Why You *Shouldn’t* Open a Coffee Shop

By Daniel Miessler on December 30th, 2005: Tagged as Business

The author paints quite a bleak picture of the coffee shop business:

http://www.slate.com/id/2132576/#ContinueArticle

Good reading for anyone who’s considered doing it. Interestingly enough, most people who read this page probably have considered it — or at least thought it would be a cool thing to do.

  • http://jtpowell.blogspot.com/ Jason Powell

    Arguably, these pitfalls apply to any endeavor where one is planning to be self-employed–not just a coffee shop. Restaraunts, in general, are the #1 businesses to fail, and that’s accounting for the fact they are the most frequently started businesses. But, you can’t make the mistake of saying every coffee house startup will fail in the same manner as the author’s. For many, Starbucks is just too stiff a competitor. For a precious few, though, there is success–rare though it may be. And this is the case for any business–very few survive, no matter the concept. Certainly, for every one person who thinks he can start a successful coffee house, there are at least twenty who think they can write a successful novel. If success were easy, we’d all have it.

  • http://jtpowell.blogspot.com Jason Powell

    Arguably, these pitfalls apply to any endeavor where one is planning to be self-employed–not just a coffee shop. Restaraunts, in general, are the #1 businesses to fail, and that’s accounting for the fact they are the most frequently started businesses. But, you can’t make the mistake of saying every coffee house startup will fail in the same manner as the author’s. For many, Starbucks is just too stiff a competitor. For a precious few, though, there is success–rare though it may be. And this is the case for any business–very few survive, no matter the concept. Certainly, for every one person who thinks he can start a successful coffee house, there are at least twenty who think they can write a successful novel. If success were easy, we’d all have it.

  • Pingback: Our House Coffee

  • http://www.koffietmolentje.be Laurent

    I’d love to have my own coffee shop!


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