Regardless of how you label his exit, it sounds like it’s happening and you need a solution for the short term. See if you have someone who is high potential that could grow into most of his role within 3-6 months. While you’re talking with staff, also ask them if they would be ok with coming back and note responses. If he’s a huge contributor in terms of time, then maybe consider if there’s a department about to slow down or someone with bandwidth and see if you can rotate through staff (and since you’re not paying him during this time, spread that out amongst the staff for helping out in the mean time. It’ll maintain the actual cost of labor for that department in your budget so if you have to replace him long term it’s not a sudden hit and it will motivate your staff to do well while helping out(depending on your employees individual motivations)). What I like about this setup is that it easy easy to be honest without having to say too much that if he comes back and you plan for the long term as well, they should be understanding of what this temporary plan is while a more long term solution is found and provide them a concrete timeline.

Long term. It might be a coaching opportunity in letting him know that the business can’t afford to rely on someone who is in and out of the business. It clearly impacts you because it impacts the business. List out what his responsibilities/contributions are and how they help the company be successful(even if he already knows this, just be supportive). Pull his absences over the last year and any communication you have regarding them and just print out a simple list of the more informative aspects of his leaving: amount of notice given, length of time gone, etc. cross reference those dates with your financials. Depending on your lead time for production/service in whatever industry you’re in, or how you would see a disruption of service through cash flow or cost in your books, quantify as best you can(and only if you see an actual correlation, then skip this. Don’t make things up of course) how much money or some quantifiable negative impact it’s had on the business as a result of his absence. Ask him if he were in your shoes, what would he say to this employee? See where’s he’s at or what he says. Depending on how your exchange from here goes, you’ll want to explain to him why you’ve put the plan you have in place and if he is coming back to work, you should impress how his coworkers have been doing well handling his job and what the repercussions will be if certain terms are breached again. Consult your local labor laws as always so you understand what you can and cannot do and work within that. In the us max you can get is 26 weeks of fmla. Some states also have different definitions of job abandonment. Employees like this are easy to set up to let go because they do it to themselves. Having an effective short term plan in place provides you this negotiating position to be in your favor substantially. If he wants to come back and it sounds like he has identified a few changes he can make that you both agree on then be frank about whatever terms you want to, just make sure that you’re able to still face the people and reasonably explain the conditions they’re allowed back. The conversations you’ve probably been having with your staff over a short time will likely shed some light on what their terms might be for accepting him back if his sudden absences impacted them negatively in the past.

People are people. They’re not machines who are always consistent because people are capable of change but machines are not. It’s simply a choice but he has to identify the choices he’s making and how he needs to change them and how you’re able to help him get there willingly. I had an employee once who was chronically late, like all the time by 15-30 minutes. She would always show up and never call out but could just never be on time. I’d even schedule her earlier to compensate so she would arrive at the right time but she was so used to her schedule she couldn’t adjust. However she was a great worker, trustworthy, enjoyable, and super helpful all around so I was willing to overlook it. I did have a conversation at some point as she had a minor leadership role, that she’ll never be able to hold anyone accountable for being late. For me, it was easier to overlook that than hope that one of the next ten people I would bring through wouldn’t be half of those things. Some people can change and some can’t, but it’s how you choose to respond that will shape how you experience it and how it impacts you.

Personally, it helped me a lot sticking with the guidance that an employee termination should never be a surprise. As in, if you lay out the documentation of incidents up to termination and ask the employee if they were in your shoes, what would they do, termination should be rhetorical. It helped me take pressure off of myself as it is just accountability for someone else’s actions not because of anything I did(as long as I was following through on every effort to get an employee back on track or actually develop a strategy for them to improve whatever deficiency)

That’s all you can do. People are always gonna be people.

It depends. For coffee shops to be profitable you need a solid food program and volume to be profitable. It sounds like you have volume if by busy commuter road the numbers are something like 80,000 cars per hour drive by. If that’s the case having a drive through is huge but you also need to make sure your store layout gets people in and out the door quickly. . If you’re planning on 300k for buildout, equipment, opening needs, and the first six months expenses, I think that would really be stretching it. Can you afford to not get paid during that time or only make minimum wage until you start making money? People think that coffee shops can be great businesses but for most it’s buying yourself a job and it can take a while to make profitable if you’re new to a business like this. They sound easy but have a significant learning curve. If your supplier is confident it will work(not knowing the context of the relationship whether personal or professional) then he’s probably going to sell a lot of coffee. I think your biggest concern should be in your initial forecasting and track your financials daily for the first three weeks or until business levels out. If your first day of business isn’t half of your target, consider serious changes and implement any feedback you get immediately for the first day or two, especially common sense stuff. Hopefully your supplier can help you with some of these issues if they arise and foresee them.

At the end of the day, any amount that size is a significant risk, but as long as you do your homework and industry people are loving it, then it sounds like it has potential.

I spent ten years in the specialty coffee industry and opened 30+ custom coffee shops/business dining locations across the East Coast. If you have any questions feel free to dm me. Coffee is a passion too. Good luck!