So part of me wants to open up a cafe/bakery with a used bookshop upstairs where we’d have book club meetings, but I’m not a great cook I know bare minimum like enough to get by, so baking is probably even worse because it’s got a whole science to it… but it’s so fun looking!!! Idk what to do about it! [like I love stuff like this!](https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPd6xB9FW/)
by LokisQueen13
11 Comments
Do you have a lot of money saved up you don’t mind losing?
Also… idk if people would think it’s weird if a white girl started a boba shop? I’m worried people would think I’m weird
This might sound kind of rude, but it does not seem like you’re in a good position to be starting or owning your own business. You have no capital, no experience with cooking or making beverages, and no real plan aside from a vague desire to own a romantic little cafe. The restaurant industry is always a very difficult industry to get into, I believe a majority of new restaurants go bankrupt within the first year. This isn’t even considering that the pandemic has made even established restaurants struggle to remain open.
If this is something you truly feel passionate about, I would recommend that you find a job at a cafe and learn as much as you can, then see if it’s something you still want to do.
I consider myself to be a VERY good home cook and I make very good home espresso. I would never in a million years try to open my own restaurant. It’s not an easy life to live.
Honestly it’s probably a bad idea for you to do this and by the sounds of it you’re quite young and just brainstorming things to do for a living. Cafes rarely make money. The owner will work 80 hours a week and then end up in lots of debt. Add on a bakery and you’ll need to start work at 3am every morning. Add on a book store and you’re paying double the rent. At the end of all this you will probably resent all the things you used to love because they will remind you of all the debt you now have.
What I would recommend if you’re keen to do this is work at a cafe, work at a bookstore, become an apprentice Baker. Look at the lives that the owners of each of these stores have. Then decide if you want to flip a coin where on one side you get that life and ok the other you lose a hundred thousand dollars
Dude I’ve wanted to open my own bakery for a while. I love baking. Becoming a neuropsychologist may prevent me from doing that until retirement. So go on! That would be a lot of fun.
Recommended reading and listening for anyone wanting to go down this path:
[What I Know About Running Coffee Shops by Colin Harmon](https://www.amazon.com/What-About-Running-Coffee-Shops-ebook/dp/B07DTJ4Q6J) and starting to listen to the https://keystotheshop.com/ podcast.
I have felt this same desire, kinda rip off an idea of what Hastings was or like a half price books ahhh goals 🥴
I saw go for it 🙂 there are many entrepreneurs that go into things with an idea and things flourish. Start small 🙂
My suggestion would be to start working in a cafe first, take a barista course and gain some experience. I’m not going to shit on you like most of this thread – it’s good to have long term goals (which owning a cafe is) and the first step is setting short term goals to get you there.
Good luck!
Do it! Not tomorrow but someday 🙂
It is great you have a dream. Now the work comes figuring out how to make it happen. Take some business courses, figure out how you will raise funds for starting up, learn how to make coffee/food. Tons of work but it is a marathon – one step at a time.
After reading some of the comments and your responses, I think the best way to start is to absolutely take some business/finance classes. And start saving. There’s so much to consider when opening a business. Some to consider: location and rent, parking, overhead costs such as all your equipment (commercial espresso machines are BIG bucks), furniture, etc. Expenses such as utilities, rent, employees, supplies, TAXES. I could go on but you get the gist. I’d also suggest going to work in a cafe to see what the actual experience is like. Dealing with rude customers too. Since you are looking into the future hopefully COVID won’t be as big a factor as it is now, but it’s a pretty bad time to even consider opening anything now. Places are closing left and right. Hopefully that will change in the future.