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I like to work at coffee shops. Its true. But I don't blame coffee shop owners, especially in high-rent areas, for complaining about coffee shop workers. First,

I like to work at coffee shops. Its true. But I don't blame coffee shop owners, especially in high-rent areas, for complaining about coffee shop workers. First, when they start a business, they likely have an idea of what they'd like to see it become. Running a place like a cafe isn't likely just a business proposition for them; its a cultural one. Maybe they like the idea of their cafe being a hub of social and cultural activity, full of quirky personalities, artists, and political theorists; rather than remote white collar work spaces. Also, they've got to pay the bills, and their margins are pretty thin.

roymurdock 9y ago
Similar dynamic at the boxing gym I go to. The owner is a real boxing guy, but he knows the suburban moms and cardio/aerobics classes pay the bills. He's managed to find a good balance, training a few competitive fighters and putting on a few fights a year, but he could be making so much more money doing the whole volume aerobic/kickboxing model. We joke about the Title franchise gyms that have sparring rings for display purposes...but in the end that's what makes reliable money. Gotta respect those that go out of their way to foster unique culture at the expense of "good business", its a rarity these days
- rconti 9y ago
  The true enthusiasts rarely pay the bills. For one, people really dedicated to a certain hobby typically don't have the money that the casual folks do. For another, they know the cost/value of the service. People building their own gaming rigs aren't paying local computer stores' markup. Ski bums have cheap season passes, get way more than their money's worth, and pack a lunch rather than pay $20 for a cheeseburger; only tourists pay $120 a day for one-day-pass. And so on.
  - compiler-guy 9y ago
    It's also a pure numbers game. The number of people who just want kickboxing-cardio is much greater than the number of serious fighters. The number of casual skiers is much greater than the number of ski bums. Mathematically, although a business owner might love the serious hobbyists, usually, there just aren't enough of them to pay the bills. That's why really serious pro-level coaching and training is so expensive: they can't spread their costs among enough customers to make it cheap for everyone.

roymurdock 9y ago

Similar dynamic at the boxing gym I go to. The owner is a real boxing guy, but he knows the suburban moms and cardio/aerobics classes pay the bills. He's managed to find a good balance, training a few competitive fighters and putting on a few fights a year, but he could be making so much more money doing the whole volume aerobic/kickboxing model. We joke about the Title franchise gyms that have sparring rings for display purposes...but in the end that's what makes reliable money. Gotta respect those that go out of their way to foster unique culture at the expense of "good business", its a rarity these days

rconti 9y ago
The true enthusiasts rarely pay the bills. For one, people really dedicated to a certain hobby typically don't have the money that the casual folks do. For another, they know the cost/value of the service. People building their own gaming rigs aren't paying local computer stores' markup. Ski bums have cheap season passes, get way more than their money's worth, and pack a lunch rather than pay $20 for a cheeseburger; only tourists pay $120 a day for one-day-pass. And so on.
- compiler-guy 9y ago
  It's also a pure numbers game. The number of people who just want kickboxing-cardio is much greater than the number of serious fighters. The number of casual skiers is much greater than the number of ski bums. Mathematically, although a business owner might love the serious hobbyists, usually, there just aren't enough of them to pay the bills. That's why really serious pro-level coaching and training is so expensive: they can't spread their costs among enough customers to make it cheap for everyone.