If you're a coffee shop owner, the chances are you wear a few hats. With multiple shops of our own alongside the Kickback Coffee brand, we know owning a business and spinning lots of plates (or mugs) can be a wild ride, so we've created our new Adventures in Business series to share advice and ideas that have helped us along the way, kicking off with a dive into how to drive footfall and build a community around your coffee shop.

The best idea we've ever had? Learn their name. 

Let’s start with the truth that no one wants to hear: building a busy coffee shop takes time. Not influencer time. Not viral-reel time. Real time.

The kind of time it takes for someone to stop calling it a coffee shop and start calling it their coffee shop.

We’ve opened coffee shops that started with nothing but cold floors, used equipment, and early mornings. We’ve seen them grow into meeting spots, post-ride rituals, mid-week pick-me-ups, and safe places to exhale. And while there’s a hundred things we’ve learned along the way, if we had to give just one big piece of advice for building a business that people love?

Learn their name.

That’s it.

You can do it with a notebook behind the bar. You can do it on the POS system. You can even borrow it straight from the Starbucks playbook and write it on the cup. Doesn’t matter. What matters is that they hear it.

Because the moment someone walks through your door and is greeted by name, the whole game changes. It’s no longer transactional. It’s personal.

It’s “you’re part of this.”

Building a brand, not just a bar

We’ve always said: we don’t sell coffee—we sell reasons to get outside. That thinking doesn’t stop at product. It runs through every decision we make, including how we show up for the people on the other side of the counter.

So while the product matters—and we take it seriously—it’s not the thing that builds community. People don’t fall in love with your coffee. They fall in love with how they feel around your coffee. And you create that feeling by knowing who they are. Starting with their name.

What drives footfall?

Let’s be honest: anyone can generate short-term footfall. Launch offers. Flashy interiors. Socials buzz.

But if you want sustained footfall—the kind that grows quietly, steadily, then all at once—you need something deeper. You need to earn your place.

Here’s how we’ve done that:

• Name-based connection. Not just a nod or a smile. A “Hey Sarah, your usual?” goes further than any loyalty scheme.

• Partner with your people. A baker. A bike shop. A gym. Create shared experiences, and shared stories.

• Host useful events. Brewing workshops. Litter picks. Wild swimming meet-ups. For us – it’s not just events, it’s adventures.

• Make your window/A-board do the talking. No one stops for a poster. They stop for something that makes them feel something. Curiosity. Belonging. Intrigue. 

• Social media that sounds like a person. If your posts sound like marketing, you’ve already lost. Share real moments, real faces, real reasons to visit. Make it personal.

Community takes time. Always has.

We’ve built shops from scratch. In all cases, the pattern is the same: slow... slower… then suddenly, there’s a queue.

It’s the hockey stick curve. Flat for ages. Then sharp.

The thing is, you can’t hack your way to the curve. You have to show up when it’s slow. You have to keep saying hello, learning names, remembering drinks. You have to outlast the quiet months.

At Kickback, we’ve seen it time and time again:

• Month three is a bit awkward.

• Month six is full of doubt.

• Month twelve feels hopeful.

• Month eighteen? Someone just brought their mate from the Lakes and said, “You have to try this place.”

That’s not a launch plan. That’s a community.

It doesn't have to be about the coffee.

One of the biggest surprises in our journey was realising that our community didn’t grow because of our coffee—it grew in spite of it.

What we mean is: our customers love the coffee, sure. But they come back because we asked about their race entry. We remembered their name. We discussed new exciting rides. We recommended a trail we think they’d love.

You build that kind of place by creating systems for remembering, noticing, and caring. And it starts by knowing who you’re serving—literally.

Want to drive footfall? Don't focus on feet. Focus on people. 

You can have the best product in town, but if someone walks in and feels invisible, they won’t come back. And if someone walks in and you remember them—not just what they drink, but who they are—they’ll come back even if the coffee’s not perfect.

We’ve spent years building systems that let us scale that feeling. A notebook, a little nudge from a team member. Staff training that makes “learning names” a KPI, not a nice-to-have.

It’s not fancy. But it works.

And it’s the foundation for everything else we’ve built.

Next steps

• Learn their name. Say it back to them.

• Partner with people who care about the same things you do.

• Host events with a purpose. Teach, connect, give.

• Show up every day, especially when it’s slow.

Because community isn’t a strategy. It’s a thousand small moments. And the first one starts with “Hey, Sam. Flat white today?”

And one final point – you run a hospitality business, focus on hospitality – the clue is in the name.

- Alex, Founder at Kickback Coffee