Before Opening a Coffee Shop - An Explanation

I am asked on occasion, ‘what was it like when you opened?’ or ‘what was it like to open a coffee shop?’ So I have been thinking about those types of questions recently and how to answer them. This is my attempt, but I am going to go back in time to before opening, because it is not about the opening, it is also about the infinite amount of planning that happens prior to opening. I will keep it short and simple and then will continue the theme next week with after opening.

• My wife and I came to the UK in June 2005 and on our first weekend, wanted to find a place in London to ‘go for coffee’ but could not find anywhere to go.
• The only places we found in the first month were Costa/Nero, but as we had very little money, we used to share one coffee between us on our days out.
• Before finding a real job in recruitment, I worked as a waiter for 3 different agencies, earning £5.85 p/h, but worked at the Buckingham Palace garden parties, on board the Orient Express train and at the amazing Claridges Hotel.
• In June 2005 I applied and was interviewed to be the head trainer at Nero. I was unsuccessful.
• Around August 2005, I was walking down Berwick st at 8:30 am one Saturday morning, saw a shop called Flat White, ordered and consumed and then called the wife to ‘come meet me as soon as possible’.
• I then used to go to Flat White and sit in the now extinct front window seats, deliberately to watch the baristas behind the machine, until one day they told me off for doing so and asked me to move.
• In April 2006, I got a job at Lord’s Cricket Ground as the staffing manager for the Catering department.
• I did enjoy three and a half years there, but after about two and a half, realized that opening a cafe was a dream and an opportunity. Plus my wife said to stop talking about it and just do it.
• I used to work at home at night in writing the business plan, I read several books on the matter and went to two courses on how to write a business plan. At one course with over 150 attendees, on my table was another man who also ‘wanted to open a cafe’.
• I used to go to work early, 7:30 am, and write and re-write the business plan before the other staff arrived at 8:30 am/9:00. My boss used to hear me typing away and would say ‘working hard?’
• I found Square Mile coffee who at the time were doing espresso tasting nights in the roastery. I used to go along, started off being the lonely boy in the corner, until one night I got up the courage to say hello to James/Anette.
• I then got the courage to write on their feedback wall. I remember one night being the only person to say I liked one of the coffees. Awkward.
• I used to spend countless nights, poring over the fine details of my finances, trying to work out how much people would spend, how many people would come, until my wife said ‘stop worrying about it!’
• I used to go into Fernandez and Wells in Beak Street at 7:30 am before work and make notes, work out my list of things to do, while taking in as much detail as possible.
• I used to ride my bike around our designated preferred areas in the summer evenings, looking for places to rent.
• My wife who works in packaging design put together a mood folder with photos of other cafes in Australia, to try to be able to put across out intentions to the bank and our friends/family.
• I printed out hundreds and hundreds of pages on the work printer, trying to get my business plan/finances just right.
• Around September 2008, I first approached our bank, HSBC. I was put in touch with the person who turned out to give us the loan, but he did not give it until February 2009.
• The recession had started, and they told me to come back with more money, even though I ‘had the best business plan they had seen in a while’. I was hoping for 60% bank / 40% us, they wanted it to be the other way around.
• Natwest said they are not seeing anyone. No business.
• I approached two very good friends to ask if they wanted to invest and help raise the cash. One of them said yes, the other who had been affected in the recession was unable.
• In January 2009, my wife who worked around the corner, came home and said her boss had found a site on Great Titchfield Street.
• My wife and I travelled to Brighton one weekend to meet up with the Tolleys from Taylor Street baristas, who met and went over my plans for about 30 minutes. It was an extremely valuable 30 minutes
• I once went to meet James etc at Square Mile and when they asked if I wanted a coffee I said ‘yes please a flat white’, then realised, when silence followed, that I probably should have asked for an espresso. Awkward again.
• We found the site in January 2009, and it was closed, but the leaseholder was still paying rent to the landlord. I contacted the landlords agent, who told me there was nothing they could do, as long as he kept paying rent.
• It took until July 2009 to get the keys
• I also asked the owner, Jorge, of Fernandez and Wells, as I planned on using the same architects as them, if he had five minutes to talk. He spent over half an hour and gave some of the most valuable advice I received. I have only just recently met him again to say thank you.
• We signed the architects and paid the deposit of about £4k, then found out we were having a baby.
• The architects came in before we got the keys/signed the lease, did the drawings and tendered for the work and one week after handover, we started building. Thanks to Jorge for the advice.
• Our very good friend and amazing designer Tony C came up with the logo/branding.
• July 2009, we had just finished the World Twenty 20 at Lord’s and was about to go into the Ashes Test match.
• We invited about 15 friends around to our one bedroom flat where I cooked up and made a whole lot of menu idea items, showed them the plans, made french press coffee, played music and gave them all feedback forms.
• Our predicted opening date was August 12th. I would ride my bike down from the ground on my lunch break and come in before and after work to check on the site.
• I finished the Test match and left Lords on July 25th.
• I did not sleep for a week and had my 40th birthday on July 29th.
• I met with Taylor Street again who assured me we could have an oven on site and cook if we wanted to (at the time I still did not know this for sure).
• We did not have tables or stools until the week before opening.
• My wife, a girl friend of hers Lara and I worked all of one weekend removing the concrete from the brick wall ourselves to save money.
• I used the cafe of Scandinavian Kitchen as my ‘office’ for almost two weeks. I interviewed my potential staff there, finalised all my plans, met with architects and builders.
• I took all the successful interviewees, including Catherine who one day turned out to be lead barista and manager and our chef Jared, to Square Mile for training before opening.
• We opened on August 12th for a soft opening and invited all my wife’s company down for lunch.
• We had one domestic electric cooker and one chef, two baristas, one part time floor girl and me and a little help from a good friend and a two group synesso and no glass cabinet.

A few weeks ago I posted about the pre-opening and then the post opening of Kaffeine, which  we were able to reflect upon recently. Catherine, our former manager and lead barista and the person who helped set a lot of the standards at Kaffeine, has added a few more memories to the pot.

Catherine

When I walked into the underground store room one day to find it flooding with water as a pipe had burst under the street and water was pouring under our wall. Luckily we were able to pull up the manhole and all the water flowed straight into it. They had to come dig up the road outside to stop it leaking.

When the power box blew up as it had not been installed properly and we had to clean up in the cold and dark until EON and the electricity men came to fix it, Mrs K was at home with a migraine and baby Layla, you had to go home to look after her, then came back expecting to sleep over, in the middle of Winter. Luckily they fixed it about 11 pm. This was not fun.

When the substation blew up outside about 1 pm and left the whole street without power for five hours. 

Having to upgrade from a 2 group Synesso to a 3 group as we were getting busier and busier,and then upgrading from an Anfim grinder to a Mazzer for the same reason.

When Tim Westwood came in for the first time, and you knocked over the sugar bowl on the table because you were so excited. Knocking the sugar over then became known as ‘doing a Westwood’

When a pigeon made its way into the shop (2 separate times) and you ‘tried’ to get rid of it.

Thanks to Catherine for these, if you are reading this and know her, or are ever in the City please pop in and say hello to her own shop, Curators Coffee. Say hello.

Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine Ltd
66 Great Titchfield st.
15 Eastcastle st.