Coffee shop or Bar?

May sound silly but from a consumer standpoint, why not do both? coffee during the day and into the night, Martinis for the evenings. If one works out better than the other, you can always modify it. If there was a coffee/martini bar near me - I would be there morning, noon and night! Nice wallpaper btw...I just noticed it and have to admit that I issued a rather girlish giggle.....LOL

I think you and Gunz opening a bar would be tough. "We're serving 300 drinks a night. How are we not making any money?" Evil: "How..hic..should I know? Pass the Patron." :) The coffee setup would be less than you think if you go with a particular brand. They'll throw in the hardware if you're selling their coffee. Math time! :)

I've considered opening a bar....trying to get a degree under my belt first. Learning how to properly run the business will help me when I finally decide to make the big jump, that is, unless GE decides to push me forward. :)

The profit margins are good on both if the overhead is kept down. My Mother has ran several bars and clubs and also lived in Florida for a few years. She would be a good Lady to give some insight, Pm me if you would like her phone#. If you do I will phone her for a heads up on your call.

I wish I could help but I'm clueless. My wife and I want to open a catering business (at first)and eventually a restaurant. We're in the research stages also right now but hope to be up and running with the catering by this time next year, if not sooner. Now, I just have to get past the clueless part.

if yu open a coffee shop, starbucks has a way of knowing if you're doing well, eventually you'll find one across the street from you. this was evident in asheville. we had a four nice family owend coffee houses with wi-fi. starbucks blasted onto the scene 2 yrs ago and planted themselves in 3 new locations, each near one of the other coffee bars. when i moved away only one of the coffe bars was still in business, and that one only stayed alive because they have a franchise in the area. most places that aren't starbucks now i've noticed don't sell themselves as coffee houses. one place in asheville is actually a bagel bakery, and does pretty good business with the bakery, but they sell the best coffee in town and that is what brings people in. as a former bartender and wine steward who has worked in upscale places (worked in two during their start uo, one during its demise) i've learned a lot of money can be made in it....but 1.) you'll devote your life to it (one joint i worked at the guys kids would sleep in the bar office until he left for home around 1am.) 2.) you have to know people who know people (if you want a high end place, you need to keep high end clientel. best way to do this is to make them think your place is the shit, and word of mouth is the best advertising.) you want to know people who can book you jazz musicians at the drop of a hat. you want to know people who need to impress other people for business purposes. 3.)location is paramount. if you want to be a high end martini bar, you want to be close, within walking distance, of as many high end restaurants as possible. the two bars i worked for that started out really well were located downtown, near the ritziest joints and had music booked thursday through sunday every week. the bar i worked at that didn't survive had no direction and was located at the end of the downtown area, close to the on ramp for the interstate. the woman who owned it wanted high end clientel but wouldn't spring for high end draws. we were using canned sodas as mixers and her wine list was all over the place. you don't sell wine by the bottle you can buy from the grocery store with high end stuff like bacio divino. if you go for the bar, you're going to spend a ton to get started. for the martini's, you're going to want an espresso machine...not cheap...don't get the one's that use packets, they're cheaper in the short run, but the purveyors for the packets have you by the short and curlys. you'll spend more for a real one up front, but you can pay it off in a year or two. nothing beats a real expresso martini. another question you have to ask yourself...are you a morning person or an evening person...coffee house, up at 5am. bar, to bed at 5am.