According to The Tea Association of the U.S.A, 159 million Americans drink tea on any given day. It’s just behind water on the most widely consumed beverages list, with a home in eight out of 10 U.S. households.
If there’s a product you can create a business around, it’s certainly tea.
And if you’ve decided to open a tea shop, tea café, teahouse or online shop after studying the above and other tea-related statistics, we don’t blame you. It’s a lucrative venture, so long as you’ve created the proper foundation and followed the proper business advice.
Of course, the annual World Tea Expo offers plenty of education, insights and valuable tips for tea business entrepreneurs. In fact, the event hosts the annual “Tea Business Incubator” workshop, formerly “Tea Business Boot Camp, to help startups. It’s worth checking out.
Here are some general tips and advice for tea entrepreneurs just starting out.
Put Together a Business Plan for Your Tea Venture
Way too many new business owners skip creating a business plan. From “It’s too complicated” to “I don’t have time” to “I know what I’m doing here,” they’ve got plenty of reasons for not creating a plan.
But they fail to realize how an intentional plan can change the trajectory of any business. A niche tea business needs a detailed blueprint to ensure it’s a success. A traditional business plan typically includes a summary and description of the business, a market analysis, your marketing and sales plans and more. You can also take out any sections or add customized ones, as needed – as long as you’ve covered all of the key components in your plan. And, if you plan on applying for a business loan, you should create as detailed a plan as possible. It’ll go a long way in ensuring your future success.
Prioritize Marketing Efforts with Your Tea Business
There’s a whole lot of people drinking tea. But only a fraction of them visit teahouses or tea shops regularly to indulge. And if you’re creating an online tea business… you’ve got a ton of competition out there! And many of those businesses are doing a great job at marketing and promotion. Still, there’s a customer base for everyone. To reach them, you must prioritize marketing in a big way.
Developing a comprehensive marketing strategy will absolutely take time and effort. But just like the business plan, it’s better to have one than not. It’ll help you connect with your target audience and reach promotional and business goals in the most efficient ways rather than winging it.
Your overarching marketing strategy should include:
- Market research
- Diverse marketing approaches
- Details about your marketing budget
- Competitor and target audience analysis
- Overall goals and those specific to each channel
- Metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) you’re tracking
With a marketing strategy in place, you can get a better understanding of your audience as well, which can help with other steps of your business creation. Of course, be sure to get creative with your marketing plan! Think outside the box and come up with unique ways to maximize whatever budget you’re dealing with.
Stay Financially Diligent to Succeed
Like any business, you must ensure you stay diligent about finances when operating your tea business. Staying on top of your profits, expenses, debt, investments and all things business finance-related is integral to a successful launch and continuous growth.
Map out your financial landscape even before opening the doors of your business. What are your startup costs? How much can you cover with your own money? How much would you need to borrow? What will be your recurring expenses? How much do you need to make each month to be profitable?
Once you’ve officially opened or you’ve launched, solidify your budget and adhere to it by any means necessary. Also, educate yourself on all your tax obligations. Enlist the help of a financial advisor if you need extra support.
Have a Growth Plan for Your Startup Tea Business
What will you do when your business starts to grow? If your answer is, “I don’t know,” sustaining your growth is unlikely. However, if you have a growth plan, you’ll know exactly what to do when your tea business takes off to keep expanding.
At the very least, you need to know how you’ll manage increasing costs and new demand. You can do this by documenting your vision of your business in the future. How big do you see your customer base getting? How will product demand change because of it? What will the associated costs be, and how will you keep them in check?
A growth strategy ensures your tea company’s evolution is a good, sustainable thing.
Offer a Robust Product Line or Menu of Offerings with Your Tea Business
Indeed, there are many different types of tea in the world and various ways to serve them. As much as you may want to offer them all, determine if that’s feasible.
Of course, you want to offer a robust product line. But the key is offering a solid product or menu offering that your target audience will love. That’s why it’s crucial to study your target audience and discover the teas and serving options they’re most interested in.
Naturally, you’ll also want to check the costs of the teas and related products you want to offer to ensure they’re profitable. Read reports on what’s trending, what customers value, insights on the buying habits of different generations, etc. World Tea News regularly publishes these report, so it’s a good idea to get the free weekly eNews (if you don’t already receive it). And finally, focus on developing great relationships with your suppliers to maintain consistent inventory.
Consider Unique Alternatives and Add-Ons
The kinds of teas you offer through your tea business – and how you prepare and serve them, if you’re teahouse, tea café or tea shop – is vital. However, don’t get so caught up in the tea side of things that you forget about the other elements that make your tea and overall customer experience so memorable. Yes, the customer experience for an online business is just as important as the experience for a customer in a brick-and-mortar shop. So, make sure it’s special to keep the customers coming back.
Also, consider offering unique alternatives and add-ons at your tea business. For example, give customers a variety of sweeteners instead of sugar to sweeten their tea (as some people like that). If you’re a tea café, think about having non tea options on the menu as a way to appeal to more buyers. Or, elevate the refreshments you serve with your tea. Think about what will make the experience special and how you can sell more to your customers and visitors. If you’re a brick-and-mortar tea business, being the only tea shop in your area with specific or unique alternatives and add-ons can really help put you on the map.
Become a Tea Destination!
As narrow as the brick-and-mortar tea market is, there’s still a lot of competition out there. The only way to beat it is to stand out. One of the best ways to do this is to become a destination, not just a shop that sells and/or serves tea. In other words, customers should enter into something special when they walk into your tea business.
It should be original. It should be Instagram-worthy. It should feel like customers are entering into a tea-related dream world. One they can’t visit anywhere else. Bring culture, color and concepts to your tea shop or café that make it a must-visit destination in your area. And if you’re an online business, think about the same things but from a digital perspective. The idea is to hook your customers and make sure that want to come back for more.
With the above tips, you’ll be that much closer to creating your very own, highly-successful online tea business, popular teahouse, tea shop or tea café.
Indiana Lee is a freelance writer and occasional contributor to World Tea News, with a wealth of experience in blogging, content marketing and journalism. She writes on a variety of topics across industries, including tea, B2B issues and health and wellness.
Plan to Attend or Participate in the
Annual World Tea Expo
To learn about other key developments, trends, issues, hot topics and products within the global tea community, plan to attend the annual World Tea Expo in Las Vegas, co-located with Bar & Restaurant Expo. Visit WorldTeaExpo.com.
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Phone: +1-212-895-8493
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