Wake up and smell the profit: 2nd edition Paperback – October 19, 2008

At 101 pages Wake Up and Smell the Profit gets right to the point providing good advice in nearly every line. The book is broken down into 52 tips making each one only a couple pages long. This is a good book to keep around and read during those 5-10 minute breaks between tasks or appointments.When I first read the title I assumed it meant 52 ways to market your coffee house. These 52 ways however, are more like tips to improve your coffee business. Some would argue “that is marketing” and broadly speaking they would be right. I just want to make sure you know what to expect.A good way to process or to take action on this information would be to pick 2 or 3 or 4 tips, and test them for a few weeks (or months, depending). Keep the changes that work, skip those that don't. Then go back and pick a few more until you have gone through all 52.Favorite line: “The number one issue that we deal with is clients who will not accept, either consciously or subconsciously, that they are running a business.”Any given suggestion could take a few hours, weeks, or months to implement and get proper feedback. For example, a smaller suggestion would be to have name tags with short descriptions for all your items. A larger suggestion would be to have a training program for employees or to track your numbers on a weekly basis.Some Other Great Tips:- Accept you are running a business and it is all about the money.- Don’t be a jerk boss.- Focus on the coffee: Good margin, great taste, and proper employee training.- Charge fair prices, to both your business and customers.- Understand Jay Abraham’s three ways to grow a business. Increase customers, increase how often they visit, and increase how much they spend per visit.- Use systems and processes (think The E-Myth Revisited book).- Make a plan each year.- Increase sales per visit.- Know your food cost and wage costs… Each Week.- Communicate with your employees.- Have spotless toilets (I love that one).- Constantly improve the sales process.I have also read "Wake Up and Sell More Coffee" another great book.

I've bought and read several books on running a cafe, many of which give you very generic advice such as "location is very important" or "you need to focus on training," or provide a list of what you need to tick off, but don't given you a firm point of view on what to do or not do. That's where I found "Wake Up and Smell the Profit" is different, and superior. The authors give you definitive actions or advice, which if you are running or planning on opening a cafe you ignore at your peril. The story telling format is so much more persuasive than lots of text book type proclamations. They allow you to learn from their first hand successes AND failures. A great forerunner to their second book ... "The Coffee Boys' Step by Step Guide" which is even more richer with precious nuggets to glean.

Great book. Very inspirational. Full of common sense and real world examples.

Informative, straight to the point, and fun to read. The book is no frills, but provides more value than other books on cafe operations. The tips are practical and sound advice for any small business retailer. Give this book a read.

My fiance and I have been reading and researching so much, and these gentlemen put all the important key topics into easy to follow terms. I have a food franchise background and he has a creative background...but this book finally got us to discuss what's most important together- the fact that opening a business together is for the money! Creative types don't always start a venture for profit...but without it, what's the future like for this venture?Thank you Coffee Boys for opening our discussion and keep us on the same page before diving in. Excellent book!!!

Like many, I’m a dreamer coffee shop owner who understands that a business is a business after all. But this book goes into how to care for customers and staff as well. A very easy read with great insights. I’m more motivated than ever to one day own my own coffee business after reading this.

I’m planning to start a cafe and this book has seemingly very useful tips about running a successful business. I particularly liked that it’s not long and to the point, with real life examples. It’s a nice read after reading The E-Myth Revisited.

Exceptionally concise and intelligent. Thoroughly enjoyed and learned. Read this before you start your business. And then read it again. You’ll be glad you did.