Want to Open a Cafe? Start with Wing Night on Wednesday

You want to open a restaurant in your small town. Maybe a coffee shop, a small cafe, a bakery. You’ve been thinking about it for months, maybe years.

But you are not sure if enough people will come. You never know what they will actually order. You are not sure if you can carry it from day to day.

Here’s a way to find out before spending the hard cash: borrow a community hall and start exploring.

Try Wing Night Wednesday (or make your own)

At the Canadian Beef Industry Conference, a couple from a town of just a few hundred people mapped their act on one of my postcards:

• Join our crowd in our community hall on Wing Night Wednesdays
• Build connections to make successful business plans
• Take small steps: talk to community members and send invitations

Before they left the conference, they sent someone a message about using the hall. The next day, they had permission and got friends to help them make wings and invite others.

They assessed whether their city needed a food court, and they did it without buying equipment, signing a lease, or quitting their jobs.

What you read

Holding regular meetings in a community hall teaches you things you can’t learn any other way:

Do people really evolve? You might think that everyone wants a coffee shop, but will they go out on a Tuesday morning for Coffee and Cakes?

What do people want? You plan a place for lunch, but find that people keep asking if you are open for breakfast.

What time does it work? You thought dinner was going to be big, but your town is emptying at 6 PM because everyone is at their kids’ errands.

Can you handle it? Cooking for 20 people once a week is different than doing a daily job. This allows you to check your dose.

How much does it really cost? You’ll learn your food costs, the time you spend on them, what you can charge, and whether the math works.

Who are your customers? Maybe you target families but retirees don’t show up very often.

Build your foundation before opening

Here’s a bonus: everyone who comes to Wing Night on Wednesday can be a customer when you open. You’re not starting from scratch trying to convince strangers to try your new place. You already have a relationship.

They know your food. They trust you. They have been trying to make this happen.

Some of them may be investing or helping when you are ready to take the next step.

You don’t need much to get started

Can’t afford a food truck or trailer? You don’t need it yet.

Many small towns have a community hall, church kitchen, or VFW post that you can use. Some will let you use it for free or for a small fee, especially if you work for the community.

All you need is enough to create your test menu. Wings and fries. Coffee and muffins. Soup and sandwiches. Whatever you plan to work on.

Start monthly if weekly feels like too much. Start with desserts and coffee if the full menu is full.

The point is to start small enough to do it.

What if it doesn’t work?

Maybe you find that your city won’t support daily operations, but monthly gatherings work well. That’s important information before you invest in equipment and commit to paying money.

Maybe you learn that people want breakfast, not lunch. Or they want a food truck in a farmer’s shed, not a sit-down restaurant. Now you can adjust your schedule.

Maybe you realize that you don’t want to do this every day. You better read that now.

Or maybe someone in the group says “I’ve always wanted to do this” and you end up collaborating or scrapping the idea altogether.

None of these results require you to lose money or make a commitment that you cannot undo.

Start testing

You don’t need a business plan or a loan or perfect conditions. You need permission to use the kitchen and enough food for your first gathering.

Choose a date. Send out some invitations. Make wings (or muffins, or soup, or whatever you plan to serve).

See who shows up. See that they order. See if you can handle it.

Then decide what’s next.

What’s your Wing Night Wednesday?

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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories with other small town entrepreneurs. She and her husband own a small cattle farm and have been entrepreneurs all their lives. Becky is an international speaker on small and rural business topics.