Bean There, Done That

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that coffee shops in New York are starting to limit the use of free wifi by customers who aren't buying much, and who are instead likely to be taking up so many tables that paying customers can't find a place to sit, and so go elsewhere. In "No More Perks: Coffee Shops Pull the Plug on Laptop Users," (subscription required) writer Erica Alani discusses the problems small cafes are having and some of the steps they're taking to increase revenue without alienating their regulars. She writes:

Amid the economic downturn, there are fewer places in New York to plug in computers. As idle workers fill coffee-shop tables -- nursing a single cup, if that, and surfing the Web for hours -- and as shop owners struggle to stay in business, a decade-old love affair between coffee shops and laptop-wielding customers is fading. In some places, customers just get cold looks, but in a growing number of small coffee shops, firm restrictions on laptop use have been imposed and electric outlets have been locked. The laptop backlash may predate the recession, but the recession clearly has accelerated it.

The original point of free wifi was to draw in customers who would then buy coffee, pastries, maybe lunch...keep people there for a while and they'll order more stuff, but make them pay for wifi and they'll go elsewhere. You can see the difference: Starbucks requires either payment to them or a T-Mobile account, so it's more of a "finish up and go" place for most people who need online access, whereas Panera Bread has become a popular spot for digital nomads.

But that hasn't quite worked in all cases. Cafes that offer free refills on coffee find people going through cup after cup, but only paying once. Even those places that don't have a refill policy, but also don't have a "buy something or get out" policy, are liable to have people sitting there all day long. These places -- especially the independent coffee houses more so than the big chains -- are looking for ways to keep wifi users there doing off-peak hours while getting them out of the way of the lunchtime crowd.

This can be an issue for you if you've adopted some of the new ideas for structuring your workforce, such as relying on free agents, or for flexible styles of working such as telework. Many of these folks, not using an office, are liable to be the ones taking up space at these coffee shops. They need to be aware that the tide had turned and they may no longer be welcome to use someone else's business as their day-long campsite.

What can you do? Consider purchasing online access, whether through a mobile account that's used at coffee shops, airports, and other public places (T-Mobile comes to mind), for your full-time employees. You might write into your free agents' contracts that they must have a reliable source of internet access, so they can't use "I got kicked out of Pike's Perk" as an excuse for not getting something to you on time. (Pike's Perk, by the way, would never do that because they are totally cool, and if you live in Colorado Springs you really should visit them sometime)

Your Creatives should identify spots other than private businesses where they can set up shop (libraries are great for this sort of thing, often having free wifi access, plus lots of resources called "books"). There's also, of course, home, but the reality is that many independent workers try to get out of the house to work. If they're going to use coffee shops, suggest to them that they actually buy food and drinks there, not just once a day, but throughout their stay. As a business leader yourself you can surely understand the profit needs of those businesses, so take a positive step toward helping them out.

One of the things I found surprising about the online article was the Comments section -- it was overwhelmingly in favor of the coffee house owners. Though a few people commented that owners seemed to be paying the price for a successful marketing tactic, many other writers were suggesting ways to weed out revenue-reducing customers, keep the regulars, and increase profits. It's nice to see people realize that, while it's been possible to get something for noting, that's really not the way the universe normally works. What you need to do, as a business leader, is make sure your employees find something that works for them, and ultimately, for you.


(a quick side note: today marks the 150th entry on LeadingCreatives.com. When The Simpsons hit 150 episodes there was a big hoo-hah about it, but here at LeadingCreatives.com we tend to go for little hoo-hahs.)