Caffè Culture

I’ve just sat down at my desk to work on my talk that I am delivering at the Caffè Culture show at Olympia in London on Wednesday 24th May at their Caffe Connections Conference.

The organisers have asked me to talk about franchising your coffee business and other ways of raising capital.

It struck me that a lot of the companies we talk to when starting up, look for the bootstrap option.  That is;  how to open a new coffee business with as little capital as possible or to expand their busy coffee business to another site while still using the bootstrap solutions that they used to open their first site.

Recently we met with the founders of a successful small chain of coffee shops who were struggling to raise finance to expand further. They had spoken to a number of banks, and angel investors who had turned them down, and they couldn’t understand why.

When we looked at their operations, routines and systems, it was evident to us why these prospective lenders had turned them down. The business was not ready to scale. They were doing everything, running from one site to another covering shifts dealing with maintenance issues, and putting out fires.

When we asked them how much each shop was making each week, they couldn’t tell us.

They measured their success in how much money was left in the bank at the end of the month, some of which they took to live.

Any investor whether it be a bank, an angel investor or a crowdfunding platform, will want to see a good level profit, a secure trained management team, good routines and processes, sound financial reporting systems as well as the opportunity to expand quickly.

Bootstrapping a start-up is a great way to test a market and measure demand for your product, however bootstrapping an expansion programme, is a recipe for disaster.

Book your place at Caffè Culture taking place at Olympia London on the 23rd & 24th May. Come along to our presentation on Wednesday 24th at 11 am

About the Authors

Andrew & Claire Bowen are the authors of 'The Daily Grind - how to open & run a coffee shop that makes money' Available on Amazon, and Founders of Cafe Success cafesuccesshub.com - the ultimate resource site for coffee shop, cafe and tea room owners worldwide.

To buy The Daily Grind on Amazon Click Here