I help cafe owners open their shops end to end — setup, systems, and the staff training that makes a soft opening feel like you've been running for years.
Openings break down in the gaps between steps. I run all four as one continuous handoff so nothing falls through.
If you want it — otherwise we start at Setup.
Turning a built space into a working cafe.
Where most openings live or die.
Live, with me on the floor.
Pick the full setup-to-launch partnership, or just the staff training piece if your team is what you need.
Everything in the Staff Training Intensive — plus I handle setup and stay on-site with you through opening. About two weeks of hands-on work, ending with a team that can run without me.
Your space is ready but your team isn't. I focus entirely on the bar so day one runs like month six. About one week of intensive, hands-on training.
Travel & lodging billed separately — I work anywhere.
I've spent five years in coffee operations, and I've been part of 40+ cafe openings — hands-on from pre-start setup through soft opening. Much of that came as a trainer for Haraz Coffee House, where I helped open location after location: building the bar, setting the systems, and training the teams who'd run them.
Now I bring that same playbook to independent owners directly — whether you're still scouting a lease or weeks from your first pour. I work on the floor, not from a binder, and the goal is always the same: leave you with a shop and a team that don't need me anymore.
"Deen had our whole team running confidently by day one. The soft opening felt like we'd been doing it for months."
"The bar workflow he set up is still exactly how we run today. He thinks about the things you don't know to ask about."
"Easy to work with and genuinely cares that you succeed after he leaves. Worth every dollar."
Where you are, what you're planning, and what you need help with. I'll get back to you with how I'd approach it.