

An FBD Partnership offers a wide range of beverage dispenser options. In addition, depending on your customer base you may want to consider a frozen drink machine. Essential machinery should include a coffee machine and a Point of Sale (POS) system. The latter may be worth considering to ease cash-flow management, but check the terms of the contract very carefully – more than one business has been bankrupt because of outrageous lease terms. This could be a start-up cost if you buy the machine up-front, or if you lease, then it will be an ongoing cost. Again, there are savings to be made here with second-hand equipment. Vintage trends are in fashion at the moment, particularly for community or co-working style cafés, so you may be able to make savings by cashing in on that trend with second-hand and mis-matched furniture and crockery!

Of course, you need to make that risk as calculated as you possibly can. To make a success of a coffee shop venture you’ll need to do your homework, take a good degree of risk and be prepared to work hard for long hours. But it’s still not a venture for the faint-hearted. So running your own coffee shop isn’t the pipe dream it might have been a few years ago. That seems to include hanging out in cafés and drinking coffee! As high street retail continues to decline, more of us are reclaiming the space for social and leisure activities.

The good news is that the number of independent coffee shops in the UK continues to grow year on year. Running your own café is up there as one of the top entrepreneurial dreams.
