Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

Starting a coffee bar means you have to focus on several hundred different things at once. It can be maddening! All of this to get to the point where you can open the doors and finally let people enjoy what you and your team have created. But what happens after you launch? Where do you put all that energy you have been used to spending getting ready?

Today we are going to cover several key areas that you need to focus on after you launch your shop in order to create the best chance of success. Even if you are well along in your shop's life, you will still benefit from today's episode because it is never too late to give proper focus to the core elements of your business and each time you open a new location you will want to make sure these areas are well covered.

Related episodes:

173 : 5 Areas of Focus for Retailers

181 : Organizational Self-Knowledge

184 : Making Great Business Decisions w/ Dave Stachowiak

191 : Retraining your Staff on new Standards

Need consulting? Reach out! [email protected]

The BEST in commercial coffee equipment!

www.prima-coffee.com/keys

Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks?

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

I am so excited to share this interview with Adam Obrátil, the co-founder of one of the Czech Republic's most well known and foundational cafes, Industra Coffee!

Founded in 2013, Industra brought a newer specialty coffee experience to the Czech coffee scene that was just beginning to get established. Both Adam and his partner Petra Střelecká are long time coffee pros who cut their teeth in some of London's busiest cafes before starting the shop. Both Adam and Petra have competition experience and Petra is 3x Czech Brewers Cup Champion and 6th place finisher at WBrC.

Through the years of running the shop they have grown from just the two of them working behind the bar, to now a staff of 10 people serving a large and loyal, growing customer base.

In my conversation with Adam we learn about their history, their road to ownership, the biggest lessons along the way and how they have approached service, quality, delegation and what their plans are for the future!

• Early cafe experience
• The journey to ownership
• Bringing a new style of coffee to the Czech scene
• Attracting all ages from a traditional culture
• Hiring for hospitality
• Navigating the different between being a barista vs owner
• Growing and delegating in order to scale
• Handling COVID
• Serving community and supporting each other
• Plans for the future

Links:

Instagram

https://www.industracoffee.cz

Related Episodes:

107 : Kyle Glanville & Charles Babinski of G&B Coffee and Go Get em Tiger

129 : Founder Friday w/ Casey & Jeremy Miller of The Mudhouse, St. Louis, MO

Need consulting? Reach out! [email protected]

The BEST in commercial coffee equipment!

www.prima-coffee.com/keys

Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks?

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

How people experience the service we provide them has a lot to do with the pace we keep in the process. Sometimes we go too fast! Sometimes we go too slow! What is the balance here?

Today we are going to talk about how to properly apply speed and intentionality behind the bar to produce an experience that customer will want to come back for again and again.

Related Episodes:

163 : Lessons from Crush the Rush w/ Josh Little Field

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002: Master Your Workflow w/ Ryan Soeder

045 : Simple, Powerful Hospitality w/ Philip Turner

Elevated batch brew and so much more!

Ground Control Cyclops Brewer

Your Own Branded App!

www.espressly.co

We have a control problem. Specifically we don't like to give up our control of the processes and operations of our cafes out of fear for what might happen when others take the wheel. The difference between a successful shop that has capacity to both care for its people and grow and one that is stifled and limited, comes down to your ability to delegate.

Today we will be talking about wha delegation is, what it can do when practiced responsibly, and how to begin the process of changing the way you act and think as a leader in the coffee shop.

We cover:

• Fear driven control
• The danger of not delegating
• Testing your systems
• Building your people
• Delayed gratification
• Expanding capacity
• Cultivate trust

Related Episodes:

Don't just do it

Prioritizing your Work

248 : The 5 Elements of Resourcing your Team

Need consulting? Reach out! [email protected]

The BEST in commercial coffee equipment!

www.prima-coffee.com/keys

Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks?

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

I hear all the time how we want baristas to be excited, motivated, up-selling, engaged etc. Those are all great ideals and goals. The problem is that we tend to expect that to just appear out of thin air.

How we invest into those who we rely on to represent the business determines what kind of representation they give. Today we will. be talking about the truth that, if you want to have staff the are excited about your business, you have to be excited about them!

Listen to these related episodes:

The Affirmation Vacuum

194 : Encore Episode! Leadership in the Cafe: 10 Steps to being a People First Leader | Aired January 17 2017

Need consulting or coaching? Reach out to KTTS Consulting!

[email protected]

Elevated batch brew and so much more!

Ground Control Cyclops Brewer

Your Own Branded App!

www.espressly.co

The health of our bodies plays a huge role in determining the quality of our life both at work in the shop and outside of work. When we are pursuing our health holistically we are making an investment that pays us back immeasurably. The question is, how do you begin to approach caring for our physical health in a way that equips us to thrive? Today we are going to explore this subject with special guest Dr. David Dahl!

Dr. David Dahl DPT, CAFS is the owner and operator of Linchpin Performance based in Louisville, KY. Dave has worked as an outpatient physical therapist for the majority of his career treating and caring for the old, the young, the athlete, and the sedentary. Linchpin Performance is a company dedicated to helping active adults bypass the need for expensive surgery, pills, or injections. Working directly for people, Linchpin Performance is in a position to make decisions that are best for one's particular goals and aspirations. At Linchpin Performance they place a high emphasis on teaching, listening, and guiding people in their health and wellness journey.

In this conversation we cover:

• What leads to our physical ailments
• The end result of repetitive stress
• What pain means
• Discovering our why
• Prioritization
• The interconnected nature of the body
• Holistic health
• Surviving vs thriving
• Using good stress

Links:

www.linchpinperformance.com

Instagram

Health related episodes:

095 : Dealing with Stress in the Cafe w/ Wellness Counselor, Joe Sanok

176 : Harnessing Emotions at Work w/ Andrea Hoban of Oji Life Lab

213 : Coping with Corona using Emotional Intelligence w/ Andrea Hoban of Oji Life Lab

258 : Prioritizing your Mental Health in the New Year w/ Dr. Lara Pence

Need consulting? Reach out! [email protected]

The BEST in commercial coffee equipment!

www.prima-coffee.com/keys

Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks?

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

One of the most needed but conspicuously missing pieces of the coffee shop puzzle is accountability. Both leaders and baristas need accountability in order to thrive but we neglect to put in place as a real process because we are afraid of what it might uncover in us, or in them.

Today we will be discussing the two ways we tend to respond to accountability and what our responses indicate regarding our attitudes toward work and even our fit for the role itself.

Related Episodes:

173 : 5 Areas of Focus for Retailers

158 : A Management Masterclass w/ Jon Felix Lund, VP of Operations for Coava Coffee Roasters / Portland, OR

156 : Founder Friday w/ Lauren Crabbe, Co-Founder of Andytown Coffee Roasters, San Fransisco

181 : Organizational Self-Knowledge

Need consulting or coaching? Reach out to KTTS Consulting!

[email protected]

Elevated batch brew and so much more!

Ground Control Cyclops Brewer

Your Own Branded App!

www.espressly.co

Transparency. We see it increasingly being used as a tool to signify responsible commerce and trade among coffee roasting companies. But what is it exactly? Are we approaching it in a meaningful way? How do we define and practice transparency in a way that will actually make the difference we want to see it make? These are questions that will get answered today as we talk with Jonas Lorenz, co-author of The Pledge.

The Pledge was designed to function A common code for transparency reporting in green coffee buying. Companies that sign The Pledge agree to share publicly a fixed set of variables when reporting on green coffee purchases. The aim is to create a common standard for transparency reporting that is applicable throughout the coffee world.

With a degree in political science, and 10 years in the coffee industry, Jonas dreamt of combining the ideas of the "direct trade/quality/appreciation for the product" approach of specialty coffee with the "farmer centric/ fair share of profits for all stakeholders in the industry/respect for people and planet" approach of the fair trade movement.

Co-Authoring The Pledge did just that.

In our conversation today we will be exploring how to meaningful define and practice transparency.

We cover:

• Price as the foundation of transparency
• Approach and mindset
• Negative litmus test
• Relationships with farmers
• How to get started in transparency
• Sharing information with our customers
• The dire state of poverty at origin
• The ripple effect of adopting transparency
• Being honest about where you are

Links:

https://www.transparency.coffee/pledge/

https://www.transparenttradecoffee.org

Related Episodes:

252 : Founder Friday w/ Klaus Thompson of the Coffee Collective, Denmark

153 : Exploring the Peace Trade in the Congo w/ Mighty Peace Coffee

060 : Serving the Coffee Plant w/ Hanna Neuschwander, World Coffee Research

020 Joe Marrocco : Transparency, Origin Knowledge,and Your Shop : How to approach and apply coffee origin information to enhance, not detract, from the cafe experience

Need consulting? Reach out! [email protected]

The BEST in commercial coffee equipment!

www.prima-coffee.com/keys

Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks?

www.pacificfoods.com/food-service

What is it we mean when we refer to "Quality?" If we take that a step further we might ask, how can we control quality? These questions are top of mind for most coffee roasters who, amidst a sea of complexity and moving parts, are desperately interested in providing a consistently excellent end product to their customers.

Today we are going to dive into the topic of understanding quality, quality control, and taking the first steps in making it a real part of your operation so you can comfortably navigate the multi faceted issue.

To do that we are talking with one of our industries brightest minds (and palettes), Spencer Turer!

Spencer is the Vice President of Coffee Enterprises, the first independent laboratory in the United States dedicated to quality analysis of coffee and a global leader in coffee quality testing and consulting throughout the farm-to-cup supply chain.

Spenser has been a professional coffee taster, analyst, and quality control expert since 1992 having previously held positions as General Manager, Sales Operations (Coffee Division), Mitsui Foods, Coffee Specialist, Kerry Food & Beverage, Waukesha, WI, and Supply Chain Manager / Coffee Technologist - Product Development, Dunkin' Donuts

Additionally he is a member of American Society for Testing & Materials Evaluations: Food & Beverage Committee. Green Coffee Association Specialty Coffee Arbitration Panel and an ambassador with International Women's Coffee Alliance.

As a long time Q Grader, co-founder of the Roasters Guild and widely published author, Spencer's incredible breadth of experience and expertise is going to help us tackle this question of quality as we discuss the how to approach the concept and the main issues we need to consider in our operations both large and small.

I hope you enjoy!

We cover:

• Defining quality
• Intrinsic vs extrinsic quality
• Factoring in the consumers preference
• Consistency
• First steps in QC
• Factors that contribute to quality
• Being able to identify issues and replicate success
• Danger of "Selling your problems"
• Balance of systems of control '
• How we set our own definitions
• Addressing the complexity of the supply chain
• Choosing the right things to measure

This episode is brought to you by Roast Magazine! Visit them and subscribe over at:

www.roastmagazine.com

Links:

www.coffeeenterprises.com

Specialty Coffee Professionals LinkedIn Group

Spencer's Audio Article: "Defining and Measuring Quality in Coffee From Production to Preparation"

Related Episodes:

RoR #1: A Conversation w/ Anne Cooper of Equilibrium Master Roasters

078 : Exploring Green Buying and Sensory Analysis w/ Amanda Juris

Interested in coffee consulting? Let's talk! Email me: [email protected]

I get it. You love coffee! You listen to this show after all and you cup, brew, read about, and live coffee. Your customers however, do not. Mostly they just drink it and if we are honest, that sometimes bothers us. How we talk to customers about coffee is more than just telling them what we know about it. It is about giving them the tools and understanding to enjoy it.

Today we are going to chat about how to meet customers where they are to help the continue to come get coffee from us!

Related Episodes:

085 : How we Ruin the Specialty Experience

Dark Roast night of the Soul

Taste the Rainbow

Curbing their Enthusiasm

Building accessible menu w/ Joe Marrocco

Need consulting or coaching? Reach out to KTTS Consulting!

[email protected]

Elevated batch brew and so much more!

Ground Control Cyclops Brewer

Your Own Branded App!

www.espressly.co