Customer Reviews

Bean Business Basics

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This book is much bigger than it needed to be. The print is large, many of the paragraphs are single sentences, and there is much redundancy. There is also a lot of vague information, such as "be sure to talk to your health department before making your decisions on equipment." Talk to them about what, exactly? How should this information determine which equipment I should get? There is plenty of this "advice" without specific direction. There is no discussion of specific brands of equipment, which can range thousands of dollars in cost. And there are many shameless attempts to sell Bellissimo's consulting services throughout the book. This perhaps accounts for why the information often remains vague. In a 668 page, $200, 8.5"x11" book, there could be a whole lot more practical information.

That being said, there is also a lot of very useful information in this book. Perhaps the most helpful part is the sense that the book is comprehensive: if you consider everything the book addresses, you probably won't be overlooking too much. Some sections do a better job of addressing specific issues than others, but everything you will need to know at least gets raised somewhere in the book (you may need to look elsewhere to get good answers, though).

All said, if the book were 1/2 of the size and 1/2 of the cost, I would say it was a very worthwhile and efficient investment. Still, it may be the best thing available.

Before you pay a consultant, or even begin to get serious about opening your business, read this book. It will save you ten times the purchase price in fees and lessons learned the hard way (i.e. mistakes). This book is extremely thorough, very detailed, and as far as I can see, leaves very little out. It will give you a good jump start on what you need to know, what you need to look for, and what to stay away from.

Every aspect of specialty coffee is covered here. Its the Murphys Law Guidebook of the industry. If you sit in a Trade Show workshop and listen to problems 10 out of 10 of them are discussed in this book. The price tag is an investment into your business, so cost should NOT be a factor is deciding to purchase this book. If you own a coffee shop and you're NOT using this book, either you're lucky...or on your way into rough waters. The best investment I could have made for my coffeehouse, its like having a private consultant on your desk.