Where to start your quest in terms of getting a coffee machine.

So, looking for a coffee machine and going through all the different brands and different types of coffee machines can be daunting and I’m gonna hopefully help you, or at least try and guide you, along the right path to go in terms of choosing the coffee machine that’s right for you.

So, there’s really three questions you should be asking yourself before looking for a coffee machine.

So, number one, and all these things you have to be cognizant of while you are looking for your coffee machine so you can kind of ascertain which is the right machine for you. So, number one is how many people are going to be using the coffee machine?

And, why that’s important is it tells you which category of machines to look for.

You know, if you’ve got thirty people, often machines will show how many, what the capacity is, and if the capacity is only fifteen, you’ve obviously got to rule that out.

And likewise, if the capacity is three hundred, rule that out as well, because it’s too big and too expensive. So, start with how many people are going to be using the machine.

The other part why that’s important, not only for the machine-wise, is to understand that there’s always the coffee component that goes with the machine, and that has a significant impact on the monthly cost of the machine.

So, how coffee machines typically work is that the higher the price of the coffee machine, the lower the price of the coffee that you can use within it. So, to give you an example, you have bean to cup coffee machines which sometimes are thirty thousand, forty thousand rand, but the cost per cup once you have those machines is about 2 rand.

Likewise you have capsule coffee machines which are, or conversely capsule coffee machines, which are super cheap, two thousand, three thousand rand, but your cost per cup is about three times as much.

So, knowing the number of people that’s going to use the machine will tell you (A.) which machine to choose in terms of what it’s capable of doing, and (B.) how much is the constant monthly cost going to be given the number of people that are going to be drinking.

I think number 2 to consider, and this is a tricky one but probably the most important, is what is the primary reason you are looking for a coffee machine?

So everybody wants, unfortunately, everything. You want low cost, you want great quality, and that’s great of course, but it’s super helpful to try and isolate the number one thing which you’re looking for.

So, for example, if you’re looking to save costs you know, and that’s your number one thing, you know to go for a vending machine because that can save, potentially save you costs, because it controls how the people use the machine, how milk and sugar’s dispensed, and so on.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for something to make an impression on your guests coming in, you can maybe even go for one of the cheaper options because it gives a great smell, or gives a great aroma, so using the second question to kind of go to a big feature of the machine, is often very very helpful.

So, just some common reasons why people choose machines is one, to save costs, two, to create a nice impression for their guests, three to have an amazing cup of coffee, or just to have something functional. Maybe you have a reception area, people need to come in and be served with coffee and it doesn’t matter what coffee, as long as there’s service. So those are a few things people look at.

The third thing which is very important to consider, is who will be using or who will be making coffee from the machine? So, there’s a number of machines which are, most machines these days are, very simple to use.

But there are still a lot of machines which are not simple to use for first-time users. So if you have a machine that’s going to be in your reception area, in a boardroom, in a place where you’re likely to have lots of new customers or new first-time users coming in, you want a machine which is fully self-service.

A vending machine, a one touch super automatic filter machine, that type of stuff. If you’re going to have a machine where most people who will be using it have been using it a number of times, let’s say in a standard office environment with very few customers coming in, you can often get away with a much cheaper machine.

Not a super automatic, maybe just an automatic machine, or even sometimes just a capsule machine, but a machine which is easy to use but doesn’t need to be full self-service or fully, totally, intuitive from the first time of use. So, those are the three questions you should ask yourself at the beginning.