Coffee shops may be one of the most ubiquitous business models in the world, and that's not even factoring in all the coffee that is served in restaurants, hotels, at events, or in all types of other venues. Given the cafe's popularity, you'd think that there would be lots of practical guides out there on how to run one; we'd venture to say that you might be surprised.

When we ourselves looked around for a practical guide we could share with our commercial customers, we found many books on how to make coffee, or learn about the beverage itself, but there was surprisingly little out there on the business of coffee, particularly in terms of specific advice on how to manage the day to day.

Colin Harmon seems to have noticed the same thing and, having built some successful coffee shops himself, he decided to write a book about his experience. We were fortunate enough to be introduced to the book when Colin visited South Africa and spoke about it, and then quickly picked up our company copy.

We now highly recommend this book to anyone thinking of embarking on a coffee venture. It addresses many of the questions you might have (or will have later down the line). It discusses some of the mundane detail that is all-important to a successful operation but doesn't make for snazzy social media content.

In short, if you're planning to run (or are already running) a coffee business, you should read this book.

Notes on What I Know About Running Coffee Shops from the publishers

Colin Harmon is a four-time Irish Barista Champion and owner of Dublin's 3fe Coffee, one of the world's most innovative and progressive speciality coffee shops. His work in coffee has extended to roasting, training and consultancy work, as well as developing coffee equipment for the speciality market and beyond.

What I Know About Running Coffee Shops is drawn from Colin's experience in building 3fe from a one-man cart in a nightclub lobby to the internationally renowned business it is today. The lessons, stories and guidelines offer a unique and honest insight into the day-to-day realities of what many people see as their dream job.

What I Know About Running Coffee Shops book format

• Hardcover
• 227 pages
• 22.5cm x 16 cm