This post begins a series on coffee shop business models—UK-based ones.
This guide is helpful if you’re starting or running a coffee shop but need a purpose.
A company’s mission and target market is crucial.
This article discusses coffee shops and business models.
We contrast business models.
Each model includes coffee shop examples.
Each option receives equipment and setup advice. Menus and hours.
At the end of each section, you’ll learn the critical constraints for growing your coffee shop model.
We provide essential web links for further reading.
So, Jump in.
Community Coffee Shop Business Model #1
Community coffee shops benefit locals. Benefits are unrestricted.
Running a community coffee shop is fun. You’ll know your clients. Enjoy their presence in your business.
Community businesses benefit the community.
Your business profits must benefit your community, which is different.
3 Community Coffee Shop Models
Donation-Based Coffee Shop
Starting this type of coffee shop means supporting a specific charity.
Support a large charity or start your registered charity.
Your charity’s mission will guide all of your business decisions.
Charity-based cafés include Memories Tea Rooms. The dementia buddy charity Good Deeds Trust runs the tearoom.
As you can see, their name came from their charity.
Rural Cafe: Meeting place
This model gives rural communities a place to relax.
Rural communities recognize that people have few chances to socialize. A community coffee shop can provide this space.
Your business may aim to improve the local countryside significantly.
You would then use some of your profits to maintain and improve rural areas.
Your business can benefit twice.
First, the area will draw peaceful vacationers.
Second, tourists will visit your coffee shop more often. Especially if they see you support the landscape, they visit.
Social enterprise cafés
“Social enterprises are businesses that are changing the world for the better. You aim to make a profit, but what you do with the profits sets you apart—reinvesting them or donating them to create positive social change.”
Self-funding social enterprises reinvest profits to grow. You can also demonstrate diversity and opportunity.
Make your coffee shop inviting from the outside. Once inside, you can explain your social enterprise and how you help needy people. Customers will return because you’re supporting a good cause. Due to their significant benefits, some long-standing Social Enterprises are called “Essential Enterprises.” For those who would be lost without it.
Community Coffee Shop Qualities
Inclusivity matters.
Becoming a community hub requires inclusivity.
Making your venue community-friendly increases your chances of success.
Community word spreads quickly. So don’t be that business owner who alienates a local customer.
Accessibility matters.
Success requires full accessibility. Wheelchair access requires ramps and wider doors. Customers should be able to use lifts to get to your second-floor shop. Accessible toilets and a baby changing room are essential. Regardless, giving everyone access will boost your business.
Personal growth drives
As a community cafe, you help people grow. Your business fosters community growth. Cooking and reading classes can help your business develop personally.
Equipment and Setup Instructions
A community-based business model requires simplicity and a focus on customer needs.
Coffee Makers & Equipment
Two-group 12-liter boiler.
Menus & Prices
Keep your menu straightforward. Doing so increases repeat business. Simple menus can boost word-of-mouth advertising as customers rave about your coffee.
You want people saying I loved the cappuccino there.
Pricing depends on local competition, but the best strategy is to offer good value.
Update menus and prices regularly to reflect customer preferences and inflation.
Open Hours
Your hours should reflect their schedules to ensure community members visit for coffee and cake.
The Staff
Business requires trustworthy people. Same here. Business success depends on critical managers. They’ll help you through tricky times and celebrate your successes. In a community business, volunteers and job seekers work alongside managers. Volunteers should care about the cause. Passionate employees are more likely to stay and grow your business. Realize that you can offer perfect local employment opportunities.
Community Coffee Shop Model Limitations
This project is fun and exciting, but it has constraints. Competitive market. Have a clear goal and make sure the locals care about your cause. You won’t achieve your goals if you’re disconnected from the community.
The menu above lists 7-day hours. Opening seven days a week is exhausting. So hire management you can trust to give customers a great experience when you’re away.
Volunteers have limited commitment, so staff turnover is high. As your business grows, training new hires can be challenging.
Finally, these articles will help you start and run a community coffee shop.
Mobile Coffee Shop Business Model #2
A mobile or popup coffee shop is an affordable way to start a business. Low stock and low overheads make it very cost-effective. If your venture fails, you can sell your equipment and move on, making it low risk. This business model involves a vehicle with a coffee machine and other coffee-serving equipment. Best of all, you can use any vehicle. Three-wheelers, transit vans, VW campers, and golf buggies have all been proposed.
Here are some mobile coffee shop locations.
3 Popup Coffee Shop Locations
Festivals
Taking your mobile store to national festivals is a popular option.
Festivals are ideal for attracting customers and making money.
Entering the most prominent UK festivals can take time and effort. Start by applying to local festivals, then expand.
Mobile Vans
They’re likely familiar. People congregate at roadside coffee shops and food vans.
For instance, in truck laybys outside football stadiums. Besides universities.
If you want to advertise your mobile store easily, go roadside.
However, roadside businesses may compete. So, ensure you’re not competing with another company offering the same.
Private Events
Your mobile coffee shop needs a solid marketing plan to get into private events. How will event managers find you?
Private events are lucrative. Your new “events” coffee shop idea may take time and persistence.
A good product and a niche will help you get into events and private parties.
Mobile Coffee Shop Qualities
Speed is crucial.
People hate waiting, especially with pop-up coffee shops.
How many people you can serve quickly determines your profitability, especially at busy festivals.
People may avoid you if your service is slow and a queue forms.
Even if they look at your menu, they’ll buy something else to satisfy their hunger or thirst.
Festivalgoers need to be more picky about their food and drink. They’d rather see their friends.
Thus, your business will likely win if they can quickly enter and exit your queue.
Travel is essential.
You must be ready to travel the country as a mobile coffee shop. Perhaps cross-border.
Festivals and events require traveling to “go where the sales are.”
Unlike a brick-and-mortar coffee shop, where you know where to go daily.
Unless you live locally or roadside, you may have to travel long distances and stay overnight.
Let’s examine some mobile coffee shop equipment.
Equipment and Setup Instructions
Machine Type
This business needs a dual-fuel, low-wattage coffee machine.
Since your car will power the machine, low wattage is crucial.
Equipment running costs can quickly increase.
Use our contact form to ask our experts about our coffee machines.
Mobile Cafe Menu
Your menu should be easy to read and serve for fast service.
It should also use global language. Language for international sales.
Customers usually check your menu before buying. Don’t turn them off because they don’t understand your products.
Pricing
Price high to make a profit.
Festivals’ enclosed areas and business monopolies allow for higher prices.
Staff
Owner-operated mobile coffee shops make the most. Expect short-term losses if you expand to multiple vans and hire more staff to deliver services.
Hire a student if you need more than one person in your van. Expect them to leave if they find a better job.
Hours
Running a mobile coffee shop means working nights and weekends. Most public events happen then.
Mobile Coffee Shop Limitations
Summer is the festival season. Your business opportunities may be in June, July, and August.
This leaves a gap in your calendar for times when you need other income.
Mobile catering is competitive. Thus, success requires knowing and promoting your USP.
Set up your mobile coffee shop with these helpful links.
