Since many of our readers want to open their own cafes one day, we are introducing a new series:  One Hundred Things You Need to Know Before You Open A Coffeeshop. I hope it helps. As I've said before, the world needs more independent cafes.

So, what's the first thing you need to know? 

1. Serve good coffee.

Sound obvious? Sure it does, but you'd be surprised how many people don't do it. Prior to opening Coffee to the People, Bob and Megan and I visited dozens of coffeeshops in San Francisco. Our goal was to learn as much as we could about what we liked and didn't like about the businesses that were already out there. We gathered a lot of great information along the way, but our most surprising finding was how much bad coffee is being served throughout the city.

Now, don't get me wrong. Even though CTTP is committed to serving superior coffee, we aren't coffee snobs. Give us a decent cup of joe served steaming hot with a tablespoon of half-and-half and we'll go home happy. But some of the bitter, watered-down brews being passed off as specialty coffee around SF are simply shameful. Frankly, I'd rather drink Folgers.

Whenever we visited coffeeshops like these--places where I couldn't bear to drink more than one or two sips--I wondered how they stayed in business. Now that we've opened our own shop, I find the phenomenon all the more perplexing. All I can figure is that their customers come for something other than the coffee.

So, you say, doesn't that just prove that it's possible to have a coffeeshop that doesn't serve good coffee? Sure it does. But, before you run out and open a shop with instant coffee purchased in bulk from Costco, consider this: few of these shops were thriving. They looked like places where every possible corner had been cut to make ends meet and they were just scraping by.

If you want a coffeeshop that actually has a possibility of being prosperous one day, you need to commit yourself, above all, to serving good coffee. Otherwise, don't even bother.