Why Understanding Your Neighbourhood Is The Key To Café Success?

I was thinking about what to write this morning and was trawling the internet for inspiration when I came across an interesting article about a woman who had just opened a café in the Sydney suburb of St Peter’s. The article stated that she’d designed the funky and eclectic looking interior complete with an old Datsun 120Y and furniture in shocking pinks, specifically to fit in with her clientèle

Why the old car and fuchsia furniture?

Because the owner has done her homework and knows that St Peters has a thriving artist community and is full of creative types. Needless to say the Velvet Garage Cafe is creating a real, buzz.

Whilst it’s fair to say you might not want to go so far as to having a clapped out old car as the centrepiece of your décor, there is something to be said for understanding your neighbourhood and in particular the clientèle who live there.

If you’re like me then I tend to be drawn to places that I connect with and this is probably true for the majority of people. I’m willing to bet that it wouldn’t have been half as successful if the interior had been decked out in neutral colours with regimented tables and matching chairs. Likewise it’s might not be a good idea to opt for an outlandish design if your café is right in the heart of a bustling business district and you’re seeking to attract say bankers and city types looking to do multi-million dollar deals over a skinny latte. Okay so that may be a tad over the top…but you get the point!

So how do you really get to know your potential clientèle and what kind of information do you need to know?

Well aside from the fact that there’s a high probability that your target market are coffee drinkers here are some other questions you might want to think about.

• How old are they?
• What’s their backgrounds/tastes?
• Do they have a particular style of music/food?
• Are they on their way to or from work, or are they doing the daily school run?

All of these fundamentals will help you to conjure up a pretty good picture of the type of potential customer that resides in your neighbourhood and one that you need to appeal to. If you can get this part right then everything else such as styling, décor and marketing should be done with your ideal customer in mind.

If you’re seeking design inspiration then here at Cafe Solutions we have a wide variety of café furniture at great value-for-money prices. Visit our website atwww.cafesolutions.com.au or contact us on (07) 3205 1616 for further details.