Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

I am excited to re-share this oldie with you. Mainly because it has a ton of very useful insights that I think we all need to ponder these days. Life (aka 2020) won't let up and the 7 things I talked about back in November 2017 could not be more relevant. In many ways, we spend a lot of our energies reinforcing self-sabotaging behaviors and habits. Thing is, even though I originally broadcast this as being for baristas, you can just as easily see these 7 things in your life as a business owner.

So on behalf of the Chris of 2017 and the Chris of 2020, I hope you enjoy this blast from the past!

Links to recommended episodes:

Main Episodes:

135 : Stay Motivated in the midst of Difficulty

083: 6 Essential Books for your Professional Growth

008 : Finding Joy in Coffee w/ Nathanael May

207 : Hope in Difficult Times w/ Kathy Turiano of Joe Bean Coffee Roasters

Shift Breaks:

Patience & Passivity : Career Advice for the Long Game

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 main ways that coffee shops fail has a lot to do with the level of self awareness leaders. So many issues we experience can be traced back to this skill. It is a skill we need to practice in order to set up everyone in the business for success.

Today will be chatting about self-awareness and the critical role it plays in running a coffee shop and, more importantly, leading people.

Related episodes:

242 : A Conversation with James Hoffmann

239 : 5 Best Practices for the Best Small Business w/ Henry Lopez

Selfish Self-awareness

067 : 6 Truths About Power : The Responsible Approach to Power Dynamics in the Cafe

The Broken Chair

165 : The Art of Deep Listening w/ Oscar Trimboli

121 : Working from Your Strengths w/ Strengths Finder Guru, Lisa Cummings

Your Own Branded App!

www.espressly.co

Elevated batch brew and so much more!

Ground Control Cyclops Brewer

OK! Today we get to talk with coffee legend James Hoffmann! On top of being the 2007 World Barista Champion and Co-owner of Square Mile Coffee Roasters, a renowned roastery in London, James is also the author of the World Atlas of Coffee, and runs one of the world's most popular and fun coffee YouTube channels where he dives deep into everything from coffee equipment, coffee science, brewing, extraction, agronomy, taste, and really anything to do with coffee.

In essence, James is a purveyor of ideas for and about coffee that, over the years, have helped us all to better navigate the landscape of specialty coffee either as enthusiasts or professionals.

James is an excellent teacher and has a gift for clearly articulating his thoughts and ideas around topics and his approach to questions that can be at first a bit confusing, both disarms and welcomes people into the world of coffee.

In this fantastic conversation we get into a number of those questions that are at the heart of what we do in specialty coffee and the cafe. I believe James' thoughts here will be of great value as we seek to build a better industry and better businesses into the future.

We cover:

• What makes specialty coffee special
• How accessible should it specialty be
• What it means to be inclusive of customers
• What are good mindsets to have for business
• The role does the cafe plays
• When differentiators become a barriers
• Winning the trust of customers
• The problem of low barriers in starting a coffee business
• How cafes have contributed to problems in the industry
• Good business models post-COVID

Links:

www.jameshoffmann.co.uk

Subscribe to James' You Tube Channel

www.squaremilecoffee.com

James on Instagram

Related Episodes:

206 : The Emotional and Social Impact of the Cafe Space w/ Noa Berger

138 : Joseph A. Rivera on Organic Acids and the Importance of Coffee Science

223 : Building a Financially Resilient Business w/ Andrew Carroll

082 : Knowledge and Flavor w/ Cosimo Libardo

198 : The Evolution of the Coffee Shop w/ Prof. Jonathan Morris

085 : How we Ruin the Specialty Experience

022 : Founder Friday w/ Colin Harmon of 3fe Coffee, Dublin Ireland & Author of the new book, "What I know About Running Coffee Shops"

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

Today on Founder Friday we get to explore the Coffee Maverick himself, David Morris!

David J. Morris is Founder and Co-CEO of Dillanos Coffee Roasters, based in Sumner, Washington. Dillanos sells wholesale coffee and other supplies to specialty coffee retailers across the U.S. and several countries. He is a serial entrepreneur, leadership expert, and commercial real estate investor. David, along with his brother Chris Heyer, have several business interests in hotels, apartments, office buildings and various other business ventures. David is also the co-author of several books including The Rolling Desk.

Dillanos has been in business for 30 years and has become the iconic brand it is today from the humble beginning of a small coffee cart in Sumner, Washington. Dillanos Coffee Roasters is consistently roasting some of the best coffees in the world, and is well known for their motto, "Help people! Make Friends! Have Fun!"

In this conversation with David we are getting a detailed and candid look at the very beginnings and evolution of Dillanos' three decades of operation. We the challenges, the secrets to their longevity, the lessons learned in relationships and business, and much more.

I hope you draw a lot of inspiration from today's discussion.

Enjoy!

We cover:

• Early growth and challenges
• Becoming only a roaster
• Scaling the business
• Knowing your strengths
• Following the vision
• The Evel Knievel connection
• Hiring standards
• Supporting + communicating w/ staff
• Impact of COVID
• Evolution their approach to coffee
• Curating the message and communicating the right things.
• Establishing customer expectations and delivering excellence
• Biggest lessons from the past

Links:

www.dillanos.com

David on:

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn

Related episodes:

118 : Founder Friday w/ Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters founders, Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb

081 : Founder Friday w/ David Schomer of Espresso Vivace

204 : Founder Friday w/ Jeff Taylor of PT's Coffee Roasting Co. & Bird Rock Coffee!

232 : Founder Friday w/ Blew Kind of Fanny Lou's Porch

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

Performance reviews have become a place where we tend to unload on the barista all the issues we have been seeing over the past months. They tend to be frustrating because they include some surprising bits o feedback that are news to the barista and generally end up being disheartening in stead of encouraging and motivating.

Today we will be talking about the what we need to be doing before the performance review to really make it effective and and create the positive impact on performance it can have.

Related episodes:

The One-on-One

172 : Why Tracking Performance is a Must!

Being the point of Clarity

Communicate, duplicate, repeat

Tips for Great Staff Meetings

Elevated batch brew and so much more!

Ground Control Cyclops Brewer

Solid, cafe quality espresso for an accessible price:

www.flairespresso.com

Designing a coffee bar requires a lot of forethought and attention to detail. Unfortunately, it is often he case that bars are designed for looks and not functionality. This creates a huge amount of problems down the road with the way you baristas work, the speed of your drink prep, the way customers feel when ordering, and much more.

In today's episode I am sharing a few tips that I use with clients whose bars I have helped design that will help you to build a functional bar from the very beginning. Even if you have already built your bar, these principles will help you rearrange it where you van, or build a better bar in store #2.

We will cover:

• Barista Workflow
• The role of the menu
• Customer order flow
• Ergonomics
• Designing with cleaning in mind
• Health department/ Regulations

Need help designing (or redesigning) your bar?

KTTS Consulting can help!

Email me:

[email protected]

Related episodes:

175 : How to Keep your Cool : A Fridge, Cooler, and Ice Machine Masterclass w/ Luke Peterson of The Maintenance Department!

169 : Designing the Guest Experience w/ Dr. Lisa Waxman

042 : Supplying and Selecting Equipment w/ Steve Rhinehart: Prima Coffee

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

Here we go! Stories from the Ground is a series of interviews that are designed to give you insights and guidance on how to thrive in the midst of the COVID crisis by hearing from amazing cafe owners and learning from their stories and experiences dealing with the shutdowns, caring for their staff, serving their customers, and keeping their businesses going.

In this 3rd and final installment of "Stories from the Ground" we are going to be talking with the co-owner of the Coffee Project NY, Chi Sum Ngai!

Chi Sum (Sum) Ngai is the co-founder of Coffee Project NY. Coffee Project NY, founded in 2015, has three locations, including their latest addition in Long Island City facility that includes a café, roastery and the only Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Premier Training Campus in New York State. At the Campus, Sum and partner Kaleena Teoh teach certified classes to coffee industry professionals seeking to further their education and career opportunities. Sum herself is a certified Q grader and roasting championship competitor who oversees the company's roasting program.

Their starting goal was simply to share their passion for coffee with the neighborhood. They quickly received recognition for brewing delicious pour overs and deconstructing lattes to elevate the coffee experience; paying tribute to the craftsmanship of the professional barista.

Coffee Project NY has grown from a two-person-team to a team of professionals specializing in different facets of the industry

Sum gives us a shinning example of what it means to be a people-first organization and offers so many incredibly helpful insights in this conversation. A perfect way to cap off this series !

Enjoy!

* IMPORTANT! Be sure to down load the "Take Aways" for this episode at the link below!

"Stories from the Ground" is brought to you by Ground Control. Visit them to learn more about their amazing Cyclops Brewer.

www.Vogacoffee.com

• Download the "Take Aways" from this episode. A PDF of all the takeaways and major points made by our guest!

• Visit Coffee Project NY's Website
• Instagram

It can sometimes be hard to find qualified employees and when we see great baristas at other shops we "can't help" thinking of offering them a job in our place. But there is a bit of an ethical problem here. When we cross a certain line, we are violating an unwritten rule.

We are, in fact, poaching.

It's not black and white though, and in today's shift break we will chat about some of the nuances of this issue and offer some insight to help you avoid crossing the line and clarity to help you make peace with hiring decisions you've made where you think you might have crossed that line, but did not.

Related Episodes:

221 : Building your People Program w/ HR Consultant Dana Goodwin

My Favorite Interview Question

The Right People?

Need consulting or coaching? Let's talk

[email protected]

Elevated batch brew and so much more!

Ground Control Cyclops Brewer

Solid, cafe quality espresso for an accessible price:

www.flairespresso.com

The sheer number of things we need to focus on in small business is overwhelming. Amidst the sea of tips, tricks, and tools we know we "should" utilize there are a few things that are absolute musts.

Today we are going to hear from one of the world's leading voices in running a successful small business, Henry Lopez.

Henry has over 35 years of diverse business experience, including successful careers in the information technology industry, sales, sales training and business ownership. He is currently the Managing Partner of Levante Business Group (supporting entrepreneurs and small business owners and producers of The How of Business podcast), co-owner of iTopIt (a self-serve frozen desserts restaurant in Colorado Springs), co-owner of L3 Destinations (a Travel Agency co-founded with his wife), and a minority partner and investor in Office Evolution of Plantation (an executive suites and co-working business center franchise location). Henry currently resides in a suburb of Dallas, Texas with his wife Pam.

He has been directly involved in over 11 different small businesses since purchasing his first business in 1991. He has developed and launched his own businesses, and has bought and sold businesses as well. Henry also serves as a volunteer SCORE Mentor.

In this conversation Henry lays out the 5 things he believes are absolutely essential for a small business to do in order to have the best chance at thriving. We dive into the details of each one and let me tell you, there is a LOT of great insights that result form this interview.

We discuss:

• Systems and delegation
• Working on not in your business
• Keeping systems simple
• Hiring for the benefit of your businesses future
• Empowering staff
• Managing your money
• Prioritizing your profit
• The business owners mindset
• Taking action boldly
• Enjoying the journey
• Redefining what success and happiness

Links:

www.thehowofbusiness.com

Facebook: TheHOBPodcast

LinkedIn

YouTube

Related episodes:

184 : Making Great Business Decisions w/ Dave Stachowiak

211 : Straight Talk from the Retail Doctor, Bob Phibbs

223 : Building a Financially Resilient Business w/ Andrew Carroll

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

We are back! Stories from the Ground is a series of interviews that are designed to give you insights and guidance on how to thrive in the midst of the COVID crisis by hearing from amazing cafe owners and learning from their stories and experiences dealing with the shutdowns, caring for their staff, serving their customers, and keeping their businesses going.

In this second installment of Stories from the Ground we are going to be talking with the owner of the amazing 392 Caffe, Jay Sanders!

392 Caffe was established in 2011, in Clinton, IA. The concept was conceived in/for Hollywood, CA by Jay & Jenna as they compared coffee shop visit notes in attempts to derive the "perfect" coffee shop setting. Two very different coffee shop consumers, individually they were seeking aspects of the coffee shop experience they'd have to create... namely, outgoing/engaging hospitality, upbeat vibes, a consultative sales - style ordering process, and an intangible takeaway of a new real-life relationship.

392 has become a brand that stands for love, inclusivity, and community. They challenge their customers to aspire to greatness and "Be the Light" through art in their cafes. They understand that a growing/thriving community is their only chance for long-term growth/success, so they give-to/nurture/feed it constantly. One of their slogans, #DrinkBetterCoffee challenges people to find a better product, but also leans on the underlying message to aspire for greatness in all you do.

I love this conversation with Jay. His intense passion for his team and the mission of their business is inspiring and is a great example of what it looks like to put values into action even in challenging circumstances!

Enjoy!

* IMPORTANT! Be sure to down load the "Take Aways" for this episode at the link below!

"Stories from the Ground" is brought to you by Ground Control. Visit them to learn more about their amazing Cyclops Brewer.

www.Vogacoffee.com

• Download the "Take Aways" from this episode. A PDF of all the takeaways and major points made by our guest!

• Visit 392 Caffe's Website
• Instagram