How to Open Your Own Coffee Shop

The large number of daily coffee drinkers makes the coffee industry incredibly profitable. You can find money-making opportunities surrounding this caffeinated beverage virtually everywhere. Whether you start a coffee shop, do mobile espresso catering, open a coffee drink drive-through or sell coffee gift baskets through mail order, there are customers who want to buy what you sell.

If you love coffee, you can most likely find a lucrative coffee business opportunity that will fit your start-up capital and your lifestyle. You can start with a mobile service, upgrade to a kiosk or invest in a high-traffic storefront. In addition, you can partner with other companies to cut your expenses and grow your profits - such as event planning businesses, catering services or hotels.

No matter what type of coffee business you decide to start, free samples are always a good way to get your business name out there and get your foot in the door with prospective customers. With a café, you can entice new customers with special events that feature local photographers, painters or musicians. You can often provide this "entertainment" for free, as these artists welcome the opportunity to promote their own talents.

In addition to the traditional advertising opportunities you have in the yellow pages, local newspapers and radio stations, you can print low-cost coupons to bring in new customers. Hold monthly drawings for a "free coffee drink" to get customers to give you their contact information so you can build a mailing list. Another simple technique is to offer discount coffee cards ("Buy 8, get one free") to encourage people to become regular customers.

Delivering free coffee to a radio station is another inexpensive way to get your business name out there - in front of lots of people. Submitting a press release is a great example - the media will promote you for free if you send them a great news story about your business. This could be as simple is having your friend write a review about your "Café Opening" and sending it to your local paper.

So how do you actually start your coffee shop?

1. Learn your business - different coffee flavors, the various ways of preparing coffee, caffeinated beverage trends and new and different coffee products. Your knowledge will help your business stay competitive and profitable. Get an inexpensive start-up guide on how to start a coffee shop or interview a coffee shop owner who can give you first-hand advice.

2. Discover who your customers are. Obviously, they are most likely caffeine addicts - but what else do they want, and what are they willing to pay for it? (i.e. social atmosphere, relaxing work space, fast drive-through service, healthy meals, late-night hours) When you can create a unique café that offers value to the community, you'll find it much easier to win over customers.

3. Find out which licenses or permits you need from your local government office. Talk with an accountant, insurance agent and banker (you can get referrals from other local business owners or friends) to get helpful tips on financing, tax issues, insurance and business management that will save you time, money and hassles down the road.
Get Started!

Coffee is generically everywhere. People will pay for something a little different. Use your creativity to design a truly unique coffee service or café environment, and you'll find that customers come flocking to your door. Businesses that provide coffee products or services can flourish even in a down economy, so if you want to start your business - go for it!

Caffeine: A healthy habit

Even today, legends citing coffee as a harmful beverage garner belief. The truth is that coffee, in and of itself, is completely innocuous. The important thing is to consume it in moderate amounts. Like all psychoactive substances, it cannot be take in excessive doses, but daily consumption does not lead to addiction over the long term. Studies show that 2-4 cups of coffee a day are beneficial and have no harmful effect.

The first Biopharmacology Symposium on coffee was held in Venice in October 1970. In October 1971, the second one was held in Florence and in 1972 the third one was held in Vietri sul Mare, to supplement and complete the discussion on the properties of the active substances in coffee, clearly confirming its positive effects and discrediting the prejudices diffused in the past.During these conventions, experts in the fields of diet, nutrition and human physiology examined the therapeutic activity of coffee, a beverage that, in a society like ours, helps battle physical and mental stress, a characteristic of our era.From a nutritional standpoint, coffee is not indispensable for our organism.

Nevertheless, some of the substances in it have beneficial effects on our organs.Coffee is considered "nervine", meaning that it is a substance that acts on our nerve centres, triggering a feeling of general well-being, helping us be more awake and active on the job, not only on a physical level but above all in terms of faster reflexes. This stimulation is due to "caffeine", combined with caffetannic acid (a blend of various acids, including chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid).

Personal Branding

Personal branding has been very hyped up lately, and for good reason. Many people who feel marginalized by the idea of branding themselves now understand that it is inescapable. We all exist as brands, whether we like it or not. That means you Mr. Postman and you Mr. Lawyer! The first step to branding success is to accept that you’re a brand. Like corporate and product brands, you’re able to use the same marketing strategies to build your brand, get recognized and leverage it to either sell products, get a job or become a celebrity in your niche. There are two main reasons why individuals, like you and me, are labeled as brands.

Why we have brands

• We’re all judged based on impressions. And the first impression usually depicts whether you end up dating a girl or guy or whether you get a job or not. Offline, just about everyone we meet will analyze us and decide whether they want to be friends or not. Sometimes it may be on appearance alone and other times, it could be based on a single conversation. People label us based based on personality, appearance and what we actually do for a living. Online, first impressions work quite differently because our brands are spread out on social networks, blogs and more. The first time someone “meets us” could be after searching for your name on Google or Facebook. Based on the first result for your name on Google, they will make a decision whether they want to talk to you or not. Based on your Facebook picture, you may have another contact or not. In this way, we are attracting and repelling certain types of people, without feeling the pain of rejection (one reason why people like online dating).

• We’re all salespeople. People typically don’t purchase product brands that they haven’t heard of. You won’t get opportunities from those who have never heard of your name and in the same respect, you’ll have trouble securing venture capital if you can’t sell your product (and yourself). At work, we have to sell our ideas to our management, in order to take on new projects and prove ourself. Even with our circle of friends, we are forced to influence them to go see a certain movie or grab a bite to eat. We sell everyday, yet most of us don’t look at ourselves in the mirror and say “I’m in sales.”

What this means for us
A brand is an opportunity to have meaning in your life and to stand out from everyone else around the world. You, yes you, have unique attributes that no one else has. Some of you have discovered what you’re strengths or talents are, while others have either been afraid to reveal them or are still trying to locate them.
The idea of “brand you” (i.e. how we market ourselves to others) is a proven way to position yourself in a niche and become known. The benefits are that people will come to you for your expertise, and the jobs will follow. By investing in your personal brand, you’re able to do more, with less, especially using the power of social media, and succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

Questions you need to ask yourself
Before embarking on your personal branding journey, here are a few questions that will help you learn more about yourself, what you want to do and steer you on the right path to success:

• If you could do one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?


• What was your favorite class in college?


• Who is your rolemodel and what makes him or her so great?


• Describe yourself using 5 attributes (ex. intelligent, vocal, brave)?


• Name 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses that you have.


• How have people labeled me in the past?


• Am I passionate about my current job/career path?

For more detail: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/management/personal-branding-basics.html

What is my next plan to focus on?

Wednesday 11 Feb 2009. After been waiting for my doct. for 4 months today today today I got it back, this can be a signal to remine me since now on my life have to move on to the new stage.

So what should I do and when I have to start?

Can someone help me on this, maybe not?

Thanks god I will do my best!!!!!!!!! For sure.

First day in my blog

Today is my first day creating this blog to record my experince in London, what do i do everyday!!!

Today Feb 10, 2009 on my third day off from work just stay in my place watching movies, listening music, preparing exam and applying a new jobs both in Thailand and London.

I found this stuff is very usefull for anyone who wanna apply for a job and have to answer this question!!!

What’s Your Greatest Strength?

Most interviewers like to hit you with one of those annoying little interview questions like “What’s your greatest strength?” or “What’s your greatest weakness?” OK. I admit I use them too when I do an interview.

So when you’re in a job interview and you’re asked about your greatest strength, what should you tell them? Is there a “right” answer to the question? You don’t want to sound boastful - and yet you certainly don’t want to come off so humble you look like you don’t believe in yourself.
Luckily, the greatest strength question is one where you can often hit a home run if you just prepare a bit ahead of time. Think about what your new employer would find most interesting about you. There’s no right answer. They just want to see if you know yourself and how well you express yourself.

• Some possible work strengths in no particular order:
• Initiative (willing to take on new things)
• Follow-through (seeing a task through to the end)
• Good manager
• Strong leader
• Good at bringing things in on deadline
• Flexibility
• Determination (as in seeing a project through to the end or in finding a solution to a problem)
• Quick learner
• Problem solver
• Good at seeing the big picture even when dealing with the details
• Good at details, but also know how to see the big picture
• Strong at a given skill required by the job (like Java programming, project management, teaching, writing, web design, customer service, phone manner, math, public speaking, etc.)
• Creativity
• Good people skills
• Good team player
• Ability to help influence change
• Good at finding ways to improve existing business processes
• Good at resolving conflict
  

Or whatever you can think of. The main thing is to have a really good story to tell about how you used that skill to make something good happen for your former employer or - if this is your first job - at school or in a volunteer role. Choose the skill based on both what you think the employer is looking for and your strongest story. (Never hurts to artfully throw in a few extra strengths while telling the story.)