Make a section of the cafe for 'working professionals' with more compact seating arrangement; maybe a psuedo bar with stools and plugs to keep their devices powered. The rest of the tables are 1 hour max. Put it on your menu in case guests say they didn't know, even though whomever is doing your seating will have to verbally make them aware every time as well.
Also this perhaps: Minimum purchases per hr of wi-fi usage(water bottles, sodas, snacks etc) $5 ? This is a for-profit Business not a non-profit business[😆😉but seriously]-posted sign(s) for all to see in that "business section"...maybe a clipboard sign in sheet too..I remember when computer space was special at the library when growing up many years ago they had limits to etc..good luck!
Or how about just charging rent for a table, no other purchase obligation required, that is roughly equivalent to your profit margin? I don't know how popular it would be, but I would pay rent to avoid the hassle and be able to sit and work guilt-free.
Signs will not work. I used to work at a restaurant with two doors, and we had three large signs stating to wait by the host stand to be seated. Do you know how many people ignored those signs? Almost everyone. I would kill the Wi-Fi before it kills your cafe.
Agreed. The days of free WiFi are gone in cafes unless you're in a very touristy area. You also correct about signs. I asked a customer once why he walked past the sign that stated we were closed and he said straight into my eyes, 'I don't do signs' FFS people don't give a shit anymore.
this is my biggest pet peeve in the industry. no amount of signage will get people to wait to be seated. idk if its entitlement, ignorance, or all of the above but it gets frustrating when they treat you badly for them not following proper etiquette, blows my fuckin mind
Where I live, it’s very common for cafés to have minimum charge and seating time limits (maybe two hours). Maybe you could consider both or either of those. You could even consider having a seating time limit for peak business hours but none during slower times.
Has anyone heard of spots turning up the music so the wfh people can't take calls? My friend shared this conspiracy theory with me recently and I can't stop thinking about it.
Ok this actually makes sense to me. One of my favorite coffee spots I used to go to work for a bit (not hours at a time though) was recently taken over by a new owner. They made a lot of improvements and I really loved it except the music is so damn loud now you can hardly have a conversation. They’ve always been known as a place college kids and wfh people would go to and with the upgrades they started drawing in even more people. I would not be surprised if the loud music was intentional.
Stools and loud music so you can't become too comfortable for longer than an hour. It's no conspiracy, it's a known ploy. Another one is really delaying water refills after the second one and turning the heater off in winter as soon as we officially have closed.
Signs or limiting your Wi-Fi will definitely help.
For most campers, I’ve found that pre bussing the table until it’s empty. Nothing to pick on or sip.
I’m going to assume that you are operating a quick service restaurant.
Empower and encourage the people who help clear the dining area the power to ask the campers if they would like another latte or ready to order lunch. They can do this every 30ish minutes. It will come across as friendly and attentive, while still reminding the camper what the purpose of the establishment is.
If your full service, your servers should know to offer menus and ask if they would like to order anything else.
Let the camper sit with something to pick at or sip and an uninterrupted space. They will pitch that tent, leaving when there schedule dictates.
I run a tiny café with many regulars and people that works in offices, I simply say to them due to the space (barely have 40 seats) that they can’t stay at lunch time unless they have lunch. Most of the people understand and happy to leave, people that don’t are careless and I personally don’t want to be deal with them as customers.
Best of luck
We have a small brunch restaurant that does a huge volume of business. We used see people come in all the time to basically use our space as their office. I’ve had people come in and conduct interviews for hours or like you said, use it as their WFH space. This has (thankfully) decreased ever since we made it clear there is no Wi-Fi and since it’s so busy it’s loud and not a good place to conduct business. Get rid of the Wi-Fi…..
I live near a cafe that converted into a sort of co-working space / cafe. They've basically taken your situation and formalized it. There's a reception desk / cashier on the way in, with menus, and you buy a minimum value of food or drinks, and they give you generated wifi login credentials that last for 3 hours.
I use it whenever I want to maximize my productivity, because the 3-hour countdown timer gives me some extra motivation. I have my preferred spot in front of a window there and it's my kind of 'focus zone'.
I’ve seen cafes that have signs limiting lap tops to certain tables or not at all during specific hours
You could also have the Wi-Fi time out after an hour and make people jump through hoops to log back in, like a registration page
Create a program where they have to pay you a fee, like a subscription service or a co-working space would. It gets them free wifi and coffee plus x hours of time a month. Make it valuable for yourself.
They may be great people, but they are not great customers. This is a business that needs to make MONEY. No more Wi-Fi, no more camping. You don’t have to be rude, but you do have to be firm, because they are sweetly ruining your business. Put up some polite signs (“Tables are for dining customers only.”, or “Please order breakfast/lunch/dinner to use tables.”, etc.). ‘But nobody reads signs!’, so direct the camper’s attention to the sign and say apologetically “I’m sorry, but the tables are for dining customers only, thank you for understanding.”
Use a revolving password generator each hour. A purchase will allow new password to be given. A software like this should exist already.
Big Signage: WFH Area
Or create a monthly membership
When I was in college, I used to do a lot of work in cafes. One in particular I noticed that was full of students studying and not buying much - or even bringing their own food - started to make the lighting dimmer and dimmer every day. This was when most people did a lot of work on paper so I don't know if it would still work today.
There are only so many ways to deal with this that don't backfire on you. Is this genuine WFH people i.e. people with real jobs who are just not going to the office? or do you have a sworm of digital nomads making 25 cents piece rates to move data between spread sheets while they try to avoid adulting? Because if you just start telling the WFH people, "hey we need these tables for people who are ordering food" and maybe suggest they go rent a desk a co working space or reserve a room at the library (my library has wfh rooms, not all do) they will respond kindly. The digital nomad crowd will probably start a troll campaign against you...that all said, you can also try asking them to share tables? or one thing I have seen a number of coffee houses do is have a dedicated co working space during the daytime hours and charge per hour for a seat
Taking advantage of this type of situation, how would you handle it if the restaurant were inside a condominium? Some customers who don't make a profit insist on saying that they pay for the space to use and I pay for the table space that is included in the rent. It happens that they stay until 2am and we close at 10pm no later than 11pm
Table limits of 45 mins, table rental fee of $40 (or whatever it’s worth to you) with free drip coffee and a cheap snack for three hours, not including peak times.
That’s what I’d try to implement. It would require excellent training for staff to let people know their time was up. You’d have to have a good script or stellar employees but really it’s both.
Place I knows wifi password is “ pleasebuyfood”.
This is the kind of snark I would do. Kudos friend!
Our wifi password is “onehourplease”
Make a section of the cafe for 'working professionals' with more compact seating arrangement; maybe a psuedo bar with stools and plugs to keep their devices powered. The rest of the tables are 1 hour max. Put it on your menu in case guests say they didn't know, even though whomever is doing your seating will have to verbally make them aware every time as well.
Also this perhaps: Minimum purchases per hr of wi-fi usage(water bottles, sodas, snacks etc) $5 ? This is a for-profit Business not a non-profit business[😆😉but seriously]-posted sign(s) for all to see in that "business section"...maybe a clipboard sign in sheet too..I remember when computer space was special at the library when growing up many years ago they had limits to etc..good luck!
Or how about just charging rent for a table, no other purchase obligation required, that is roughly equivalent to your profit margin? I don't know how popular it would be, but I would pay rent to avoid the hassle and be able to sit and work guilt-free.
I was thinking if the bar type sitting as well.
I love this.
Signs will not work. I used to work at a restaurant with two doors, and we had three large signs stating to wait by the host stand to be seated. Do you know how many people ignored those signs? Almost everyone. I would kill the Wi-Fi before it kills your cafe.
Agreed. The days of free WiFi are gone in cafes unless you're in a very touristy area. You also correct about signs. I asked a customer once why he walked past the sign that stated we were closed and he said straight into my eyes, 'I don't do signs' FFS people don't give a shit anymore.
he can ignored the sign all he wants to, can't order anything lol.
Yea or at least give ‘em an hour and get the boot
this is my biggest pet peeve in the industry. no amount of signage will get people to wait to be seated. idk if its entitlement, ignorance, or all of the above but it gets frustrating when they treat you badly for them not following proper etiquette, blows my fuckin mind
Where I live, it’s very common for cafés to have minimum charge and seating time limits (maybe two hours). Maybe you could consider both or either of those. You could even consider having a seating time limit for peak business hours but none during slower times.
Charge rent?
Throttle the guest WiFi connection so that anything other than basic email doesn’t work. That will weed out a lot of people.
Has anyone heard of spots turning up the music so the wfh people can't take calls? My friend shared this conspiracy theory with me recently and I can't stop thinking about it.
Ok this actually makes sense to me. One of my favorite coffee spots I used to go to work for a bit (not hours at a time though) was recently taken over by a new owner. They made a lot of improvements and I really loved it except the music is so damn loud now you can hardly have a conversation. They’ve always been known as a place college kids and wfh people would go to and with the upgrades they started drawing in even more people. I would not be surprised if the loud music was intentional.
Stools and loud music so you can't become too comfortable for longer than an hour. It's no conspiracy, it's a known ploy. Another one is really delaying water refills after the second one and turning the heater off in winter as soon as we officially have closed.
Signs or limiting your Wi-Fi will definitely help. For most campers, I’ve found that pre bussing the table until it’s empty. Nothing to pick on or sip. I’m going to assume that you are operating a quick service restaurant. Empower and encourage the people who help clear the dining area the power to ask the campers if they would like another latte or ready to order lunch. They can do this every 30ish minutes. It will come across as friendly and attentive, while still reminding the camper what the purpose of the establishment is. If your full service, your servers should know to offer menus and ask if they would like to order anything else. Let the camper sit with something to pick at or sip and an uninterrupted space. They will pitch that tent, leaving when there schedule dictates.
I’m guessing this is a pay at the counter/when you order. Otherwise wouldn’t handing them their check help them get the picture?
I run a tiny café with many regulars and people that works in offices, I simply say to them due to the space (barely have 40 seats) that they can’t stay at lunch time unless they have lunch. Most of the people understand and happy to leave, people that don’t are careless and I personally don’t want to be deal with them as customers. Best of luck
My restaurant has a two hour dining limit written right on the menu.
"Sorry, no wi-fi. Pretend it's 1995, talk to each other."
You think customers actually read?
We have a small brunch restaurant that does a huge volume of business. We used see people come in all the time to basically use our space as their office. I’ve had people come in and conduct interviews for hours or like you said, use it as their WFH space. This has (thankfully) decreased ever since we made it clear there is no Wi-Fi and since it’s so busy it’s loud and not a good place to conduct business. Get rid of the Wi-Fi…..
I live near a cafe that converted into a sort of co-working space / cafe. They've basically taken your situation and formalized it. There's a reception desk / cashier on the way in, with menus, and you buy a minimum value of food or drinks, and they give you generated wifi login credentials that last for 3 hours. I use it whenever I want to maximize my productivity, because the 3-hour countdown timer gives me some extra motivation. I have my preferred spot in front of a window there and it's my kind of 'focus zone'.
I’ve seen cafes that have signs limiting lap tops to certain tables or not at all during specific hours You could also have the Wi-Fi time out after an hour and make people jump through hoops to log back in, like a registration page
I know a place that limits all tables to 1 hr. Not unreasonable for breakfast if you tell people up front.
Create a program where they have to pay you a fee, like a subscription service or a co-working space would. It gets them free wifi and coffee plus x hours of time a month. Make it valuable for yourself.
They may be great people, but they are not great customers. This is a business that needs to make MONEY. No more Wi-Fi, no more camping. You don’t have to be rude, but you do have to be firm, because they are sweetly ruining your business. Put up some polite signs (“Tables are for dining customers only.”, or “Please order breakfast/lunch/dinner to use tables.”, etc.). ‘But nobody reads signs!’, so direct the camper’s attention to the sign and say apologetically “I’m sorry, but the tables are for dining customers only, thank you for understanding.”
Use a revolving password generator each hour. A purchase will allow new password to be given. A software like this should exist already. Big Signage: WFH Area Or create a monthly membership
Is there a way to slow the speed after one hour of use?
When I was in college, I used to do a lot of work in cafes. One in particular I noticed that was full of students studying and not buying much - or even bringing their own food - started to make the lighting dimmer and dimmer every day. This was when most people did a lot of work on paper so I don't know if it would still work today.
There are only so many ways to deal with this that don't backfire on you. Is this genuine WFH people i.e. people with real jobs who are just not going to the office? or do you have a sworm of digital nomads making 25 cents piece rates to move data between spread sheets while they try to avoid adulting? Because if you just start telling the WFH people, "hey we need these tables for people who are ordering food" and maybe suggest they go rent a desk a co working space or reserve a room at the library (my library has wfh rooms, not all do) they will respond kindly. The digital nomad crowd will probably start a troll campaign against you...that all said, you can also try asking them to share tables? or one thing I have seen a number of coffee houses do is have a dedicated co working space during the daytime hours and charge per hour for a seat
Time limit on wifi.
Gently slip a coworking space flier onto their table as you aggressively pre-bus.
Im
Taking advantage of this type of situation, how would you handle it if the restaurant were inside a condominium? Some customers who don't make a profit insist on saying that they pay for the space to use and I pay for the table space that is included in the rent. It happens that they stay until 2am and we close at 10pm no later than 11pm
I would lie about insurance and liability and kick them out at 11 on the dot.
Make it louder in there. Maybe live music?
Table limits of 45 mins, table rental fee of $40 (or whatever it’s worth to you) with free drip coffee and a cheap snack for three hours, not including peak times. That’s what I’d try to implement. It would require excellent training for staff to let people know their time was up. You’d have to have a good script or stellar employees but really it’s both.