Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

Running a coffee house is all about making sure you are able to serve the needs of your customers and to do so consistently. In order to do that you need to be able to not only listen to them but you need to know how to then respond to what they say. For a ton of coffee shops there is either not enough listening going on causing the cafe to miss out on service opportunities, or there is too much w...

We like to be in control. The shop is your baby and you have all the authority in the world to assert yourself into the operations and correct things you see that are off. Trouble is that this is not always helpful and often can create more problems and confusion. Today on shift break we will be discussing the need   to exercise self control and create structured communication in order to effectiv...

"Vietnam is the future of specialty coffee!" Today we are going to unpack this statement and discuss how the Vietnamese coffee movement is creating opportunity for a marginalized coffee variety and people with our very special guest, Sahra Nguyen!  Sahra Nguyen is the founder & CEO of Nguyen Coffee Supply the first-ever specialty Vietnamese coffee company importing and roasting in Brooklyn, New Yo...

Time and color in the roasting process are inextricably linked. We are fairly used to using time as a tool but what about color? Turns out that the color of your coffee is actually one of the most important but under-utilized, and poorly tracked metrics for determining flavor in the final roasted coffee. On this 5th edition of the Rate of Rise series we are going to be talking with Morten Munchow,...

When we seek to change things in our coffee shops we often underestimate the amount of time and investment it will take to actually turn things around. I have experienced this both in my consulting as well   throughout my career in cafe management helping cafes scale and refine operations.   On this shift break we will be discussing how to approach making big changes to your company in a sustainab...

Questions and conversation. They are powerful tools to bring clarity and inspire action. Perhaps nobody knows this better than those of us whose job it is to ask questions of experts across our industry to bring understanding to a global audience. Today I am so please to be sitting down for a conversation with one such person. He is the host of The Coffee Podcast, Jesse Hartman!   The Coffee Podca...

It's Founder Friday! Today we get the honor of hearing the story of Gilly Brew Bar in Stone Mountain, GA from Daniel Brown and Nephthaly Leonidas. Started by Daniel Brown who was quickly joined by Nephthaly Leonidas, Gilly  Brew Bar was founded with the mission to help people re-imagine coffee culture. This mission serves their main purpose, which is to disrupt norms and build better communities....

Ever get frustrated that your staff are not doing things the way you want? I'm guessing you have. In fact if you are like most leaders presented with an issue in the shop you have probably also said, "That "should" not be like that." or "They "should" know better." The question we need to ask though is-why should they?  Today on this edition of shift break we will be discussing why using this word...

A lot of how successful a shop is depends on the people who work in it. In the specialty coffee retail industry we can tend to hire based desperation, convenience, or nepotism. What we end up with then is problems in the work and culture that manifest themselves either immediately or down the road.  Instead we need to prioritize the hiring process as the main tool in creating a great cafe experien...

Even though you might want to, you can't just chuck items in the garbage willy-nilly. I have been there, done that, and suffered the wrath.  There is a better way to keep the menu fresh and get rid of items  humanely and with deference to the customer and the staff. Today we will discuss this important part of curating a great menu.  Interested in consulting or coaching? chris@keystotheshop.com Re...

How we respond to negative feedback will have a big impact on how our business grows. The trouble is that we tend to not take kindly to negative feedback and respond with either dismissiveness, avoidance, or defensiveness. We leave a lot of value on the table when we don't embrace critique and use it to our advantage.  Today we are re-airing an episode from 2 years ago that takes you through my 5...

In conversation with employees we are often too quick to accept the first answer or the first explanation of and issue. In order to help we need to have the right information. Unfortunately, often due to the power difference between boss and employee, the information only scratches the surface.  Today we will be discussing how exercising positive doubt and being curious can help open people up as...

Welcome to the last episode in the "Thinking Differently" series brought to you by Ground Control! We are ending on an amazing episode this week as we are going to be talking with the amazing, James Combs of Combs' Coffee in Corinth, Texas! James Combs founded Combs ' Coffee in 2013 by visiting East Africa on a sourcing mission with a friend that he met while working in the finance industry. He fe...

How do I make more money? Which areas of the business can I adjust to increase my profitability? These are the questions on the minds of most coffee entrepreneurs. Running a coffee bar means you make your money via low profit margins that compound when scaled. It is not as easy as simply introducing a new flavor, choosing the right rewards program, or offering tempting discounts and deals. In fact...

When we serve coffee, who are we serving? If you were to listen in on many conversations about coffee over the counter you would think we are just serving ourselves based on the narrow range of coffees we tend to favor as professionals. We serve both the customer and the farmers interest and how we do or do not cultivate enthusiasm for all the coffees we offer has huge implications for our industr...

Welcome to the next episodes in the "Thinking Differently" series brought to you by Ground Control! On today's episode we are going to be talking with the co-founder of Pause Coffee House in Sacramento California, Paul Magda! Paul and his business partner Edward are 1st generation immigrants who for the past 6 years have worked diligently to create Pause Coffee House and have learned and grown an...

Markets shift and trends change, impacting how we do business as retailers and also how consumers perceive and interact with what we offer. In the last few years there have been incredible amounts of change taking place that we would do well to both pay attention to and embrace as we strive to meet the consumer where they are as well as do our part to help shape the market.  To help us wrap our he...

Thermodynamics is what makes coffee roasting possible. Having an understanding and control of it is what makes great roasting possible. But what aspects of thermodynamics should we be familiar with and what methods of controlling it are best? In this month's installment of the Rate of Rise series to you by Roast magazine we will be addressing these questions and much more with none other than Cand...

When we want to delegate authority, install a manager, or hire a barista we rely on a job description. We know the power a well formed and detailed job description has for setting up expectations and communicating clearly the what and why of the work, but what about owners?  Today we will chat about how a job description is not just good for your staff, but vital for you as well. Related episodes:...

Welcome to the first in a series of three episodes focused on "Thinking Differently" brought to you by Ground Control!   On today's episode we are going to be talking with the owner of Teofilo Coffee Company, Ron Dizon. Teofilo started as a farmers market stand roasting and serving Filipino coffee. Having been born in the Phili[oiines and raised in the U.S. in a Filipino household, Ron turned the ...

U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits champion Matt Foster is here to guide you to specialty drink success!  We all want to have a menu that includes unique signature beverages that we love making and customers love drinking. Trouble is, making creative specialty drinks that in your shop that are delicious, practical, AND profitable is not an easy task. It requires intentionality, knowledge of ingredients,...

I am thrilled to get to feature Anne Lunnel and Charles Nystrand of Koppi: Fine Coffee Roasters on this month's Founder Friday! Founded in 2007, Koppi not only established itself as of Sweden's preeminent third wave coffee companies but also as one of the world's best roasters. Both Anne and Charles have one the Swedish Barista Championship and additionally Anne has won the Swedish Brewers Cup fin...

We need systems in the coffee shop. As we pursue them it can be easy to complicate the process and end up with something that was meant to be helpful but ends up being intimidating or not useful at all.  Today we are going to talk about the virtues of keeping your systems simple and how doing so will actually create more momentum for positive change.  Related episodes: 057 : SOP's FTW! Success thr...

How we talk about coffee, relay information about coffee, and represent coffee to our customers and consumers in general, not only determines their attitude toward coffee but will literally shape the coffee industry. Often we get bogged down with details, side tracked with minutia, and overwhelm people in our bid to show them how precious coffee is to us. What is needed is a distilled and approach...

Going from a single store store to multiple locations brings with it the question of how to replicate the culture and values across the shops. Making continuity between your various retail expressions a reality will take some purposeful planning and actions.  Today on shift break we are going to talk about a couple key actions you can take to scale your companies values as you grow.  Related episo...