It wasn’t all that long ago that opening a restaurant or coffee shop required some cash to get the word out. You’d take out ads in the local newspaper, create fliers, and throw a press party to kick things off. Nowadays three free platforms do nearly the same job: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Whether you operate an upscale restaurant or a casual cafe, food allergies can affect your success. But when it comes down to it, providing customers with good food that they can eat and friendly service will go a long way.

In the Epicurious video series “Price Points,” coffee expert Dillon Edwards of Parlor Coffee tries to guess which of two coffees is more expensive, after examining, smelling and tasting them. He also provides a bit of insight into his methods for analyzing coffee, while also breaking down roasts (dark vs. light), and waxing poetic about processing, freshness, varietals and source.

If you want to expertly extract espresso, you’ll need to pack the perfect puck.

A good espresso tamping technique creates resistance (with evenly compacted coffee) that makes the brewing water work hard to push through it and saturate all of the fine grounds, thus extracting all of that great coffee flavor. The water pressure pulls oils from the grounds and creates the bold taste and rich texture inherent to a good espresso.

If you want your restaurant or café to reach its full potential, you need to sweat the small stuff. We’re not talking about micromanagement, but a healthy dose of obsession in restaurant management. It takes total situational awareness of your operation—when a place setting is missing on a table, the mirror in the bathroom is dirty, or a staff member seems preoccupied or down—to create a great business.

It’s hard to hold other people accountable if you don’t hold yourself accountable. Great leaders understand that culture is the result the behavior they themselves exhibit. Your team will imitate the behavior they see from you.

Many restaurants and coffeehouses rise to the level of “good,” but not many are truly great. Great ones don’t tend to fail—and open communication with and among your staff can make you one of the great ones.