The ban on in-house side jobs lifted! The story of starting a cafe within the company

Hello

Would you like some coffee?

I'm Goto, an in-house barista.
(※Belongs to the Web Services Division)

Our company, Beyond, continues to develop various new internal systems, and we have now created yet another new system

Thatour company's side-job system.

*Beyond's previous employee benefits and systems are summarized in the article below

Beyond's employee benefits and internal systems [2021 latest version]

I love coffee so I took advantage of this system to set up a cafe within the company

This article will provide an overview of Beyond's new "Internal Side Job System" and share my personal experience of actually trying out an internal side job !

If you're interested in unusual employee benefits , or if you're thinking about using your skills to start some kind of business within the company, please take a look for reference

What is the in-house side job system?

An internal side-job system is an internal company policy that allows employees to develop some kind of business for other employees within the company .

By the way, if you were to implement something internally, didn't you think, "Wouldn't it be better to offer it for free or at a very low price without making a profit?"

In fact, Nomushin Shoten, which had been in business long before this system was announced (purchasing ready-made snacks and drinks and selling them in-house), sells its products at such reasonable prices that it's hard to believe they're even trying to make a profit

Why won't Nomusin Shoten go bankrupt even during the coronavirus pandemic?

The title of this article"Why hasn't 'Nomushin Shoten' gone bankrupt even during the COVID-19 pandemic?",
and the answer, in short, is that Nomura, or Nomushin-san as he's called, from the development departmentan incredibly nice person.

-What has allowed you to continue even though sales haven't increased?

I guess it's because I want to see everyone's smiles

In fact, they don't notice the deficit because they don't count sales

Once you count, it's over

Source:Why hasn't "Nomushin Shoten" gone bankrupt even during the COVID-19 pandemic?

(It's a really great store, and I almost always use it when I go to work.)

 

I also previously set up a photo studio as an employee benefit , which was provided free of charge

An in-house photo studio? A story of how employees created a benefit program

The impetus for the creation of this system: "You can make a profit, so try doing something within the company."

In the past, it seemed to be an unspoken understanding (or at least I assumed) that anything developed within the company should be done purely as an employee benefit, without the aim of generating profit. However,
in April 2021, "It's perfectly fine to make a profit, so I want everyone to try doing something within the company,"and the company'sinternal side-job systemwasofficially opened up.

I had always thought about offering coffee to employees even if it wasn't profitable, but with the lifting of the company's side-job policy, I thought,"Wait, I can make a profit?!"and became even more enthusiastic about it.

Given this background, I currently sell coffee beverages within the company under the brand name "Goto Coffee."

Incidentally, he also appeared as "Coffee Uncle" in the company information session for the visual novel game released in September 2021

We have released the "Novel Game Company Guide" for 2023 graduates

Incidentally, in addition to Goto Coffee, we currently have an in-house bartender and a Japanese side dish shop that serves snacks to accompany alcoholic beverages . It's possible that even more employees will develop side businesses within the company in the future.

Why make a profit?

The reason behind lifting the ban on internal side jobs seems to be the management's aim to "create an opportunity for employees to develop business acumen."

Certainly, whether or not the premise is to make a profit will likely make a big difference in the content of the initiative

And then, perhaps,a slightly petty thought will come to mind.

Incidentally, I previously asked our CEO, Haraoka , "If it's okay to make a profit, won't some people try to do some really shady business?"

"But if that's the case, nobody will end up buying it, so isn't that a good idea?"he said. That makes sense.

Although it is an in-house side job, this does not seem to be any different from actual market principles

I tried opening a cafe in my company. Is it easy to have a side job in your company?

The company's internal side-job system was lifted with the aim of "creating an opportunity to develop business acumen,"

I honestly thought at first, " Is it really that big of a deal...?"

With these doubts in mind, I started a cafe within the company around May 2021

In conclusion,taking on a side job within the company was incredibly difficult.

It's not easy to make a profit, and products don't sell as well as we'd like

With an in-house side hustle, your customers are people who already know you, so it's relatively easier than a business targeting general consumers who don't know you at all. However, it's still not easy to make a fortune

From here on, I'll share a few points about what I found difficult, from the perspective of someone new to business

What was difficult about working part-time at the company?

Trying out a side business within the company allows you to experience the basic flow of business , from creating a product to selling it. (*In the case of selling coffee beverages)

The main difficulties and challenges we faced in this endeavor were as follows:

1) Pricing: What is the appropriate price?

The first difficulty we encounteredpricing.

If you're just an ordinary office worker, it's rare that you get to decide the price of a product on your own

the pricetoo low, you won't make a profit, and if you set it too high, no one will buy it.

Furthermore, once a price is set, it's easy to lower it, butif you want to raise it, you need to come up with ways to get customers to accept the price increase.

This is why products in the world change their contents (quantity, etc.) instead of keeping the price constant

By the way, we are currently selling coffee at the following prices:

What did you think when you saw this price?

A: It's cheap, right? Thank you!

B: Oh, convenience store coffee is cheaper? I see..

I'd like to continue the story in a visual novel style like this , but that seems difficult on a blog, so please forgive me for continuing to ramble on like this

The following were the points we considered when determining the price :

 

• How much profit do you need to make per day to feel rewarded?
• What is the cost price?
• How much effort does it take to serve one cup? (How many cups can you serve per day in between work?)

 

After considering the above indicators, I initially vaguely thought, "The cost is higher than I expected, so I'd really like to sell it for 250 yen, but 200 yen might be the limit..."

So I casually asked our CEO, Haraoka, "We're offering coffee as a side business within the company, but do you think people would buy it if it cost 200 yen?"

 

"What? Isn't that expensive? Nobody's going to buy it at that price,"I was told.

Uh, that's it..

 

This is the moment when the exciting "dream" of having a side job within the company turns into a tense "battle (reality)."

I realized how the prices I had come up with on my own would not work in the market

The details of this will be discussed later as it relates to branding and purchasing

 

As mentioned above, I went around to various people within the company andthem, "How much would you be willing to pay for this?"while they tasted the sample, and we finally settled on the price mentioned earlier.

Ultimately, I think it was between the price I wanted to offer and the price everyone was willing to paya compromisea process of finding

By the way, we still receive opinions that 150 yen for drip coffee is expensive, but if we were to offer it for 100 yen, we wouldn't make any profit at all, so we have no choice but to offer it at this price

 

② Procurement of materials: Unable to purchase at wholesale prices

Regular cafes purchase coffee beans in bulk at wholesale prices , assuming high consumption, but this kind of purchasing method is not feasible for a side business run within an company.

This inevitably leads to higher costs

In order to keep costs down, you will have to purchase cheaper, lower grade beans, but if you lower the grade of the beans, you will not be able to serve the delicious coffee that you would like

Incidentally, the low-grade beans referred to here are coffee beans like those sold in mass retail stores, where the roasting date is unknown and it's unclear whether they are fresh or not

Coffee beanstwo weekswithin aboutoxidize, so I only buy about 200-400g of beans per week.
Incidentally, I've heard that ground coffee8 hoursinoxidizes!

For this reason, the coffee served in-house is always made using beans roasted within two weeks, and the beans are ground on the spot before being brewed

If the sole focus was on maximizing profits , they could have simply lowered the grade of the coffee beans .

In fact, when I once had people try a coffee sample made with a lower-grade bean, while there weren't any comments like "It's dramatically delicious!",there weren't any particularly negative comments like "It's awful."

For this reason, I was quite hesitant about whether to lower the grade of the beans, but I thought that if they were just going to serve decent coffee then there was no need for me to do it, so I decided not to lower the grade of the beans after all

Also, regardless of the grade of beans used, it's difficult to make a high profit from providing coffee as a side business due to resource limitations. So , rather than slightly increasing short-term profits, I thought it would be better if the word spread within the company that "Goto's coffee is delicious."

 

③Branding: How do you make people feel the value?

My style of carefully preparing and serving each cup of coffee means I can't make a profit through high volume sales with low margins like fast food restaurants. Therefore, it's crucial to make customers feel that my product has value , so that they'll buy it even if it's a little more expensive than the competition (convenience store coffee) .

I started brewing drip coffee when I was around 22 years old, and for the past seven years, I've loved coffee so much that there hasn't been a single day I haven't brewed it . (Recently, I've started offering espresso as well as drip coffee.)

Incidentally, last month I did home teeth whitening for about two weeks, and during that time I was supposed to avoid foods and drinks that could stain my teeth, but I couldn't resist after just two days and immediately drank coffee.

Because I love coffee so much, gathering information and conducting research to create even better flavors is still essential for me.

Therefore, I pride myself on being more skilled at handling coffee than the average person, butsince I have no experience as a professional barista, I am ultimately justan amateur.

That's why, no matter how good the beans or equipment I use, my coffee is always compared to convenience store coffee

Indeed,convenience store coffee is incredibly delicious considering the price.

It's not impossible

As of October 2021, our branding has not yet been fully implemented, so we will continue to think of ways to make people feel that our coffee has value

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce what I have been working on up to now

 

① Providing coffee trivia

Many of my colleagues aren't as passionate about coffee as I am.
So, along with announcing the opening of the shop, I gave presentations about interesting facts about coffee (no dad jokes!) and the flavor and aroma characteristics of the coffee beans I was using.

I would love for everyone to deepen their love for coffee, butthat annoying person who can't stop talking about coffee once they startI make sure not to become

 

② Designing the serving cups and taking image photos

When we first opened, we served coffee in paper cups for convenience, but coffee served in paper cups had an undeniably cheap feel to it. When it comes to food, the tableware used and the way it's presented are incredibly important, aren't they? Even if the taste is the same, I think the appearance can really influence whether it tastes good or not

Therefore, we now serve coffee in company glasses and in coffee cups brought by customers

Also, since I have some experience as a photographer, I occasionally take photos that make coffee look delicious and publish them as image photos.
That's an excuse, but I haven't taken any serious, professional photos yet, so I think I'll try that sometime.

 

3. Uses unique beans that you won't find in convenience store coffee

Convenience store coffee is great value for money and delicious, but it almost always uses beans that don't have a strong, distinctive flavor that appeals to a wide audience . Therefore, Goto Coffee intentionally uses beans with a fruity aroma that you won't find in convenience stores, to differentiate itself

By the way, the beans we often use are naturally roasted Ethiopian beans. They're truly delicious. The first time I tasted this flavor at an outdoor cafe, I was so shocked I remember drinking it almost every week. Ethiopian coffee, also known as "mocha," is probably the most representative of lightly roasted beans. Other famous beans include Kenya and Costa Rica. Incidentally, among the coffee beans commonly referred to as "mocha," there are those from Ethiopia and those from Yemen called Mocha Matari. Although both are called "mocha," they come from different regions, so their flavors are completely different. Also, naturally roasted coffee has an aroma that's almost like wine, and I've always wondered why coffee can be called wine..

…picture?

Oh,am I talking too much?

Okay, I'll leave it at that for now

 

4. For repeat customers, we change the flavor to suit their preferences

After serving coffee, I try to ask for feedback so that the next time they order, Ican make a coffee that better suits their preferences.
I only realized this after starting to serve coffee as a side job within the company, but taste preferences really do vary from person to person. What one person considers "strong" coffee might be "weak" to another.

Through these efforts, we hope that people will be able to enjoy even more delicious coffee and feel like they would like to order again

What I experienced through my side job at the company

Although these are just my personal experiences, I would like to share three things that I felt were good experiences when trying out a side job within the company

①Cost calculation

I had never been involved in a business that incurs costs before, so this was my first time experiencing the task of calculating costs

I'm not good with numbers and I'm not very good at calculations, but I realized that as I calculated in detail, a lot of things became clear, and I found the time I spent calculating to be surprisingly enjoyable

Whenever I didn't know how to do the calculations, I would ask my mom

Also, calculating the cost price every time I developed a new product was a hassle, and I would forget how to do it, so I created a spreadsheet that would automatically calculate the cost price and profit margin based on the recipe and ingredient costs

② Pricing and research

As mentioned earlier, I rarely had the opportunity to set prices on my own, so it was a valuable experience to see firsthand how prices are determined and how customers react to them. In particular, with the in-house side projects, I learned a lot from how many people would tell me if something tasted bad (too strong, too weak, etc.) or if it was too expensive.

If you run your store normally, there will likely be many cases where customers simply stop coming without a word, so this is a very easy problem to deal with

3) Research into customer needs

Up until now, I've been serving coffee that I personally find delicious to friends and family, in a somewhat self-indulgent way, but in my company's side hustle, people are paying to drink my coffee,

I needed to offer coffee that everyone would find delicious, not just coffee that I personally thought was delicious

The fact that money is involved makes both sellers and buyers take the product more seriously, and I think this sense of tension is what makes it interesting.

Specifically, in order to meet customer needs as much as possible, we tried to see which beans produced the best response, and instead of just offering black coffee, which is a little expensive and only available to those who are good at coffee, we kept costs down and offered cafe au lait and cafe lattes at lower prices so that even people who don't like the bitterness of coffee could enjoy them

By the way, at first we offered coffee made with different beans on a daily basis so that customers could enjoy it, but as we saw people's reactions we realized that this was a bit of a self-indulgent way of offering it, so now we basically only use the most popular beans on a regular basis

The essence of "delicious products" learned through a side job within the company

Let me ask you this: What do you consider to be a "delicious product" ?

I used to think that "a product is a delicious product if many people find it tasty."

However, this was a mistake

If the evaluation is solely based on the dish itself, the above might suffice. However, if the evaluation is based on whether the dish is a delicious "product," then taste alone is not enough of an evaluation criterion.

As a product, "delicious" refers to something that is highly rated overall, encompassing various factors such as taste, experience, and price

In other words, the "best-selling products" are the "delicious products."

There is a book that made me realize this

That book is "It Doesn't Sell Because It's Delicious; It's Delicious Food That Sells . " by Yasuhiko Shogaki, the founder of Saizeriya.

After reading it,"Ah, so that's what it was!"moments.

At Beyondan in-house library, so whenever there's something you want to learn,you can study it using a carefully selected collection of high-quality books.

Also,we have the Tokyo Revengers manga in stock as well.

I had always believed that if I made a product that tasted good, many people would eventually buy it, and I spent all my time researching flavors , but through this book,

I realized that if you want to develop a good "product," you need to carefully consider factors such as what price point it should be and when it would be best to drink it

Even if I say so myself, I think I've made some pretty typical mistakes that a beginner in business might make

I would like to use this experience to provide even better products in the future

Is it profitable? The truth about working a side job in the office

Well, I've talked about a lot of things up to this point, but what you're wondering is

The real question is , "Are they actually making any money?"

So, to answer your question, frankly speaking, we're not making any money at all.

I believe there are three reasons for this:

1. High cost
2. Not many products are sold (average 3-4 cups)
3. Since it's just a side job, I can't devote much time to selling coffee

That said, the experience of people paying money to buy something I've made is very satisfying, and I don't think making a profit is the only goal

By the way, I use the profits I make from Goto Coffee to buy snacks from Nomushin Shoten every time, so I probablydon't have any money left over in terms of cashlol

 

As things stand, Goto Coffee is not yet profitable enough for me to be able to proudly call it a business, but with some ingenuity, I hope to be able to make enough profit to make it a shop that everyone is happy with, and that allows me to not only buy snacks from Nomushin Shoten, but also have ramen on the way home from work

We will continue to experiment in the future

Will I be able to learn something that I can use in my work?

I've come to realize that the experience gained from working on a side project within the company is very valuable and interesting, but it might be a little difficult to directly apply that experience to my regular work

For example, I usually work in web marketing to increase customer acquisition through the web, but since Goto Coffee, my in-house side job, is only sold to internal customers, attracting customers from a website is completely irrelevant

That said, it seems like it all depends on how you do it. In the future, I'd like to work in a way that allows me to gain experience that will be useful in my main job. It might also be interesting to have new employees in charge of marketing-related work do a side job within the company for a limited period as part of their training

[Summary] I'm glad I did it! Three benefits of working a side job in the office

Working a side job within the company is not easy, but it can be a very interesting experience

Finally, to conclude, I would like to list three benefits that made me think that it was good to have a side job within the company!

① Learn the basics of business

You can start a business doing what you want to do, so you can take it personally and think independently, while gaining experience. Also, although it is a low-risk start, if it sells, it's all your credit, and if it doesn't sell, it's all your fault

Working in such an environment involves trial and error, which will naturally be the first step in acquiring basic business sense

② It's incredibly easy to create opportunities to make money doing what you love

It's generally said that it's difficult to make money doing what you love, but I think that working a side job within your company might be the easiest way to turn your passion into income.
In fact, I never imagined that the day would come when people would pay for the coffee I make.

③ Opportunities for communication are created

This was a benefit for me, as I'm not a very talkative person and I'm not the type to talk to people that much. After someone orders a coffee, a conversation naturally starts in the five minutes or so while it's being served, and I think it's great that people get to know me through my coffee, and conversely, I get to know the person who bought it for me

 

That's all

Once the social situation has settled down, we would love to have people outside the company enjoy our food!

Thank you for watching until the end