Anyone who has ever owned or managed a retail specialty coffee business knows that to be successful, hundreds-if not thousands-of details must be coordinated and managed on a daily basis. And unless your coffee shop is a one-person operation, it's obvious that you must depend on your employees to achieve this success. That's why training should be a priority. While we all wish that new employees came preprogrammed with the knowledge and skills to provide excellent customer service, prepare quality drinks, and carry out all of the other tasks necessary to operate a store, this is rarely the case. So how do you establish a clear and organized program?

The first thing to realize about training is that you cannot teach what you do not know. It is unrealistic to expect the student to know more than the teacher! Training begins with you, the owner, and you must understand what it takes to run a successful specialty coffee business. You must learn about coffee and espresso, nail the principles of good customer service to the wall and master all of the intricacies of day-to-day operations. You wouldn't believe how many coffee bar owners I meet who have little to no knowledge of the product they sell and can't figure out why their businesses are floundering.

There is no shortage of educational resources to help you learn about the coffee business. You can begin by diving into the many helpful books on the subjects-titles like Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing & Enjoying and Espresso: Ultimate Coffee, both by renowned coffee expert and author Kenneth Davids, or Bellissimo's Bean Business Basics, a 690-page manual dedicated to showing you how to set up and operate a successful coffee business.

If you are interested in opening a drive-thru, Bellissimo's Opening a Specialty Coffee Drive-thru is filled with valuable information. For existing retailers, Achieving Success in Specialty Coffee is an excellent marketing manual.

Other books worth reading are Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman's First, Break All the Rules, a study of successful managers, and Michael Gerber's The E Myth Revisited, which examines common misconceptions and mistakes made by small business owners. If you're more of an auditory learner, you can opt for instructional videos such as Bellissimo's "Espresso 101" and David Schomer's "Caffe Latte Art." Videos allow you to assimilate large amounts of information in a short period of time. Ideas that can be clearly conveyed in seconds through video might take hours to read through.

Another way to educate yourself about the industry is to attend coffee trade shows and conferences, such as NASCORE, Coffee Fest, and the annual exhibition and conference sponsored by the Specialty Coffee Association of America. These events are a good way to gather ideas and learn from those already in the business. Industry professionals who attend are eager to share their knowledge and expertise through a diverse cross-section of lectures and seminars.

Recently, I met the owner of an espresso operation who was interested in expanding and improving his business. I quickly realized that this would not be a simple task. His employees had no idea how to properly extract espresso or steam milk-bad signs. So I began inquiring about the owner's training methods. Did he show his baristas videos? Was there required reading? Did they attend brewing workshops? The operator did own a training video, but he had never really watched it, or passed it on to his employees. Amazing!

As uncharacteristic as it was for me, I scolded the owner. I told him that the only thing inhibiting the growth of his business was his complacent attitude. In order to succeed, he would have to change his priorities, his sense of urgency, and the way he interacted with his employees and customers. I explained that if he was not willing to embark on a mission of self-improvement, he would probably be better off selling his business.

Once you understand your own responsibilities and goals as an owner, it's time to educate your employees in a variety of areas. If you want to maximize your profitability, you must teach employees the principles of drink preparation, customer service, suggestive selling, and countless other daily routines.

What's the best way to train your staff? Lead by example. For instance, why would you expect employees to have respect for your customers if you don't? Why would they provide attentive customer service if they perceive that it's not important to you? Why would they be committed to making perfect drinks if you serve mediocre ones? You must lead the way.

Before embarking on your training mission, you need to define your objectives. What do you want your baristas to understand and do? What about your cashiers? Create an extensive outline of the knowledge and tasks that are essential for each position in your store. Organize this outline in a "checklist" form, so you can mark off functions as they are covered with your employees during training. This will ensure that you don't forget any critical information. Create your list in a logical sequence, so that the basic information related to a subject is covered before you move on to more advanced concepts.

Once you begin to train, try using the following procedures. First, explain the process that you are about to demonstrate. Then demonstrate the process and invite the employee to ask questions. Next, ask her to explain and demonstrate the process. Critique her execution of the steps. Finally, ask her to repeat the procedure until she shows that she clearly grasps the concept and can perform the act proficiently.

When dealing with functions related to daily store maintenance (cleaning glass front doors and pastry case, wiping tables, sweeping floors, restocking the condiment bar, etc.), instruct employees to do these things, but also empower them to believe that it's their responsibility to maintain these things. This way, they won't think that these functions are only necessary under your instruction. You may have to remind them occasionally to perform these tasks, but shifting the responsibility of recognition and action from you to them will free you up to do other, more important, jobs.

When I help someone open a new coffee business, I train employees to prepare beverages properly and to provide good customer service, but I also touch on many administrative functions with the owner-how to order, how to track product usage, how to record invoices and sales. I even show them how to produce an income statement at the end of each month. To many business owners, the amount of information I cover in a few days can seem staggering.

Before I leave, I usually tell operators that I know I've given them a lot to think about, but they shouldn't be concerned if they can't produce an income statement for several months. I explain that for the first four to six weeks, they should concentrate on writing schedules, placing orders, paying bills, and making the bank deposits. And the most important thing they can do for the first month or so is spend the majority of their time working with employees, watching each drink, and listening to each employee interact with customers.
   
Supervising new employees' actions for the first few weeks of your business is critical. Remember that you have only one chance to impress first-time customers. If they have an unpleasant experience during their first visit, they probably won't return. Secondly, new employees are malleable. The policies and procedures that you implement in the initial weeks will usually be readily accepted by your employees as being the way things are. If you let employees "do their own thing" for a month or two and then try to train them, it will probably be difficult to change their habits.

But there is a fine line between training and scrutinizing. Breathing down your employees' necks and dissecting their every move will only make them uncomfortable. You can prepare employees for this invasive interaction by explaining what you will be doing and why you will be doing it. Say something like, "I'm going to be working with you extensively in the next week or two to make sure that you understand exactly how I want things done. I may correct what you are doing or make suggestions on how to handle a situation, but please do not be intimidated by this. If I offer constructive criticism, don't be offended or take it personally."

Remember, ongoing instruction is essential. It is human nature to cut corners or simplify what we have been taught. Restraining will help reinforce all the principles you covered in the initial training. Also, be careful about delegating training to one of your employees. While someone may be proficient at his own job, it doesn't necessarily mean that he can train someone else. If you plan to elevate an employee to the status of trainer, be sure he understands the process. Make certain he uses the same training checklists you do, and ask him to run you through the training procedure as if you were the new employee. This will give you the chance to evaluate and refine his training skills before you unleash him on new hires.

Ongoing training can-and should-consist of more than rehashing the fundamentals that were taught upon hiring. It can actually refine and expand your employees' skills. When I managed foodservice operations, I always encouraged employees to improve their present skills and learn new ones. At first, I helped them pick out an area of performance to work on, but after several weeks, I insisted that they evaluate their own performance and choose an area to improve upon.

Once you have trained your employees to evaluate their own performance and to set goals for their own improvement, your business should operate seamlessly with minimal intervention. For a business owner, this is great news. It will set you free to tend to administrative activities that are essential to the growth of your business-functions like evaluating the present state of your operation and planning strategies that will help your business to march onward and upward.