Opening a Cafe: cafe development course

A "one on one" day to set you on the way to opening a great café and a successful business. You can choose an available day suitable to you (and perhaps even combine it with one of our barista courses on the day before or after).
This way we can go into detail on your personal plans for your café and apply the knowledge to your specific requirements as we go through.

The course can be tailored to your requirements but normally will go over the vital business information required, from developing your café concept right through to opening the doors and planning your second!

The price is £495.00 (inc vat) for the day. We are happy for a couple of people to attend, as long as they are from the same cafe project.

The course is run by Paul Meikle-Janney, with over 20 years experience directly in coffee and cafes, and over 30 award winning years experience in catering.
Paul has been a top level consultant to many high street brands as well as writing the barista qualifications for both City & Guilds, and the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). He has been a head judge for several of the world coffee championships and currently sits on the Education Committee of the SCA.

Please contact us for details and dates

 The course usually covers:

Start with some statistics on the cafe market and future trends to confirm if your plans are a good idea!

Learn how to develop a cafe brand:

• How should I develop my cafe “concept”
• How do I identify my target customers
• How do I choose my name and check if anyone else is using it
• How do I develop my logo

Know what to expect financially:

• How much is it going to cost me to set up?
• How do I judge what rent I should be paying?
• How much profit should I expect to make?
• How do I work out what I should be charging?

Learn how to develop an effective business plan.

Learn how to choose a location:

• Is an expensive high street site best or somewhere cheaper off the beaten track?
• How should I assess footfall

What should you consider about your layout and design:

• Customer flow
• Efficient work flow
• Maximising and managing seating areas
• Image and style

What considerations should you have when designing your menu:

• Meeting your customers quality needs
• Ease of production and minimising waste
• What equipment will I need
• What service style should you use
• What prices should I charge and how much should it cost me

What legal considerations should I consider?

• A1 vs A3 planning permission
• Environmental health requirements
• Health & Safety requirements
• VAT
• Licensed sites
• Other legal requirements

How do I get people in my store buying?

• Maximising your “curb appeal”
• Effective merchandising, menus and signage

Get advise on planning the opening:

• Planning your staff and what to pay them
• Planning your PR
• Training and dry runs

Learn how to monitor and control your costs once your open

Planning your next steps

“We found the hours spent incredibly useful and interesting – found you to be a very effective and enjoyable ‘teacher’ and have no doubt that the investment will perhaps be the most rewarding of our entire ‘cafe opening’ journey”

Nichola & Phil, Cycle cafe

Cancellations must be made with a minimum of 48 hours’ notice – unfortunately refunds cannot be processed for late cancellations.