Cafe Franchise in Rural Areas

[Marketinggirl03]

Hello,

I'm a 28 yo from the Netherlands. My family owns a small but cute farm without any animals but ideal for a small cafe. However, I have read now a lot that restaurants and cafes are not really a highly profitable market to go into. I have worked in cafe in the past and really enjoyed it though. Do you think there is potential for a franchise concept for a cafe within farms or locations outside the cities?

Cafe Franchise Model: I would target specifically locations on the country side because I believe there are not enough cafes or restaurants. If there are restaurants they often provide the same menu. I could envision a cafe franchise model which provide a location within small villages to go to for good coffee, cake and ice cream (breakfast only if profitable).

I noticed a lot of old farms are not used because maybe they don't know how to start a business there, and cafes within those farms could be really a great opportunity.

What do you think?

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

What do you think?

Interesting idea, and it would have different economics than a cafe in a city with a huge rent payment in some building.

Problem is, how many customers can you serve in the middle of nowhere on a farm?

@MTF would be a customer for this type of thing, maybe he can chime in.

 

[Marketinggirl03]

Interesting idea, and it would have different economics than a cafe in a city with a huge rent payment in some building.

Problem is, how many customers can you serve in the middle of nowhere on a farm?

@MTF would be a customer for this type of thing, maybe he can chime in.

Yes, that's true. I believe this would be the biggest disadvantage and challenge at the same time. The concept would have to be so good, that people around the area would come in. They might not want to go to the big cities because it's too far and too crowded but would be willing to come to a town over.

 

[socaldude]

What do you think?

I've talked to people who own coffee shops and many fail because you have to sell so many cups of coffee or they have a bad location.

You need quality equipment and ingredients which is pricey, a good location and some spin or creative complementary business model that goes with the cafe.

When I lived in Mexico. There was this coffee shop by my apartment. I love coffee so I would go there often. It felt like I was the only customer. It was always empty. Every time I drove past there, the owner was just sitting inside by himself on his laptop. There was no way he was making money. I would talk with the guy but never summoned the courage to ask if he was profitable because I kind of already knew the answer.

 

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[Marketinggirl03]

I've talked to people who own coffee shops and many fail because you have to sell so many cups of coffee or they have a bad location.

You need quality equipment and ingredients which is pricey, a good location and some spin or creative complementary business model that goes with the cafe.

When I lived in Mexico. There was this coffee shop by my apartment. I love coffee so I would go there often. It felt like I was the only customer. It was always empty. Every time I drove past there, the owner was just sitting inside by himself on his laptop. There was no way he was making money. I would talk with the guy but never summoned the courage to ask if he was profitable because I kind of already knew the answer.

Good point with the complementary business model. Do you have something in mind which you have seen before? I am totally with you that selling coffee would be a hard foundation for generating profit.

 

[MTF]

Interesting idea, and it would have different economics than a cafe in a city with a huge rent payment in some building.

Problem is, how many customers can you serve in the middle of nowhere on a farm?

@MTF would be a customer for this type of thing, maybe he can chime in.

I imagine this could work if it were combined with a rural stay in a beautiful natural area with lots of stuff to do. You could have a nice room or a small cottage on the farm, go on a hike, and then come back and chill out at the cafe.

The problem is that the Netherlands doesn't have anything like that (sorry for being blunt, @Marketinggirl03). It's all flat, boring, human-altered terrain that probably won't attract many nature lovers. Maybe it could work near the Veluwe National Park though I doubt it would be interesting enough.

 

[Stargazer]

I would say a quarter of the farms near me have cafes on site. Not because they started cafes as such but because they started farm shops on site and then naturally expanded to adding a cafe if lots of people came to the farm shop.

A cafe in itself is not a great reason to jump in your car and go off to a farm. There is the 'main event' so to speak ie Going to buy produce direct from the farm. Grabbing Tea & Scones is secondary.

Are farm shops a thing in Netherlands?

Dan

 

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[Eurojanek]

@Marketinggirl03 I would advise you not to. You see caffe is a impulse sale product. That means: location where people walk by, see the Cafeterie walk in and buy by impulse. I know margins on caffee are 1000-1500% but in countryside it will not work.
In Poland there is that guy Andrzej Jacek Blikle, he is a mathematics and informatics profesor. Funnily enough he's also a master confectioner, funder and owner of 15 confectioneries in Warsaw, he also franchises his shops. There's that interviev where he talks about it that I would strongly advise you to watch before pulling a trigger on your idea. Unfortunatelly it's in polish with no subtittles. But I'm sure in todays world with apps and AI there's a way around it.
Interviev Andrzej Blikle youtube
He's also an author of the book "A Teal Doctrine of Quality" a different Tale but great read anyways.

 

[NewManRising]

It could work if you turn the farm into a ranch or resort where visitors come to visit for a reason, and the café or restaurant is an add-on. I don't think people will drive out of their way just to visit a café.

Perhaps even add lodging if possible. If you could transform the farm into a resort or ranch of some sort, then these ideas would bring in more visitors and money. I'd say, focus on a reason to bring people there and add the café once you know you'll have visitors.

I've visited ranches/homes/farms that sold gems/stones, plants, art, jewelry, had animals to show off, or it was just a beautiful natural landscape to come and see, etc. If there is a compelling reason for people to drive out there, then you can sell gifts or food/drinks at a café. You just got to give people a good enough reason to visit.