FRANCHISE
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A CUP ABOVE
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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
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PHOTOS: SARAH SCHÄFER, CHRISTIAN VON WECHMAR, JOHAN DU PREEZ
Q&A
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E N T R E P R E N E U R M AG .CO. Z A M A R C H 2 0 1 7
Readers are advised to consult their attorney and/or financial advisor prior to pursuing any investment.
Adriaan de Bruyn’s love of frequenting coffee shops led
him to open his own, and in just under two years, The
Daily Coffee Café has multiplied into 14 stores. It’s not
just the coffee that makes these destinations popular.
BY DIANA ALBERTYN
IN 2013, banker Adriaan de
Bruyn gave up his job in the
risk management department
at Capitec Bank and decided to
take his friends’ advice literally.
“They always made fun of me
saying: ‘You’re sitting in coffee
shops all the time, why not buy
one so you can have coffee for
free?’” he says. Today Adriaan is
the Group CEO of The Daily Café
Group and has expanded his
coffee café franchise faster than
he ever dreamed possible.
Entrepreneur sat down with
Adriaan to find out what his
formula for success is. And it
goes beyond The Daily Coffee
Café’s exclusive coffee blend
and modern-meets-rural
atmosphere.
Q
How did the idea of The
Daily Coffee Café come
about?
I researched why only some
coffee shops do well. The answer
was what I’ve built the success
of The Daily Coffee Café on.
People go to coffee shops to
connect — food and drinks are
secondary to the experience. I
didn’t just want a typical coffee
shop. I wanted an atmosphere
that would attract men and
women. I told my brand designer
I wanted an industrial look, with
copper, steel and wood and
dubbed it New York meets Karoo.
VITAL STATS
PLAYER: Adriaan de
Bruyn (left) and Kobie
Malan
FRANCHISE: The Daily
Coffee Café
ESTABLISHED: 2013
VISIT: www.
thedailycoffeecafe.co.za
Q
Describe The Daily Coffee
Café’s growth path.
After opening the first store in
Paarl in 2013, it immediately
took off. I opened another
and it also did so well that my
third café followed 18 months
later. Patrons enjoyed what we
offered and their interest in the
concept was so overwhelming
that I decided in 2015 to
franchise the business. I had my
systems in place for profitability
and no other coffee chain in
South Africa offered this trendy
and modern type set-up. They
all looked like one another,
even serving the same tasting
coffee. It was time to introduce
something with appeal.
Kobie Malan joined me as my
business partner and together
we focused on expanding
our franchise nationally. Our
objective is to continue growing
in all the major locations in
South Africa and to bring our
franchise concept within reach
of all South African franchise
investors.
Q
What makes The Daily
Coffee Café unique to
other coffee shops?
M A R C H 2 0 1 7 E N T R E P R E N E U R M AG .CO. Z A
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FRANCHISE ZONE
PROMOTION
WHAT DOES A
FRANCHISE COST?
Establishment cost
R900 000
(excluding VAT.)
Initial stock cost
R30 000
Monthly royalty fee
5% of turnover
Average store size
150m2 – 200m2
Recommended
staff
Up to ten, including
manager
Average time to
breakeven
Within three
months
Total footprint
14
For more information email
[email protected],
visit www.thedailycoffeecafe.co.za
Our coffee is uniquely
blended for us and is a special
combination of beans that offers
a cup above the rest.
Many coffee shops make
the mistake of not playing for
the crowd anymore. We blend
our coffee specifically to go
well with milk as 50% of our
sales are cappuccinos. We’re
not just selling good coffee or
food, we offer an emotionally
inviting space where patrons
enjoy quality time with friends,
conduct business discussions
or enjoy precious me-time
moments.
Besides free WiFi and
comfortable chairs, every café
has snug couches that add
to the homely feel. In fact,
interested franchisees often
comment on how they felt at
home when they first entered
our cafés.
Q
Who is your ideal
franchisee?
It’s important that the
franchisee relates to and buys
into the franchise; someone
who’s willing to follow the rules
and follow through on our
systems. We know what works
and what doesn’t. But as we
also encourage independent
86
“Franchises are selectively
awarded, not randomly sold.”
thinking, franchisees are given
10% leeway in what they want
to offer. Distinctive specialties
are allowed in addition to our
standard menu. For example,
some of our cafés are located
close to gyms, so their menus
are tailored to the lifestyle and
dietary preferences of these
patrons.
Q
The Daily Coffee Café
recently launched a new
menu. How important is this in
the franchise landscape?
We feel good when we
continually delight our clientele.
We therefore vary our menu
three times a year to provide
for seasonal adjustments
and to offer only the freshest
ingredients. We consider what’s
trending in the marketplace and,
most importantly, we listen to,
and implement feedback from
our patrons.
Our policy to adjust our
menu and our abilitity to do
so with ease is a competitive
advantage.
E N T R E P R E N E U R M AG .CO. Z A M A R C H 2 0 1 7
Q
Why is The Daily Coffee
Café a solid franchise
investment?
Not only the individual parts, but
particularly the combination of
what we offer makes investing
lucrative and rewarding.
It’s affordable. For a financial
outlay from only R900 000,
the franchisee gets a stylish
turn-key start-up business,
operational within 45 days from
paying the unencumbered fee.
Growth is certain. The
investment is made in a fastgrowing and sustainable café
life industry in South Africa
where there is increasing
demand for good coffee. And
it’s made in our established and
sought-after brand.
We offer dedicated skills
transfer and back-up. Franchise
fees are not fixed, but linked to
turnover at 5%. It’s therefore
just as important for the
franchisor as it is for the
franchisee that the franchise is
successful and profitable.
The bottom line? An average
return on investment of 48% is
not to be sneered at.
Q
What are the fees involved
in purchasing a Daily
Coffee Café franchise?
The capital investment is from
R900 000 (excluding VAT) for a
full turnkey café. A further
R80 000 should cover the rental
agreement deposit, opening
stock and initial working capital.
No joining fees are required.
Those who have bought in
believed in our business even
before committing to it. There is
no need to pay to prove that.
Q
What kind of training and
support does The Daily
Coffee Café offer?
During start-up our full team
is involved to prepare the café
for opening day. This includes
shop fitting, recruitment and
skills transfer to all members of
staff. We also ensure that they
understand and buy into the
ethos of the business.
Our executive head office
team consists of an operations
manager, two corporate chefs,
a corporate barista, a brand
developer and a content writer,
with Kobie and I actively leading
the way in supporting our
franchisees in matters ranging
from managing their businesses
through to quality control and
refresher training, if required.
Q
Talk us through your
expansion plans.
Besides our home territory – the
Western Cape – our objective
is to escalate our expansion in
KZN and Gauteng because the
market between Cape Town
and the main centres in these
provinces isn’t that different.
We’ll continue to select
smaller and modern boutique
style shopping centres as
locations for our cafés. Not only
does the upmarket nature of
these premises complement our
stylish character, but it allows
us to really showcase The Daily
Coffee Café as the ultimate
neighbourhood rendezvous
where good coffee and pleasant
company go hand in hand.
Readers are advised to consult their attorney and/or financial advisor prior to pursuing any investment.