Here's just a small sampling of the natural treasures we've helped preserve over the years.
Phase 1: Establish
Brand Development
Following our concept development exercise, our in-house brand strategist and design team can design your logo so your visual messaging is strategically on point, relevant, and authoritative. We will design with not only your logo in mind, but also your sign(s), website, social sites, and point of purchase materials and above all your concept.
Coffee Program Concept Evaluation & Development
ASH team will use their concept development exercise to help your coffee business concept reach its full potential. This also helps ensure your coffee shop’s concept is strategically sound, unique and meaningful, in tune with the most current industry thinking and market trends, and best serves consumer needs.
Site Evaluation
An important factor to a coffee business’s success is making sure it is in a location that serves it best. Don’t trust a gut feeling when it comes to selecting the right location for your business! This is how many coffee shops go out of business. When we provide a site evaluation, we take into consideration your business concept, space requirements, neighborhood, surrounding businesses, visibility, ease of access, building shape, and a number of other critical factors. Once we have walked the properties you are considering we provide an opinion on each so you can make a more informed decision.
Coffee Program Menu Development
Once the concept has been nailed down and the location has been selected, we will begin collaborating with you to develop a menu. With your target audience in mind, we’ll help you craft a menu that promotes profitability through simplicity, quality, and efficiency.
Coffee Bar Design and Workflow
Now we’ve got a concept, a location, and a menu nailed down. At this point we draft a coffee shop bar design and recommended equipment list based on concept, menu, customer experience and workflow. We use our specialized expertise to maximize customer experience while maintaining streamlined ergonomic workflow, and labor efficiency. While many architects boast experience designing coffee houses and cafes, the vast majority have never worked in a coffee shop to know how many steps it takes to do a barista’s job, or where to place equipment to maximize on labor efficiency and minimize collisions and wasted transaction time.
Coffee Recommendation
Our consulting team will make a thoughtful recommendation regarding which specialty coffee to use, as well as what coffees in particular are the best fit for the target audience and concept.
Phase 2: Prepare
Staff Training
A coffee business is only as good as its team, and Coffee Lights Ltd. exists to consult, train, and develop your staff to the absolute highest standards. Eliminate the anxiety in trying to train your own staff prior to opening. Utilize our team of training professionals to get your coffee shop’s team up to speed and firing on all cylinders. We get your team focused and functioning as a cohesive unit focused on service, quality, efficiency, and up-sales. The training will focus on many areas including:
Machine Calibration
Choosing the right TDS (Total dissolved Soluble)
Choosing the right PH water levels
Coffee to water ratios and the right way to approach it
Selecting the right water temperature according to the bean’s types and altitude
Choosing the right level of filtration system depending on the water that utilized
Time to extraction ratio of coffee
Managing the right extraction of coffee
Getting the right coffee yield to ensure a balanced cup
Right dose according to the SCA standards
Utilization of the refractometer to maintain consistent standards
Milk (Texturing, steaming, micro-foam, protein, fat, right type)
Alternative options to milk and how to foam them
How to prepare a Cold Brew and how to maintain it
Tamping and tamping pressure
OCD right measurement and level
Soft Launch and Opening
Our consulting team will help organize and host a soft launch event for your coffee shop business for purpose of building buzz, leak testing your process, and giving the staff an opportunity to practice in a fast paced yet controlled environment. Afterward we stick with you to help fine-tune, reinforce training, and to tie up loose ends prior to opening. We’ll even assist you through opening day to be sure things go off without a hitch
Employee Operations Manual
This is a valuable tool to help ensure from day one that your employees are all on the exact same page, they know what is expected of them, and they know how the coffee shop operates on a day-to-day basis. We will develop a customized operations manual that outlines your program philosophy, culture, expectations, customer service standards, daily responsibilities, efficiency procedures, and menu execution.
Phase 3: Refine
Ongoing Consulting and Support
The only way to ensure long-term success of your coffee business is to continually fine-tune your process, and your people. Once your doors are open, we provide an ongoing support system with checkups, milestones, and ongoing barista training to aid you in this critical aspect of owning and operating your specialty coffee business.
Coffee Culture Building
A cemented coffee culture doesn’t happen overnight. We will work with you over the duration of our partnership to continue building your brand and establishing your business as a coffee culture leader in your area.