If you read this book and absorb its contents, once you have secured a site and stocked up with the minimum necessary equipment, you will be able to serve your first cup of coffee within seven days.

It won't be easy - it may even be the hardest working week of your life - but it is certainly doable. I know, because I have done it myself. The book even includes a seven-day countdown to opening, with tips on cost-effective short cuts and an invaluable list of key pitfalls to avoid.

This is a complete practical guide and manual to opening a modern coffee shop, covering every aspect with detailed, step-by-step advice on subjects from the essential how to brew good coffee to how to design and fit out a venue that suits your aims, whatever your budget.

There is much more to running a successful coffee shop than pouring a good coffee. You'll learn how to strike a balance between take-aways and sit-down business; how to promote your coffee shop, importantly via social media; how to attract and retain the best staff; how to interact with customers and build the regular clientele which is the lifeblood of any café; and how to balance the needs of freelancers looking for a place to work while also creating a lively, friendly atmosphere and generating turnover. You will be shown how to profitably expand your food offering to serve alongside the coffee - you'd be amazed at what you can achieve with a single toastie machine - and learn the advantages of a commercial dishwasher, along with much, much more.

All this invaluable practical information is leavened with the story of my personal experience as a student funding my living expenses through part-time jobs in hospitality, gradually training on the job as a barista, before finally founding my own one-man coffee shop in Copenhagen - with a minimal budget but plenty of sheer enthusiasm. Less than four years later, my two bustling Darcy's Kaffes are busy seven days a week on prominent streets in Copenhagen, my branded tuk-tuk operates as a mobile events coffee bar, and I employ eighteen staff. This book tells the story of how I did it, and shows you how you can do it, too.

'A timely manual for all aspiring café owners.' -- Irish Examiner, Top Business Reads 2023

Darcy Millar was born and educated in London. After travelling in Australia, New Zealand and south-east Asia, he studied English literature at Manchester University. While studying for masters degrees in Copenhagen and Malm, he supported himself by working in a succession of cafes, steadily building his skills and developing a passion for all things coffee. Fast-forward a few years, and he is living that dream as the proprietor of Darcy's Kaffe in Copenhagen, with two branches, eighteen staff and hundreds (perhaps even thousands) of regular customers, whom he regards as friends.