A new cafe opened its door where I currently live. There are already three cafes in the same street, and with the fourth cafe joining the list, people in the neighbourhood now have a lot of choices. Every new cafe gets attention the first few weeks after the opening day. Everyone is eager to try a new place.

The other cafes in the street though, feel the pinch during this time. How do I know this? Cause I asked them and they all tell me that the customers walking in have reduced by half, they notice a queue of people waiting to get a table at the new place.

What do you do as a cafe owner to get people coming back to your place? Do you think of this as quite time and come to terms that people are curious to try out a new experience and some of those people will eventually return to get coffee or food from your place. Or do you take this quiet time to analyse what’s working well for the new business? What unique food/experience do they have to offer that you can incorporate into your place?

A mix of both would be my choice. There is always competition. It would be best to focus on improving and providing the best service.