Bring your dream café to life with Shingle Inn

Sarah Stowe

Following that dream of opening a coffee shop or cafŽ may not be as far off as you think. Given how crowded the cafŽ market already is, it really does pay to go with a tried and tested model.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more than 60 per cent of small businesses stop operating within the first three years of starting. And it’s not hard to see why.

There are so many challenges to overcome when running a coffee shop or cafŽ, starting with finding the right site, providing a unique or special offering that people want to keep coming back for, operating the business efficiently, cost effectively and profitably, keeping the customer experience consistent, training and managing staff, marketing your business… The list goes on and on.

Shingle Inn has 81 years’ experience and success behind it and an offering that’s been enjoyed generation after generation. The franchise team will hold your hand right through the process, including with:

• Securing an appropriate location for your cafŽ.

• Comprehensive, hands-on pre-opening training.

• Arranging relevant technology and training that will help you to efficiently run your business.

• Assisting you to plan your opening promotional activities and training you in identifying and executing local area marketing opportunities.

• Providing other systems and procedures to support your business success.

• Supplying ongoing support and training once you’ve opened your store, including immediate and constant access to Shingle Inn’s area managers and proven HR strategies.

• Providing an ongoing network marketing program, including the tools implement to the programs instore.

• Providing effective advertising.

• The opportunity to grow your business and build a saleable asset.

And Shingle Inn certainly has the expertise and experience to provide this support.

Born in the midst of the Great Depression as an elegant English style teahouse in Edward Street, Brisbane, in 1936, it soon became a busy landmark with queues to buy its famous cakes regularly stretching out the door and around the corner.

The cafŽ was taken over by the Bellchambers family in 1975. Now situated in Brisbane’s City Hall, it became so iconic that its even featured on the Brisbane edition of the world’s most popular board game, Monopoly.

The Bellchambers’ sons, Peter and Andrew, continue to operate brand and have expanded it to over 50 stores across Australia. And the brand keeps growing with a wide range of interesting sites still available across Australia.

The contemporary version of the original opulent 1930s teahouse still features luxurious high-back chairs, cosy booths, warm rich colours and lavish lamps. The menu is periodically updated to ensure it continues to delight customers.

Its products are crafted in a centralized bakery and delivered nationally to each cafŽ to maintain quality and consistency and, importantly, to allow Shingle Inn franchisees to concentrate on creating memorable customer experiences instore.

So if you are looking to open that dream cafŽ and run it effectively and profitably, consider opening a Shingle Inn franchise and taking advantage of the brand’s decades of experience and its tried and tested systems and strategies.