Start and Run a Coffee Bar (Start & Run a) (ISBN 1551803542)

Really Useful:
I usually dont write these sorts of reviews but this was just exactly what i was looking for. A great primer on things you need to know and do to open a coffee shop including checklists. I would recommend it to newcommers to the business.

A Good and Practical Book:
Hi, I am a Korean who would like to run my own coffee bar in Korea soon. It was very difficult to find really good guide books here in Korea, I mean ,written in Korean. Hoping to find one, I visited this Amazon and to my happiness I fianlly could find it, this book 'Start and Run a Coffee Bar'. This book is so practical and helpful to me. I appreciate that two writers would share their experience and knowledge with us.

Great Book:
Fantastic information. Everything you need to know presented in a well thought out format.

Not bad, but could use a broader perspective:
This book delivers some very useful information, especially with respect to business plans and the intricacies of incorporating your business, buying insurance, etc. That said, the author clearly has the mindset of a hardnosed middle manager, and the focus of the book is far more about maximizing profit margins and actively soliciting sales than running a people-friendly business. An inordinate amount of attention is given to in-store roasting, which by far overshadows the actual coffee bar part of the operations. Also, the author gives some terrible advice on handling staff and customers, advocating lowballing staff salary, having a potential employee perform a "trial shift" after a successful interview, and "rewarding" completion of banal training tasks with a training completion certificate--which the author claims "instill(s) a sense of pride in your staff which will shine through in all aspects of their work." Aside from an obvious struggle with people skills, the author is extremely knowledgeable about the subject, and lays the material out in an easy-to-follow format. I feel that the book is oriented more toward the entrepreneur looking for the best opportunity to make money more than it is designed for someone who wants to run a coffee bar specifically because it appeals to them. An excellent companion to this book would be The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting and Running a Coffee Bar (The Complete Idiot's Guide), which is very much on the other end of the spectrum, focusing more on running a friendly and successful business, but with fewer specifics on the business plan and logistics involved. The two books together give a very complete set of information.

Good information; plain language.:
Make sure to do plenty of research before embarking on a venture such as owning/running a coffee bar; it's not a easy as it seems. This book provides a good start.