As conversations turned into handshakes on the trade floor, MICE26 also dug into the dynamics cafés are balancing to succeed in today’s market – profitability versus purpose, efficiency versus hospitality, and price versus value.
Some sessions were so popular on the Café Education Stage that the only seating room left was on the floor, such was the extent of the opportunity to hear from some of Australian coffee’s best and brightest.
Café Management 101, the first session of the expo, was one of those. With four panellists, Sarah drilled into the decisions, systems, and blind spots café owners should consider if they’re already in – or heading into – business.
For Amelia Hicks, CEO and Co-founder of Old Quarter Coffee Merchants, a coffee importer and roaster in Ballina, New South Wales, with four venues, one of the early realisations was understanding the difference between working in the business and working on it. Like many operators, she started out doing everything, but soon realised that approach had limits.
“I had to ask myself, am I doing the $50-an-hour job or the $1,000-an-hour job?” she said. “Working on the business is what gets you the results.”
Nathan Toleman, Founder of The Mulberry Group and who has created a portfolio of much-loved venues such as Higher Ground and Top Paddock, put it more bluntly.
“If you want to grow, you’ve got to let go,” he said.
That’s easier said than done, though. For many owners, the instinct to control every detail can be hard to shake, particularly when expanding into multiple sites. But Nathan argued the real step-change comes from hiring people better than yourself.
“Going from one café to two was a big jump – I kept thinking, how can I manage both, and I’d be walking into the second venue feeling like it wasn’t being done ‘the right way’,” he said. “But the reality is, there’s more than one way to do things. As long as it’s done with purpose, conviction, and from the heart. You’ve got to trust people, give them the opportunity, then get out of their way.”
Finding that sense of purpose was key to building culture, but also sustaining the business through a downturn.
“When things get hard, if you’ve got a strong ‘why’, the ‘how’ becomes easier,” Nathan said. “If you don’t, that’s when people fold.”
Alongside leadership, few topics drew as much attention as leases – often one of the most misunderstood and high-risk aspects of café ownership.
Amelia encouraged new owners to negotiate early, and not be intimidated, noting the rental amount is set in stone once the deal is signed.
Nathan echoed that sentiment, reflecting on how his own approach has evolved.
“My first lease was basically, ‘yep, I’ll take it’ – no contribution, no rent-free period from the landlord. Now I realise landlords need me just as much as I need them,” he said.
“You reach a point where you can say to the landlord, ‘this is what we need to make the relationship work. We can’t have rent exceeding five per cent of revenue, and this is realistically what we’ll take in each week. If you’re not willing to come to the table, then that’s OK. We’re also investing in your property, so there needs to be some contribution from your side too’.”
It’s a lesson Mike Ico learned the hard way too. Despite having no prior experience when he opened his first cafe in 2011 at the age of 23, he has built a portfolio of standout venues, including The Baron and Good Fella.
He has signed leases for each of those six venues and reviewed more than 100 in his time. But that painful lesson came when a turnover rent clause for a shopping centre location was overlooked.
“Our rent started at $30,000 a year and ended up at $140,000 by the seventh year,” he said.
Mike recommends a five-plus-five-plus-five lease, while Nathan a 10-plus-five-plus-five. Either way, both wanted café owners to know they are never completely beholden to the agreement.
“The reality is, leases can be broken – you can sell the business and transfer it, or surrender the lease and pay rent until someone else takes it over,” Nathan said. “So don’t think you’re locked in for 10 years if you’re no longer there.”
“I agree with Nathan,” said Mike adding, “when signing a lease you should want and feel confident that you’re in it for the long run, that your idea and business plan will last, hence the benefits of a long-term lease – i.e. more contributions from the landlord.”
Dave Chauhan, Leadership Strategist and Founder of Nautical Leadership, encouraged operators to rethink how they approach both location and negotiation.
“Most people look at foot traffic and data, but that’s a snapshot of the past,” he said. “What you need to understand is what’s about to happen in that area over the next few years.”
When it comes to negotiating with landlords, he encouraged café owners to sit beside, not opposite, them.
“Understand what they want and how you can help them achieve their incentives, rather than treating it like a tug of war,” he said.
“And don’t try to save $2000 by not seeking a lawyer’s advice on the contract, because the beauty of the game is when you know the rules of the game.”
Overlaying all of this is constant cost pressures.
Wages and COGS are the biggest costs in any business, Amelia said, noting operators typically aim for 25-30 per cent of revenue. Unlike wages, however, COGS is one of the few levers operators can actively control.
She had four key tips. The first was for cafés to know their COGS goal. Secondly, track it constantly – daily or weekly – but don’t wait until the end of the month to reveal performance.
“The third tip is menu design. I’ve been in a position where my COGS hit 50 per cent because I was selling items that cost almost as much to make as I was charging. The key is making sure your best-sellers are the cheapest to make,” she said.
“And finally, it’s the one-percenters – things like portion creep. If you’re putting 10-20 per cent extra on every plate, that can be $10,000 a year multiplied across multiple items.”
Mike agreed that wages remain the biggest pressure point. He found if a café removed table service, it could reduce wages by about seven per cent.
“Retention also plays a role. High staff turnover drives up training and onboarding costs, making stability just as important as efficiency,” he said.
This article appears in the June 2026 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
