Hot Off the Presses - Coffee Houses are Hot Business Ideas!
Read an article today from a well respected authority suggesting "hot businesses to start today"…. One of those "hot" ideas….."start a coffee shop". A what?!?! You’ve got to be kidding! With Starbucks and 10 other major brands on every corner in every community, how can that be a hot business idea?
Starbucks has taken a hit lately for overwhelming the mom and pop shops and making it impossible to compete. However, Starbucks should be applauded by coffee shop owners and those dreaming of starting one. Why? Well…Starbucks created the premium coffee craze and proved the model that a business that sells coffee, and essentially only coffee, can succeed. Starbucks created the coffee house culture. They got people worldwide to pay nearly $2.00 for a cup of coffee when just before people paid a quarter.
So, what does the success and proliferation of a major player in the space mean to us entrepreneurs like us? And why would anyone in their right mind suggest that starting a coffee house today is a "hot" business idea today??
The answer…..When a major player comes in and literally creates a market with a formula that is proven to work…they also open up the market for others to come in and offer specialty, niche, or themed offerings that a mature marketplace might be interested in trying as an alternative. And therein lies the opportunity.
So just when you think a market is "owned" by a few major players and there is no room for anybody else, think about ways to strongly appeal to a well-defined and targeted segment of the overall market with specialty offerings.
As a sidebar….anybody interested in starting a StartupNation branded coffee house? Makes sense to us. In fact, it was part of the original StartupNation business plan and we have trademarks covering the brand for this purpose dating back several years now. The time could be right to put this in motion. It would be a place for entrepreneurs and small business owners within communities to get their day started, share ideas, support each other, do business together, and get that morning cup of joe to get the day started right.
Let’s Start It Up!
March 4th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Guys,
I don’t know which periodicals you guys subscribe to, or which websites or blogs, but this is just as breaking news like ‘water is wet’, ‘the war in Iraq was a really bad idea’, and ‘President Francisco Franco still dead’.
This was a hot trend, oh, about 10 years ago, but not now.
Starbucks growth ( I know a little, having consulted on their Frappucino and other product branding ) was not about gross margin of a single latte, or even that of a single store. They have huge supply chain advantages now, buying power that makes Wal-Mart look like a mom and pop, and the marketing firepower to take over the world. As a matter of fact, they have, brand commodotization notwithstanding. McDonald’s is a brand commodity also, and they seem to be doing ok.
No, a SuN coffee shop/brand is not awe-inspiring, basically because we all do it anyway - AT STARBUCKS.
It’s the defacto office of many of us - I’m at a Caribou Coffee right now as I type this. My company runs on my Thinkpad, Vonage, and my Palm TREO 750, all of which run just fine wirelessly from any location on the planet.
What do you think the key differentiator of a SuN coffeesop would be? Entrepreneurship? It happens all around us every minute of every day, and we don’t have to be a member of a special club to experience it.
Personally, I never got the concept that supporting the little guy was my problem. I paid full retail for books for decades until B & N, Borders, and Amazon came along and did it better for less. I have no love in my heart for the independents who took all my money all the time, never discounted a thing, and failed to see trends for centuries. Their loss, not that I don;t still buy there. I do. Harvard Books in Cambridge is my favorite bookstore on the planet, and I buy 40 books a month on average. They get a fair share of my business, as do old and rare bookshops, etc., etc.
A coffeeshop is not revolutionary, certainly not breaking news, and is not a key differentiator just because it might be linked with you guys.
I’d type more, but it’s a beautiful day, and I have to get back to reading Fast Company. Those guys really know how to spot trends.