What I Learned From My Failed Coffee Shop

Summary

The speaker shares the challenges and lessons learned from running a specialty café with their sister, which opened in December 2022 but closed just a few months later in March 2023. They discuss key mistakes, including choosing a poor location and underestimating expenses. Despite putting in hard work and making quality coffee, they struggled to build a customer base in a rural area. The speaker reflects on the experience, the importance of community, and staying true to quality. They also mention their future plans, including a new product, 'The Brew Ledger,' for espresso lovers.

Takeaways

• 📅 The cafe was opened in December 2022 and closed by March 2023 due to challenges.
• 📍 The location, a small village in Cambridge, was not ideal for building foot traffic, which heavily impacted the business.
• 💸 Financial management was tough, and the lack of enough upfront capital (9-12 months of expenses) became a key reason for the cafe's failure.
• ☕ Consistency in quality was a priority, but the cafe struggled with limited equipment and resources to maintain high standards.
• 🛠️ The startup was bootstrapped, with most of the work, including renovation, done by the owner and sister to save costs.
• 💬 Building community was crucial, but it was difficult due to the rural location and the onset of winter shortly after opening.
• 🌍 Traditional digital marketing methods were ineffective in driving local foot traffic, as many village residents weren’t active on social media.
• 🧊 The cafe faced severe issues due to the cold weather, including low customer turnout and high energy costs during a national energy crisis.
• 📈 The cafe experienced slow growth, but not fast enough to sustain operations, forcing a closure after a few months.
• 📖 The owner has since pivoted to creating a product—a journal called 'The Brew Ledger' for espresso enthusiasts, which will be launched soon.

Q & A

What was the main reason for the cafe's failure?

The main reason for the cafe's failure was its location. It was set up in a small village with low foot traffic, making it difficult to attract enough customers to sustain the business.

What did the owner learn about the importance of a cafe's location?

The owner learned that location is crucial for a cafe's success. Setting up in a high-foot-traffic area or a community with an established coffee culture is essential, especially for specialty cafes.

Why did the cafe struggle to attract customers despite having quality coffee?

The cafe struggled to attract customers due to its rural location, low visibility, and the challenge of creating a community space. Additionally, marketing through social media was not very effective in reaching the local audience.

What financial mistake did the owner acknowledge when starting the cafe?

The owner acknowledged the mistake of not having 9 to 12 months of expenses saved up before starting the cafe. They underestimated the time and financial buffer needed for the business to become sustainable.

What was the second important lesson learned from running the cafe?

The second important lesson was the significance of keeping promises to customers, such as being open on time and maintaining consistent quality, as these build trust and loyalty.

How did the owner try to create a community around the cafe?

The owner organized events like coffee cupping sessions and participated in local community activities, such as the warm hub event at the village hall, to attract people and build a sense of community around the cafe.

What kind of equipment did the cafe use, and how did it impact the business?

The cafe used mid-range equipment like a La Spaziale E5 compact espresso machine and a Mahlkonig K30 grinder, which were decent but limited compared to high-end alternatives. This impacted the quality of the coffee and the overall experience they could provide.

How did the weather and timing of the opening affect the cafe’s performance?

The cafe opened in mid-December during a cold winter and an energy crisis in the UK. The cold weather discouraged people from visiting, and the cafe's inadequate heating made the environment less inviting.

What challenges did the owner face personally while running the cafe?

The owner faced personal challenges, such as the physical strain of running the cafe in the cold, resulting in 'Barista wrist,' and the emotional strain of adjusting to life back in the UK after living abroad, compounded by isolation in a rural setting.

What steps did the owner take after the cafe closed?

After the cafe closed, the owner moved to a more urban area closer to London, took a full-time job managing a successful YouTube channel, and eventually started working on a new product—a journal for espresso lovers called 'The Brew Ledger.'

Outlines

00:00

💔 A Cafe Dream Gone Awry

In December 2022, the speaker and their sister opened a specialty cafe, but by March 2023, they were forced to close it. Despite plans for promotional videos, the cafe’s closure left the speaker feeling defeated, broke, and unsure how to move forward. After investing their savings and time, they had to return to a regular job, but gained valuable lessons from the experience.

05:00

📍 Location Challenges and Local Community

The cafe's main mistake was its location in a small village near Cambridge. Though rent was affordable and some regulars appreciated the coffee, attracting a consistent local customer base was difficult. The speaker learned that digital marketing, effective for digital products, didn’t work as well in a rural community. Additionally, running a cafe required a far longer financial runway than they had initially anticipated.

10:01

🎯 Delivering on Promises and the Importance of Quality

The speaker reflects on the need for consistency in service, even when business is slow. The cafe had to open on time daily, regardless of whether customers arrived promptly. Their sister's advice—always give your best—helped the speaker maintain a commitment to quality. However, with limited equipment and budget, achieving high-quality coffee was a challenge.

☕ Specialty Beans and Brewing Equipment

The cafe offered a range of specialty beans, which was well-received by customers, but operational constraints, like the lack of a high-end espresso machine, impacted the quality of drinks. The speaker and their sister sourced beans from their own roastery, ensuring freshness. They also struggled with the costs of consistently dialing in beans for specialty drinks, especially with few customers, which increased their variable costs.

🛠️ Creative Solutions and Community Engagement

The cafe thrived in some areas, such as finding cost-effective solutions for their setup and running successful community events like coffee cuppings. However, their rural location and the harsh winter hindered community growth. The speaker reflects on the importance of building a community space in a cafe business and believes that launching the cafe earlier might have helped establish a stronger customer base before winter.

❄️ Struggles of Winter and Personal Hardships

Opening in mid-December during an energy crisis made the cafe’s survival difficult. The cold, combined with thin walls and poor heating, made it uncomfortable for both customers and staff. The speaker also dealt with personal challenges, such as homesickness after moving back from Tokyo, isolation in the countryside, and physical pain from repetitive tasks at the cafe.

📉 The Final Struggles and Closure

Despite some positive growth, the cafe couldn’t sustain itself. The speaker struggled with the transition from living in Tokyo to rural life and found it hard to build new friendships. In March, after closing the cafe, they moved back to a more populated area near London and found full-time work. Their YouTube channel slowed down, particularly after the passing of their father in August, which led to them contemplating quitting YouTube altogether.

🎬 Rediscovering Passion for Coffee and YouTube

While taking a break from YouTube, the speaker traveled to Madrid, where they reconnected with their love for coffee and met inspiring people. Their passion for coffee was reignited through conversations with fellow enthusiasts, leading them to return to YouTube. They began focusing on the science of coffee-making and exploring new trends in coffee equipment, aiming to push their channel forward.

📚 A New Project: The Brew Ledger

The speaker is now working on a new product called 'The Brew Ledger,' a journal for espresso lovers to record brewing details. This idea stemmed from the speaker’s own practices and will soon be available via crowdfunding. They invite viewers to sign up for updates and support the project through their website and social media channels, while also encouraging interaction and feedback about the cafe or YouTube journey.

☕ Farewell and Future Plans

The speaker wraps up by expressing gratitude for the support from their coffee-loving community. They reflect on the joys of helping others through their content and remain optimistic about the future of the YouTube channel and their new project, 'The Brew Ledger.' The speaker encourages viewers to stay tuned and engage with them on social media as they continue to explore their passion for coffee.

Keywords

💡Specialty Cafe

A specialty cafe refers to a coffee shop that focuses on high-quality coffee and unique brewing techniques. In the video, the speaker and their sister started a specialty cafe that emphasized quality beans and carefully brewed coffee, but they faced challenges due to location and community engagement.

💡Location

Location is critical for the success of a local business like a cafe. The video discusses how opening the cafe in a small village with limited foot traffic impacted the business, despite offering high-quality products and good reviews. The speaker notes that a better-suited location might have improved their chances of success.

💡Community

Building a community is essential for a small business, particularly in a rural or suburban setting. The speaker talks about the difficulty of establishing the cafe as a 'third space' where people feel comfortable gathering. They attempted to foster community through coffee cupping events and local collaborations, but struggled due to the slow growth of local support.

💡Word of Mouth

Word of mouth refers to the informal spread of information about a business or product. The speaker highlights the importance of this in a small community where digital marketing might not be as effective. The slow growth of word of mouth meant that the cafe couldn’t sustain itself financially in time.

💡Quality Promise

The concept of a quality promise involves delivering consistently high standards, particularly in a service industry like a cafe. The speaker discusses how they committed to making the best possible coffee every time, even if it meant additional costs or wasting coffee beans to recalibrate their equipment for optimal brewing.

💡Specialty Beans

Specialty beans refer to high-grade coffee beans that have unique flavors and are typically sourced from specific regions. The speaker mentions using high-quality Brazilian, Ethiopian, and El Salvadorian beans for their cafe, even though it increased costs, as they wanted to offer the best possible product.

💡Third Space

A third space is a social setting outside of home and work where people gather and build community. The speaker wanted the cafe to become a third space for the village, but challenges such as low foot traffic, poor location, and a cold winter prevented them from fully realizing this goal.

💡Barista Wrist

Barista wrist is a repetitive strain injury, similar to carpal tunnel syndrome, that occurs from repeated use of espresso machines. The speaker developed this condition due to constantly locking in the portafilter in cold conditions, adding to the physical toll of running the cafe.

💡Energy Crisis

The energy crisis refers to a period of rising energy costs, which in this case affected the cafe's ability to stay warm and inviting during the cold winter months. The speaker mentions how the cafe's thin walls and limited heating made it uncomfortable for both staff and customers, further impacting business.

💡Brew Ledger

The Brew Ledger is a journal that the speaker created for espresso lovers to record their brewing settings, coffee beans, and other details related to their coffee-making process. This product is a result of the speaker’s passion for coffee and desire to continue contributing to the coffee community after the closure of the cafe.

Highlights

The cafe venture started in December 2022 and closed in March 2023 after facing challenges related to location and community building.

The biggest mistake was choosing a location in a small village with limited foot traffic and relying too much on locals to sustain the business.

Running Instagram ads didn’t drive significant local traffic, as many in the village weren’t active on social media.

A key lesson learned was that starting a cafe requires 9-12 months of expenses, not just for machines and setup but also for operating costs like salaries and utilities.

Consistency in delivering on the promise of high-quality coffee is critical, even if it means remaking drinks and cutting into margins.

Despite financial limitations, the cafe prided itself on serving high-quality specialty beans, which was reflected in positive customer reviews.

The cafe used high-quality beans, including an excellent Ethiopian and a delicious El Salvador bean, roasted in-house.

Challenges with adjusting equipment, such as daily dialing in of specialty beans, added to the complexity and cost of maintaining high coffee quality.

Creative, cost-effective solutions, like finding deals on equipment and furniture, helped reduce initial setup costs.

The location made it difficult to attract consistent foot traffic, emphasizing the importance of creating a community for sustainability.

Community-building efforts included organizing coffee cupping events and supporting local activities like warm hub events.

The cafe’s winter opening, during a time of energy crises and harsh weather, hampered efforts to build a customer base.

Personal challenges, including adjusting to life back in the UK and dealing with isolation, compounded the business difficulties.

After closing the cafe, the creator returned to a full-time job managing a YouTube channel but stayed committed to making coffee-related content.

Inspired by the coffee community and time spent abroad, the creator developed a product for coffee lovers—a journal called The Brew Ledger to track espresso settings and preferences.

Transcripts

so I started a specialty Cafe with my

sister in December 2022 and I really

wasn't prepared for how hard it would be

in the end we closed the shop in March

23 and I didn't really know how to talk

about it so I didn't make a video I had

all this content planned try and get

people to come and buy a coffee or buy

beans from our Roastery but in the end I

scrapped all the videos I made about the

cafe it was really tough after closing I

was completely broke and I put most of

my savings and several months of my time

into the cafe with nothing really to

show for it and I had to go back out and

get a real job again but I learned a lot

from my failed Cafe Venture and I want

to share my experiences with all of you

so what happened the first thing

probably the main mistake was the

location we started up in the little

village of Hilton in Cambridge hereare

close to where my sister lives so I

moved in with her while we got things

set up the space we got was very very

reasonable in terms of rent and since

the people who lived in the village

there had been asking for a cafe for a

long time we thought that they'd come

along and get a daily coffee and that

would be enough to make a business of it

and some of them did and regulars like

the guy who came in for an espresso a

few times a week and always wanted to

try the different specialty beans we had

on offer and a lady who came in on her

morning break for pistachio latte for a

bit of a treat but it was much harder to

get world around and become a local

third space than I expected I've worked

in digital marketing before and running

ads on Instagram is fine for digital

products but not really much of a driver

for local business in more of a

Countryside space where lots of people

aren't really on social media that much

that's why I now realize that you really

need to have anywhere between 9 to 12

months of expenses to start just about

any Cafe that means not just paying for

the machines and the space to be done up

and open for business with an empty bank

account you need to be paying salaries

paying for coffee and electricity which

in our case was a massive expense in

2022 it honestly just takes a really

long time for Grassroots Word of Mouth

to spread around and have enough people

coming in through the door to make a

sustainable coffee business I spent too

many mornings to count walking through

the freezing cold British winter at 7:30

a.m. to open a cafe that sometimes

didn't have a single customer until

after 9:00 and as deflating and

frustrating as that was a cafe needs to

make a promise and fulfill that promise

which means being open at 8:00 a.m. so

people can grab a coffee before work

making a promise and delivering on it I

would say is the second important thing

I learned about my sister had a really

good saying that I think is really

critical for almost any business today

and especially for cafes and that is

everything you do should be the absolute

best you can do it and that really does

mean everything if the coffee comes out

a little bit wrong you can't think oh

that guy won't notice he just wants a

caramel skinny LTE and he doesn't know

anything about good coffee your promise

is you showing up to do the best you can

do and that means if you didn't

distribute right and the coffee comes

out looking like crap you got to remake

the drink when you're already not making

any money it can be hard to cut your

margins even more by throwing away an

espresso shot but it will cost you a lot

more if you don't because a certain

number of people will realize the you

don't really care about your promise I

think we honestly did our best and I

made every drink the best I possibly

could but again bootstrapping a cafe

business like this is really hard we

really couldn't afford the higher end

espresso machines and grinders that are

good enough to make an amazing coffee

all day every day and also the work on

the interior to give people a sense

they're in a speciality coffee shop if

you've been into speciality coffee for a

while you know what it feels like to

walk into a proper Cafe space I can

usually tell just by looking at the

photos of a Coffee Spot on Google Maps

whether or not the coffee is good or

when I look at the machines they have or

how proudly they display the kinds of

coffee they use ours wasn't a

particularly fancy space we just didn't

have the money for that but we did have

great coffee and spent more money than

we could really afford at this stage in

the business buying higher quality

specialty grade green beans and the

reviews of our Cafe on Google Maps kind

of showed that people noticed this we

had a house espresso which was a medium

roast Brazilian and then for the

speciality beans we change them and have

new flavors with tasting cards for

people to try one was a really excellent

Ethiopian bean and we also had an El

Salvador that was just delicious my

sister's partner David is a coffee

roaster and either he or I roasted the

house blend on a grany 5 kilo and I did

all of the specialty beans on my cido M6

in smaller batches to keep everything

fresh the espresso machine was a Las

spaziale E5 compact two group very

affordable but of course lacking some of

the features of a high-end espresso

machine so I'm sure I could have done a

much more satisfying drink with the

coffee we roasted if I had something

like a Sano Cafe Racer or a Loko GB 5S

which is the machine I really wanted but

in no way could afford the grinder we

used was a malcone k30 flat bir grinder

which did a decent job even if it was a

little hard to adjust and then I used my

Turin df3 for single dosing with

different speciality beans we had the

difficulty with doing specialty beans in

a low trffic shop is that every day you

still need to double check and Redal in

the beans if you want to make the best

espresso you can lots of things affect

how a shot C comes out so if it's a

little more humid or colder for example

you need to adjust your grind settings

this wastes a shot or two first thing in

the morning and then perhaps again at

lunchtime when it's a bit warmer so when

we had days where we literally only had

like 10 customers that meant that

dialing in the coffee for those

customers raised the variable cost of

coffee beans by maybe 30% because I had

to Redial in with three different beans

so it was either raise those costs or

have slightly worse coffee AKA break my

quality promise which is something I did

not want to do some things were good

though my sister is really good at

hunting for deals and she found a table

on Wheels with drawers and a flowjet

powered tap and jug rinser and

everything built in so we didn't need to

Plum anything into the actual building

that would have been very expensive and

having a portable setup to start off

with allowed us to move the counter

after we first started to find a good

position that was easiest for customers

and gave us the most space for a table

and chairs putting ourselves on Google

Maps with a few good pictures was really

important too as we had a few people

come in after looking for a cafe to stop

at while driving or biking through but

there just wasn't much footful because

of where the cafe was if you aren't in a

city center and don't have lots of

people walking past and coming in you

have to create a community and that's a

tough thing that's about culture and

becoming a third space where people find

it comfortable to come in and relax with

their family or meet with someone for a

coffee date or just grab a coffee as

part of their morning routine some

people try to go big and flashy with

expensive build outs and spending

investors money on marketing campaigns

but in my experience this only works

with brands that have a really smart

approach and have planned everything

thoroughly I saw this kind of big launch

a lot in Tokyo really fancy builds with

fresh looking brand designs starting in

high footful areas like Shibuya Ginza or

Shinjuku but then closing up a few

months later big opens and branding can

work but Community is the core of where

a coffee Shop's longevity comes from so

we try to do that by running coffee

cupping events in the shop we did two of

them and both did quite well actually

and were basically sold out we also

helped to organize a warm Hub event at

our local Village Hall which if any of

you Brits remember was basically getting

people to come to a local place and do

things like games and in this case also

drink coffee so they could all turn off

their heating at home for a few hours

each week to save on energy bills I

think this really helped and we had a

few people come into the cafe after

trying our coffee at the warm Hub but

winter really made getting the community

involved very hard we just took too long

to open I moved home in September and we

set to work Plastering the walls

painting redoing the lights finding a

coffeee machine and a bar set up and we

did almost all of this ourselves to save

money because we had a pretty tight

budget and we also had some fun doing it

as well but I think if we just paid

someone to do it and opened in the start

of October before it got too cold we

might have built up more of a community

before winter set in we opened in mid

December when it wasn't only freezing

cold but we also had a massive energy

crisis in the UK with heating Bills

going through the roof the cafe itself

also wasn't that warm the walls were

thin and the only heating we had was a

small electric heater which I would have

my hands on for half the day to keep

them warm so they didn't snap off every

time I'd pulled a shot I actually got

the dreaded Barista wrist which is kind

of like carpal tunnel from locking in

the port filter too hard in the cold

every day and I don't know if you've

ever had Barista wrist before but it's

pretty painful it really sucks and it

affected me for about 8 months

afterwards obviously with the weather

being so grim and it was really Grim

people weren't as willing to venture out

and try the new Village Coffee Shop so

all of these things combined so that we

just couldn't keep the shop going it was

growing slowly every month but I was

also really struggling having just moved

back from Tokyo I didn't really have

many friends in the UK and being in the

countryside rather than a city like I

was used to meant that I was not having

the best time I did do a few videos

during this sort of four or five month

period and I'm glad I did because it

kept the channel going after closing up

the shop I moved back to Harvard Shire

where I am now so I could be closer to

London and go and meet with new and old

friends I got a full-time job after

March working on a very successful

YouTube channel managing a video team

and working on Creative Direction

strategy and analytics and in the end

started making thumbnails for the

channel as well videos on my own channel

slowed down a bit and I took a few

months completely not really thinking

about it after my dad passed away in

August last year I think I really needed

this time off and I did consider

quitting YouTube completely as I didn't

really feel like I was able to put in

enough time to really succeed in the way

I wanted to YouTube is a tough mistress

and if you aren't a content creator you

might not know that YouTube ad revenue

is basically next to nothing recently

it's a nice bit of extra cash for people

who are filming things that aren't

expensive to do but with every piece of

Coffee Gear costing hundreds of p and

espresso machines costing thousands it

becomes impossible to break even with

YouTube ad revenue and affiliate sales

alone I was basically running the

channel at a loss for years and I still

am now I'm still doing it because I love

talking about coffee especially latte

art and Coffee Gear and doing this

channel has given me so many great

connections with people in the coffee

industry and also access to Advanced

previews of gear and machines through

companies that like the videos I do even

with the big time commitment and

personal cost honestly getting comments

that my videos helped you to do good

latte art hearts for the first time or

pull a decent shot of light roast

espresso that you couldn't figure out

before is really the most satisfying

thing about doing this while I was on my

break from the channel I went to Madrid

for a month partly to get out of the UK

for a bit after my dad died and partly

to see if it was somewhere I would like

to live in the future and also to take

some Latin dance classes which is one of

my hobbies while I was out there I met

Co on Instagram he's @ don't Channel me

baby and we met for coffee and I went to

see his incredible coffee setup at his

place this is by far the most

extravagant home espresso setup I've

ever seen and we were dialing in

delicious coffees using different

techniques and tools and talking with

him and his friend ruman who owns debove

coffee in Madrid Honestly made me really

excited about coffee again so after

coming back to the UK I started making

videos I started thinking about what I

could do differently for the coffee

Channel and get more into the deeper

science of making coffee and the

machines and gear that are changing so

rapidly these days then I went to host

Milan in October and met some very cool

people in the industry who know so much

more than I ever dreamed possible about

coffee and I also met some of my

favorite content creators too and got

even more inspired to make this channel

work so I started saving as much money

as I could for my job and in April I

quit since then I've been working on

making a product something real and

tangible that I'd want to buy for myself

or other friends who are into espresso

and that product is a journal for

espresso lovers based on something I've

been using for years to keep track of my

grinder settings temperatures Doses and

my favorite coffee beans it's going to

be called The Brew Ledger and it's a

little book for espresso lovers I'm not

quite ready to show it yet as I don't

actually have a physical book I'll be

getting the first run of a few hundred

books from the printers in the coming

weeks and I'll be doing crowdfunding

very soon to sell the first editions and

order more copies if the book proves to

be popular if you're interested in

getting one of these books when they're

available and supporting the continued

growth of this channel go to my website

homecafe bych charlie.com and sign up to

my mailing list to be in the first group

to hear about it and follow me on

Instagram at homecafe Charlie where I'll

be posting some stories about everything

it took to put this book together over

the past few months if you have any

questions about my cafe or advice for

your Cafe if you're thinking to start

one or any thoughts about YouTube or the

Brew Ledger feel free to stick them in

the comments below thanks so much for

watching you wonderfully over

caffeinated people and I'll see you on

the next one