marketing ideas for coffee shop?

[waely]

hi,
I'm in the process of wrting my proposal to the bank for small loan. my marketing strategy is very importatnt and thought to ask for openions.
here is a brief description of my place. it's 1500 sqf. will serve mainly offee, bagel, pasteries and few wraps and panini type sandwiches. I will have 7-9 tables plus one big study table.
I'm located next to collage and a university and in the middle of historic city. there are few cafes but I'm not worried about their competition. as for marketing ideas, I will provide free WiFi and students discounts and punch cards. by the way, there are three upscale restaurant cross street.

any marketing ideas are appreciate it.
thanks

[bbally]

So the Higher Grounds coffee shop is about to start or still a work in progress?

Couple things; live music on which nights?

Think about a liquor license?

Are you baking and cooking onsite?

College is a four year institution?

cost per year to attend the school?

Population of students at the college?

Faculty population?

Need your menu and pricing at this point.

[Max_Xavier]

of course some flyers wont hurt.
Advertise on the university bulletin.
Decor is very important you will want something kinda noisey.
Punch card Raffle. When they fill the punch card it goes into a jug and once a month there is a small raffle for a free beverage or something. Most states have a no purchase neccesary law. so if someone knows this and wants to enter they can still without a filled card.

Coffe mugs with your company name on it.
Pens with your company name on it
Delivery of your products to the dorm or office.
University radio station comercial
Have an Email address so they can see what events you will be having.
Kids are easy to market to so it shouldn't be too hard.
Popularity matters. keeping up with the trend matters.

[waely]

here are my thoughts on your ideas:
- I was planning to play jaz music at all time. live entertainment is much better
- I can't bake onsite. most of my stuff will be coming from Sysco
- my main items are SeatleBest coffee and Cheese Cake factory plus few wraps that are done onsite
- I already collected all demographics for the area
- already talked to the university to advertise on their bulletin
- flyers are good
- I was thinking of classy decor similar to Starbucks. the reason is that I'm surrounded with classy restaurant and I'm expecting similar clientel. however, adding some noisy touches such as weird drawings or fixtures are good to have
- punch cards will be offered
- all my serving material will be disposable. my cups will have SeatleBest coffee logo on them.
- pens are good
- radio is great
- will collect emails when accessing my wireless

thanks. please keep your ideas coming.

[Max_Xavier]

I believe Annie Pies® and Sweet Street® Products are available thru Sysco in your area also and are very nice too.

Don't Forget to offer Tea. Sysco also I belive offers Bgelow®, Tazo® and The Republic of something® (sorry I forgot what the full name is) brand teas that have flavor offerings and are packaged for individual sale. Plus you can get a much higher price for these brands as opposed to basic brands.

[waely]

Seatle Best program will offer a full line of coffee and tea and that's what I'm going for.

thanks

[humblechef]

I was actually impressed with the quality of the Seattle's Best, I believe they are owned by Starbucks.

One idea you may consider as far as artwork is concerned, try and get your college customers to show their work, rotating it on a regular basis will keep it interesting. People will actually stop by to see what new, up and coming artist is on display.

For a grand opening, consider doing a get a cup of coffee free with the purchase of cheesecake or pastry. This will give the people a chance to taste your product at a discount rate. The cost to you is relatively inexpensive. Do this on a specific day and hype it up with posters and flyers every where on and around campus. If you're on a main road, people are going to notice this crowd and be drawn to your business. Maybe rent or purchase a large sandwich board advertising the "big giveaway" to draw even more attention to yourself.Maybe to expose the event even more, contact a local radio station the college kids might listen to and offer to bring them in coffee and danish for a small plug during a show. They sit there and have your goods and you let them tell their listeners how good it all is.



During fund drives for local NPR stations, restaurants and diners often bring food to the volunteers answering the phones and the DJ's. The food is always talked up and it's good advertising to a specific group of, usually intellegent, college educated people that have enough money to contribute to free radio. They probably have enough money to
contribute to your retirement fund in the form of sandwich, coffee and danish purchases. Give it a try, I think you'll find this one to be one of your best chances for exposure to the crowd you are trying to attract.

Good Luck

[waely]

yes humblechef, Seatle's Best is owned by Starbucks. they purchased it few years back. regarding the artwork, I thought of having the art students draw some pictures and then have people sign next to the picture they like the most and every couple of months the two pictures with the least signature will be wiped out and new pictures will be drawn.
what is sandwich board? I had thought about renting these projects that project lights into the sky....

any more ideas are appreciated guys.
thanks

[jonesg]

BAnks don't make startup business loans, unless you own real collateral?..a house?

HAve your pro forma done by someone who can write semi professionally and apply to the SBA .

[foodpump]

Put all your emphasis on the business plan for now.

When it comes to food and competition, remember this: If you sell apples, and your competition sells apples, you'll eventually have compete on price, and on price only. If you sell oranges and he sells apples, you can charge what ever you want.

Everybody and his dog orders from Sysco/Costco/etc. and these products are by no means unique. Students and pensioners are notorioulsy cheap and wily. If you sell the very same product as the guy down the street and you're a nickel more expensive, they'll only buy your beverages. Try a smaller local bakery, then you can have bragging rights to "X"'s cinamon buns, bagels, whatever.

[sunny_mcd]

Everybody and his dog orders from Sysco/Costco/etc. and these products are by no means unique. Students and pensioners are notorioulsy cheap and wily. If you sell the very same product as the guy down the street and you're a nickel more expensive, they'll only buy your beverages. Try a smaller local bakery, then you can have bragging rights to "X"'s cinamon buns, bagels, whatever.

True that. There were two really great places in my college town -- one, a casual neighborhood bistro, the other, a coffee shop. Completely opposite hours. The bistro featured the coffeeshop's beans at night; during the day, the coffeeshop featured the bistro's soups and pastries. Great cross-marketing, and a great way to highlight local small business owners. Both gained lots of new clients, and were way more popular than the competition because they featured unique, locally made products.

[zchefHeather]

There are a lot of business web sites on the internet that have market discussions and lots of advise on competition and niches. A few of my favorites are,
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/topics/entrepreneurship.html,
this is dealing with VC and other entrepreneurship topics
http://www.entrepreneur.com/
very comprehensive site
and also there are a lot of programs from the government that help small businesses and target groups become established.
http://www.business.gov/
Good Luck!

[Chefduffdotcom]

I just finished helping out oin a coffee shop & one of the things we did was Community ed classes in the shop, Culinary..(simple demos geared towards who you want to reach with samples, incorporate the coffee somehow) Jewelry classes (beading & the like), Wine Classes (get in with a local Vinyard & have them show up for a tasting class & opportunity to buy after) Local Farmers (processes & availability, Find a few of your own "blends" & lete them know they were tasted & chosen by you. Kool logos with a couple of great & hip styles of T-Shirts (make sure they are a good quality) they buy them & then it's free advertising for your place.