A Day in the Life: What It Takes to Run a Successful Coffee Shop Franchise

Cara Squires, writer

Published at 01/12/2021, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min

A Day in the Life: What It Takes to Run a Successful Coffee Shop Franchise — Photo © A-Day-in-the-Life-What-It-Takes-to-Run-a-Successful-Coffee-Shop-Franchise.jpg

When it comes to changing jobs and careers, it’s easy to feel intimidated. That’s why one of the best ways to put yourself in another person’s shoes is to get a better understanding of the daily life of a coffee shop franchisee. If this sounds like the right opportunity for you, here’s an insight into what running your own coffee shop franchise looks like.

Coffee shop franchises have been taking over UK high streets for a number of years. In the space of only ten years, the number of coffee shops on British streets has almost doubled [The Grocer]. And, although coffee shops have undoubtedly come through some rocky months of late, all the signs are looking positive for a major recovery going forward.

Whether you’re looking to make a career change with a coffee shop franchise, or are just looking for an industry insight into what the daily tasks of a franchisee look like, we’re going to cover all the bases of what it takes to run a successful coffee shop franchise.

A day in the life of a coffee shop franchise

Customers crave it and you’re passionate about it - when it comes to running a coffee shop franchise, you can expect to be busy from day one. Running your own franchise means taking responsibility for lots of different aspects of a business. From one day to the next, you might be processing invoices behind the scenes, before jumping onto the frontline and serving customers yourself.

Whatever your business demands of you, you can expect to be doing some of the following on a regular basis:

Providing industry-leading customer service
Delivering excellent coffee
Negotiating with suppliers
Marketing your business
Recruiting new team members
Chairing meetings
Dealing with enquiries

With so many popular coffee chains to compete with, you’ll need to be proactive at all times and always be on the lookout for new ways to push your business forward. Fortunately, as a franchisee, you’ll never be entirely on your own.

>> Read more:

Advantages of running a coffee shop franchise

Where franchise businesses excel is the amount of training and support they can offer to individual franchisees. When you start your own business with a franchise, you’ll be able to look forward to:

A pre-existing customer reputation
A trusted brand name
Training and support
Beneficial financial rates to start your business
Dedicated mentors and tutors to help your personal development
Excellent job satisfaction and job security

Franchising is a very popular way to run your own business, and with the advantages listed above forming just some of the many benefits, it’s easy to see why so many people want to start their own coffee shop franchises.

Challenges to running a coffee shop franchise

Not every aspiring franchisee is the right fit, though. Starting your own business is never an easy task, and while your franchisor will be on hand to help you navigate many of the trickier sides to running a business, you’ll also need to be prepared for some of the challenges ahead.

Working hours will oftentimes be long, especially when you are in the early days of your franchise business. There is always a lot to prepare for in the weeks and months leading up to you opening your doors, so while you might be looking forward to working a schedule that suits you, you’ll need to be ready to go above and beyond at first.

And it’s no secret that working in a customer-facing role can be challenging. While you will be working with friendly and appreciative people for the overwhelming majority of your time, there will always be the occasional customer that pushes you.

Franchising opportunities in the coffee shop industry

1. Cafe 2U

This franchise has been built with franchisee flexibility in mind. Whether you’re looking to run a single or multi-van franchise, you have plenty of scope to evolve this ambitious and profitable coffee shop opportunity. Operating wherever you choose, you’ll have all the equipment you need with you at all times.

Being a Cafe 2U franchisee: Whatever your background and experience, you only need to have the right passion and determination to succeed to become a Cafe 2U franchisee.
How much you need to invest: You’ll need to make a total investment of around £70,000 to start your franchise.
What you get for your investment: Prior to opening your franchise business, you’ll be given a week-long training package that is designed to teach you everything you need to be a success. In addition to this, you’ll receive ongoing opportunities for personal development even after you’ve opened.

>> Read more:

2. Coffee Blue

Coffee Blue is the UK’s leading mobile coffee van franchise, providing barista-quality hot drinks and food to workplaces, offices, events and festivals across the country.

Being a Coffee Blue franchisee: The ideal Coffee Blue franchisee will be a coffee lover, sociable, motivated, organised and ambitious.
How much you need to invest: You’ll need to make a total investment of £49,995 + VAT to start your own franchise.
What you get for your investment: All franchisees benefit from an eight-week training programme that covers all the essentials. Once you open, you’ll have a two-week assisted launch to help smooth out any initial issues.

Become a coffee shop franchisee today

Starting your own coffee shop franchise never comes without its challenges, but with the support of a franchisor to help you through every step of the way, you can look forward to enjoying some excellent training and support. To really cash in on the advantages of running a coffee shop franchise, franchising is the way to go.

If you think you now feel confident enough to start your own coffee shop franchise, make sure you’re familiar with many of the other resources on Point Franchise, such as how to choose the right coffee shop franchise for you and how to run a successful coffee shop. If you’d like to see what other franchises are open to new franchisees, consult the UK franchise directory for a full list of opportunities.