The coffee shop—there’s genuinely no other place that can emulate its vibe. Their atmospheres almost defy description because they fit so many of our requirements for socializing, working, studying, resting, relaxing, chatting, contemplating, laughing, reading, and enjoying life.

That’s why the coffee shop, hands down, is a better franchise opportunity than even the best bakery franchise opportunities. The coffee shop is more than a bakery franchise can ever be. Even the best bakery franchises can’t really compete with coffee shops.

Our customers tell us over and over again that Just Love Coffee Cafes are gems in the communities where our franchises are located, making us a great opportunity compared to the best bakery franchise opportunities.

Perhaps there’s still a question about whether or not a bakery franchise for sale or a coffee shop franchise is the better investment. Let’s take a closer look.

The Cup Runneth Over: Coffee Statistics in America

Americans love coffee, and it shows. According to the National Coffee Association:

  • 7 in 10 people in the US drink coffee every week
  • 62% of Americans drink coffee every day
  • On average, American coffee drinkers finish off just over 3 cups a day.

These numbers translate to 517 million cups of coffee consumed per day in America. That’s a whole lotta coffee!

Places like 85 Degrees Bakery franchise or Porto’s Bakery franchise (which isn’t actually available as a franchise) contribute to the amount of coffee consumed in the US, but only as an afterthought.

The Bakery Franchise or Coffee Shop Franchise Conundrum

What is a Bakery Franchise vs What is a Coffee Shop Franchise?

This seems like a silly question, but let’s define it. There are a lot of different niches in both bakeries and coffee shops, so determining the niche is an important distinction.

For our purposes, let’s define bakeries as establishments that sell baked goods such as pastries, croissants, donuts, muffins, bread, rolls, and cakes, with the option of adding breakfast, brunch, and lunch menus that include breakfast staples, sandwiches, and salads.

For coffee shops, let’s define them as cafe-style places with extensive coffee menus serving handcrafted coffee drinks available in a variety of flavors, depths, and origins. This is accompanied by an all-day menu with breakfast, lunch, and dinner items that are also cafe-style, similar to the bakery menu, i.e. sandwiches, salads, and common breakfast staples.

Now, let’s define Just Love Coffee. We combine the delicious baked goods of a bakery, the relaxing atmosphere of a cafe, and the flavorful espresso drinks of a coffee shop into one place to create a destination customers love.

Is Owning a Bakery Profitable?

One of the biggest questions investors have about starting any franchise is about the profitability timeline.

According to Toast, bakeries share the same average timeline as most restaurants, about 3 years to profitability. It is at this point that owners typically begin taking a salary and balancing how much of a salary to take versus how much of the profit to reinvest into the business is always a tough question.

What About Famous Bakery Franchises Profitability?

This may not always be the case, even for a list of famous bakery franchises, such as the Five Daughters Bakery franchise (which is, incidentally, not a franchise), 85 Degrees Bakery franchise, or the Paul Bakery franchise. Even the Corner Bakery franchise cost may have an impact on how quickly the business is profitable.

Is Owning a Coffee Shop Profitable?

Applying the same question to the coffee shop franchise, we get a different answer.

Coffee shops earn higher profit margins for coffee than other food products. Coffee shops also tend to operate with lower overhead than other business models because of a smaller footprint as well as lower equipment requirements.

The average coffee shop revenue is between 75%-80% of sales, which is higher than many business models in the restaurant industry. Most coffee shops can expect sales to double by the 5th year.

This makes them highly competitive compared to the best bakery franchise opportunities.

Just Love Coffee Cafe’s Beans Elevate Our Franchise Above the Best Bakery Franchise Opportunities

To compete with the best bakery franchise opportunities, at Just Love Coffee Cafe, we have to know coffee. In fact, we started out as specialty coffee roasters. We produce some of the highest-end, specialty roasted coffee available.

Our family tradition of roasting is done by hand, and we roast our beans in small batches in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee. Our specialty is in light roast coffees, but we also have popular roasts of all types, light, medium, and dark. Furthermore, we have a wide range of blends and single-origin coffees.

Just Love Coffee Cafe coffees are fair trade, organic, or direct trade only. For an aromatic, artisanal cup of coffee or a superbly roasted bag of beans to brew at home, Just Love Coffee Cafe is serving up the best brews available.

Our coffee is so good, Roast Magazine has named us a Roaster of the Year Finalist three times! Can any of the best bakery franchise opportunities say the same?

The Waffle Iron Menu: Beating Out the Best Bakery Franchise Opportunities Every Day

We haven’t only concentrated on our coffee to put Just Love Coffee on the map and beat out the best bakery franchise opportunities. Our menu is another way we give our customers every reason to stay at our cafes, get comfortable, and enjoy their day with us.

Much of our menu is inspired by the waffle iron. Not only does it produce Instagram-worthy foods that taste as delicious as they look, it keeps our kitchens simple and allows for a smaller footprint to our cafes so our overhead stays manageable.

Not only that, but our menu is healthier because of it. At a time when people are watching their waistlines, we offer menu items that aren’t fried but are still full of flavor. The waffle iron is a versatile way to prepare healthier fare with flair, such as our spinach and feta womelette or hummus and veggies with pita chips. It’s how we know we are able to compete with the best bakery franchise opportunities.

We Invite Our Guests to Stay at Just Love Coffee Cafe

Perhaps the most important way we have a leg up on the best bakery franchise opportunities is that we offer our customers a welcoming place to liven up their day.

Whether that’s relaxing with a good book, working on a paper or presentation, studying for an exam, or catching up with good friends, we don’t mind. We’re just happy to serve them the tastiest coffee and foods while they enjoy their time with us. It’s how we know we’re part of our communities when people choose to sit and spend the best part of their day with us.

The Perks of Becoming a Just Love Coffee Cafe Franchisee

To keep up with the best bakery franchise opportunities, Just Love Coffee Cafe has streamlined how easy it is to go from franchise agreement to the grand opening for our franchise owners. We do everything we can to make it a smooth operation from the start.

The initial investment estimate ranges between $333,500 to $563,000, and that includes the franchise fee of $39,000.

For that, franchise owners receive unparalleled support, including

  • Expert advice during the site selection process, so owners can select the perfect location for their shop.
  • An incredibly user-friendly build-out design that is adaptable to nearly any space, thanks to our much smaller footprint requirements, which keep investment costs down.
  • Extensive training, both in our Murfreesboro headquarters and in our Nashville, Tennessee locations, so owners receive intensive training on everything from how to prepare everything on our menu to the care and maintenance of machinery and the training and hiring of baristas. We also include managing day-to-day operations in our training program.
  • Marketing strategies, including online, digital, social media, and traditional platforms, both initially for the grand opening of the new location and ongoing to help franchisees keep spreading the word about their Just Love Coffee Cafe location.
  • Grand opening experience, where members of the Just Love Coffee Cafe executive team will be on hand to help in the early days of each new location’s opening.

If you’re convinced that Just Love Coffee Cafe is better than the best bakery franchise opportunities, it’s time to contact us to learn how you can become part of our franchise family. We can’t wait to hear from you!