Hi Square Sellers! We connected with Bertrand Lucas, Founder/Owner of My Little Cup, a growing coffee bar business with 3 global locations: Canada, Brussels and London. We discuss his data-driven approach to operations, managing an international team, as well as building organic loyalty, and growing the brand by empowering his workforce from within.
The Cafes
I opened the first café in Brussels in 2014 with a business partner in a charming Belgium historical building. Since then, I have been growing My Little Cup brand equity, slowly but surely, with a focus on delivering the best coffee together with a memorable and personalized experience that can impact positively our customers’ days.
We use Square POS to manage the data of the 3 coffee shops in Canada, Belgium and in the UK. We might be the first Square user in Brussels as the software is not fully launched in Belgium. We use SumUp for payment processing, but everything is linked to Square. This allows us to have one consolidated global view to compare the key performance indicators across the 3 cafés to generate strategic insights.
Montréal + London
I opened a second My Little Cup location in downtown Montréal in 2016. The busy shop is benefiting from strong traffic. During the rush, efficient processes and speed are key for a slick experience for the team and for the customers. We can manage up to 120 transactions per hour.
While I now live in London, I deeply care and feel connected with the My Little Cup Canadian Team and customers thanks to digital, social media and regular physical trips. I most recently opened a third café in West London in late 2019.
Cashless + Contactless
Following the Covid-19 crisis and as we were willing to ensure the maximum level of hygiene and safety for our team and clients, all the three shops have moved to cashless and contactless. We have been adapting and innovating to ensure business and customer service continuity in this challenging context. While previously sales were half on-premise in a convivial atmosphere, we moved to takeaways only.
It is interesting to see the difference of Customer behaviors between the countries: 30% of sales were previously paid in cash in Montréal whereas in London only 5% of transactions were cash. The pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of the payments that are now 100% contactless in all three My Little Cup cafés.
After Covid-19, Starbucks in the UK reopened post lockdown offering only payments to go through their brand app. I see the prepayments by phone becoming the norm in the future for a lot of hospitality services. More people will order on their phone and just to come and pick-up the goods and services. Getting rid of the payments in the shop will allow the staff to be more focus on listening, delivering the best coffee and customer experience. For many customers who like their “good coffee on-the-go”, not waiting or queuing is very important.
Through the Looking Glass
As Covid19 wave started, it was very important to me to stay open to keep serving our customers and key workers that needed a boost while following the government guidelines and adopting the highest standards of safety for the team and customers. For our London location, from day one of the implementation of the social distancing rules, I have been searching for a way to ensure maximum safety while continuing to operate. I did not give up.
Looking at the shop front window, I decided to try contactless payments (Apple + Google Pay) through the glass window. I put the Square reader up against it from inside the shop and tried to pay with my own credit card from the other side of the window outside of the café. It worked. So, in a pragmatic way I implemented the “social distancing payment through the window” as well as “pick-up your cup on a table outside of the shop”. Customers loved it. They told me they felt safe and respected. I believe you cannot enjoy your coffee if you don’t fully trust the business.
Transaction Speed
In the past when someone on my staff needed to take a cash payment, we lose 10-15 seconds because it takes longer. Over a few hours rush, that really adds up. The faster we can take the payments the better it is for both the customer and the business. The tipping decision (for Montréal) can slow down the check-out as well. As suggested by customers, a fixed tip system option would be amazing with a customer opt out.
Fast Throughput
For Montréal, during busy times, there can be 4 baristas at the same times in a relatively small space. One person is welcoming the guest, taking the orders and payments. One person is making coffee shots. One is doing the secret milk that our customers love. One is floating doing milk and shots, serving the freshly made pastries, and pouring the milk. We are passionate about making great coffee with a smile, speed and passion.
Market Knowledge
I spend at least a year studying the market in each country before opening a new café. I get to know the local coffee market and the cafés in town. I would typically visit 4 or 5 specialty coffee shops a day. I get to know the locations and neighborhoods that seem the strongest match. By the end of that first year, I would know many café owners and roasters of the city. It is a powerful and friendly community of passionate people. We can lean on each other for advice and help. I am curious, always spotting new trends in the making, looking to understand the way the market is moving, the way the city is developing, if there are any new consumer behaviors. It’s essential to really understand the local pulse and to always listen to the local community. For example, My Little Cup Coffee in West London might be experiencing trends and see customer expectations completely different from other parts of the city.
Data-Driven Approach
I have developed a lot of strategies to run the businesses remotely while continuing to keep a close eye on operations and maintaining a strong connection with our fantastic local teams. I come from a financial analytics background (Audit and Consulting). I am metrics-driven. I use a lot of financial modeling to understand and adjust café pricing, staff schedules and ordering.
I love that Square allows me to quickly export all my reports. I download CSV files from each of the three cafés and then import them into Excel. From there, I build all sorts of financial models to understand the business, the customer behaviors and strategize the growth. It is very powerful to have access to all the raw data and to be able to analyze it. For example, I run theoretical on pricing adjustments and understand how any change will affect my sales and contribution margin. It might be better to raise a latte price by 10 cents than to raise an espresso by 50 cents. The data will tell you all of this and it informs my key decisions.I do the same thing for staffing models based on sales levels broken out over 15-minute increments. I compare how many sales I can do with 3 baristas vs. adding a fourth. I think it’s so important for coffee shop owners to use the information available to help drive thoughtful decisions in a shifting business environment. My Little Cup is a human business powered by coffee passion and data.
Global Footprint
I am currently looking for another location in London. I am also considering opening a café in France. I have the tools required to succeed, even if I need to manage the new shops remotely. I received some requests to franchise the My Little Cup Coffee brand. It is not on the agenda today. Scaling too fast could be at the detriment of a personalized and excellent coffee experience. We will never compromise on the quality and the human interactions.
Managing a Global Team
We use Slack for all the cafés. We have business channels as well as a few fun channels. It’s such a great tool for us. Everyone is always on the same page. If we have a customer that is not happy, all the baristas know about it instantly. Any employee can handle it with extra kindness the next time they come in. It’s way more efficient than sitting down to lengthy meetings. Each week I also try to have an hour chat with each of the shop managers.
Promote Internally
Internal promotion is the best way to grow. In Montréal, I had a really strong employee who started as a barista. He moved to Bruxelles and became so passionate about coffee that he bought 50% of the Belgian entity. Since he started to manage the business, the coffee shop improved a lot and became a reference in Belgium. He made a difference and brings new ideas and ambition for the future of the brand.
In London and Montréal, I am looking forward to building a similar model by investing in passionate baristas to help them grow within the company. This will free up my time to launch a new shop or other coffee business activities. As soon as I open, I start thinking about which employee I will promote eventually into an equity position. Once you find a really strong employee, you need to be ready to share the business at the right time. It is a collective and human adventure. That is how we support and grow the brand, through passionate and talented people.
Organic Loyalty
I am not a fan of loyalty cards and systems with pre-settled automatic rules whether they are digital or punch cards. I prefer to empower employees to build customer relationships. I trust them. Employees are free to give away food and drinks at their discretion. This empowerment accomplishes two things. From one side, your team members recognize you trust their judgement and their engagement is boosted. From the customer point of view, it’s more genuine, personalized and touching to receive coffee gifts when you do not expect them. It’s less complicated than automatic tracking systems and people like surprises.
Final Thoughts
Bertrand has developed an inspiring and methodical approach to his brand and there are a lot of helpful takeaways that many other coffee shops and sellers can potentially integrate into their own businesses. His careful use of data and the tools he leverages to manage his team are so powerful. It will be exciting to see the concept continue to grow internationally in the coming years.
Thank you Bertrand! Great to Chat.
