I’m a trainee Medical Physicist in the UK, a job that pays reasonably well when starting and will certainly be a worthwhile career with options for specialisation and progression. This having been said, I would very much love to set up my own coffee-house chain. To do this will require a lot of research and savings whilst not sacrificing my current job, I will attempt to post my progress, research and ideas here when I have the time; mostly for my own benefit so I have a place to see everything, and to seek advice from others much smarter and capable than myself.
Now, where to start….
January 8, 2007 at 23:41 pm
i’m no expert in business, sorry, but maybe you could specialise in providing only fair trade coffee, as a way to set you apart from other chains?
January 8, 2007 at 23:46 pm
kimona1 - This requires a 2-fold huge THANKYOU!!!
1) You’re the first person to comment on my blog, ever!
2) That’s a really good idea, fairtrade was going to be in the mix somewhere, but completely fair trade hadn’t occurred to me. I’m really at the ideas stage of starting out and beginning my research. This has really peaked my interest.
Jon
January 9, 2007 at 0:03 am
yay.. glad I helped! I wrote about the fair trade fair/unfair thing in my first blog post cause I didn’t understand why companies do both - surely one is negating the other? It makes more sense to do just choose to do one or the other right??!
January 9, 2007 at 0:10 am
I’m not sure yet, but I think that the fairtrade coffee, going by the prices in Oxfam shops alone, may have higher overheads and therefore a lower profit margin. When I finally get this off the ground, I’m fully expecting to have low-to-nil profits in the first few years, just enough to pay myself, the staff and keep the business going. The fairtrade coffee may increase the time it takes to make a shiny nickel, but if it means I can get good coffee and help people in business elsewhere then the consciencous consumers may prefer to taste fairtrade, especially if the coffee is reasonably priced in the shop (and by that I mean cheaper, or equal, to that of a Starbuck’s or Costa coffee, which clearly people are already willing to pay).
January 9, 2007 at 0:16 am
I think now is probably a good time to start.. people are more concerned with the world/environment etc than before.. fair trade has been around for a while now but I don’t know if anyone has really taken the plunge.. My advice would be to start small.. one shop, in a cheap place.. advertise on the net or soemthing. In a way companies like starbucks have done you a favour - people are hooked on coffee these days!!