The small café business continues to be one of the most profitable small business sectors in the United States, especially if you can get the location right. Not that every café that opens or has even been in business for decades has managed to survive.
However, given that you are reading this, chances are that you have already been in the running for a while now. It also means that business is good enough to think about growth, which is great news, so we are going to provide a few intelligent tips on taking some tiny steps towards that growth you want to see.
Increase Your Seating Capacity by a Few Seats at a Time
In order to do this intelligently and not mess up the vibe which has made your business successful, remember that we are not talking about cramping people! That would be a sure shot way to get rid of long-term patrons.
Instead, see if you cannot find some extra space outside or another room for those seats. Even renting out a small place nearby can be a great expansion idea for your café business.
Don’t Pay from Your Operating Cash Flow
Don’t pay for the extra expenses in one go and put your savings and your operating cash flow in jeopardy, but get a small restaurant equipment loan from AdvancedPoint to fund your growth. Pay them back with a plan that’s suited to your business’s usual earnings. Don’t overspend on the furniture, machines, etc., and end up taking a loan that’s unnecessarily big.
Expand Your Menu: Hire Another Cook
Be it in terms of adding more varieties of coffee or by simply adding a few extra dishes that your new cook can prepare in a matter of minutes, the idea is to expand the menu in a way that catches the attention of everyone but doesn’t feel out of place. Don’t add a whole new cuisine or anything of the sort!
Expanding the Workforce: More Waiters for those Tables Maybe?
Now that we have added more dishes, coffee varieties, and even seating arrangements to the café, it is time to expand the workforce by adding a few waiters/waitresses to the café as well. If you rent a whole new place, the workforce will need to be significantly increased, which can raise sustainability issues. However, if you have just added a few extra tables only to your already established café building, keep the hiring to a minimum, until more sustainable steps can be taken towards increasing the workforce.
The idea behind small businesses is not to, of course, stay small always, depending on the wishes of the business owner and scopes available. However, tiny steps are necessary for small businesses to facilitate sustainable growth. Too many small cafes, big restaurants, and even multibillionaires have drowned in debt because they took steps that they were not ready to handle yet.
