Gourmet Coffee?

A friend sent me a link yesterday

to a blog post by James at Gourmet Coffee

https://jamesgourmetcoffee.com/is-coffee-as-good-in-my-local-coffee-shop-now/

now you may rightly ask why I am writing about Gourmet Coffee, and what possible relevance it has to The Workshop.

I am of the opinion that Covid has changed our approach & habits, it may not seem obvious yet, but given time if we search in the back of our minds I think we will subconsciously be making changes.

During lockdowns, we were denied some of the services we take for granted, buying a coffee or having a coffee ( & cake) in an actual cafe with a friend or a good read for 30 minutes to recharge our day, having a lunch date, getting your hair cut, having a massage, going to the gym, going to a Pilates class, having a tattoo? Just some of the list of personal services, which were hardest & longest hit by Covid restrictions - and I include small cafes in there because to me they provide a personal service.

But with services denied, we found other ways - like the blog by James in Gourmet Coffee, we bought our own super-duper coffee machine, we spend hours learning to make sourdough & banana bread, to accompany our new found Latte skills, we zoomed Pilates on demand, bought the latest foam roller & massage gun from the endless Facebook ads, because of our one Google inquiry about self-massage (don’t worry we all get worn down eventually).

We set up our own mini gyms, who needs a gym membership when you can walk into your own garage?

Home haircuts proved to be a little more problematic, which is probably why all the poor hairdressers will be exhausted 3 weeks after reopening.

So, what does this all mean going forward?

Will people return to support their local small cafe, will they rejoin the gym, will they want to go to an indoor group Pilates session, will they support the other endless list of personal services, or has the convenience of DIY been an eye-opener in time & money saved?

My prediction, speaking for my own industry - I think larger gyms may suffer, because we have become more interested in hygiene, and whilst the sweaty bum imprint on the cardio bike left by the previous user was always a turn-off, it’s even more so now - although sweat had no connection with Covid whatsoever (as far as I know), its a simple subconscious reaction, reinforced by the barrage of personal hygiene messages for nearly 18 months, I know I wriggle my nose if I see people walking into the supermarket without first stopping to sanitize their hands, it’s simple repetitive actions & messages which form habits, and human behavior is all habit-based.

So, for me, bigger gyms will have to up their game which involves more cost, which in turn increases membership fees, it’s not just the bigger gyms of course - but they may be the sector with the largest cost base, who rely on membership fees, and key membership selling times, memberships are a numbers game, if you can keep the membership reasonable likely 30% will have a monthly membership which they rarely if ever use - which again will have changed with Covid, because if your membership was suspended, you now have a chance to think if you restart or not, when its an automatic thing, you usually let it slide. There is also the issue of staffing - with the industry being closed for so long, good quality staff may have been forced out of the industry, and it’s a difficult environment to hit the ground running, you do need experienced people - after all, you are dealing with Clients health & wellbeing, its an important role.

So, what happens to small studios - well, small studio running costs, unfortunately, increase also, but I think small studios perhaps always had an edge in providing a better package to Clients, simply because of the limits on the volume of Clients, you are without a doubt going to get a better level of instruction in a class of 6/8 Clients nor a class of 20, and that’s simply maths no reflection on the instructor.

But regardless of the size of the studio/gym - I do think that we will all need to up our game, to attract Clients back, and any lack of competition due to other studio/gyms not reopening in our area would be no guarantee of return business, in fact, it would be purely lazy to assume increased business without increased effort & investment in providing the best possible services to your Clients.

And what about Zoom & online classes?

I think for some people in some areas they will continue with the convenience of online - I’m using an online Gravity Yoga 21-day course - which for me the 21 days works, its not something I would want to do all the while, but there is definitely the option of a blend, between in-person & online.

But I think here is the crux of the situation - now we are reopening & will have more choices, the act of paying for a service, is employing an expert in that field, to supply, do, train, teach, you something - that they are specialist in and in-person can guide your every step, you don’t have to second guess if you are doing it right - you simply express your needs/wants/problems and They come up with the goods/plan to get you on your way.

There are times we all just want to be told what to do, by someone with our best interest at heart or we simply want to sit down & have someone else make us the perfect latte, served with a smile & a genuine inquiry as to how our day is going. This is what you will get from the “small guy” who is passionate about his/her business - the same “small guy” who will never take your custom for granted.

Have a great day