Running a profitable coffee shop is an exercise in speed and efficiency. You need speed to keep your customer line moving, efficiency to manage inventory, and a little of both to handle hiccups like equipment repairs.

The faster you can do these things (and do them well), the more product you’ll sell in less time—and without overstaffing. With any luck, you’ll have time leftover for things like planning your next location and keeping up with specialty coffee trends. Maybe even traveling to origin!

Someone once said that employee reviews are like fruitcakes: They come around once a year whether you want them to or not. But to alleviate the stress of it all and to help your staff grow, human resource experts say employees should be reviewed twice per year — a midyear meeting as well as an end-of-year review that covers bonuses or raises.

Would your employees cringe if you told them a coffee shop team building exercise was in their future?

Remember that game, “Pass the Orange”? The embarrassing one where you use your neck and chin to pass an orange to a friend, relay-race style? Employees can feel like 11-year-olds at summer camp when coerced into shenanigans like this. A recent Wakefield Research study found that almost a third of U.S. office workers dislike team building activities. That likely goes for hourly restaurant and café workers, too.

We recently brought you a few handy hiring tips, and ideas for reducing staff turnover. Then just the other day, we stumbled upon a few more ideas for building your staff that we think are worth adding to the pile. After all, hiring prowess cannot be understated in its value to your restaurant or café. It is nothing if not a fine art, and doing it right will save you loads of time, money and headaches:

With an estimated 74% annual turnover rate in the foodservice industry, it can sometimes feel like you're constantly hiring and training new employees. But you can reduce staff turnover with a few proactive measures:

Between tracking food costs and inventory, and building your customer base, it's easy to hastily hire a new barista when you're short staffed. But don't hire too quickly just so you can get back to running your business. Even if it means you and your staff will be working extra hard until you hire right, be sure to find the right person.

Cafe management isn't all coffee and pastries. Whether you’re an owner-operator or you employ a full-time front-of-the-house manager, people are the core of your business. You need to know how to engage them, motivate them, and teach them.