How many people you actually need to run a coffee shop
A clear way to think about staffing
Most cafés don’t feel understaffed all day. They feel overwhelmed for short stretches. Those stretches drive most staffing decisions.
Someone calls in sick. The queue backs up. Drinks slow down. Everyone leaves tired.
The conclusion is usually the same. We need more people. That reaction is understandable. It’s also often wrong.
The real issue
The problem in most cafés isn’t headcount. It’s unclear ownership of work when things get busy.
When roles are vague, everyone feels busy and no one feels effective. When roles are clear, the same number of people can handle far more without pressure taking over.
When everyone’s doing everything, that’s when things break down.
The four types of work every café runs on
Strip away titles and seniority and most cafés rely on four types of work:
Making drinks.
Taking orders and handling payments.
Food and prep.
Keeping the place running.
If these four jobs are clearly owned, service holds together. If they aren’t, stress spreads fast.
What happens when roles blur
When drink making gets interrupted, speed drops. When no one owns the till, the bar gets dragged into it. When food floats between people, delays stack up. When no one owns the floor, everyone gets interrupted.
Adding one more person doesn’t fix this if the work itself is still unclear. It just adds another person waiting for direction.
What a well staffed café actually feels like
A café feels calm when everyone knows exactly what they’re responsible for, especially during peak periods. It feels chaotic when roles blur.
If you’re constantly asking whether you need more staff, there’s usually a more basic question that comes first.
Who owns what work when we’re busiest?
Next week
In the next newsletter we’ll discuss how to decide exactly how many people you need in each role.


Agreed, when a bus would pull up and 29 people streamed in, it was all hands on deck. Someone worked the till, someone pulled shots, someone steamed milk, someone delivered food from the kitchen, until the ship settled. Then I went around and hugged everyone and thanked them for their work. It was such a great team building exercise. Everyone felt rejuvenated and happy.