Can You Make Good Money As Barista?
Barista Training Academy
Becoming a barista can offer various benefits, including the potential of making a healthy wage.
At Barista Training Academy, we want you to gain the confidence you need to start working as a successful barista and help you earn as much as you can. Additionally, we want to be the springboard to move your coffee career forward.
In addition to making above the minimum wage in many settings, a barista position can offer you flexibility and the possibility of working in any city or town.
While minimum or near minimum wage is often the norm for new baristas, veteran baristas can earn up to $40 per hour (due to tips!)
Keep reading if you are thinking about being a barista but are unsure how much money you can – or should be making.
Barista Earning Potential
Barista positions offer great potential to earn a decent minimum wage. However, variability in earnings comes down to how busy a coffee shop is. If you work at a slow coffee shop where overall business is low, and revenue is lagging, you’re probably not going to make as much as if you were in a high-volume coffee shop.
For starters, if you are in a high-volume coffee shop, the chances are you will be working longer hours per week. A barista at a slower café may have their weekly hours cut. The longer hours you work, the more money you make per week. Adding several hours per week over a month can add up.
Not only should you receive your hourly wage, but you should also get more money in tips during that time.
Can You Make Good Money As Barista?
Variability in Barista Earnings
Your hourly earnings as a barista can vary depending on the type of business you are working at and other factors.
- Weekly hours worked
- Whether or not your coffee shop collects tips
- Volume of sales
- Cultural factors
- Other factors
Additional Reading: Fastest Way to Be a Barista With No Experience
Weekly hours
The more hours you work, the more you will get paid. So if you work 20 hours a week, you will make more than if you work only 9 hours a week. This variability may be due to your personal schedule or the hours your manager needs you.
Collecting Tips
Most independent coffee shops collect tips for their employees. It can mean as simple as a tip jar where patrons put coins or bills in. It can also be a part of your POS system where a customer can add a dollar amount to their bill. On the other hand, some large chain coffee shops do not collect tips but maybe pay a higher wage to their employees.
Sales Volume
Assuming your coffee shop accepts tips, your daily sales volume can hugely impact your hourly rate. The more customers you have, the more tips you will receive. Keep in mind that it is common to split tips with other baristas working that shift. However, if you are in a high-volume coffee shop, you’ll be glad you had help serving coffee!
Cultural Factors
Certain regions and countries do not have a tipping culture or tip very little. Culturally, the patrons, as well as the baristas, don’t expect gratuity. Or some customers may give a tip for exceptional service only. Therefore, you have to be aware that some cultural factors may play a role in minimal to zero tipping. However, to be fair, in many of those regions, an employee may get a higher monthly wage.
Other Factors
Among other factors impacting barista salary, it’s essential to mention the years of experience. It’s known that the salary grows proportionally to the number of years working in a career, so more experienced baristas will be paid more for their proficiency, knowledge, and refined skills.
Barista education will also influence how much a barista will earn. A barista with zero to elementary barista skills will obviously be paid less than someone who had their hands-on training and attended a coffee school or at least took an online coffee course.
Other Perks of Being a Barista
Besides making really good money as a barista, some coffee shops offer health insurance for their staff working full time. This is an excellent benefit knowing how expensive the insurance is. Among other benefits, I'll mention free coffee and free barista training provided by the employer. If you are interested in opening a coffee shop one day, this barista experience can be invaluable.
How to Increase Your Money Earnings
How much you will make really depends on the factors we laid out earlier. However, there are a few ways to increase your barista income. They are simple but powerful ways to earn your income.
- Ask for more hours
- Ask for a higher hourly wage
- Ensure that a tip jar is out (and write “Thank you for the Tips!”)
- Ask your manager to get a POS system that allows customers to leave tips
- Get to know your customers
- Always be clean and tidy
- Say thank you every time someone leaves a tip
- Engage in cheerful chit-chat with customers
- Learn latte art
- Share the story of the coffee you are serving
- Ask customers to come back (repeat business is good business!)
Making money as a barista is a certainty. It doesn’t matter where you live or work, people always want good coffee and excellent service. So position yourself and your job environment to make money.
Start Your Own Coffee Business
As an experienced barista, you put yourself in a great position to start your own coffee business. For example, you can open a coffee shop or you can setup your own coffee truck business. By owning your own coffee business, you can increase your earning potential and grow to owning your own coffee shop or chain of coffee shops.
Can You Make Good Money As Barista?
Barista Benefits Are More Than Money
There are many great benefits to being a barista – and plenty of reasons why you'll love being a barista. It can provide you with invaluable opportunities for future growth in any industry. It gives you the experience of working with people under pressure and can open the doors to a supervisor or manager position. Additionally, if you are thinking about starting a coffee shop in the future, being a barista is an excellent way to gain the experience you’ll need to run the day-to-day operations of a coffee shop.
We believe that job flexibility, social networking, and a solid earning potential deems being a barista a smart job choice.
Want to Get Started as a Barista?
If you are interested in being a barista, explore our blog and read our book. For more information on being a barista, read Barista Requirements.
Brought to you by Barista Training Academy, “The Beginning Barista,” Your Ultimate Prep Guide to Getting Your First Job as a Barista” is an ultimate resource that is available online. It is affordable for anybody who is looking to start a career in the coffee industry. For more information, visit our blog.
