The main thing I bump into at the start of a 'I want to own a cafe' conversation is the rose coloured glasses view of what that person thinks cafe ownership is... well, it's so not that. I can say with confidence that owning a cafe is no small undertaking. I base that comment on the 2yrs that I owned a reasonably busy cafe (.5mil a year approx 8yrs ago) but more important that that, being a cafe owner allowed me to talk on common grounds with a lot of other cafe owners and hear their opinions/experiences.
If you want to be all that you can be, your cafe will absorb every waking moment. If you manage to create a really busy cafe the customer volume (think 15 people lined up) will have you on the rivet, on top of that you will be running anywhere from 5 to 10 employees in a single shift (and that comes with its own challenges). If you create a small low volume cafe you won't have too many employees to worry about as you might be the only one you can afford to hire, in that case get used to the idea of scrubbing toilets, mopping floors, doing inventory, dusting, cleaning tables, etc, etc and etc. Actually, no matter how many employees you have, get used to the idea of scrubbing toilets and mopping floors. Speaking of small cafe's, how small is too small? Your business plan will tell you.
Rent, overhead, insurance, wages, POS fees, accountant, equipment leasing, supplies, milk delivery, and lots more monthly costs that never go away, regardless of how much coffee you do or don't sell. It doesn't matter how good your coffee is, or how passionate you are, if you don't choose an excellent location, and create the right vibe, and manage it really well, all the COE's in the world won't turn you a profit. Some people get into the cafe business and within months start coming to the realization that they just bought themselves a job, and it might not even be minimum wage. Then what?
The job isn't doom and gloom if you are stoked about hard work and long days, like being on your feet all of the time, and you are really good with all kinds of people (even the jerks), and etc. Best case scenario - even with the right setup and the right owner, it's still pretty hard work.
We have discussed this topic over several threads here at GCBC, where I've said most of this. And every time I've had this conversation I feel like the bad guy, stealing away the dreamy paradise of an easy retirement in a cafe. But, better to lay out a cold hard warning instead of just smiling and nodding and saying 'Good luck'.
With all that said, I'm glad I owned my cafe. I learned a lot. I think I learned enough to not do it again. ;-)
