Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

When the fridge goes down, the ice machine is not making ice, and the display case is making weird sounds...it's time to call a tech ASAP! Well that is exactly what we did in this episode. Today we get to talk to master refrigeration technician, Luke Peterson of The Maintenance Dept. The point of this conversation today is to give you the knowledge and tools you need to properly care for the other pieces of non-coffee equipment that keep our businesses running well. Not many of us take measures to install, use, and maintain our refrigeration equipment properly and as a result we end up out of commission and paying huge bills. This can all be avoided and Luke is here to tell us how! Be sure and subscribe and share this episode with a friend! LINKS: The Maintenance Department Our Sponsors: www.prima-coffee.com www.pacificfoods.com

Bar backing is one of the most important roles in the cafe. Either as a dedicated position or as a set of responsibilities shared, when it is embraced and executed well, it makes the whole shift successful. Today we chat about this critical part of the bar and some mindsets and best practices for bringing it into focus and working as a bar back with joy and pride.

How do you decide which opportunity for expansion is good and which one is not for you? If you are in business you will get offers to open a location in many different contexts but when you are knee deep in operating your first store it can be challenging to see the next step clearly. Today we are getting the perspective of one entrepreneur who is expanding to a second location within the first year of opening his first shop. Kyle Wells is the co-owner of Torpedo Coffee in Denver, CO and a past Founder Friday guest. I wanted to bring Kyle back to give us insight into his own process of accessing opportunities and making the decision to say yes to one of many the have been made since opening. Kyle and his wife Falene are are true entrepreneurs and Kyle communicates very clearly and with a balanced perspective about that life and in this interview he lays out a lot of very useful information that you can use to help you on your own journey In the conversation you will learn: How this opportunity won Kyle over The signs that you are ready to say yes to expanding How to prepare yourself for the added responsibility How to prepare you team and invest into the current culture The importance of delegation, systems, and trust The importance of working "on" your business not "in" it Kyles advice for how to assess opportunity Links: @Torpedocoffee @theclosequarters www.torpedocoffee.com Founder Friday w/ Kyle Wells "Before and After" Need consulting or training? Lets talk! chris@keystotheshop.com www.keystotheshop.com/consulting

Customers impression of your business is going to be filtered through the lens of their past experiences in coffee. Unfortunately that is too often a bad thing and the memory of bad experiences far outlasts the memory of a good one. Today we chat about the important role we play in delivering positive experiences to re-write the script for our customers and their default view of coffee and service work in general. For consulting and training contact : Chris@keystotheshop.com Or visit: www.keystotheshop.com/consulting Related Episodes: 10 Reasons to Love the Customer Simple, Powerful, Hospitality w/ Philip Paul Turner Why YOU are Key

To be successful in retail coffee today you need to be able to give your time and attention to the things that will truly make a difference. The standards for what makes a truly great and sustainable shop is as high as it has ever been. Today we are going to be talking about five areas that are critical for you to focus on in today's retail coffee industry. I cannot tell you how strongly I feel about the importance of these points as I have seen many shops either fail or succeed based on their omission or adoption of them. Please take the time after listening to reflect on your situation and see how you can take steps to improve in these five areas: Hospitality as Priority Accessibility Genuine on-line presence Customer Education to Equip Quality Leadership and Accountability In this episode you will learn: The place of hospitality in a shop to fuel success Why quality coffee is not enough The next level of customer education Managing expectations and living values on-line The critical state of leadership in shops and what to do about it www.keystotheshop.com/consulting Chris@keystotheshop.com Related episodes: Social Media 101 6 Truths About Power Good Authority Instant Specialty Coffee Hosting Consumer Coffee Classes 10 Steps to Being a People First Leader

It is easy to be so focused on comparing yourself and your business to what you see in the industry that you end up ignoring your customers and the community your shop serves. Today we are chatting about this all to common mentality and what it looks like to be put the priority on serving your actual customers.

This is absolutely critical! One of cornerstones of running a coffee bar is the ability to stay in tune with the performance of the people that work in it. Having a system for tracking behavior that is either praise worthy or in need of correction is a must. Many shops that just shoot from the hip when it comes to correction or affirmation end up seeing their best people frustrated and their problem people hide out too long in the ranks, spreading toxicity to the others. Today we are going to talk about some ideas and steps you can take to make tracking a performance a reality in your cafe so you can have a vibrant and thriving team the knows that the leaders are paying attention and are there to facilitate their success. In this episode you will learn: The importance of tracking performance How to prepare yourself to launch a system and actually stick to it. Ideas for tracking and rewarding praise worthy behavior A step by step process for corrective action The cultural hazards of correction applied poorly Your role as a coach in the corrective process The importance of having a balanced view of your staff Links to related episodes: The Affirmation Vacuum Why its OK to be the Boss Interested in consultation or training for your coffee business? Reach out and lets have a conversation! Reach out! Chris@keystotheshop.com www.keystotheshop.com/consulting

The Indian specialty coffee market is growing by leaps and bounds. Today's guests Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana and their company, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, are part of the reason why Indian people are switching from instant and drink more amazing Indian coffee at home and in cafes. From humble beginnings working shoulder-to-shoulder packaging their roasted coffee in a home's 2 spare rooms - to now 25 cafes, over 300 staff, and partnerships with over 25 Indian coffee estates, Matt and Namrata have been able to build an incredible business that makes Indian coffee the star, creates amazing coffee professionals pouring resources and training into their staff, and successfully introduces the average Indian coffee consumer to the wonders of specialty coffee grown in their own backyard. I had such a great time talking with Matt and Namrata, I know you will find this to be inspirational especially if you are a coffee pro or business owner in a producing country. In this episode you will learn about: The specialty landscape in India How Blue Tokai started, scaled, and structure their business The challenges of operating in a producing country How they overcame the hurdles and won the trust of the farmers The value of connecting with your customers on their level How blue Tokai has empowered their female staff What role presence and communication plays in breaking through harmful social norms What Blue Tokai does to continually develop their quality as they grow LINKS: WWW.BLUETOKAICOFFEE.COM More about Matt and Namrata: Namrata Asthana - Co-Founder Namrata graduated from Vanderbilt University with a major in Psychology and a minor in Anthropology. After working in design in Chicago, she moved to New Delhi to work with the American India Foundation where she managed the Service Corps Fellowship (now the Clinton Foundation Fellowship) for three years. Namrata then worked with PepsiCo India as the Communications Manager for four years and moved onto working as Communications Director for the Centre of Development Finance at the Institute of Finance Management and Research. In addition to this, Namrata has also worked with Alliance India and has authored a book on migration and education for the American India Foundation's Learning and Migration Programme. In 2012, she co-founded Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters with her husband, Matt Chitharanjan. Matt Chitharanjan – Co-Founder Matt graduated from NYU's Stern School of Business with a B.S. in finance in 2003. He spent a number of years working in economic research and real estate investing for a boutique consulting firm and hedge fund in Berkeley, California before pursuing an M.A. in economics from the University of British Colombia. After graduating in 2008, he spent several years working on impact evaluation in international development in Jordan and the U.S. before moving to India in 2011 to work on SME access to finance research with IFMR. In 2012, he decided to put his past roasting experience to good use by starting Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters with his wife, Namrata Asthana. www.keystotheshop.com/bluetokai

Which one best describes how staff react to your presence in the cafe? The problem is that, no matter what, management will always be seen in a different light than a barista. The authority managers carry creates a certain tension and that tension either will lead to people fearing you, or being inspired by you. Today we will chat about embracing your authority, breaking down needless tension, and investing in your staff to create a culture that sees your authority in positive light and avoids the all to common fear based authority that drive people from your business. Related Episode: 6 Truths About Power This episode was inspired by a talk I gave to the wonderful retail managers of Phoenix Coffee. If you want me to come to your business for training/ workshops./ or speaking contact me here: Chris@keystotheshop.com

What you have on your shelf is of the utmost importance. Tracking it and evaluating its performance is key to being able to make good decisions that will increase the health of your business. Unfortunately we in coffee tend to rely on either our own personal knowledge of what we can see on our shelves or on very rudimentary systems that don't give us enough information. Today we are going to be exploring the importance of accurate counting and tracking of your stores inventory with special guests Pierre-Francois Rio and Albert Amar of SwiftCount. Swiftcount is a cloud-based inventory management solution suitable for small to midsize businesses in a variety of industries. It has been designed to make taking inventory simple, accurate, and easy to manage. Especially nice is the reporting it gives you on the back-end to help you track the flow of inventory, profitability, performance, and more. Albert and Pierre take us through why the company was formed and detail a ton of examples, mindsets, and actionable solutions we can take to get a hold of our inventory which is life blood of our shops. I hope you take notes and apply what is presented today because the importance of this aspect of our businesses cannot be over-stated! In this episode you will learn: What inventory tracking does for your businesses' cost of goods and cash flow Why we tend to rely on faulty ways of measuring this important area of business. Examples of businesses that have seen success from proper inventory management How SwiftCount works The steps we can take to get a hold of our inventory today The mindset to infuse into yourself and your culture so that these practices last well into the future. LINKS: WWW.SWIFTCOUNT.COM Need consulting of training for your coffee business? Reach out! www.keystotheshop.com/consulting Visit our sponsors!!! www.prima-coffee.com www.pacificfoods.com