How to Establish a Coffee Shop Business in Jakarta During The Pandemic Covid-19

Starting a coffee shop business for beginners is problematic because it will require knowledge to start shop management and find a market. That requires a process that is not easy.

However, there are many ways to shorten the process. One is by cooperating with a franchise because the franchise maker already has experience and knowledge in business rather than a beginner. Aida Revalina Azhar, a coffee shop owner in Cikajang and Benhill, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia, did this.

Aida said the coffee business she is currently involved in started with her intention to have her own business. Fortunately, after his superior in the House of Representatives (DPR), Meutya Hafid expressed his intention to open a coffee business in one of the shophouses he rented for a political podcast studio.

Aida joined forces with Muetya Hafid to run the business operations of two coffee shop branches cooperating with Lima Detik Coffee. This business started in 2019.

Of the three floors, two floors were used for coffee shops, eventually using the Kopi Lima Detik franchise. He also intervened in managing business operations at the coffee shop.

“Initially, because Mrs Meutya rented a building in Cikarang and there was an empty floor, so we used it for coffee and at the same time absorbed the workforce,” he said when we met recently.

He said that until now, he had not learned how to make coffee professionally because, during the Covid-19 pandemic, many coffee shops were closed.

“I wanted to study, but at that time (many coffee shop learning places) were closed, so now I’m learning from some of workers in cafe,” said he, who oversees coffee business operations in Benhil and Cikajang.

He said he was initially looking for a franchise because the coffee business was full of competition. He believes catching up with the bloody contest will be too slow.

“We chose a franchise because we don’t want to go halfway because the competition in Cikajang is good, the coffee shops are very good,” he explained.

He said he first built the partnership with a franchise pattern to cut the learning process of building a coffee shop business. He learned from coffee machines and food and coffee shop management, which are complex and accessible.

Moreover, many workers in coffee shops have turned over to look for new, better jobs.

“The issue of food and coffee they understand better. We have to customize what they want and what ingredients we can buy ourselves (not from a franchise),”

Tight human resources problems arose when the famous. Holywings bar closed and opened a new one. Many employees are more interested in working in bars than in coffee shops because the salary is above average and the work isn’t too hard.

“People want to work at bars or Holywings because the salary is above average and the work is not as hard as providing chicken wings. The salary can be around 4.5 million rupiahs monthly, not the same as tips or working at Starbucks with a salary above the Provincial Minimum Wage standard ),” he explained.

He said large coffee shops usually have two shifts to maximize work. However, three changes are ideal for anticipating employee resignation for a middle or medium-scale coffee shop. One way to work around this is to find employees on a part-time or freelance basis.

“Tired of teaching new people, big coffee is one shift of two people. If we (to deal with) big turnover, there are few people, so we usually have three shit a day,” he explained.

Each coffee shop has its advantages from the food and beverage menu. Five Detik Coffee Shop has the cheapest milk coffee at 20,000 rupiahs per glass, while its competitors sell the same menu at 30,000 to 40,000 rupiahs per glass.

When starting a business during the Covid-19 pandemic, he faced challenges when the pandemic was still very high, and coffee shops were only allowed to take away. However, when PPKM was level 3, many people were not allowed to go to the mall, so they spent time at the coffee shop.

At that time, monthly income could reach One hundred thirty million rupiahs a month, but after the mall opened, it dropped to 80 million rupiahs per month.

“The shop in Cikajang is profitable because people are not allowed to go to the mall, so they have Christmas at the coffee shop, reaching 130 million rupiahs a month. When the mall was active, it immediately dropped to Eighty million rupiah a month,” he explained.

Join the Community

After that, he started looking for ways to boost declining turnover, such as holding K-Pop events to attract female consumers. This strategy meets with the K-Pop community.

He made three food and drink packages for K-Pop fans. The highest box will get a picture of the K-Pop members in the form of a fan.

“Unexpectedly, there were 120 people who came, even though we only provided a capacity of 60 people,” he explained.

According to him, female consumers are more generous than men. As an illustration, there are not as many transactions during the World Cup as during K-Pop events because most men prefer to drink beer and eat snacks different from those at K-Pop events.

This solution is very appropriate because the shop in Cikajang has limited parking space. Most of the female visitors do not come using private means of transportation. He observes that most of them use an online vehicle or come by friends. So it doesn’t take up the existing parking space.

Moreover, the capital costs for finding valet parking employees can reach 8–10 rupiahs million monthly. The budget is a cost burden because sometimes the parking lot isn’t entirely because of competition with other coffee shops.

“Because most who come by car, we have to hire people to become valet parking. It can be two to three people. One person’s salary is 4 million rupiahs per person. Especially if it’s a valet, he has to park the car and negotiate a parking space, like having to pay the local thugs,”

“If only ten people park a day, it’s useless; it’s better to change the market,” he explained.

The purchasing power of K-Pop fans is also great; even this Korean-style event in one day can cover sales for three days when sales are high. The income can be up to five times the sales during regular days. The income from this event makes the store closer to the K-Pop community.

“Incidentally, our manager in Cikajang likes K-Pop and knows the community, so we immediately go hand in hand,” he explained.

She used a riskier strategy for the coffee shop in Benhill by imposing a smoking ban. It is effective in attracting female consumers who mostly do not smoke.

“People here (the market) is for girls who don’t like smoking, so the drinks are sweeter than ordinary,” he said.

At Benhill, the competition for coffee shops is quite busy, but the location advantage and more niche market segmentation because it targets anti-smoking women are its strengths.

“In here, the competition for non-smokers is only with Starbucks, but the price is low here,” he explained.

Increase in Cooking Oil Prices

The food and beverage business was affected when cooking oil prices rose. One solution is to buy bulk oil. It is a temporary solution because many customers ask for a price increase.

“The oil price has almost doubled; that person sold the conductor for 500,000 rupiahs from 300,000 rupiahs per liter, doubled, so we bought two to three liters at Alfamaret, even though it only cooks 4 liters at a time, so it doesn’t hit the industry; if you buy like that, it’s expensive, so we are frugal. Incidentally, we get a slightly skewed oil price,” he explained.

For five-second coffee shop promotion, he relies on billboards from franchise holders, but he also promotes on social media. Advertising on social media is often efficient and effective when targeting the right segmentation.

“Put an ad on the billboard in front of the coke for the whole brand. If I’m on social media, that’s why we grab it or try to build a community like that, make the same promo for events, especially in Cikajang, if at Benhill, Central Jakarta, we add chairs or tables for birthdays and office gathering,” he explained.

The drawback of the franchise fee is that there is a monthly fee and food standards determined by the franchisor, although he can buy some drinks, such as milk and syrup, independently to reduce production costs.

In addition, the franchise determined the price of food and beverages. The impact is that the profit opportunity is insignificant because they cannot determine margins despite high sales. So she must reduce food sales by a small margin.

“It’s nice to be able to choose a menu with big margins, but the cost of studying in a franchise is a bit expensive,” he explained.

“I want to open again in my name now; I want to make it cheaper, it happens that there are investors who want to open a smaller one, so we just make our brand,” he explained.

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