Friday 6 March 2009

Interesting article on coffee shop design in March newsletter

I like to gather interesting information for my newsletter, and this month Nigel Witham has contributed an article on coffee shop design and the mistakes that many coffee shop owners make, often to their cost, when it comes to designing their coffee shop.

Nigel has been designing some stunning interiors for many years, and works all over the world, so if you are looking for somethings special for your shop, see what he says in the March newsletter.

Greek Version out too!


And independent coffee shops are catching on in Greece and Cyprus too!




A Greek translation has now been completed and is available from http://www.katastimacafe.gr/





How to set up a Coffee Shop has now been translated into Turkish and is available as a digital ebook on the biggest coffee website in Turkey - http://www.kahve.gen.tr


Despite the current credit crunch, there is a growing market for western style coffee shops in Turkey, with well known chains such as Caffe Nero opening up their first stores there.





Tuesday 22 July 2008

Don's Book signed up by Turkish Publisher

Turkey, the Land of Coffee, will soon be privy to Don's expertise.

We were approached back in April by Mikado Publishing in Istanbul. There is a big market for Western style coffee shops in Turkey, and they had been looking for a guide to setting up a coffee shop and they found our website.

The translation is almost finished and the book should be available online in Turkish some time in September.

Little did we know when we sat down to write the book last year that we would be on the radio in Devon and dealing with foreign publishers within the year! It's an amazing thing, the Internet!

Tuesday 24 June 2008

Our 5 Minutes of Fame!

Well, Don and I had our 5 minutes of fame on the local radio.

It was a bit "in at the deep end" as we were shown straight into the studio whilst the interviewer was talking to another interviewee over the phone, and then Don was asked about his background and why he had decided to market a product online.

I was then given a couple of minutes to explain how we had put the book together and I stressed that many people have a lot of knowledge which can be packaged, and sold on the Web to a global audience.

I think the art of being interviewed is to forget totally about the audience, and just chat to the interviewer as if you are talking to a friend.

So now, when my kids tell me their friends mothers are "cooler" than their mum, I can at least say "Yes, but have they been on the radio?"!

Friday 20 June 2008

How NOT to run a coffee shop

I read this sometime ago and it is really interesting, because it points out all the mistakes you can make in opening a coffee shop, and these are exactly the mistakes that Don has pointed out and warned against in his book.

The article is by Michael Idov and you can read it by clicking here.


We're on the Radio

Just had a call from our local radio station today. They have invited Don and me on to their breakfast show to talk about the book we have put together, and the fact that we are selling it online. They have also have invited a (much) younger internet entrepreneur onto the show to talk about his aim to retire a millionaire at 24.

One of the things I want to stress is that you don't have to be a teenager to sell online, that it is a tool and a market open to all ages!

Should be interesting, so I am making a list of the points we need to put across and hoping that we don't get stage fright - or at least not both of us at the same time.