When Is The Wrong Time To Buy a Coffee Maker?

In this age of instant sales and instant gratification, we’re so used to be told “Yes, now IS the right time!”, or “if not now, when”. You get the idea.

Other than those who are lucky enough to have previous experience, or someone who is experienced guiding us through the motions of the when, the where and the how, sometimes we can be led down a rabbit hole and end up far worse off than ever before.

We’re here to tell you some cases in which you really shouldn’t invest in a coffee maker:

Don’t Invest in a Coffee Maker if you’ve Just Opened a Business

If you’re the proud owner of a newly opened business, well done! It take a lot of work, guts and determination to do that. You might be cautiously optimistic, or going full steam ahead with a feather in your cap. If you fall into the latter category, apply the brakes right now. A brand new business has a lot of growing and adapting to do – no matter how well-planned your mission statement is. You might expand, you might remain the same size team, or even downsize- especially in the first year or two. If you absolutely have to have a coffee maker, opt for the smallest type you can find, or try find the shortest rental term you can.

If you do opt for a short rental term, make sure you’re not locking yourself into anything longer than one year, with the option to cancel said contract with a minimal cancellation fee.

The last thing any new business owner needs is stress over a fancy kitchen appliance.

Don’t Buy a Coffee maker if you haven’t Explored Your Options

You THINK 100% of your staff will love you until the end of time if you get a vending maker that makes hot chocolate. Two weeks in, they’re giving you the stink-eye on the hallway, because the machine sucks and it makes terrible, terrible coffee. You’ve made 10% of your staff happy 90% of the time, but the other 90% who enjoy a decent cup of coffee are unhappy 90% of the time.

Trial periods are there for this exact reason. There Is simply no other way of gauging staff response to a maker, other than literally installing it, and letting them try it out.

You might find that people are hardly even drinking the coffee, which means money wasted and a very unhappy boss.

Try before you buy!

Don’t Buy a Coffee Maker If You Already Have One

This should go without saying, but if you’ve been unfortunate in that you’ve locked yourself into a three year contract with a maker you absolutely hate, getting another one that you think you might love is NOT going to solve any of your problems.

Try to negotiate with the contract holder, to see if a penalty is applicable to get you out of that contract. If they won’t budge, try negotiate a maker swap-out, to something more preferable for you.

Otherwise, try to make the best of it. For instance, if you’ve signed up for a bean to cup maker that your staff abhor, try to offer a can of hot chocolate powder on the side; it won’t fix the problem, but it will sweeten the deal while you ride out the remainder of your contract.

However, it’s never going to work out if you are paying for a maker that’s just sitting, there, and you rush into the buying or renting of another – and sit with (perhaps) the exact same problem.

Don’t Buy a Coffee Maker If You Are Locked into a Long Term Contract

It might seem appealing to “know you’re safe and will be paying the same price for the next three years”, but the longer your rental contract is, the more variables that could go wrong.

Sure, a long contract with options to swap out (upgrade or downgrade), the promise of support and maintenance are fair and well. B

But what if your needs and circumstances change? Your company may grow, it might downscale, it might relocate to an area your service provider does not cover. Too many area’s for things to go wrong.

Rather opt for a one-year maximum contract period, for your own safety and sanity.

Don’t Buy a Coffee Maker if you don’t Absolutely Love It

Why would you buy a car you absolutely hate? Same goes for a coffee maker. Yes, finding a machine that’s going to “tick ALL the boxes” is near impossible, but keep looking around if you aren’t entirely satisfied.

Consider the machine’s location, it’s purpose and price. Once these three factors are covered, you should have a much clearer picture of the type of maker you want