Hot Tips for Improving Café Efficiency

To paraphrase Ricky Bobby, the fastest get paid.

If you can keep your quality high while increasing the volume of products you can get out the door, you are going to make more money. Simple as that.

With that in mind, here are our hot tips for increasing your café’s efficiency.

Systems and Processes

Process is everything. If you can shave two seconds off the average time it takes to make a drink, you can blaze through long lines faster, cut wait times, and fit in dozens more orders in a day.

Barista Underground’s Hot Tips for Building Your Processes:

• Streamline Communication: Avoid confusion and delays by encouraging clear, concise communication among your staff. Implement shorthand systems for labeling orders on cups to save time and eliminate guesswork.
• Cup Touches Add Up: A great place to start your quest for efficiency is by looking at how many times a cup is picked up and set down from order to customer handoff. Count your current process, brainstorm improvements with your baristas, and test new methods to see if they save you time.

Streamline Your Workspace

A well-organized workspace is critical for maintaining speed and reducing unnecessary movements.

Barista Underground’s Hot Tips for Workspace Optimization:

• Optimize Your Layout: Arrange equipment strategically to minimize reaching or instances where baristas need to maneuver around one another during an order. Keep frequently used tools, such as milk pitchers and tampers, within arm’s reach.
• Give Your Staff Room To Work: If you are building out a café space, don’t just account for the size of your machines. Account for the humans who work with and beside them.
• Control Every Variable You Can: Invest in tools that enhance efficiency and consistency. For example:
  • Use grind-by-weight grinders to standardize shot size.
  • Pre-portion common ingredients during slower times.
  • Invest in an auto-tamper to standardize your cup packs.
  • Get to know your point-of-sale system and look for ways it can help you streamline popular orders.
• Get Ahead of Obstacles: Address issues that could slow you down before they happen. Remember the adage, “Anything that can go wrong, will.” For example:
  • Don’t put liquids (especially ones with sugar in them) on top of your espresso machine. We promise you one day they will get knocked over and best case scenario, it’ll take you time to clean, and don’t even get us started on the worst case scenario. If you know, you know.
  • Remove clutter from high-traffic areas to maintain smooth workflows. Twisted ankles and broken dishes are universally frowned upon.

Invest In Your Staff

Your team is your most valuable asset. Invest in their skills, and you'll reap dividends far into the future.

Barista Underground’s Hot Tips for Leveling Up Your Staff:

• Focus on Training: Regular training sessions help baristas brush up on techniques and improve workflows. They also serve as great opportunities to learn new skills or brainstorm new processes.
• Cross-Train Staff: Equip employees with the skills to handle multiple roles and add flexibility during busy shifts.

Help Your Customers Help You

If you're only thinking about your staff, you're missing half of the equation. The paying half, that is.

Barista Underground’s Hot Tips for Customer Flow:

• Think About Customer Flow in Your Space Consider how customers move through your café:
  • Entry and Exit: Do they use the same door for both, or could a separate entrance and exit improve efficiency?
  • First Impressions: What do customers see when they walk in? Is it a menu, a merchandise display, pastries, or something else? Try to use visual cues to encourage them to move naturally toward the ordering counter.
  • Lingering Areas: Are customers stopping in one spot and blocking the flow to the register? Adjust displays or layouts to minimize congestion.
  • Ordering Experience: Are customers ready to order when they reach the front, or are they still deciding? Clear, visible menus placed before the counter can speed up the process.
  • Waiting Areas: Where do customers wait for their orders? Are they bumping into others or blocking the flow of traffic? Ensure there's a designated waiting space that keeps the main pathway clear. Consider the order of operations (order, fulfillment, dine-in, or to-go order).
• Make Sure Your Menu is Readable:  Script fonts are the mean girls of the typography world: pretty but not your friend. To help prevent delays and cut confusion, choose a font or handwriting style that customers can easily read so they can peruse your menu before they reach the order counter. Bonus points if customers pass pastries on their way to order.

Aim for Continuous Improvement

You knew we couldn't talk about improving efficiency without mentioning at least one business buzzword rooted in East Asian philosophy. The Japanese term Kaizen translates to "good change." Kaizen is all about making small, consistent improvements in processes and systems to achieve significant long-term benefits. You don't need to overhaul your entire operation overnight. Incremental progress adds up over time.

Barista Underground’s Hot Tips for Getting a Little Better Every Day:

• Monitor Performance: Observe busy times and identify bottlenecks or slow steps in your processes. Small adjustments, like repositioning a milk frother or streamlining the path between equipment, can trim seconds off of every order.
• Embrace the Data: Use a stopwatch to time drink preparation during peak hours to establish a baseline. Experiment with new layouts or workflows and measure the difference. Analyze sales data to determine peak times and popular items, and adjust staffing and prep accordingly to meet demand.
• Encourage Feedback: Create a culture of improvement by inviting your team to share ideas for boosting efficiency. Your baristas are often the best resource for spotting inefficiencies and suggesting practical solutions.