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but nobody's going to remember it. "Brew" is one syllable. "Mug" is one syllable. "Sip" is one syllable. See the pattern? The Vibe Test: Does the name match your concept? If you're a cozy, community-focused café, "The Corporate Caffeine" isn't going to work. If you're a high-end specialty shop, "Joe's Cheap Coffee" isn't going to work. The name sets expectations. Match them. And here's something else I learned the hard way: you need to think about how your name is going to look on a cup. Is it legible in small font? Is it going to print well on a takeout bag? Does it look good on a sign? I once knew a café called "Fika." Beautiful Swedish concept. Lovely name. But it looked terrible on signage because the letters were all skinny and got lost from a distance. They ended up paying for two rebrands in their first year. Don't be them. Also, while we're on the subject of branding, let's talk about your logo. You're going to be tempted to design it yourself. You're going to be tempted to use your cousin who's "good at Photoshop." Do not do this. Pay a professional. I'm not saying you need to spend $10,000 on a logo. But spend something. Spend enough to get a vector file, a color palette, and a style guide. Your logo is going to be everywhere. Your cups, your bags, your website, your social media, your uniforms, your napkins, your loyalty cards. It's the visual representation of your entire business. It's worth investing in. And don't make your logo too complicated. Here's a rule: if your logo can't be reduced to the size of a postage stamp and still be recognizable, it's too detailed. I once saw a café logo that was a beautiful illustration of a coffee tree with roots and leaves and beans and a little bird. It was gorgeous on a billboard. It was a blurry mess on a coffee cup. Keep it simple. One color. One clear image. Maybe your name. That's all you need. Finally, think about your color palette. Coffee shops tend to default to warm colors—browns, oranges, deep reds. That's fine. But you're going to be staring at these colors every single day for years. You need to actually like them. And you need to make sure they don't clash with your uniforms, your furniture, or your packaging. I once worked with a café that chose a vibrant purple as their primary color. It looked great in the brand book. It looked terrible against wood and brick and the espresso machine's chrome finish. They ended up repainting everything six months in. Don't be them. The name and the branding are the first impression you make. They're the handshake before the conversation starts. Don't botch the handshake. Take your time, do your research, and remember: functional beats brilliant every single time.