Introduction:In recent years, more and more young people have returned to their hometowns to open cafés, especially achieving impressive revenues during the Spring Festival period. However, behind this boom lie challenges. This article takes an in-depth look at the real-world situation of running a café in small towns, examining everything from cost structures and customer targeting to long-term strategies, and outlines eight critical questions that must be carefully considered before starting a business—helping you find the right balance between ideals and reality.
In recent years, the trend of returning home to start businesses has led many young people to opt for opening boutique cafés in their hometowns. Especially during the Spring Festival, numerous county-level coffee shops see an influx of visitors returning home, with some achieving daily revenues exceeding ten thousand yuan. However, this boom does not mean easy operations—cafés in small towns face limitations such as constrained consumer purchasing power, unstable customer bases, and rental costs that aren’t necessarily low.
One returnee entrepreneur recalled that ten years ago, even basic beverage options were limited in their hometown, let alone opportunities to enjoy coffee. But in recent years, more and more young people who once strived in big cities have chosen to return, bringing with them fashionable lifestyle concepts and opening various types of coffee shops, including boutique cafés, book café hybrid spaces, and even social media hotspot locations. Despite initial skepticism from friends and family—“Who would spend twenty or thirty yuan on a cup of coffee in a county town?”—the reality has proven that these establishments have gradually cultivated a local customer base that appreciates good coffee.
With the entry of large chain brands into lower-tier cities, coffee has gradually become part of everyday life, and prices have also become more affordable. What used to require a half-hour drive to find can now be seen just a ten-minute walk away, with shops offering diverse styles. During this year’s Spring Festival, these cafés were packed with customers. Some stores that normally make around a thousand yuan in daily sales saw figures soar to several thousand, even topping ten thousand, during the holiday.
However, after the Spring Festival rush, foot traffic drops sharply. How to retain those young people who return home for development and convert them into long-term customers becomes a key challenge. In addition, some shops, overwhelmed by the surge in orders, have neglected quality control, leading to poor customer experiences and difficulty in building brand loyalty. In truth, while the small-town market may seem full of potential, consumers’ acceptance of coffee and their frequency of consumption still lag behind those in larger cities.
Many entrepreneurs mistakenly assume that rents in small towns are relatively low, but in reality, commercial spaces in high-footfall areas can still be expensive—sometimes even surpassing rents in certain districts of big cities. Therefore, when evaluating rent, one shouldn’t just look at the surface numbers but also take into account the local residents’ purchasing power and the price points you plan to set for your products, so as to strike a balance between cost and profit. Moreover, local preferences for coffee types differ from those in urban areas—high-priced specialty drinks might find few takers, whereas milk-based coffees with stable flavors and pronounced sweetness are more likely to be well received.
Beyond product strategy, service quality and customer care are equally crucial. Even if customers have limited knowledge about coffee, that’s no reason to lower service standards. Treating every guest with professionalism and genuine care is the way to build trust and establish a loyal customer base. Avoid impulsive decisions driven by short-term popularity; a rational assessment of your own conditions and the market environment is key to long-term success.
If you’re still planning to open a café in a small town, it’s recommended that you first calmly consider the following eight core questions and evaluate them one by one: 1. Why do you want to open a café? 2. Who is your primary target customer group? 3. What is the ideal timing to open? 4. Which types of customers do you hope to attract? 5. Who will be responsible for day-to-day operations? 6. Where is the café location? 7. What kind of style do you plan to present? 8. What is your available budget? Taking things step by step is the way to make your dream go further.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
