Running a drive-thru coffee stall is not as easy as it seems. If you’ve bought a franchise or launched your own drive-thru coffee shop, you know it’s not an instant cash cow. The day-to-day operations of a successful drive-thru look simple from the outside, but the inner workings are complex systems that hold everything together.
If you have a struggling drive thru coffee shop, don’t give up. Implementing the following systems will help your business thrive.
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A mobile POS system
If you want to breathe new life into a struggling business, you need a POS system that makes all your staff mobile and produces fast transactions. A great POS for fast service in the foodservice industry is Truffel. The Truffle POS system makes it possible for you to send one of your employees out to greet cars in line, return the order to the bar and collect payment before the customer gets to the window.
Buying a mobile POS system is just the first step. Once you have the basics for fast service, you need additional support systems. The next system to implement is staffing for success.
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A sufficient personnel system
One of the main reasons drive-in coffee shops fail is a lack of staff. It’s a cumulative, residual effect. If you don’t always have enough people on hand to take care of customers quickly, your sales will suffer and you will eventually go bankrupt.
Most coffee shop owners employ one person at a time because they don’t see enough sales to warrant a second or third person. This seems logical. Why hire more people if you don’t get the company?
The truth is, lack of business is more likely: result from too few people in the beginning. Customers will not tolerate slow service from a drive thru. A customer only waits a few times in a long line before going elsewhere. Over time, it may seem like you’re losing business for some other reason, but it’s almost always the residual effect of not employing enough people from the start.
For safety reasons alone, you should always have at least two people manned. After your two-person base, you’ll want another 1-3 people based on your busiest times. For example, you could staff two people from 5 a.m., join a third at 6 a.m., a fourth at 7 a.m., and then reduce to two people at 1 p.m.
Personnel for the company you expect to generate from your marketing efforts rather than personnel under current circumstances. Be ready to handle the business, and the business will go on.
It’s important to have enough people throughout the day, but you also need to assign people to specific positions to really pick up speed. The whole idea is to generate speed because a fast service will get you more cars in line.
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Allocate positions strategically
If you’re struggling, you probably don’t have a strict system of staff positions and duties. Assigning positions is only part of a effective business system that creates flow. Assigning employees to specific functions will significantly increase your speed and therefore your turnover. Speed is everything.
Assign staff to specific functions that include specific tasks that do not intersect. For example, you may only allow one dedicated person to work on the espresso machine(s). No one else is allowed to touch the machines because once your devoted person gets into their flow, anyone who enters their space will slow them down. Once that person slows down, your entire operation is backed up.
You need at least:
- 1 person making the drinks at the bar
- 1 person per window
- 1 person whose sole purpose is to greet cars in line
It shouldn’t take more than a minute or two for each customer to receive their drink. If it takes longer than two minutes, there is room for improvement.
Even Dutch Bros – one of the most popular drive-thru coffee chains in America – is slow compared to Caffino. Caffino was one of the West Coast’s most popular drive-in coffee chains in the 1990s and mid-2000s. Caffino kept its guarantee to get customers in and out 60 seconds or less because of the way baristas were staffed in special positions (among other proprietary systems).
Don’t be afraid to run a tight ship
Ultimately, your business will only become profitable if you run a tight ship. A successful drive-in coffee business doesn’t just happen – you have to build it from scratch.
