2nd Cuppy’s Coffee Franchise Opens in Pennsylvania

Mechanicsburg, PA is one of the newest Cuppy’s Coffee, Smoothies & More to open. The owners have put together their barista team to start serving up delicious espressos and smoothies to an anxiously awaiting town. “Working with our FSM, Stefanie, has been a pleasure. Both my wife and I love having her in our corner throughout the entire process.” stated the owner during their soft opening. We are looking for great things out of Mechanicsburg and would like to congratulate them on opening their Cuppy’s Coffee location.

Here is the story reported in the Patriot News 

Jason Winters had a light bulb moment while in a coffee shop on business in New Jersey.

“I saw a guy sitting at a laptop and I thought ‘Why not open a coffee shop?’

This week, he, his wife, Joanne, and their son, Hunter, 8, are celebrating the grand opening of Cuppy’s Coffee Smoothies & More at 6416 Carlisle Pike, Silver Spring Twp. in the Silver Spring Square (with Wegmans and Target). The shop opened late last month.

Never heard of Cuppy’s? You’re not alone. This is the second one to open in Pennsylvania.

The 2-year old national chain operates more than 70 locations in the United States and Canada and is undergoing aggressive growth. The company aims to become a household name much like its counterpart, Starbucks, with more than 200 Cuppy’s scheduled to open nationwide this year.

Coffee is at the heart of the menu with standard drinks along with lattes, mochas, espressos and iced coffees. They blend smoothies in flavors such as mango breeze, berry delight, Cuppy’s colada and strawberry banana extreme.

Breakfast kicks off with egg, bacon or sausage and cheese croissants, French toast sticks, bagels and cereals. Lunch delves into sandwiches such as ham and cheese, turkey and bacon or roast beef barbecue along with salads and soups.

A kids’ menu focuses on peanut butter and jelly, apple sauce and milk, and a child-friendly section of the restaurant has toys, books, movies and learning laptops. The menu also includes baked goods — cookies, muffins, assorted cakes, cheesecakes, pies and chocolate-covered pretzel sticks.

Prices range from 99 cents for a bagel to between $5.95 and $7.25 for sandwiches.

The Winters will link up with nonprofit and community groups to do fund-raisers with a portable coffee cart. Wi-Fi is available in the restaurant.

Problems in Franchising: Avoid these Costly Mistakes

It takes a lot of money to build a business, and you certainly don’t want to waste any. Check this list of 7 costly mistakes to avoid.                                

1. Letting emotions rule. Falling in love with a franchise concept is a common mistake. Don’t let your emotions guide your decisions. Use your head, do your due diligence and take the time to thoroughly investigate the franchisor’s offering.

2. No professional team. Don’t try to do your own financials, contract reviews, or negotiating. The cost of professional franchise attorneys, accountants, and advisors is money well spent.

3. Too little cash. Lack of capital is the number one reason franchisees fail. Item 7 in the UFOC will tell you how much money you’ll need with a low and high range. Be smart-go with the high range. Then ask current franchisees if the numbers are high enough.

4. Penny wise and pound foolish. Choosing one franchise over another because the initial franchisee fees are lower is shortsighted. It assumes that all franchises are alike and nothing could be further from the truth. Choose the franchise with the proven concept and strongest track record.

5. Too much help. Payroll is the biggest part of overhead for most franchise businesses. New franchisees often hire too many people or pay too much in wages. A good franchisor will provide a good staffing plan. Stick to the plan.

6. No comparison.  Never buy expensive equipment, supplies or inventory without shopping around first. Even if your franchisor offers group purchasing, do your own research, shop as many vendors as you can, consider aftermarket suppliers, and weigh different financing options (loans or leases).

7. Marketing blunders.  As a new business owner, you’re going to be targeted by every ad salesperson around. Ignore them. Follow your franchisor’s marketing plan to the letter to avoid wasting thousands.

Editor: The Problems of A Cuppy’s Coffee Newsletter

Company newsletters throughout the business world have a key element or theme about them. That theme or purpose of the newsletter is to motivate its employees to be more productive. At the Bean Street Journal, a Cuppy’s Coffee’s newsletter, as Editor I want to move beyond motivation. The purpose and main editorial thrust of this company wide publication is to educate and inform franchisees as well as the staff of Cuppy’s.

As a parent of a teenage daughter, I learned early in my homeschooling days that in order to sometimes inform or educate the best route is to entertain to get the point of the lesson across. This worked well with my daughter, but will it work with adult business people?

Therein lies the problem with a monthly newsletter. Will the information and content of the newsletter educate the readers? Will it also entertain and keep the reader flipping thru every page? As editor I hope this is the case, but as a writer and contributor the crux of any writing is will the readers enjoy it? Will my passion for fiction interfere with the nonfiction topics of business? This is always a concern.

Before the release of any newsletter, I enjoy receiving feedback from the staff of Cuppy’s. This pre-screening by a 100 pair of eyes, always catches the errors I may have made in producing the newsletter. For this I am thankful.

As for the reader I do hope that you enjoy the newsletter and are educated by the contents. Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome at the Bean Street Journal.

~Editor

Cuppy’s Coffee: Pitfalls to Avoid in Business-Part 2

Continuing with our series on pitfalls that may hurt your business, the following topics deal with procedural issues that you may or may not be doing. The success of your business has many different faces and paths. You will need to navigate the terrain carefully in order to survive in today’s competitive market.

Marketing? What’s That?    

You’re open! You’ve told everyone in town about your new business and to come by to sample your wares. They came  in but you forget or didn’t take advantage of the moment to market your business. Marketing is the planning, implementation and tracking of procedures and ideas to help increase store sales and awareness of your business to your target market. Forgetting to market at every opportunity, you may begin to see  a eventual decline in customers coming to your location.  You may have decided that there are other factors to consider before taking the time to market your store such as; worrying about the espresso machine, the employees, the store, and lists goes on and on. These may be just a few excuses you’ve come up with. You find yourself spending more time in the store to cut costs or save money. As the owner it is your responsibility to market your store and get the customer in the door. You will have to spend the time and resources to make the cash register drawer ring. There are countless cost effective ways to get the message out to the public that your business is there.  Consult with your Franchise Systems Manager to find ways you can continue to market and increase sales. 

Change All, Quick Fall    

As teenagers we may have resented the fact that our parents knew what was best for us. They’d tell us one thing and we do the complete opposite, because we knew what was best. Unfortunately, we learned to live life the hard way. ‘If I’d only listened to my parents’ became our mantra. The same holds true for most successful franchise businesses today. Your sales are down and you’re looking for the quick fix to get things going. Corporate has advised you to do this, but you just know that won’t work for whatever reason. Sound familiar? You may have changed the drink recipes, you may have switched to a local roaster hoping to catch more of their audience, or maybe you’ve even changed the way you operate completely. Nothing seems to work and you’re looking for someone to blame.     

Sometimes it’s hard to look in the mirror to find the answer. When the wheel was invented it was a monumental invention that help transform the world. The wheel has been improved, revised and revamped but yet it’s still round. And it’s that roundness that makes the wheel work so wonderfully. The point is that a proven system that works today will work tomorrow. Changing the ways things work or the system will only cause you to go round and round with yourself looking for an answer that will never come. Getting back to the basics may be the answer you seek. Regroup, refocus and move forward. 

Negative Thinking     

Numerous books, tapes and video have been published on the effects of negative thinking and how to counter it. Believe it or not but the way you talk to yourself has a monumental effect on the success and/or failure of your business.             

Your enthusiasm suffers with a negative outlook, your body language suggests you don’t care, the tone of your voice drops and lists goes on. Try this; in the mirror tell yourself you’re the greatest of all times. Mohammed Ali did and he convinced the world. Sing a silly song to get your spirits up. Dance to the music on the radio. Look up! It’s hard to be down when looking at the sky. You’ll notice an immediate change in the way you talk, walk and interact with other people around you. Your customers will be happy, your employees will be happy and that bottom line will also start to look up!    

Pitfalls are all around us. How we decide to react to them, will determine the success and/or failure of our businesses and personal interactions. Remember that success is a journey

Cuppy’s Coffee: Pitfalls To Avoid In Business

  Running a successful business can be daunting. Several factors play a key role in the success of your business such as patience, passion, knowledge of your industry and determination. There are others, but there are more ways to fail than there are to succeed. Take a look at the following pitfalls and the subsequent topics to follow, and see if they may apply to you . Any one or combination of these pitfalls will be reflected daily in your attitude and the way you approach the next day’s business.  If you find yourself party to any of these pitfalls, don’t worry, we have a way for you to turn it around.

Conversation Curses    

Having the wrong conversation can do more harm than good in making you feel better. As humans it is our nature to want to vent our frustrations from the highest mountains we can find. And while on that mount the wrong words can be like a rolling stone on an unending hill to disaster. Today’s society tends to relish all that is wrong or negative. The effect is contagious and detrimental to most businesses just as in this example. In the 80’s a certain franchise, which we won’t mention here, gained national notoriety in the press from the conversations and correspondence that occurred between disgruntled franchisees. It took that company years and cost millions of dollars to regain the respect of the public for its brand. These franchisees had a bad case of ‘Loose Lips’ which eventually led to many of them closing their doors, not to mention, losing their hard earned investments. This downward spiral even damaged the franchisees that were making a financial windfall and had no party to negativity that was unleashed by others. That was not the intention but once the cat was out of the bag it was hard for many of them to recover. Another example how negative press and today’s events can hurt your business, how many of you will check your toys for the label “Made in China”?    

Your company image and brand is, and should be, very important to you. How do you want your target market, customers and your community to perceive your franchise? Protect it. Talking or corresponding negatively about your experiences or hardships will result in a decline of customers walking through your doors. With the invention of the internet, email and text messages a shot can now be heard around the world faster than you can say “Loose Lips Sinks Ships”. Speaking negatively with your employees will not only lower their moral they too will become discouraged and not give the customer service you expect hurting your business further.     

The effects are numerous. So to counter that, it is wise to always build up your business by giving positive comments, correspondence and attitude even when things seem their worst.  You only hurt yourself when you speak negatively of your company, vendors and customers. Name recognition will have a lot of weight on the success of your location. You can be a part of the success or that shot heard around the world. 

Bad or No Customer Service    

     The enthusiasm has worn off. You look at your customers more like a life line than a person. Without realizing it you’ve stopped noticing the very people who are making your business successful. It’s become a JOB. You’re wondering why you can’t make ends meet or why it that you don’t have more customers. 

      The answer may be in you and your employee’s customer service skills. Taking a few minutes each day with each employee and explaining the importance of customer service can turn this pitfall around. A simple smile, a warm thank you or maybe an acknowledgement of their presence are simple techniques that will make anyone feel comfortable in your store. And more importantly make them want to return with their friends. Your customers will reward you by telling their friends and neighbors about the wonderful experience they received at your store. Are you providing your customers with the service they need? If you know who the customer is, call them by name. Are you building a loyalty relationship between you and your customer? Offer your customer a discount or reward for sending a friend in to sample your wares. Create a service award program or contest among your employees. Want your baristas to give great service? Reward great service. Create the legends, spread the word. When your employees see praise and rewards for great service, pretty soon they are trying to one-up the others and become the next service legend. What will your customer say? “Wow! See you tomorrow!”