Unless something magically delicious happens, the earliest I will be able to do this is in a decade.
I should probably just stop thinking about it because I get excited about the idea and then reality sets in and I get sad.
Yeah, I thought about the solar panel thing on a leased building (and the logistics of that). I didn't, however, think about attracting customers with it. It was really just for me. Hmm...I'm not sure I want to be attracting uppity people. I was kind of trying to figure out how to not alienate anyone/make anyone feel unwelcome. Anywho. So, I guess I will need to think harder about who I want to attract. I think I might be like a clothing store I read about: they are "socially responsible," but that's not what they put in the ads. They sell their clothes with "sex" like everyone else, but they have this "secret" ethical foundation. I will TRICK people into being sustainable!!! lol.
I thought about taking business-type classes (i.e. nights), especially the ones geared toward small-businesses, and talking to 1)coffee shop owners, 2)people who run businesses out of their home, such as the flower shop that sells espresso on 6th Ave (because my first coffee shop might just have to be out of my home), 3)start reading up more on interesting entrepreneurial stuff (in the mags that come across my desk at work), 4)start doing my homework on coffee, 5)talk to my favorite baristas about what they do (a lot of the owners don't actually make the coffee/ do the drudgery, but I want to know how it all works), etc.
Unfortunately, I got a little derailed because I became afraid that I would be supporting an extra person (or two), so I mentally put all of these ideas/goals on hold. But, even though I have been derailed, I'm still mulling it over. *sigh*
I think I have a couple of huge obstacles, the main one being money-- financing a coffee shop (especially one that is a sit-down shop rather than a drive-thru) takes a ton of money. If anyone knows of good ways to get money, without robbing a bank, let me know.
I don't think any bank will lend me the money for all of it, so I will need investors/donations/grants(can you get grants for a for-profit?)/government incentives(?). I know some cities are trying to rebuild (esp. downtown business areas), so they have awesome incentives to start a business there. However, most of those are cities that have very small populations (at least the ones I looked at), so that wouldn't really work so well for me.
And, time is an issue, or rather my bills are an issue. I need to work a full-time job to pay my bills, and businesses don't generally bring in a profit for the first few years, so how will I pay my personal bills even if the coffee shop is actually covering its own butt (which would be a miracle in and of itself)? I don't think I could work a full-time job and run a coffee shop. Unless, of course, I could somehow get some income doing freelance work, and do it during slow times at the shop... that's the only thing I've been able to come up with as an option. Any other ideas?