105. Promote or Recruit? How to Find Your Next Coffee Shop Manager
The Coffee Experts Club Podcast
Release Date: 10/15/2025
120. A Conversation Worth Revisiting: People, Systems, and Coffee
The Coffee Experts Club Podcast
SUMMARY: This episode is a replay from a few years back, but the conversation is just as relevant today. Aaron Hovivian and Drew Moody dig into what really makes the coffee industry (and any service business) better: humility, shared learning, and healthy competition. Drawing from experiences across independent shops, larger brands, and new market launches, they talk about why seeing the “underbelly” of multiple businesses matters—and how collaboration often beats ego. From community-driven competition to learning from different shop layouts and workflows, the focus stays on staying...
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119. The Metrics That Make Multi-Location Drive Thru's Work
The Coffee Experts Club Podcast
SUMMARY: This episode focuses on the practical side of manager accountability and why clear, measurable expectations are critical as a business grows. Ben and Drew explain how vague feedback leads to confusion and turnover, while metric-based systems give managers clarity, confidence, and a clear path to improvement. They share how a quarterly manager report card—built from weekly checklists, audits, and performance metrics—helped them scale multiple locations consistently. By tying accountability to core values, operations, and bonuses, they created a system that improved leadership...
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118. How to Create Consistency Across Multiple Coffee Shops
The Coffee Experts Club Podcast
SUMMARY: In this episode, Ben and Drew discuss the simple systems that help coffee shops stay consistent as they grow. From checklists and aesthetic walk-throughs to customer feedback, they explain how small tools prevent details from slipping and protect the customer experience when owners can’t be in every shop every day. They also share how clear SOPs and manager tools empower teams to run stores with confidence and consistency. The key takeaway: building structure early makes growth easier, reduces stress, and creates a better experience for both customers and staff as your coffee...
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117. What Your Menu Prices Should Actually Be Doing
The Coffee Experts Club Podcast
SUMMARY: In this episode of Coffee Experts Club, Aaron Hovivian and Ben Clatterbuck break down how coffee shop owners should think about drink pricing and profitability beyond simply covering costs. Drawing from Ben’s experience scaling a multi-location coffee brand, they explain why knowing your numbers, setting a clear profit benchmark, and pricing with intention are critical to running a sustainable business. The conversation covers practical strategies like using a 3x cost-of-goods baseline, leveraging loss leaders, managing high-margin items, and handling add-ons like alternative...
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116. Staying Profitable as Wages and Costs Increase
The Coffee Experts Club Podcast
SUMMARY: In this episode of Coffee Experts Club, Aaron Hovivian, Ben Clatterbuck, and Drew Moody break down one of the toughest realities coffee shop owners face: rising costs and the need to raise prices without losing customers. They discuss how minimum wage increases, higher labor costs, and rising commodities impact margins—and why avoiding price adjustments only leads to bigger, more painful increases later. The conversation focuses on practical strategies to stay profitable while remaining competitive, including understanding true drink costs, making incremental price changes, and...
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115. Standing Out in a Crowded Coffee Market with Deal Days
The Coffee Experts Club Podcast
SUMMARY: In this episode of Coffee Experts Club, the team breaks down how coffee shops can protect market share in increasingly competitive markets by leaning into one powerful differentiator: generosity. Using real-world examples, they discuss holiday “deal days,” food drives, gift card promotions, exclusive merch, and community-focused giveaways as proven ways to drive traffic, deepen loyalty, and stay top of mind during slower months. The conversation highlights why local shops can win where big chains can’t, by being personal, flexible, and genuinely invested in their communities....
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114. When Growth Forces Change: Relocating a Flagship Store
The Coffee Experts Club Podcast
SUMMARY: Aaron Hovivian and Drew Moody reflect on the emotional and operational reality of relocating their original coffee shop in San Ignacio, Belize. They share the nostalgia tied to a first location, the nerves that come with change, and the reminder that pregame jitters never disappear—no matter how experienced you are. Moving the business, even just across the street, brings both excitement and uncertainty, and that tension is part of what makes entrepreneurship meaningful. The conversation also explores the deeper lessons behind setbacks, failed ventures, and hard-earned growth. Aaron...
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113. Pivot Fast: How Small Coffee Companies Win Against Big Chains
The Coffee Experts Club Podcast
SUMMARY: This episode centers on how independent coffee shop owners can stay agile, challenge old habits, and make strategic decisions that drive long-term growth. Aaron, Ben, and Drew open with real stories from operating in Belize—power outages, broken AC, and the realities of running shops in a tropical environment. Those challenges set the stage for a deeper discussion on why small coffee companies have a unique advantage: the ability to pivot quickly. The team talks through examples ranging from shifting to energy drink soda guns to save tens of thousands, to rethinking when repairs...
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112. How to Keep a Café Stable When You’re Not There
The Coffee Experts Club Podcast
SUMMARY: This episode digs into the reality of running coffee shops remotely, using the team’s experience managing two locations in Belize while based in the U.S. as the backdrop. The conversation highlights the friction points that surface when staffing drops unexpectedly, systems break down, or partners can’t travel due to things like passport delays. Instead of slipping into crisis mode or jumping behind the bar themselves, Aaron, Drew, and Ben break down how they leaned on strong hiring, clear delegation, and well-built systems to stabilize operations from a distance. Their core...
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111. Making the Holidays Special for Staff and Customers
The Coffee Experts Club Podcast
SUMMARY: This episode explains how to use the holiday season to strengthen culture and support your team. Let staff choose holiday shifts so the people who want extra hours get them. Create simple community-driven traditions like customer ornaments, notes for baristas, or a “Tip Your Barista Day.” Take care of employees who may struggle during the holidays and keep shifts light, fun, and appreciated. For holiday parties, keep it meaningful—short, intentional, no alcohol, and share a clear, simple company update so everyone knows the direction heading into the new year. Minute by...
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In this episode, Aaron, Ben, and Drew dive into one of the biggest challenges in coffee business growth—how to find your next great manager. Should you promote from within or look outside your company? The hosts unpack the pros and cons of both paths, from cultivating leadership internally to recruiting skilled candidates externally. Learn how delegation, company culture, and your own leadership style impact management success. Whether you’re launching your first drive-thru or scaling a multi-location coffee brand, this episode offers actionable insights and tools—like the “Delegate and Elevate” method—to help you grow sustainable leadership in your team.
Minute by Minute:
00:00 Introduction
02:51 The Big Question: Where Do You Find Your Next Manager?
03:09 Two Paths: Hiring Externally vs. Promoting Internally
05:10 Culture vs. Skillset: What Kind of Leader Do You Need?
06:00 Are You Ready to Let Go? The Owner’s Honest Check-In
08:04 Using the “Delegate and Elevate” Tool to Hand Things Off
11:08 Drew’s Process: Testing and Growing New Leaders
13:10 Building a Culture of Development from Day One
15:00 Franchises, Frameworks, and the External Hiring Route
17:38 Wrapping Up: Defining Your Leadership and Growth Path