# What I Wish I Knew: Coffee Shops

Starting a coffee business is not for the faint of heart. It will bring blood, sweat and tears (plus, a lot of caffeine).

Yet, there’s still _something_ that makes the pursuit worthwhile despite being strapped for cash, overworked and underpaid, running on a un-human amount of sleep, and grappling with the constant uncertainty of your decision to start something of your own.

And as the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. So, what better way to _truly_ learn what it takes to successfully build a coffee business then to turn to those who know best.

We asked individuals behind some of America’s best cups to share what they wish they knew before [opening their coffee shops](https://bondstreet.com/), or other caffeine-infused operations. The result is 34 pieces of advice that all aspiring entrepreneurs would benefit from knowing.

From mistakes made to tricks of the trade, you’re bound to discover at least one nugget of wisdom that will save you time, money, energy and quite possibly your sanity—or all of the above.

### Advice from Coffee Entrepreneurs

- **"I wish I had become more of a handyman before launching my business."** - _Peter Brown, [Six Shooter Coffee](https://www.sixshootercoffee.com/) (Cleveland, OH)_

- **"I wish I knew… to hire a good bookkeeper! It’s my #1 piece of startup advice. They say 'what gets measured, gets done'. Well, if you can’t trust your numbers then you can’t really measure your business..."** - _Matt Bachmann, [Wandering Bear Coffee](https://wanderingbearcoffee.com/) (New York, NY)_

- **"I wish I had known that you could lease equipment, and they come with service contracts."** - _Jonathan Rubinstein, [Joe Coffee](http://www.joenewyork.com/) (New York, NY)_

- **"I think the thing I wish I had known was how many little decisions I would have to make! What kind of light bulbs, how many chairs?..."** - _Elle Taylor, [Amethyst Coffee Co.](https://www.amethystcoffee.co/) (Denver, CO)_

- **"Starting an online business with no previous experience with an online store, I wish I had known more about operating tools like Shipstation..."** - _Lacie Mackey, [Caveman Coffee Co.](http://www.cavemancoffeeco.com/) (Albuquerque, NM)_

- **"I wish I had known to work with an accountant BEFORE the first dollar was ever put into a bank account."** - _Colby Barr, [Verve Coffee Roasters](https://www.vervecoffee.com/) (Santa Cruz, CA)_

- **"The total lack of interest contractors have in keeping to a schedule..."** - _Matthew Tervooren, [Pourt](https://www.pourt.com/) (New York, NY)_

- **"I wish I had known how important taking the time to eat proper meals and exercise could be for managing stress..."** - _Caroline Bell, [Cafe Grumpy](http://cafegrumpy.com/) (New York, NY)_

- **"It’s so hard to narrow it down—I wish we would’ve known how much we truly didn’t know!..."** - _Janine Awan, [Woodcat Coffee Bar](http://www.woodcatcoffee.com/) (Los Angeles, CA)_

- **"I wish I knew that when we first got our La Marzocco machine in the shop, it was probably not a good idea to take 10 double shots of espresso a day..."** - _Adam Kallen, [JANE Motorcycles](https://janemotorcycles.com/) (New York, NY)_

- **"I wish I would have known that people will drink specialty coffee above 14th Street..."** - _Jonathan Rubinstein_

- **"I could probably write a book or two on the question that you have posed…There are several things that I wish I had known prior to launching our business, most of them relate to proper [budgeting](https://bondstreet.com/blog/business-budget.html)..."** - _Caleb Garn, [Five Watt Coffee](http://fivewattcoffee.com/) & [Big Watt Bev Co.](http://www.bigwattbevco.com/our-company/) (Minneapolis, MN)_

- **"When we opened Slow by Slow, we did it with a very optimistic budget for our tenant improvements and equipment costs..."** - _Joe Shafer, [Slow by Slow](http://www.slowbyslow.com/) (Boise, ID)_

- **"The other piece of advice I would give to all budding entrepreneurs is that whatever dollar amount you think you need to get everything done… double it!"** - _Caleb Garn_

- **"There’s a lot that goes into making a business successful. But if you aren’t financially smart, it will be doomed..."** - _Marco Suarez, [Methodical Coffee](https://methodicalcoffee.com/) (Greenville, SC)_

- **"I wish I would have prioritized having [working capital](https://bondstreet.com/blog/working-capital-loans.html) in the bank when we opened to have room to grow..."** - _Lindsay Windsor, [Lord Windsor Coffee](http://www.lordwindsor.coffee/) (Long Beach, CA)_

- **"I wish I’d known that we could roast our own coffee, rather than buying from out of state for the first 6 years..."** - _Jonathan Rubinstein_

- **"When I started Bootstrap, I wish I had known to not underestimate our growth..."** - _Micah Svejda, [Bootstrap Coffee Roasters](https://www.bootstrapcoffeeroasters.com/) (St. Paul, MN)_

- **"I wish I had known that an expensive accountant that is good is much cheaper than a cheap account who is bad..."** - _Geoffrey Meeker, [French Truck Coffee](https://frenchtruckcoffee.com/) (New Orleans, LA)_

- **"I wish I had known the importance of hiring great people—even if it meant spending a bit more than I was comfortable with..."** - _Josh Zad, [Alfred Coffee](https://alfredcoffee.com/) (Los Angeles, CA)_

- **"I know it _feels_ responsible to buy a used espresso machine–don’t!..."** - _Christopher Feran, [Phoenix Coffee](http://phoenixcoffee.com/) (Cleveland OH)_

- **"I wish I had known how vital it was to learn and grow from other leaders earlier in my career..."** - _Stevie Hasemeyer, [Arcade Coffee Roasters](http://www.arcadecoffeeroasters.com/) (Riverside, CA)_

- **"I wish I’d started out with a more focused grassroots marketing effort..."** - _Alex Moen, [Match Made Coffee](http://www.matchmadecoffee.com/) (Oceanside, CA)_

- **"I wish I had known to put more stock in the feedback we get from our customers right from the start..."** - _Will Shurtz, Methodical Coffee (Greenville, SC)_

- **"In the beginning, we spent a lot of time on every step of the process from sales lead and producing our coffee to SELF-distributing our coffee..."** - _Hudson Gaines-Ross, [RISE](http://risebrewingco.com/) (New York, NY)_

- **"If I had to do it all back knowing what I know now, I wish I had started with a proper board of directors or advisors..."** - _Steven Sutton, [Devoción](https://www.devocion.com/) (New York, NY)_

- **"There can be a temptation early on to believe that everything is riding on your shoulders..."** - _Jonathan Riethmaier, [Mammoth Espresso](http://mammothespresso.com/) (New Orleans, LA)_

- **"I’m kind of an obsessive planner, so I really did a lot of research and got the necessary experience to run a coffee shop..."** - _Camila Ramos, [ALL DAY](http://www.alldaymia.com/) (Miami, FL)_

- **"I wish I knew that when you’re starting out, it feels like for every two steps forward, you take one step back..."** - _Noushin Ketabi, [Vega Coffee](https://www.vegacoffee.com/) (Estelí, Nicaragua / New York, NY)_

- **"I wish I had known that there’s no such thing as a silver bullet..."** - _Marco Suarez, Methodical Coffee (Greenville, SC)_

- **"This was a tough question to answer as I tend not to regret or look back on decisions..."** - _Casey Goch, [Shreebs](http://www.shreebscoffee.com/) (Los Angeles, CA)_

- **"I wish I had taken the time in the beginning to celebrate all the wins..."** - _Chris Campbell, [Chameleon Cold Brew](https://www.chameleoncoldbrew.com/) (Austin, TX)_

- **"This is a question that is fairly easy for me to answer after giving it a few minutes to think about..."** - _Xavier Alexander, [Metric Coffee](https://metriccoffee.com/) (Chicago, IL)_