Start and Run a Coffee Bar (Start & Run a) (Paperback)

by Tom Matzen (Author), Marybeth Harrison (Author) "Many entrepreneurs - whether experienced veterans or first timers-often miss the vital step of preparing a business plan when preparing to start a business..." (more)
Key Phrases: batch grinder, roasting service, gourmet coffee station, Bean Club, United States, Call Ahead Bean Roasting Service (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A must-have for all coffee bar owners. Full of useful information." -- Lloyd Johnson, Ricco Coffee Bakery/Roaster

Perhaps the formula for a coffee bar business: Start and Run a Coffee Bar + hard work = success. -- Geoffrey Su, the entrepreneurship centre, June 2001

Product Description
- Turn beans into bucks -Build a winning sales team -Deliver WOW! customer service

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Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Self-Counsel Press; 2nd edition (April 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551803542
• ISBN-13: 978-1551803548
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #192,395 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book for the beans, May 23, 2004

By	julie, horse lover (redding, ca United States) - See all my reviews

We are opening a coffee house in 4 months and, needless to say, I have been reading and researching tons of books. Not just on the coffee world, but on insuring a small business as well as other legal insights. This book has been a HUGE resource for our venture. It is an easy read, meaning, it doesn't numb your mind for countless pages discussing, say, insurance. Let me add that it does talk about insurance, and I thank the authors for that. They explain complicated business talk with clear and consise examples. They also tend to weigh situations against other situations. For example, when drawing up the plans, they give you three ways of doing it (yourself, a draftsman, and an architect) and explain the pros and cons of each. This is consistent throughout the book and they go on to explain why or why not certain things work. They discuss marketing, staffing and the interview process, equipment tips, design layout, decor, etc. This is obviously written from the stand point of people who have been there. They cover all the bases about getting your shop up and running while touching on some potential pitfalls and how to avoid them. And if you get in a bind, they discuss how to get out of it. My highlighter has gotten a workout and I am passing this on to my co-owners to read. I am grateful to have found this book and only wish I had found it sooner to save money on the previous "coffee house" books I have purchased. This book exceeded my expectations as it went beyond the basics and truly is the only book you'll ever need. I was impressed to see that they covered LLC's, C corporations, and, S corporations...where people can't sue and go after your homes, bank accounts, personal assets, etc. Our attorney recomended an LLC for our type of operation and I was relieved to see that this book brought the topic up. Thanks to the authors for being the most complete work out there (in my opinion) on starting your business THE RIGHT WAY from the start.

110 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book., December 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Start and Run a Profitable Coffee Bar (Self-Counsel Business Series) (Paperback)

I found "Start and Run a Profitable Coffee Bar" an excellent book for restaurant novice such as myself. I have operated a business but not a restaurant or coffee shop. This book is excellent. It provided many different forms which would be useful in running a coffee bar. The book also included in an appendix coffee organizations and suppliers, helping the novice tremendously. I would definitely recommend purchasing this book if you are interested in starting a coffee bar or shop.

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's a good start..., November 25, 2004

By	Smittie (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews

Start & Run a Coffee Bar is a good starting point. The devil is always in the details. This book does a great job of helping you to think about the details. All those little things that you usually discover as you are in the process of setting things up. Starting with the business plan and working through to expanding and franchising. The book offers sample lists, charts and worksheets that provide ballpark figures to work with. The book talks about the basics of the product itself, coffee and espresso. In short, the book is very thorough in covering the things you will need to think about in starting and running a coffee bar.

If you do exactly as the book says, you'll end up with a coffee bar that is like a thousand other coffee bars. The overall approach is very formula focused. You will need to bring your own personality and ideas to the table to make your place unique.

While I appreciated the information the book provides, I found the manner and tone annoying. I found the commitment boxes at the end of each chapter sophmoric and condescending. The book's description of how employees should greet and deal with customers is delivered in a tone that indicates little room for variance. This is the only way to do it. And most of the book is that way. The book addresses a coffee shop with a roaster on site. A lot of the marketing discussion centers around the roaster and custom roast coffee. Great if you're planning to have that.

At $17, I don't regret the purchase. The book contains a lot of very useful nuts and bolts information. But I think you will want to read several other books to really understand the coffee business and the coffee customer.

I found the accompanying CD of little value.