Cafe businesses have been around for years, with many proving to be more successful than others. But, what separates the best cafes from the rest? Below, you’ll find three components that every cafe business needs to implement:
Good food & drink
This is the bread and butter of your business. A cafe without good food or drink is going to be an absolute failure. For me, the most successful cafes are those with a niche. You could sell organic food or food that’s all made from scratch. You could be a vegan cafe – or a halal one.
Regardless, the bottom line is that your food & drink offerings must be of a high standard. Give people reasons to come here – and to keep coming back. The better your product, the more customers you are going to see. Perhaps more importantly, you will build loyal customers (more on this in a moment).
Multiple revenue streams
A cafe can’t rely on foot traffic to make all its money. What about those days when you don’t get many customers? Life can be hard in winter or during rainy seasons as people don’t leave the house as much. So, you need alternative means of bringing in some money.
One simple idea is to offer takeaway coffees or food. Partner with a company that can deliver these goods to your customers, instantly widening your potential for sales. Another idea is to use TV screens in your cafe to make money from advertising. Two methods present themselves to you here. Firstly, as seen at loop.tv, you can get a TV box that plays TV channels to your customers, and then you get paid for showing these channels. Secondly, you could get local businesses to pay to have their adverts shown digitally on your screens. Either way, you open up a new way of making money that isn’t dependent on sales.
A loyalty scheme
I mentioned customer loyalty in the first point, and it is super important for cafe businesses. Look, you are never going to consistently bring in loads of new customers again and again. It’s not possible! Instead, the focus should be on retaining as many customers and getting them to keep coming back for more.
To do this, you need a loyalty scheme. This could be a card or an app where customers can collect stamps for every purchase. If they get 10 stamps, they unlock a free drink. It’s a simple scheme that encourages people to continue coming to you. Think about it, a customer could pop into your cafe for a coffee every morning before work. They know that in 10 days, they get a free drink. That’s three free drinks a month for them! Obviously, other loyalty ideas exist – this is just a concept to get the creative juices flowing.
To summarize, a successful cafe business needs to have a great product, multiple revenue streams, and a loyalty scheme. That’s it; these are the building blocks you require. If you have all of these things, your business is going to be a hit with the consumer.
