Around the world, we’re seeing small businesses dealing with the long-term challenges of serious staff shortages in the hospitality industry. Between government assistance packages and highly competitive starting salaries and incentives from larger companies, the hospitality industry is now suffering the consequences of having not addressed the issues of pay for employees. In a market where paying more is proving very challenging, what can small business owners do to adapt to the current market that doesn’t look to be changing for some time?

Choosing who you partner with, employ, and do business with can be the foundational decisions that can go on to determine the success or failure of your business. Having the foresight to define the RPM of the people that you need in different positions of your coffee small business to achieve a successful work environment for all stakeholders before you enter into these relationships will pay dividends beyond what you can imagine.

This episode is important and no matter how little you know about economics please please please watch or listen to this episode and start thinking about inflation! For a variety of reasons, governments around the world are suppressing Inflation and our industry is destined to be HEAVILY affected by the very real effects of inflation that governments do not want to admit is already happening.

There are a variety of reasons people become baristas. For some, it’s just a job/means to an end and for others, it’s a legitimate career option. Perhaps for you, it started as just a job and evolved into an industry you’d like to build a profession in. Depending on your motivations for being a barista, it’s highly likely that you may reach a point where the growth you thought would go on forever starts to plateau and you’re wondering “I’m bored, what now”. Check out this episode of the podcast to consider some options. This episode is also great for employers looks to consider things from the Barista’s perspective.

Being able to hold on to staff is a challenging endeavor in the hospitality industry for a number of reasons. The pandemic has made this even more challenging. In this episode of The Daily Coffee Pro by MAP IT FORWARD we explore why the attrition rate is so high in our industry!

Because of the belief that “everyone seems to have this figured out better than I do”, most small business owners doing it tough in the coffee industry suffer in silence. Heads up friends, most small business owners are doing it tough just like you are. Finding a support system like a business coach or mastermind group, even for a short period of time, can make all the difference to your ability to build and grow your business rather than being exhausted and losing motivation for why you started your business in the first place.

In these challenging times in the industry, having a support network around you is important. For small business owners, having people who can relate to shared experiences and challenges is invaluable. One such support network is a mastermind group and in this episode of the Daily Coffee Pro by MAP IT FORWARD we discuss what a mastermind group is and how it may be the missing link to your success as a small business owner. To find out more about the mastermind groups we offer for the coffee industry and beyond, head to imapitforward.org/groupcoaching or email us at support@mapitforward.org

There seems to be mixed messaging around where the status of the pandemic stands. Is it over? Is it still raging? Is it coming to an end? On this episode of the Daily Coffee Pro by MAP IT FORWARD we're going to have a chat about where it may or may not be at.

Assuming that money is the only value exchange employees are interested in can leave employers missing opportunities to build strong teams, cultivate great workplace cultures, and leave employees feeling appreciated in the workplace. Check out this episode of The Daily Coffee Pro by MAP IT FORWARD to gain insight into how you might reconsider your approach to compensating your employees.

In the coffee industry, whether you're a small business owner or a coffee professional, there seems to be a stigma against "not knowing". When an industry progresses this way it can lead to many challenges in evolving and discovering due to a lack of openness (which is needed for innovation). In this episode of the Daily Coffee Pro by MAP IT FORWARD, we'll explore why leaning into what you may not know that you don't know in coffee can be your ultimate alley in your career and business.

"Business will show You everything you never wanted to know about yourself" - it's a phrase I'm well known for saying and ask anyone who's gone into business for themselves and they'll sit you down and tell you a few stories about how the journey almost broke them. 100% of people will tell you that it changed them. For some, it forged them into grittier more successful people, while for others it left them bitter, depressed, and anxious. Find out while despite this, you should think about doing it anyway!

Running a small business is hard work. Trying to run a profitable small business in the coffee industry is even harder work (especially a cafe). Attempting to run a profitable coffee small business under the challenges of a global pandemic with constant staff shortages is proving to be increasingly more challenging than ever before. In this episode of the Daily Coffee Pro by MAP IT FORWARD, we’ll explore 4 tips to help you increase your profit margins quickly after implementation.

Opening a small business in the coffee industry seems fun and exciting, and it is! It’s also exhausting and filled with blind spots that leave you little to no energy (or budget left) to focus on a plan to get new customers through the doors and to your digital assets. Brand exposure, lead generation, and sales conversation are all a part of the strategy to acquire new customers i.e. a Customer Acquisition plan. In this episode of the podcast, we’ll go deep into why you need one!

In a previous episode of the podcast, we recently spoke about the importance of having a website if you’re a small business. In this episode of the podcast, we want to discuss the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and why it should be a focus of your website traffic generation strategy.