How to become a Professional Barista

Published on: 15 April 2019 Last Updated on: 03 December 2021

An article related to Barista Coffee should begin with one of my most favourite quotes on coffee:

“Coffee is a way of stealing time which should by rights belong to your older self.”

In the last decade, the coffee making industry has experienced a lot of changes. Also, a lot of coffee shops are opening daily. As a way of competing for customers, these shops have to come up with the best cup of coffee in the cities. Barista is one of the most important factor of American Heroes coffee.

In this way, demand for a qualified coffee superstar is on the rise and therefore generating employment opportunities. If you plan to join this field, this article contains all you need.

We discuss how to become a professional barista, the approximate amount to invest and the challenges you have to overcome. Consider reading through the whole text so that you may understand the entire process clearly.

Who is a Barista?

A barista is a technical name that refers to a person who prepares and serves coffee in a coffee shop. Unlike the early days, today’s coffee maker machines in UAE need a lot of skills as well as practice to operate efficiently. For these reasons, most of the coffee shops only consider employing professional baristas. So, with these high demands, how do you become a professional barista that you may secure yourself a job in UAE?

1. Go for Extra Training:

Most of the baristas you find in regular coffee shops have a high school diploma or certificate alone. That qualification is enough to make you a barista but not a professional. If you want to be an expert, you should consider registering for training programs. Most of them are online based tutorials and therefore are convenient and flexible to your daily schedules. Through the training sessions, you learn all the basics in grinding coffee beans.

You also get a guide on how to steam milk, and importantly you learn how to operate the espresso machines. What is unique about the training programs is that they offer additional lessons on how you can start and manage your coffee shop. However, consider picking tutors who offer certifications after the training program.

2. What will the Course cost you:

Most of the online courses will cost between $120 and $199. The cost gets depending on the selected course levels. You can consider taking a class on the basic barista or master barista. The basic barista course will cost you less than the later. Note that, in coffee making lessons, you get what you pay. The more cash you invest, you get better skills. However, with these prices, there is always a course for everyone’s pocket. You also need to use more of your time on the classes if you want to complete faster. The sessions will take at most 8 hours. Therefore, if you’re a serious student, you can make it within two days or at most four days, and you’re through.

3. Communication and Physical Requirements:

If you want to be a professional barista, you need to have excellent communication skills. You should be polite to customers and when offended, never display your anger in front of the buyers. Also, you don’t want to deliver orders that customers didn’t place. That’s why you must have a good hearing as well as listening skills. Physically, you need to be in a capacity to stand and walk for long hours. Also, you should be in place to push at least 40 pounds of weight without stretching a lot. An excellent eye vision is also essential both at near and far distances.

Excellent customer services will also make you a professional barista. You should, therefore, express acceptable personal attributes. First, you must show a neat appearance and look attractive to the customers. If you’re always looking dirty, you appear unprofessional, and customers will walk away. Also, you should act in honesty and integrity while offering your services. When serving under pleasure, do not panic, but always stay calm and keep a smiling face.

4. Get a license:

If you want to come out as a professional, there’s a need that you obtain a permit from the authorities. Having a permit proves that you’re a qualified barista and increases customer’s trust in your services. The process to get a license requires you to follow universal laws on certification of jobs that deal with foods. Note that, the regulations will vary from one government, state or region to the other. Therefore, pay attention and avoid possible attempts to take it for granted.

5. Use the Internet Wisely:

If you didn’t know, a lot of the information on trends in the coffee industry is available online. Use online free learning materials to add basic tips into your knowledge. Also, follow up on the successful baristas across the globe and learn about their secrets. Following on the customer reviews is always a great way to know what the customers want. Buyers will at most of the times give facts of what they want and what is going wrong. By knowing what matters to them, you’re able to enhance your services.

6. Research about Baristas:

If you’re going to be a professional barista, you should spend time learning about how much a barista can earn. Also, learn about how many hours you’ll be working in a day and the pressure you will have to deal with at the shop. If you rush into the job, you can end up with a frustrating experience. However, taking the time to learn about the expectations of becoming a barista can be very rewarding. Learn about the challenges you’ll come across as a barista and make a strategy on how to deal with them. Therefore, if you want to operate as a professional barista, you need to be smart.

7. Take the Right Attitude:

If you’re going to appear as a professional, you need to show up at work in the right mood. Note that, if your spirit is terrible, you’re likely to mess up with your customers. Your clients need to see a happy face and get served with a kind heart. It’s crucial that you be in love with what you’ll be doing if you wish to be successful.

Being a barista is a simple thing to do but becoming a professional barista comes with extra efforts. You decide to stick on being a basic barista or a master barista. Whichever decision you make, consider employing the needed shot.

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Ideas For An Excellent Product Packaging

An average supermarket in the United States has about 40,000 different items for consumers to choose from. How does one consumer choose a product from the number of choices? Every industry relies on manufacturers, consumers, and distributors, but how do they grab the attention of potential buyers? Product Packaging. An industry in itself, proper packaging has the power to attract consumers. If you want to build a strong brand, consider optimizing your product packaging with a unique design and sustainable solutions. What makes an excellent Product packaging design? 1. Simplicity and clarity: When you walk into a supermarket, just go through products and take a glance at them. Do you identify the product or the brand by simply looking at it? The best example of quality packaging will be a clear and simple but highly distinctive packaging design. You will be amazed to learn that most consumers will decide to buy a product or not within a few seconds only. There will be numerous product listings with no specific brand name and you will also look at products that look great from the outside but they are unable to explain what is inside the box. Most importantly, packaging design should not confuse consumers. It should always deliver on clarity. There are some categories that allow a little bit of mystery but if the consumer fails to identify the product in terms of usage, content, or brand identity, it needs to be revamped. Be clear about what you are selling. Do not complicate it in any manner. 2. Be honest: A lot of brands try to depict the product in the most perfect way one can imagine. The packaging shows something about the product which is not real at all. When you try to depict a product ten times better than it actually is, you end up misleading the consumer and eventually disappointing him. This only leads to poor sales performance and builds a very bad brand image. Honesty plays a crucial role here. A lot of consumers like simplicity, they want to know what is the product is about and how it will serve them. You can do face lifting to a small extent but not where the product is something totally different. You need to show the product in the finest manner possible and ensure you show all honesty in it. Remember that the consumers need to be treated in an appropriate manner at all times. 3. Be authentic: Character and originality need to be at the core of great brands and excellent packaging designs. There are numerous products in the market and every product is competing for the attention of the consumer. If you want to set yourself apart, you will have to be very authentic. Product packaging is a matter of creativity and it is not possible to create a fake impression based on the design only to sell the product. People have a number of brands to choose from, they have different appeals and looks to try. You need to remain authentic in your product design in order to ensure that your product design is memorable. Do not get on with a genetic-looking design. Look for strong visual standards and an uncommon style to appeal to the consumers. If you notice that most brands have a contemporary product design, opt for something retro. Be creative and always look for different options for your product. With more customers looking for eco-friendly options, Brad Zaikov from Jansy (https://www.jansypkg.com/) says that businesses that use biodegradable packaging will attract more customers. 4. Consider shelf impact: If you look at a product from the view of a consumer, you will notice that no product is ever seen alone. It is also not seen in exceptional detail. All the products are organized in columns and rows and there are numerous patterns and designs you see. Until a particular design or pattern catches your eye, you are not going to take a better look of the product. The appeal of a product when it is placed on a shelf is known as shelf impact and it will make a huge difference to the sales of a product. You need to check shelf impact and explore the designs. Do this by copying the placement of the design on a shelf and then surrounding it with different products. It will sell better if it looks good. 5. Keep space for extensibility: The idea of product packaging should leave space for the introduction of a new product or a new brand. There should be a possibility to make easy variations to the product without it losing its appeal. The initial design concept should not heavily rely on one product or one color. You might expand in the future or introduce a new product and you need to leave space in product designing for the same. Create a visual design that will allow for easy alterations in the visual of the packaging or will allow for easy addition or removal of information. 6. Practicality: Last but not least, practice is important when designing the packaging of a product. It not only deals with the label but deals with the shape, functionality, and size of the product you are selling. To get higher sales, the product needs to be more practical. A lot of business owners tend to overlook the aspect of practicality in packaging design because they think consumers are simply going to pick the product off the shelf without any thought. Unfortunately, this does not happen and consumers are looking for innovation. Practicality merged with innovation can solve a number of packaging design challenges. Product packaging is as important as product manufacturing. If you have an excellent and highly functional product to sell but if you do not spend enough time and effort on its packaging, you might never be able to reach out to the consumers. Packaging is your last opportunity to convince the consumer to purchase the product. Read Also: How To Pack Clothing Properly For Shipping Simple Packaging: Your Guide To Branded Design Make Sure Your Product Hits The Market As Soon As Possible 6 Shameless Examples Of Product Placement In Movies We’d Like To Forget

5 Reasons You Should Respond To Every Customer Complaint

Any business encounters a customer complaint at some juncture. Despite the best of intentions, there will be situations when a client leaves feeling dissatisfied. Such a customer may initially try to seek resolution from the business itself, but increasingly, they are more prone to air their grievances on social media platforms. When such negative feedback is published online, it becomes a permanent fixture. This puts business owners and managers in a position where they must make a choice: either overlook the complaint or use it as a platform to exhibit their c for everyone to witness. Here Are Five Prime Reasons You Should Respond To Every Customer Complaint Here are some reasons why responding to customer complaints is crucial for your business's success. 1. Forge Strong Connections Customers tend to be doubtful, particularly regarding reviews. Research indicates that only 39% of consumers believe retailers seriously consider their feedback and an additional 22% feel this simply never happens. Making public responses to your reviews is the initial action towards alleviating these suspicions. Don’t solely concentrate on responding to negative feedback. Yes, one and two-star reviews should be addressed first, but recognizing customers who have given you positive reviews, even with a plain “thank you,” can greatly enhance brand loyalty and demonstrate to the world that you value every piece of customer feedback. Ensure your responses strike the right note. This is your opportunity to initiate dialogue with your customers and exhibit the personable side of your brand, so think deeply about the image you want to project. 2. Motivate Employees When your entire support team commits to elevating customer satisfaction by gaining insights from customer interactions, it naturally leads to fewer disgruntled customers and boosts motivation. Employees feel more motivated and their morale improves when they're not constantly dealing with negative feedback or hostility in every interaction. If you're overwhelmed, you could outsource professional answering services from Absent Answer to handle any high volumes of customer interactions. 3. Complaints Help to Pinpoint Defective Products Regrettably, despite rigorous quality control measures, defective products occasionally reach consumers. Organizations need to be informed about these flawed items by customers to rectify similar issues that might exist in other products. This scenario is especially relevant when a discourteous employee interacts with customers over the phone. Many individuals would prefer not to expend the effort to report such instances of rudeness. However, without this feedback, a manager may remain oblivious, potentially resulting in a single employee driving numerous customers away. 4. Complaints Pave the Way for Service Improvement Opportunities Studies indicate that a customer whose concerns have been addressed satisfactorily tends to be more loyal than a customer who has never had any issues. Complaints provide a chance to demonstrate to the customer that their satisfaction is a priority for the business by implementing service recovery measures. Numerous businesses implement a service recovery strategy to handle those occasional yet significant instances when customers feel their expectations have not been met. A well-executed service recovery program can potentially convert a dissatisfied customer into a loyal patron, who may be more satisfied than if they had never experienced problems. 5. Improved Digital Presence Complaints on review sites and social media are becoming more common. While it might be disconcerting to publicly display a customer's dissatisfaction, remember that potential customers expect to see some negative feedback. The key is demonstrating that your business is proactive and committed to satisfying its customers. Responding to complaints by regretting any less-than-positive experiences shows potential customers they can trust your service. In your response, highlight your eagerness to rectify the situation. Once you've addressed the issue publicly, follow up privately as well. This prevents the possibility of an extended discussion overshadowing your initial response. Generally, you'll be able to resolve the problem and, apart from maintaining a positive public image, you'll also enhance your reputation with the affected customer. Tips on How To Effectively Handle Customer Complaint Responding to customer complaints as soon as possible is crucial as it sends a message to them that the business or organization values their concerns and feedback. Moreover, ensuring customer satisfaction also helps in building and maintaining one’s brand reputation. However, handling and responding to customer complaints is not an easy thing to do. Here are some tips on how to effectively handle customer complaints. Go Through The Complaint The first step to effectively handling a customer complaint is actively listening to the customer and trying to understand the issues that they are facing with your product or service. If you are reading online reviews feedback or complaints sent via email, then don't just skim through. Make sure to read the review thoroughly from top to bottom. While reading through the reviews, you should also try taking notes such as product or service number, day and date of the incident, and any other information that you think is relevant. Carefully reading or listening to the complaint will help you to understand the issues and determine a suitable course of action. Stay Professional and Apologise to the Customer It can be difficult to accept criticism, be it online or face-to-face, especially if it is about your business that you have worked hard to build from the ground up. However, it is crucial that you stay calm while listening to or reading customer complaints, even if you think that they are wrong, lying, or being unreasonable. Getting emotional or worked up over customer complaints and then reacting angrily in front of customers will only escalate the situation and harm your brand’s reputation. So be professional and apologize to the customer even if they are the ones who are in the wrong. You should also be courteous and thank them for reaching out to you and voicing their frustrations and assure them that you are looking into the issue. Most of the time, apologizing immediately to the customer can go a long way toward defusing the situation. Formulate A Course Of Action To Resolve the Customer Complaint Once you have carefully heard or read the customer complaint and understood the issue, try to formulate a suitable course of action. Some problems can be easily resolved, while others may take some time. If the issue can be fixed easily, then you should get back to the customer as soon as possible with the solution. The customer will appreciate the promptness on your part, and it will go a long way in ensuring customer satisfaction. However, there can be issues that cannot be resolved quickly. In that case, you should determine how much time it will take for you to fix the problem. At the same time, be honest with your customers and tell them that you will need some time to fix the issue and provide them with a timeline. Here are some additional tips on what to do after the complaint is resolved: Follow up with the customer after the issues are fixed and make sure they are happy with the outcome. You can ask for their feedback on how you handled the complaint and what you can do better next time. Try to exceed their expectations by offering them something extra, such as a discount, a freebie, or a referral. This will help you turn a negative experience into a positive one and increase customer loyalty and retention. Endnote If you've been neglecting your reviews, feeling too anxious to reply, or simply haven't had the opportunity, there's no more suitable time to start than now. Responding to all your reviews, whether they are positive or negative, can contribute immensely to strengthening trust in your brand and depicting your company as one that genuinely listens and deeply values its customers. Read Also: 5 Most Common Digital PR Mistakes And How To Avoid Them The 7 Steps to Create a Storybrand to Ensure Marketing that Works How Customer Success Can Help Grow Your Business

Demystifying the Duty of a Company Secretary in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Companies Ordinance, Chapter 622, makes it mandatory for every company to be registered in Hong Kong to have a company secretary. So important is the company secretary that indeed, your company will not be registered without one. In this post, we will look at the duties of a company secretary in a Hong Kong company. What is a Company Secretary? First, it is important to appreciate that a company secretary is completely different from common clerks who do clerical work. According to the Companies Ordinance, a company secretary is a senior officer in a company who is responsible for efficient administration, especially with respect to ensuring compliance with statutory requirements. So, you need to ensure that only the most qualified and committed person gets the job. The Main Duties of Company Secretary From the definition of a company secretary, there is no doubt that the roles he does and how he does them will greatly impact the company's success. So, let us start by understanding the duties of a company secretary. Fulfilling the Company’s Tax Obligation When opening a company in Hong Kong, it is important to understand that the administration runs a business economy because the registered enterprises serve as the primary source of revenue. Therefore, the administration takes tax matters very seriously. Your company secretary is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the company meets all its tax obligations. Some of these obligations include: Overseeing the filing of the tax returns correctly and on time. Seeking additional approval or clarifications on tax-related matters. Registering the company with IRD (Inland Revenue Department). Keeping Statutory Books The Hong Kong Companies Ordinance also designates the company secretary as the custodian of the statutory books. This implies that the secretary should have every document that the government might need to inspect. In addition to keeping these books of account, the company secretary is also responsible for: Updating the details on statutory books. Producing and distributing company accounts and reports. Planning and Attending Company Meetings As we indicated earlier, the company secretary is involved with top-level management, and one of that roles is planning the company's meetings. This is considered an important role because it is in these meetings that actions to be taken on different areas, such as books of accounts and employment, are made. Here is a breakdown of these duties: Organize board meetings. Participate in board meetings. Prepare the agenda of the company meetings. Implement the decisions made during meetings in compliance with laws. Advise the company on compliance with the law. Other Duties of a Company Secretary While the roles we have outlined above are considered the core for a company secretary, they are not the only ones. Other administrative duties include: Communicating with shareholders, the Stock Exchange, and regulatory bodies on behalf of the company. Observing the company developments and giving advice to the board of directors. Guiding the company through the process of liquidation. If you are planning to incorporate a company in Hong Kong, the position of a company secretary is very important and should only be entrusted to a qualified and experienced person. With the best company secretary, you can rest assured that the business will make the best decisions and grow into the multinational of your dreams. Read Also: A Closer Look At The Common Types of Business Accounting Services How Portal Software Improves Communication Between Board Members 5 Places you should see if you’re visiting Hong Kong for the first time

How to become a Professional Barista