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Interesting article about a failed business, marred only slightly by the way the author wants to write off his own bad business decisions as an inevitable probl
by hugh3 16y ago
Interesting article about a failed business, marred only slightly by the way the author wants to write off his own bad business decisions as an inevitable problem with the coffeehouse business model.
Of course it must be possible to make a lot of money with a coffeehouse; Starbucks frinstance does just great, and plenty of non-chain places must be making a lot of money too.
Many of the problems he had just sound like he didn't have enough time to optimize his business model... if he was throwing half his croissants away then maybe he should have been buying fewer croissants? And do you really need a guy in the kitchen getting paid to whip up the occasional crepe when coffee is where you're gonna make the big bucks?
- vl 16y agoHe obviously tried to create not a standard a-la starbucks coffee shop, but a more luxury experience. It seems he had to revert to non-cozy and fast or to charge premium prices and try to become "fashionable" place.
- frossie 16y agoThe real issue seems to be that he tried to create a "family restaurant" operation without the "family" (in this case him and his wife) wanting to work in the business: My wife Lily and I could work there, full-time, save on the payroll, and gerrymander the rest of the budget to allow for lower sales. Guess what, dear dreamers? The psychological gap between working in a cafe because it's fun and romantic and doing the exact same thing because you have to is enormous In other words, he had the luxury of choice. And he chose not to.
- jaxn 16y agoI wish I could upvote this more than once.
- ahoyhere 16y agoThat's a false dichotomy. There are many spots between those two extremes where he could have made a lot more money.