Tomorrow evening in the US Starbucks are closing all their stores to retrain their baristas. They’ve pulled together some nifty new milk frothing techniques and changed a couple of the rules in terms of pulling shots. It’s their latest attempt to get themselves back on track after a pretty dismal year. All round the world… Read More »
On Sunday and Monday of this week Hugo and I were speaking at the Hotelympia show in London. Ultimately both talks went very well and we had good audiences at both but it was a graphic illustration of the need to have a strong “reason why” in terms of promotion. There had been very little… Read More »
Coming through Edinburgh airport for the second time in as many weeks I was again struck by just how superb a job the West Cornwall Pasty Company do. They have the last stand in a long line of food and coffee operations but their branding and use of great images is so brilliant that you… Read More »
(Sorry – long winded post alert. But please bear with me.) I was passing through Edinburgh last week meeting some new clients and had some time to kill before I took my plane home. As usual my intention was to trot round all the coffee outlets I could find and see what was interesting and… Read More »
“Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test… Read More »
According to a recent Mintel report the market for branded coffee shops will increase by 52% from 2006 to 2011. The profile it follows will be something like this. 2006 – £675 million 2007 – £736 million 2008 – £801 million 2009 – £874 million 2010 – £948 million 2011 – £1.02 billion The big… Read More »
When a typical small customer enters your business you should see £100,000 stamped on their forehead. This is why; If your average spend is £3 and an average customer visits three times a week then that person is likely to spend around £400 per year if they come in regularly. Over five years that adds… Read More »
The death of passion and the initial obsession to create a truly outstanding business is a horrible thing to witness. And yet we see it every day of the week. As I was returning home from my holidays we stopped off in a little restaurant that we have used over many years. The food was… Read More »
“You have to be there…” It’s nonsense for so many reasons. But obviously at it’s most simplistic Howard Schulz isn’t there in every Starbucks and they seem to do okay. Every major chain manages to cope without the “owner” being there so why can’t you? But immediately I hear murmurs along the lines of “well,… Read More »
…are: “You have to be there!” These five words were repeated to me by a potential client yesterday and it made me wonder just how many times over the years I had heard that utter rubbish and just how many operators allow their lives to be trapped by their business simply because they still believe… Read More »