without too much outstanding decoration or lavish furnishings, integrated with the original architecture, these shops provide an environment for community members to converse with each other.

In these shops, everyone feels so casual, just like breakfast shops on the street – sitting down makes you friends. The people you converse with might be the barista, like-minded individuals, elderly people, or even children. It is precisely because of this connection to daily life that more and more people are drawn to community coffee shops.

Key Considerations for Community Coffee Shops

Compared to coffee shops on main streets, community coffee shops face relatively less pressure, but with coffee shops seemingly everywhere now, it's unrealistic to think there's no competition. Therefore, before opening a community coffee shop, there are several points we need to consider clearly.

Community Coffee Shop Positioning

Coffee shops located in communities need to expand diversified and mainstream services and products. Convenience and accessibility are important factors for high repurchase rates in community coffee shops. Therefore, the target customers are general consumers, providing cost-effective products to surrounding residents while also offering delivery services to achieve greater promotional effects.

Location Selection

The location of a community coffee shop is similar to that of a breakfast shop within a community, significantly enhancing the possibility that users will drop by to buy a cup on their way. This shares similarities with the core reasons for the surge in delivery-focused coffee shops in recent years.

Therefore, you can choose communities not far from bustling areas, and if possible, communities near subway and bus stations. Even office workers can enjoy a cup of coffee on their way to the subway or bus, before taking a taxi to work, or even before leaving their residential complex, naturally significantly increasing their willingness to consume.

Operating Hours

The early bird catches the worm, and diligence is an indispensable factor for success. Many aspiring shop owners might think they don't need to start so early when running their own business. However, the breakfast period is often when customer traffic is highest. Whether it's office workers commuting, parents dropping off their children at school, or people going to the market to buy groceries, these are all important customer sources!

Nowadays, the combination of Chinese-style breakfast and coffee is very popular among people, so there's really no fear in trying this approach. After all, only by operating in a down-to-earth manner can we attract more attention from general customers. Only with good word-of-mouth will there be more opportunities for customers to help with promotion.

Product Development

Compared to coffee products that require various professional perspectives to taste and appreciate, community coffee shops need more products that even consumers unfamiliar with coffee will praise. Conducting "secret investigations" and recording the taste preferences of the main customer base in the surrounding area, and then making adjustments accordingly, is key to retaining old customers.

Professionalism is necessary, but mass appeal is also essential. Not everyone can appreciate coffee with acidic notes, nor can everyone understand the "rule" that pour-over coffee shouldn't have sugar or milk added. Only with approachable, consistent products that make people develop the habit of treating coffee "like water" can the survival of a community coffee shop be guaranteed.

Opening a community coffee shop cannot be compared to existing coffee chain stores – frankly, you can't compete with them on their terms.

Customers are willing to come to community coffee shops to buy coffee, mostly hoping for warmer, more professional service. The coffee doesn't need to be outstanding, but the hospitality must be sincere.

Image source: Internet

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