As a company that has been in the food and beverage business for more than 18 years, Scooter’s Coffee knows how to make a good cup of coffee, even if it’s being administered from a 450-square-foot drive-thru kiosk. Scooter’s Coffee provides coffee beverages to customers via a drive-thru, operating roughly 150 locations in 15 states. The company is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, where it administers its training for franchisees.
Jen Chaney, VP of development, describes Scooter’s Coffee's main business model—the coffee drive-thru. “The founders wanted to focus on drive-thru only. Our drive-thru coffee kiosk is our most popular business model, which is a smaller, free-standing building…(there’s) just enough room on the inside for the baristas.”
Although Scooter’s Coffee does have a full-size coffee house (with a drive-thru) for patrons to come in and sip their morning, afternoon, or evening cup-of-Joe, the main business model relies mostly on the drive-thru system.
As the company continues to expand, it’s imperative, according to Chaney, that appropriate training is implemented for franchisees in order to keep the business offering the excellent service customers expect.
Heather Koob, Senior Director of Operations at Scooter’s Coffee, describes the training of new franchisees as a hands-on approach: “Anytime we have a new franchisee join our system, they come to Omaha and train at one of our certified training stores for four weeks. The new franchisee works in the baristas station…making drinks, and they also learn the business side with some classroom training as well.”
According to both Chaney and Koob, the actual franchisee receives the bulk of the training, and sometimes the franchisee will send their store manager to Omaha to also receive the exact same training. This ensures everyone within that franchise location is up-to-speed on all processes related to the smooth running of the business.
Ongoing training
Scooter’s Coffee also continues training through grand opening. According to Koob, “We offer support through their grand opening; we send support one week prior to their grand opening, and they receive support one week after their grand opening. Also, we offer 30-, 60-, and 90-day follow-up, ensuring that they’re set up for success.”
Additionally, many store owners are multi-unit operators. Typically, these franchisees will send the manager for the newest unit to training in Omaha.
Monthly promotions are common for Scooter’s Coffee, and these promotions are communicated to franchisees through Scooter’s Coffee marketing department. Franchise business associates follow-up to make sure these promotions are being incorporated into each franchisee’s marketing efforts. “Our field rep reaches out to each business location, ensuring they have the product that’s needed for that promotion,” according to Koob.
Scooter’s Coffee believes continual learning and training is important, especially as the company continues to expand throughout the nation. “It’s so important…so that everybody’s on the same page and they’re representing our brand in the light that it needs to be represented,” according to Chaney. Training is also important to keep business operations uniform through the country: “We want the operations at our business in California to operate exactly the same as the business in Florida. There’s always ongoing training when we have new drinks that are rolled out, and having business-best practices that we’re always sharing with our franchisees throughout the system is important.”
About Scooter's Coffee
In 1998, Scooter’s Coffee was born. Co-founders Don and Linda Eckles opened their first drive-thru coffeehouse in Bellevue, Nebraska. Their keys to success: find a great location and stay committed to high-quality drinks, speed of service and a BIG smile. Scooter’s Coffee is fortunate to have nearly two decades of success due to its commitment to the original business principles and company core values. "Amazing People, Serving Amazing Drinks… Amazingly Fast!"™
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