The Grocer (c 1900)

I think of the pride these small business owner’s had in the establishments and how they considered a clean and attractive storefront as essential to their customer satisfaction and retention.

Ritz Carlton Service for Cafes ~ Building Customer Loyalty

Do you train your staff on memorizing customer preferences? Do you reward employees that develop great skill in this? What is the value to your business if one customer like me brings in five new regular customers?

Starting a New Cafe or Restaurant? Things You Should Consider..

Bluntly, there are many folks who get into the cafe and restaurant business that are in over their heads. Today, when I receive an inquiry about consulting a startup, one of the first things I do is hand over and share a fairly comprehensive list of tasks that will need to be done. There’s around 300 items that a new startup or location needs to consider before opening the doors.

Blame It On The Location

Location, location, location. What if your cafe location is wrong? One of the most important criteria in the foodservice industry is putting your business in a strategic location. Old school restaurant startup consultants will gather as much data on location as they can, including government vehicle counts and even spot counting in person at possible [...]

Facebook Ads for Cafes ~ Ten Block Rule

Solutions for Operators There’s an old adage in the restaurant industry about where your customers come from. It’s the Ten Block Rule. The Ten Block Rule states that 80% of your customer base comes from a ten square block area around your business. Does this hold true for your shop? Have you taken the time [...]

If Starbucks Opened Across the Street From My Cafe, I’d…

There’s a very interesting dialogue going on over at Focus.com this week, generating input from diverse professionals from different industries, all providing their insights to this question: You own a popular local coffee shop and Starbucks moves in across the street. What do you do to compete? Link to Focus.com article. Answers have been across [...]

From Scratch versus Ready To Go Coffeeshop Solutions

Operator Solutions Using Mocafe One of the challenges facing foodservice operators dwells on the question of preparing items from scratch or purchasing products that require minimal labor. This question permeates the foodservice industry at all levels, from quick serve (QSR) to ultra-hyper-local-fine-dining. Attend any foodservice or beverage tradeshow and you’ll see numerous exhibitors offering solutions [...]