New business, any advice?

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coffeenutdesigns

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Hi, I haven't been on much because I've been in the midst of starting a coffeeshop in my hometown. I know a few people on here own their own businesses so I'm trying to get reviews on payroll/accounting software for small businesses.

Does anyone have any good suggestions. Reading about everything available is driving me batty so I'm looking for a little personal input. Small business, handful of employees, basic counter service so no tipped employees.
 
Oooh! Mocha Frap, please! :coffeebath:

:congratulations: on the new business! :p

You might want to PM fuzzy9- she has a restaurant, so maybe whatever she uses would be helpful. She rarely comes onto RT anymore because they ended up getting out of rabbits for now to focus on the business, but she is a great lady and I think she would be happy to help. <br /><br /> __________ Tue Oct 28, 2014 10:02 am __________ <br /><br /> Oh! I think MaggieJ's sister (?) has a cafe as well!
 
Quicken comes with high reviews. I've tinkered with it, seems easy enough. Good luck :) be sure to have a solid business plan and emergency plan. If you haven't done so already, even if there are no other shops in the area a SWOT would be very helpful as well, not sure where you are at as far as the business plan/modeling goes. Do you have your logo/catch phrase already? Here at least, it seems to break or make a business as that's what draws people in (plus word of mouth). Have a good solid advertising plan, even if all you can do is take advantage of free services it will go a long way :)
 
Thanks for all the advice. I have been looking at quicken, but there are a few others that look good, too. :? I have a bad habit of trying to process way to much information all at once.

I am having my building custom built. The building itself should be finished around Thanksgiving and we are trying to make sure the parking lot and drive thru can be finished soon thereafter so I looked at the calendar and started freaking out, lol. I think I have everything under control, then moments of terror strike. My husband was able to snag up a GREAT location at an even better price. We are close to the high school, which has an open campus lunch, around the corner from the hospital, not far off the interstate, and they are renovating the building next door putting in medical offices. We are also on a main hwy leading out of town that gets lots of early morning traffic from blue collar workers and anyone heading to Odessa or Midland (closest big towns).

The biggest draw is the fact that our little town is mostly small privately owned small businesses and most of the restaurants are Mexican food or burrito shacks or fast food stuff like McDonald's or burger king. We have no coffee shops, no place that serves what I will be serving, and everyone is super excited that I'm doing this and I keep hearing the same thing from everybody, they wish they had better options than fast food or Mexican food. I'm going to do pastas, soups, salads, and sandwiches. So, the concept is good...just gotta nail the execution....which is terrifying. But if your dreams don't scare you, you aren't dreaming big enough, right?

Hopefully, God willing and the creek don't rise, I will be opening The Clockwork Coffeehouse in mid-December, in time to catch some of the holiday shopping season, and in time for the Jan/Feb cold weather in these parts. My whole thing is to make it kind of steampunky, lots of clocks and gear work, a lot of metal accents in copper, bronze, and brushed silver. My building has a vaulted ceiling with exposed rafters and crossbeams that will be fun to decorate with all kinds of fun funky stuff. I was able to snag a heckuva deal on equipment from a coffeeshop going out of business on the other side of the state...She had to close for health reasons so she sold everything as a package deal. I feel like God has been guiding our hand along the way and opening doors and paving the way leading us in the right direction so I'm optimistic. The biggest worry my husband has is in my ability to get up that early and be functional, lol.

I'll go look at Quicken again and try PMing the other members mentioned. Thanks for the information.
 
A couple things I've learned being in business...
Cash flow is the lifeblood of a business. Keep a reserve on hand to float your thin times.
Learn to be a leader, and aspire to be a great one.
Friends are friends until the free stuff stops.
Invest your time into your top 10% of your performer employees, and grow them. The bottom10%are there by their own choices and decisions. You'll get much more profound results by growing your top ten percent than dealing with your bottom ten.
Pay fairly. A champ brings in more than they're worth, a turd costs you similar in lost opportunity.
Be decisive. Waffling is weakness. Make decisions firmly and stand behind them.
 
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