business plan coffee shop uk

How to Write a Coffee Shop Business Plan

Have you always dreamed of opening a coffee shop? Then you’ve come to the right place.

Starting a coffee shop business plan is the first step to success. If you’re planning on raising startup capital by pitching to investors , make sure your coffee shop business plan is ready because they will definitely ask to see it.

If you’ve never seen a coffee shop business plan before, here’s a sample you can use (along with the template below) to get you started. It covers all the basic elements of a proper business plan, including an executive summary, overview and description of a coffee shop business, marketplace information, marketing initiatives, business operations, and financial plans.

In this article, we provide a step-by-step approach on how to write a successful coffee shop business plan. We outline each section needed in a good plan, explain that section’s purpose, and provide an example you can use as a starting point.

6 things to consider before  writing your coffee shop business plan

Before you start actually writing your coffee shop business plan, there are a few things you want to nail down first that will save you time and make communicating your vision a lot easier.

Make sure you can answer each of the following questions:

1. How long should a coffee shop business plan be?

A business plan can be anywhere from a few sheets to hundreds of pages long, depending on the size of your proposed business.

For a relatively small business like a coffee shop it’s best to keep the plan as brief and succinct as possible. We recommend 30 pages or less – especially if you intend to submit it to financial lenders for debt or equity financing. They will be looking for solid research, analysis, and strategy written in a concise form.

2. Who’s going to read your coffee shop business plan?

Take into consideration the audience of your coffee shop business plan. Will you be approaching financial lenders or investors? Or is your plan specifically for you and your management team? Just like creating a marketing plan , you need to adjust your writing style and messaging to match the audience’s interest. Certain sections might need more emphasis over others depending on your primary audience.

3. Where will your coffee shop be located?

If you aren’t ready to choose an exact location for your coffee shop , you should at least know which neighbourhood you’re targeting. The location you choose will determine important elements of your coffee shop business plan, such as your competitive analysis and venue type.

4. What is your venue type?

It’s important that you have a clear idea or concept of the type of coffee shop you want to open . What you need to cover in your coffee shop business plan will depend on whether you’re opening a small intimate cafe, gourmet food stand, or craft microbrewery. These can all be considered coffee shops. Sometimes it’s helpful to create Pinterest boards to help you fully visualize your concept.

5. What are your business goals?

Do you have any ideas of what your short- and long-term business goals are for your coffee shop? Are you going to start with one location and then expand a year after launching? Do you want to start off smaller with a food stand and then, once you have enough sales, open a sister coffee shop in a different neighbourhood? Be as specific as you can when communicating your vision and the goals you’re aiming to achieve.

6. What are your credentials and experience?

Have you ever worked in the coffee shop industry? Do you have any certifications? Consider the skills and experience you have that would give your audience confidence that you’re the right person for the business.

If you’re confident you have the skills and experience, then it should show in the coffee shop business plan. But if you’ve never spent any time working in the foodservice industry, you may want to get some hands-on experience so that, at the very least, you know what you’re getting yourself into.

5 Tips for Writing a Coffee Shop Business Plan

So now you’re ready to start writing your coffee shop business plan. To make the writing process easier for you, here are five useful tips:

• Collect relevant resources (in addition to this article) that will help you when writing. This can include how-to guides, research and trends, and sample business plans – real or imagined. You can use all of these as inspiration and include them in the appropriate sections of your business plan.
• Write down as much as you can without filtering yourself in the first round. Once everything is out, you can then determine which parts are relevant to which part of your business plan.
• Don’t let yourself get stuck on one section. If you get writer’s block, make a note and move on to the next section. You can revisit it later, once you have more information or clarity.
• Use visuals such as graphics and images to clarify your message wherever appropriate. As you write your coffee shop business plan, pull images from any Pinterest boards you created while visualizing your venue and concept.
• All good things take time. So will your coffee shop business plan. Don’t worry if it takes longer than what you were hoping for. As time passes and you continue to work on your plan, you’ll be able to fine-tune your message and express your thoughts in a cohesive and succinct way.

Coffee Shop Business Plan Template

1. table of contents.

Even for a small coffee shop, your business plan is going to be a long document. A table of contents makes it easier for someone to find specific sections as they read through your plan.

2. Executive Summary

While the executive summary should appear at the beginning of your business plan, it’s the last thing that should be written because it’s an overview of the full business plan. It’s the most important part of your business plan and should be no longer than one page. The purpose is to summarize the main points of the plan, which helps save your audience time. They can then review the sections that are of most interest to them if they want to learn more. Remember to keep this section concise yet inspiring.

3. Business Overview

This section should include a list of basic information about your business. Refer to our coffee shop business plan template to see what it should look like when it’s fully fleshed out.

Below are common details that should be included in your plan, especially if you’ll be seeking bank loans or pitching to investors:

• Legal name of business
• Trade name of business (doing business as)
• Business address (or potential business address)
• Nature of business
• Structure of business
• Date business was established
• Current mailing address
• Phone number
• Banking details (branch and banker’s name)
• Social media handles

4. Business Description

This section is where your coffee shop concept comes to life.

It’s time to describe your business in great detail: elements like what the concept is going to look like, where it will be located, and the kind of vibe or brand you’ll be creating. Your business description provides paint a clear picture of your vision and goals.

Here’s what to include in your business description:

Will your coffee business be a sole trader, partnership, limited liability partnership or limited liability company? What people will be involved and what are their roles? Will some wear multiple hats? Be concise – you’ll go into more detail about the team later on.

Your coffee shop concept is your big idea . Take the time to describe why your idea is unique and what differentiates you from other coffee shops. Why should coffee drinkers choose your shop over the one down the street or two blocks over? Also, consider what kind of experience you want to create for your customers. Having a restaurant is not just about what you serve to customers but how you serve the whole experience.

Mission statement

Your restaurant mission statement  is one sentence that describes what your coffee shop will achieve. Think of your end goal as the ultimate driving force behind your business. Your mission statement should be something that can be displayed on marketing materials, so keep it short and straight to the point. It needs to easily express to people what your business is about.

Short- and long-term goals

In this section, you’ll want to mention any relevant personal and/or business goals. Your short-term goals describe your first year as a coffee shop owner. Long-term goals involve bigger picture thinking. They are things like how to scale your business or expand into new markets. Be descriptive in this section, but also realistic (i.e. stay within the scope of your financial projections ).

Menu and services

Include a sample menu and discuss your concept in greater detail. If you’re going to offer catering, delivery, or any other services, also include details about complimentary parts of the business in this section. Describe anything else you’ll be selling, such as pre-packaged foods, canned or bottled drinks, or retail products.

You probably haven’t secured a location or negotiated a lease just yet. No problem. Instead of those details, mention the neighbourhoods you’re considering for your venue and why. Answer the following questions and consider the effects they will have on your business:

• Attraction: Which features of the neighbourhood will affect your coffee shop?
• Competition: What other coffee shops or related businesses are located in the area?
• Demographics: What kinds of people live, work, or visit the neighbourhood?

Describe your concept with as much visual detail as possible. Communicate why these details are important and how they relate back to your brand. If you’re working with a design agency or interior designer, mention them in this section and include their visual proposals or mockups.

Business description summary

This section covers a lot, so briefly sum it all up at the end. The business description tends to be filled with a lot of necessary details, so a summary will help your audience understand the main points.

5. The Marketplace

For this section of the coffee shop business plan, you want to demonstrate that you have thoroughly analysed the target market and can prove there is a demand for your business.

A good way to gather intelligence is to do a competitor analysis . Visit your competition, document their menu items, marketing tactics, business practices, pricing, and brand positioning, then analyze your findings from a variety of different angles.

You can also ask people in your prospective neighbourhood about how businesses perform in that area. By gathering as much information as you can, your marketplace assessment will be realistic and paint a clearer picture of how your business can be successful.

The marketplace section is another lengthy part of the coffee shop business plan, that includes the following components:

Market segment

In this section, you should provide an overview of your target audience. Consider details like demographics, psychographics, and segments of your target market.

It’s time to put your target customers under the microscope, show how well you know them. What types of people will frequent your coffee shop and what similarities/differences do they share? Get qualitative and quantitative data, and reference external resources that provide statistics about your customer segments and any other relevant information. Note that each customer segment within your target demographic will most likely have specific needs.

Market Trends

Include relevant statistics about past and current trends within your targeted marketplace. Anything that relates to the demand for a coffee shop business, as well as social and economic factors that have affected similar businesses in the area. Also mention if you’ve conducted your own research or hired a third-party to conduct research on your behalf.

Competition

In this section, you’ll want to be specific about who you consider to be competition. You’ll have both direct and indirect competition within your chosen neighbourhood. Your direct competitors are the coffee shops that offer similar customer experiences and types of cuisine. Indirect competitors may be different from your coffee shop concept but still compete for your target market’s attention and spend.

Now that you’ve analysed the competition, you should be able to articulate what makes you stand out from the others. What does your coffee shop offer to your target audience that no one else currently provides? Why should someone choose your business over another?

Opportunities

Taking into account your competition and customers, you should see where the gaps lie between supply and demand. Use this knowledge to fine-tune your concept and provide a better option for customers. From the menu to opening hours, whatever your coffee shop can do better than everyone else should be highlighted in this section.

Now consider the flip side: what advantages do your competitors have over your business? What do they offer to the market that your coffee shop doesn’t? Provide rationale as to why your coffee shop faces these barriers and, most importantly, how you’ll tackle them once you’re officially open.

Marketplace summary

Time to sum it all up. Expect this section to be a long one, because you’ve got to summarise everything you’ve outline in regards to your marketplace. Highlight the pieces of information that will have the most impact on your audience, such as the demographics of your target market, advantages, and opportunities.

6. Marketing

You may be an amazing barista who can make a killer cappuccino, but without consistent customers and sales, your business isn’t going to last for very long. You need a marketing strategy to keep people coming through the doors.

In this section, we’ll provide an overview of what to include in your marketing strategy, which you can use later on as the framework for your full restaurant marketing plan .

Positioning

Describe how you’ll appeal to your target customers and stay top of mind. Use the differentiators you outlined in the marketplace section to guide your positioning strategy. What do you offer that your target customers can’t get anywhere else? How will you communicate these offerings?

Describe your pricing strategy and how it compares to competitors. The most common question small businesses owners have is, “How do you know what price to charge?”

Questions that will help you decide on a pricing strategy include:

• What are your food costs? (the total amount spent on food and beverages)
• What are your food portion costs? (the sum total of all ingredients in one menu item)
• What is the market price of similar menu items? (i.e. your competitors)
• How does your pricing compare to the market price?
• How is your pricing competitive?
• What kind of return on investment do you expect with this pricing strategy, and within what time period?

Once you’ve determined your pricing strategy, make sure it aligns with your financials. The prices you charge have to be competitive but still allow you to make a reasonable profit.

Online promotion

• Social Media: If you plan on creating and maintaining social media accounts like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, explain how you’ll use them to promote your business and brand.
• Website: Describe your website’s overall concept and how it aligns with your brand. Provide visuals of the main elements and design style. Also, mention if you plan to built the site in-house or pay for professional services.
• Advertising: List all of your paid digital promotions such as review sites, email marketing, and social media ads, as well as any agencies you’ll work with to develop and execute your digital marketing initiatives.

Traditional promotion

Will you be hosting an event for coffee lovers? Running a free coffee for a month contest? What about mailing printed ads to tempt locals with photos of your pastries? It’s always a good practice to have a mix of promotional tactics, so if you plan on utilising traditional channels as well as digital, list all your planned traditional ones here.

Marketing summary

Again, here’s your opportunity to briefly summarise your overall marketing strategy and describe which channels you’ll be investing in the most. Emphasize why your marketing strategy is the best approach for both the type of coffee shop you’re opening and the neighbourhood.

7. Business Operations

You’ve described your vision, the marketplace, and how you plan to market your business. Now it’s time to outline how you’ll actually execute your plan. This means outlining who will operate the day-to-day of your coffee shop.

Describe the main business management categories relevant to your coffee shop and identify the core team members who are going to have responsibility for each category. Introduce everyone on your payroll, from your restaurant consultant to management team to star baristas. List everyone’s qualifications, skills, and responsibilities, placing emphasis on how each role will help you reach your business goals.

List your suppliers according to type. Include descriptions of how each supplier will serve your coffee shop’s needs , as well as their credit and payment terms. This will include everything from food to technology to takeout coffee cups – even landscaping, if you location needs it. Consider how these suppliers may fit into your overall brand, in terms of what quality they are and how they’re sourced.

Since your coffee shop needs insurance coverage , conduct research to determine what’s mandatory. From general liability to workers’ compensation, getting the right insurance will help you sleep at night knowing you’re covered if something goes wrong (a big knock on wood here). Be sure to check with local and national requirements because these requirement may vary. Also, compare quotes from insurance providers. List each type of insurance your coffee shop will need and include what’s covered.

Figuring out what licenses your coffee shop will need is similar to insurance requirements (though this list may be longer). Required licenses and permits can be everything from a business license to food handler permits to music licenses. Start your research as soon as possible by checking your local government office website. List all of the licenses and permits required for your coffee shop and staff in this section.

Business operations summary

Summarize the main points discussed in the Business Operations section. This should be fairly straight forward, as it’s more fact-based than other sections.

8. Financials

The financial plan is the most important section of your coffee shop business plan – especially if you need debt financing or are trying to pitch to investors. Your financial plan has to demonstrate your business’ potential for growth and profitability. To do this, you will need to document your forecast in four main parts:

• Revenue (forecasted sales)
• Controllable costs (food and beverage costs, cost of labour)
• Expenses (rent, supplies, utilities, marketing, etc.)
• Start-up costs (costs related to opening your coffee shop, such as capital improvements and training)

For new businesses, a good rule of thumb is to underestimate revenues and overestimate expenses – the age old “under promise, over deliver” strategy.

We’ve created a forecast within our coffee shop business sample plan to demonstrate what numbers need to be included. Once you understand the sample forecast, you can then create your own forecast sheets and add in your numbers to project how profitable you’ll be.

9. Coffee Shop Business Plan Summary

Your business plan summary needs to tie together the overall message you’re trying to communicate. Use this final section to highlight how your coffee shop is different from what’s currently available in the market. It’s an opportunity for you to reiterate the most important points about your business.

Make sure to include the following sections:

• Why your business will be successful: In a few sentences, repeat how your coffee shop is different and why your business will work.
• What you need to be successful: If you’re asking for funding, repeat that ask here.
• A thank you note: Thank your audience for reading your coffee shop business plan and remind them that you value their time and feedback.

If you’re thinking about opening a coffee shop then creating a business plan needs to be at the top of your priority list. Remember: you’re building a foundation for success. This includes saving money – because you’ll have your financials organized – and being able to actually get funding from banks and investors.

It’s a lot of work, yes. But keep in mind that you’re working toward making your dream a reality. Any time you can put in now, and we highly recommend additional research wherever possible, will benefit you on the other side – from the first cup to that last drop.

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In recent years, the UK had been steadily moving towards the kind of well-established café culture that our European cousins are famous for. These independent brewers have taken a hit due to the ongoing cost of living crisis, but the industry is readying for growth and recovery in 2024.

In April, the UK economy grew by 0.2% thanks to a boost from the nation’s humble hot coffee makers. And, according to an economic report by UKHospitality, the sector has the potential to increase its contribution to create half a million new jobs by 2027.

It’s also now easier than ever to set up a simple store or pop-up with limited equipment – taking payment on your phone using a mobile card reader , for example. This means that starting your own café or coffee shop is becoming an increasingly accessible (and affordable) venture.

Still, future cafe owners need to be aware that consumer behaviour, and buying habits, have changed. Although convenience and cost are still big drivers, brand identity and aesthetic now play a huge part in a customer’s purchase decision – making marketing a crucial consideration for wannabe baristas.

Below, we’ll outline exactly what you need to know to take your café or coffee shop business plan from bean, to cup.

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There’s a huge amount of planning that needs to go into launching a coffee shop. Thankfully, one area which needn’t cause undue stress is creating a website to promote your business. Thanks to modern templates like the one below , you can create one of your own in under an hour.

At Startups.co.uk, we test and rate website builder tools, and we’ve identified Wix as one of the best you can choose for creating a business site. Wix even has a selection of  custom website templates designed specifically for cafes – you simply drop your own menu, location, wording and preferred imagery into your chosen template. Better still, it’s completely free to try for yourself.

Read on to find out more…

How to write a café or coffee shop business plan, market research, financing your café or coffee shop business, concept, branding and design, waste disposal, equipment, utilities and supplies, taking payments, recruitment, regulations, useful links.

At Startups.co.uk, we’re here to help small UK businesses to get started, grow and succeed. We have helpful resources for helping new businesses get off the ground – you can use the tool below to get started today.

What Does Your Business Need Help With?

When writing a business plan for a café or coffee shop specifically, you’ll need to consider:

• The overall industry, and how your business will fit into it – are you catering to the growing trend for premium products? Are you offering an independent alternative in an area with a lot of chain brands?
• Competitor analysis – following on from the above, the business plan needs to show a clear understanding of your intended area and customer base, as well as how your café will cater to a gap in the market
• Sales and marketing – for a coffee shop, this means outlining how you plan to price products, along with which items will be available on the menu. Similarly, if you have any ideas for promotions or other purchasing incentives (such as deals or loyalty schemes), include them in this section. See the dedicated marketing section for more information

This is in addition to the standard requirements of any business plan, such as account information and financial forecasts, as well as details of the management structure and operations plans. 

You can learn more about what to include, and get help to create your coffee shop business plan, using our business plan template page.

Sarah Heward, founder and co-owner at The Real Food Caf é tells Startups : “I had to think about the main players in the business and their backgrounds. I then conducted market research before focusing on design, including building a website and menus. My SWOT analysis came next, followed by timeline and financials.

“We made some basic errors – one was getting carried away with our enthusiasm and not doing our homework thoroughly enough, which led to some costly adjustments and mistakes.”

While choosing a convenient location is key, when it comes to running a café, coffee quality is still paramount. With the continued interest in premiumisation and sustainability in the industry, people are becoming increasingly aware of where their coffee is sourced and how it’s roasted. This connects with the growing conscious consumerism movement.

However, while some coffee brands are expanding rapidly, it appears that customers are nonetheless enticed by the intimacy of an independent coffee shop.

Starbucks struggled through the recession, and was forced to close a number of stores across the UK. Fast forward to 2019, however, and the company now has 995 UK stores – the second highest number of outlets for coffee shops in the country. 

While the estimated value of the UK coffee shop market stands at £10.1bn (according to the Allegra Project Café UK 2019 report), there are still opportunities within the sector. Indeed, approximately 95 million cups of coffee are drunk each day in the UK. 

What’s more, high street café culture is booming – according to data published by The British Coffee Association , 80% of people who visit coffee shops make a visit at least once a week, while 16% visit each day.

Cafe owner Heward  continues:  “I feel that the customers are now more into the quality of the coffee and they are conscious about reducing plastic waste. Artisan coffee producers are now more favoured over the bigger brands; people know the blends that they like and where to find it.”

Need help staying organised?

Starting a cafe or coffee shop takes time, and there are a number of steps to take.

We think project management software is a great way to keep everything on schedule. Whether you’re working alone or with other people, you can streamline processes, assign times and track progress to keep everything moving efficiently in the right direction.

Find out which project management tool we think is best .

Premises, equipment, staff… all of these things take money. Fortunately, there are a number of options available if you’re just starting a business and need to raise finance. While many people start businesses using their own savings, or money borrowed from family, there are also various other paths to pursue.

Despite the phenomenal success of Costa and other chains, coffee shops are not the kind of business to set up if you’re expecting a quick multi-million pound exit. Profit margins will only become significant if you open multiple outlets, and even then, your initial costs will be considerable. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, it may be worth investigating if you can get a business loan to help you get started.

However, if you’re after a lifestyle business which provides you with a modest income, then setting up a coffee shop could be a great decision.

Startup loans – the Startup Loan company is a government-backed scheme, where you can borrow up to £25,000 with a fixed interest rate of 6% p.a.

Business loans – business loans are similar to startup loans, except they are not just for new businesses and don’t have the same caps.

You should also consider how you will keep track of your finances. It’s best practice to use a business bank account to separate your personal and business expenses and income, and you’ll have to if you’re starting a limited company. Nerdwallet compares leading UK business bank accounts if you need to find one.

Consider lighting, layout, and furniture when creating your café’s concept

Managing your money

Starting a business takes money and time, and accountancy software can help with both.

Whether you’re running your cafe alone as a sole trader, or with a staff, you’ll need to stay on top of your finances. If you’re not ready to employ an accountant to help out, then we suggest using an online accountancy tool.

Accountancy software is designed to simplify the complex processes related to money. From tracking your outgoings – whether that is salary or other necessary costs – to managing your taxes, you’ll find any finance process simpler with the right tools in place. Take a look at the accountancy software that we’ve rated best .

Or, take a quick look at our top recommended picks for accounting software that’s best suited to small and fledgling businesses below:

It’s not vital for you to have worked in a café before, but as with any business, industry experience goes a long way . If you don’t have any prior experience, it’s a good idea to spend at least a few weeks working in a similar establishment to the kind you want to open. 

If you choose a business to learn from that’s in a different geographic area, there won’t be any issues with competition, and you’ll find people are surprisingly receptive to offering advice if you’re honest about what you’re planning to do.

When doing her research , Sahar Hashemi , the co-founder of Coffee Republic, spent a day on the Circle Line, getting off at each of the 27 stops to investigate what type of coffee was on offer. It’s important to make sure you’ve spent some time considering the business from more than just a customer’s point of view.

This includes thinking about the type of company you want to create: do you have plans to become a big brand eventually? Or do you want your coffee shop to keep its small and local vibe for the foreseeable future?

And in turn, consider what your café can bring to the scene : whether that’s a focus on a certain type of bean or drink, a particular atmosphere you want to create, or an overarching ethos (e.g. charitable, eco-friendly).

As part of the design process , you’ll need to create a floor plan – you can either hire a professional to do this for you, or use floor planning software to do it yourself. Some of the most well-known software packages are RoomSketcher and CADPro.

Essentially, a floor plan will divide the space into customer-facing areas and dedicated work spaces. Ensure you meet any legal requirements, such as building and accessibility regulations. 

Also, think about the layout of the space, including decoration , along with how your staff will interact with customers. You should also consider what your logo will look like, and where it will be positioned. These are some of the main points to consider when creating your café concept, and contribute to how your coffee shop will be branded and designed.

One of the most well-known coffee brands around the world is Starbucks. For inspiration and advice that could benefit your own brand, think about the beverage giant’s marketing strategy, and the process it followed to create such a remarkable brand .

Ozkan Ozdemir is owner of Emy’s Kitchen, a Turkish cafe based in Islington. Ozdemir tells Startups  said :  “The idea to start Emy’s Kitchen was on our mind for many years. My mum, Emy, is a really good cook and we knew her food would be appreciated by other people too.”

Your café stands to benefit from having a website that provides the key details that your customers need to know. This includes contact information, opening hours, what’s on the menu, and where to find the café.

But a website goes beyond a business listing: think of it as an opportunity to further showcase your brand and reach a wider audience. As your coffee shop grows, you could write a blog that responds to industry developments, or highlights the social good your café is doing. Be sure to include any awards or nominations that your café may receive, too. 

An ‘About us’ section is a great way to connect with customers and create a sense of community. Plus, it’s an opportunity to reinforce your café’s USP. 

If you want to sell products online (such as coffee beans or bespoke cakes), then you’ll need to set up an online shop. Not sure which platform is best for your business? Check out our guide to the best ecommerce platforms for more information.

Also, if you want to host events (whether personal or private hire), then a website will allow you to easily and quickly manage registrations and bookings.

If you’re wondering how to create a business website , it can either be designed professionally, or you can use a website builder to make your own. 

Location and size are key when choosing a premises

The biggest decision you’ll have to make when thinking about how to start a coffee shop is regarding your premises. When looking at prospective sites, location and size are the two main factors you need to consider.

Mintel research found that 79% of Brits purchased an out-of-home hot drink in 2017, while this figure increased to 90% for younger millennials aged 18-27.

Ozkan Ozdemir, founder of Emy’s Kitchen, recalls: “Our biggest challenge was finding a good premises. As the business was a whole new concept we had started, we didn’t actually know which area in London would be best.”

So when choosing a café location, it may be worth looking for a busy urban area with a lot of foot traffic. However, these types of properties are expensive and the amount of square feet you will be able to get will be less than if you choose a more suburban or rural location.

Equally, you may have envisioned a spacious, airy coffee and tea shop with room for large sofas and coffee tables covered in newspapers or books – bear in mind that this may come at a price. 

And as the premiumisation trend continues, it may even be more profitable to forsake the perfect location in favour of investing in better beans. The important thing is to be flexible – focus on visiting a range of properties, big and small, in busy and quiet locations. 

Researching your market is essential: look into the locations that are popular among branded coffee shops, as these are the areas that have been identified for drawing in a good trade. If these shops are too busy during peak times, there could be room for an independent alternative. 

It is also important to know your competition. Consider what the most popular brands are offering, and how you could improve upon that.

While the size of the property you will buy or rent is intrinsically linked to its location, you should know roughly what sort of size and square footage you need. You should also be aware of how many covers (i.e. people seated) it can accommodate, as this will help you when going through property adverts. 

You need to be clear about your requirements: you’ll require a large seating area, a kitchen, a coworking area, a performance space, and/or a small retail section. A rough guide to café sizes is as follows:

Think about what you need from your coffee or tea shop, what is already provided, and what you would need to add yourself. When viewing properties, take the layout into careful consideration. Imagine your service area is fully staffed, and that you’re dealing with a bustling sitting space decked out with tables, chairs, and lots of customers in need of a caffeine injection.

Ozkan adds: “After we had started the business, we realised that the location wasn’t really that important as we have customers travelling from all around London for our breakfasts.”

As part of getting your café up and running, you’ll need to ensure you dispose of its commercial waste correctly. Whether you choose to hire a private company to collect it, or opt for the service provided by your local council, this is an essential part of operations. 

Some providers offer specific services for the hospitality sector, such as collecting glass, food waste, or coffee grounds. To help you choose a provider, read our guide to the best waste management companies . 

Of course, it’s ideal to reduce the amount of waste created in the first place as much as possible. Not only does this help to save money (less waste means fewer collections), but it’s good for the planet, too. Look for a provider that offers coffee cup recycling, and learn more about business recycling in general.

Before you negotiate the lease or purchase of a property, you must also check what commercial classification it currently falls under. If the property does not already have the correct classification for a coffee or tea shop, you will need to get planning permission from your local authority. You can use the Gov.uk licence finder to help you.

A café or coffee shop will most probably be classified as an A3 use class, although this will depend on the local authority. Planning permission for A3 use permits the sale of food and drink to be consumed on premises. For example, if you take on a property with a different class (e.g. a shop, which falls under category A1) and want to use the premises as a café, you’ll need to get the planning permission to change it to an A3 use class. 

To learn more, and to apply for a licence, visit the Gov.uk page on food business registration . 

Here, we outline the equipment, utilities and supplies you’ll need to start your own coffee shop. We’ll also look at the process of sourcing equipment, utilities, and suppliers.

Opening a café or coffee shop requires a lot of equipment. Some of it you’ll need straightaway, while other items you may be able to get further down the line, depending on your business requirements.

Essential kit includes:

• Coffee makers – espresso machines, as well as drip and cafétieres, plus equipment for any other specific drinks you offer e.g. pour over/filter
• Coffee grinders – ensure these are suitable for commercial use
• Cooking devices – e.g. ovens, toasters, sandwich presses
• Cooling and storage – e.g. refrigerators, freezers, shelving/cupboards
• Food containers – for syrup, ingredients, milk etc.
• Security devices – e.g. alarms , CCTV cameras , water detectors  
• Payment equipment – this includes a card reader, an iPad and/or a till, plus software. For more information on payment equipment, read our guide on small business POS systems

You can choose to buy some items outright from the beginning, or you can hire them on a rental or lease basis. For example, espresso machines are notoriously expensive, and it may be more sensible to rent one. By contrast, food containers are likely to be cheaper to purchase. 

Utilities 

You’ll need to get connected with business gas and electricity suppliers – be sure to compare energy suppliers to get the best packages for your small business.

Supplies/suppliers

You’ll need to think about the type of coffee you’ll choose for your café. Consider which (and how many) strengths will be on offer, and do your research about where it comes from and how it’s produced. When choosing suppliers, be sure to do taste tests (with coffee that’s been correctly prepared) so that you can know what your customers will experience. 

Also, check out a supplier’s record – have they won any awards or other industry recognition? Are they FairTrade and/or organic certified? Be sure to review the contract from a potential roaster as well – would you prefer an exclusive supplier, or to be able to use beans from multiple roasters?

Beyond this, the supplies you’ll require will depend on the type of café you run. For instance, the supplies used in a café that specialises in plant-based foods compared to a coffee shop that offers rum and other alcoholic beverages (like London-based Grind ) are going to be very different. 

You’ll also need to factor in non-edible supplies, like plates and cutlery, including both those used in-store and for takeaway. Plus, take into consideration the aprons or other items that your staff will need to wear or use.  

You can find suppliers in the following ways:

• Asking other small business owners for recommendations
• Attending trade shows and industry events (such as Caffé Culture , Coffee Shop Innovation Expo , and European Coffee, Tea & Soft Drinks Expo )

The Real Food Cafe founder, Sarah   Heward, advises:  “Speak to industry leaders with a lot of experience – they will challenge your thinking and not just tell you what you want to hear! Listen to them and prepare to be flexible

A card machine is an essential piece of equipment for your café. While cash is still popular, it’s good business sense to offer customers as many payment options as possible. Read our guide on how to take card payments to learn more.

As well as the device itself, you may need to enable online payment methods, such as a payment gateway . This will be the case if you’re offering online ordering or other ecommerce options.

Baristas, kitchen staff, and waiters are some of the roles to hire for in a café

Any business in the catering or hospitality industries involves hard, physical labour. Unless you can afford to employ staff from the outset, running a café will involve standing on your feet for the vast majority of the day.

Taking on staff is a highly legislated area, so you’ll need to understand and follow regulations on everything from health and safety to managing holiday requests . How much of the process you do yourself, and how much you outsource to a HR company , will depend on you, your vision for your business, and your budget.

Some top tips to consider when recruiting in the hospitality sector include:

• Culture – what type of atmosphere do you want to create, for both your staff and customers?
• Attitude – café staff are the face of your business, so it’s crucial to hire people who reflect its ethos and brand
• Experience – want perfect latte art with every pour? In need of standout dishes? If so, seek out experienced candidates for more skilled roles (such as baristas and chefs) so that your café can offer top-quality produce from the outset (and while other team members receive training)

Product images and other visual, shareable content are great for social media marketing

Emy’s Kitchen owner, Ozkan Ozdemir points out: “The food industry is very hard and you only have 20-30 mins to make customers happy, so you need a good team to achieve that goal.”

There are a number of ways to promote your café, including:

Social media

Loyalty programmes

Traditional marketing

When it comes to marketing a café or coffee shop, be sure to use social media. Creating content tailored to your target audience and the platforms they use is an essential part of social media marketing . 

Whether you film your baristas making the perfect cup of coffee, or share photos that your customers have taken, this type of business is highly visual – making it ideal for social media platforms. But it’s more than that just advertising – social media also offers an opportunity to engage and interact with your customers.

Whether you opt for a card that’s stamped per purchase, or a digital app that allows customers to collect points, loyalty programmes are a key part of marketing a café or coffee shop. 

Not only is this an incentive for people to return to your coffee shop, but if you use a digital system you can collect valuable information as well, such as common orders or popular visiting times.

While it’s easy to focus solely on digital marketing, remember that cafés and coffee shops are often central places in a local community. Be sure to connect with people face-to-face as well.

Options include printing and handing out flyers in your local area, as well as printing banners and posters. Plus, reach out to nearby offices and other companies to let them know you’re new in town.

Currently, there is no law that states you must undertake formal training to open a café or coffee shop. 

However, you must ensure that you and anyone else working with food at your business has the appropriate level of training and/or supervision to do their job properly. The legal responsibility lies with the business owner, so make sure you have all the information you need. 

You’ll need to be clued up on the basic principles of food preparation. Make sure you check out our restaurant and sandwich shop guides, as many of the principles for those kinds of businesses will also apply here.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the body appointed by the government to be responsible for all food safety standards. The FSA can provide you with advice on all food hygiene matters, and offers an information pack called ‘Safer food, better business’ , which will help you to comply with the law and make your premises safe for the public. The publication covers key aspects of serving food, including contamination, cleaning, chilling, cooking, management, and keeping a food diary. 

Your business must also be registered with the local authorities. You can and likely will face inspections in the future, and a failed inspection is bad for your café in a number of ways: either legally (you could be closed down), in terms of business (bad publicity and referrals) or morally (as people could be taken ill or even die from contaminated food). 

In order to avoid such pitfalls, you should follow the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) . This is an internationally recognised and recommended system of food safety management that focuses on identifying the ‘critical points’ in a process where food safety hazards could arise, and puts steps in place to prevent things from going wrong.

Take a look at the rules and regulations section of our catering guide , as the same restrictions on food preparation will apply. 

Your café or coffee shop will need to be appropriately insured – this is to protect you, as well as your customers. 

There are a range of providers out there who can offer cover that is tailored to your unique business requirements. However, you’ll usually need the following types of insurance:

• Building contents – this protects your café’s stock 
• Business interruption – with this type of cover, you’re insured for profit losses if you’re made to stop trading temporarily
• Employers’ liability – cover for the health and safety of your employees

Sarah Heward, founder and co-owner at The Real Food Café has this positive final message for Startups readers  comments :  “Starting your own business and seeing it go from strength to strength is an incredible sense of achievement. Hopefully, the long-term financial benefits make it all worthwhile.”

Here’s a recap of some of the most useful links from throughout the article:

• Gov.uk Licence Finder
• Gov.uk Food Business Registration
• Safer food, better business
• HACCP guidance

In addition, check out the links below to learn more about relevant industry organisations and events:

• British Coffee Association
• Specialty Coffee Association (UK Chapter)
• Caffe Culture Show
• Coffee Shop Expo
• European Coffee, Tea & Soft Drinks Expo

Startups.co.uk is reader-supported. If you make a purchase through the links on our site, we may earn a commission from the retailers of the products we have reviewed. This helps Startups.co.uk to provide free reviews for our readers. It has no additional cost to you, and never affects the editorial independence of our reviews.

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Coffee Shop Business Plan

If you’re passionate about great tasting coffee and love serving people, then opening a coffee shop could be a great business venture for you. The coffee industry in the UK has grown dramatically over recent years, and shows no signs of slowing down, representing a great opportunity for coffee-loving entrepreneurs.

In the UK, we drink around 95 million cups of coffee every day , and café culture is big on the high street. 80% of people who visit coffee shops go on a weekly basis, and 16% get their caffeine fix on a daily basis.

Before you dive in and start dreaming about your coffee shop empire, the first step is to create a coffee shop business plan which will get you the funding and support you need to see your café business flourish.

We’ll guide you through each step of creating your own business plan, from planning your sales and marketing strategy, to understanding your ideal customer, to identifying your competitors. As a business owner there’s a lot to take on, but we’ll walk you through everything you need to know.

• Is opening a coffee shop for you?

How much does it cost to open a coffee shop in the UK?

What's included in our coffee shop business plan.

• Your free sample coffee shop business plan template

Summary and recap

Is opening a coffee shop right for you.

As we know, coffee shops are part of a growing market and represent an exciting opportunity for coffee shop owners. The coffee shop market in the UK is expected to hit a £15 billion turnover by 2025.

But the first question you need to ask yourself is: Is this the right business for me?

A business plan will give you clarity on your competitors and help you reach your ideal customers, and show how you can run a successful coffee shop.

You’ll need to consider things like:

• How many major coffee shop brands are in the area (Pret A Manger, Costa etc.)
• How many independent coffee shops are based nearby
• Any existing brand loyalty

Your start-up costs will depend on things like the kind of equipment you need to buy, how many staff you need and the size of your premises. Start-up costs generally run between £20,000 to £100,000 in the UK.

This may sound scary, but there are ways that you can save money. Leasing and buying second hand equipment is just one simple way to prevent overspending.

A business plan for your coffee shop will help you anticipate your costs and budget appropriately. We’ll help you work out how to raise capital for your business and take into account your current financial situation.

We’ll run through every step you’ll need to take to open your coffee shop. Remember, if you’re planning to secure funds from a bank it’s essential that the business plan for your coffee shop is as thorough as possible.

Included within our coffee shop business plan template, you’ll receive:

• A fully completed coffee shop business plan
• Break-even analysis (12-month analysis)
• Complete business plan guide
• Business plan template (.doc and .PDF)
• Financial planning wizard

Plus 25 ways to market your coffee shop for free!

Download now for only £29.95

Below, we’ll walk you through an example of a coffee shop business plan. Remember, this is only a guide. You should take the time to write a business plan for your coffee shop in much more detail.

When it comes to your café business, we really believe that you can’t over plan for your enterprise

Step 1: Executive summary

This is a short, snappy summary that grabs the readers attention and acts as your business pitch. You want a concise overview, not a novella. Investors hear hundreds of these pitches, so you’ll need to think about how to make yours stand out.

Three top tips for writing your executive summary:

• Keep it short and sweet. Under two pages is best
• Stick to positive, upbeat language
• Read it aloud to a friend. Does it flow well, and do they understand what you’re trying to say?

Use your executive summary as a chance to shout about what a great opportunity your coffee shop is and what sets you apart.

Step 2: Company overview

A company overview (or company summary) gives you the chance to introduce yourself, your business and any key stakeholders. This “meet and greet” will tell your readers who you are, what you do, and who your customers are.

Just like your executive summary, this should be short and punchy. Your reader needs to quickly grasp who you are and what you do.

Five key things to add to your company overview include:

• Company history, when your business started and why
• Key objectives and goals
• Your management team
• Your ideal customer or target market
• Basic company information, like the name and location

Another top tip for writing a company overview is to put yourself in your reader’s shoes: Why should they put their money into your coffee shop?

To answer this question, focus on areas you know will interest your potential investors.

You should consider:

• Your local community and local market
• Your unique selling point, what separates you from other coffeehouses?
• Opportunities for expansion (venue hire, loyalty programs, food options, etc)

Use this section of your business plan to show what you want to accomplish, but remember to keep it high-level. Don’t overload your reader with too many details.

Feel overwhelmed? Not sure where to start? Panic not. Download our coffee shop business plan for instant access.

Instant download for £29.95

Step 3: Management and key personnel

No man or woman is an island, and you’ll need the support of a great team to help make your coffee shop business a success. In this section you’ll detail your management team, staff and resources.

Three key items to include in your management and key personnel section:

• The ownership structure. Is it just you, a partnership or a corporation?
• Your management team. Who are they? What are their roles? And what’s their experience?
• Human resources. How are you going to find new staff once you’re up and running?

One more thing, it’s unlikely that your team will be working for free, so don’t forget to include details on things like salaries, benefits and pensions.

Step 4: External analysis (market research)

Before launching any business it’s vital that you know your market. This section will help you understand the threats and opportunities in your market.

You’ll need to get a grip on your competitors, your ideal customer and whether the market can support and sustain your business.

Let’s take a look at your ideal clients first.

Who’s going to visit your coffee shop?

Sketch out your target customer. Are they parents meeting after the local school run? Or busy office workers grabbing a quick espresso on the way to work? You need to know whose needs you are serving so that you can make a targeted offer.

Think about:

• How will you attract new customers?
• How will you keep them coming back?
• What makes you better than your competitors?
• How much will your coffee cost?

Next, you need to scope out the competition…

How many cafés are near you?

There are literally thousands of coffee shops across the country. As of 2019, there were 10,604 non-specialist outlets in the UK , up by 292 shops from 2018. So how will you stand out from your competitors?

• Who’s selling coffee in your area, and what do you know about them?
• How many coffee shops are close by? And how close are they?
• What is the average cost of a cup of coffee in your town, city or village?
• Is it easy to get to your coffee shop? Is there a lot of customer footfall nearby?

One top tip for writing this section of your business plan is to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What do they need from your business? What is the problem that needs to be solved (e.g. they need a hot drink to set them up for the day). How do you solve that problem better than your competitors?

Step 5: Your business objectives

You need to think short-term and long-term here. Where do you want to be in a month or six months? A year or five years? And how will you get there?

In this section, list the specific steps you’ll need to take to achieve your objectives. You can keep track of your goals and objectives using the S.M.A.R.T criteria.

S.M.A.R.T goals are:

To help you determine your business objectives, here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Is my business targeting a niche market, or a broad one?
• What revenues do I expect to see in a year, or five years?
• How many customers should I have in six months?
• How will I build my market presence?

Demonstrate how you will woo clients to your coffee shop and establish a loyal customer base.

Step 6: Services, coffee equipment and amenities

Deciding what equipment you need to open your coffee shop will give your investors a clear idea of how much funding you need to get started.

Some of the initial things on your shopping list will include:

• Coffee machines, (like an espresso machine and a coffee roaster) fridges and dishwashers
• Coffee bean supplies, and any foods you make in-house or buy-in.
• Shelves and storage containers
• Seating and tables

The key here is to be realistic, and not overspend. Consider the size of your market and the needs of your customers before buying anything.

Additional services and amenities to think about:

• Takeaway services
• Delivery services

Step 7: Financial forecasting and financial projections.

Let’s get real here, your backers want to see cold, hard numbers, and feel confident that they will get a return on their investment. Spelling out your financial future can be tricky, but it’s an essential part of your business plan.

You’ll need to provide:

• Sales forecast
• Expense budget
• Cash-flow statement

When it comes to expenses, you’ll need to budget for things like:

• Purchase estimations
• Hiring costs
• Building/construction work

Don’t limit yourself to a single source of income. Obviously you’ll make money from selling your coffee, but consider how you can diversify your income.

Other forms of income from your coffee business could include:

• Selling food
• Renting out your space to groups
• Hosting local events

Remember, your financial forecast needs to be well-informed and attainable. But it doesn’t need to be 100% accurate. Things will likely change over the next few years and you’ll need to adapt. This plan will give your readers an idea of what you expect to happen in the future.

We’ve taken all of the hard work out of planning your finances for your coffee shop.

Download your coffee business plan template instantly below.

Instant download

Step 8: Funding

Now, you need to consider how you will secure funding for your business idea. Where is the money for your business coming from?

Are you funding your coffee shop with your own cash, or is the money coming from outside investment? Your backers will need to know exactly where the cash will come from, and how much you still need to raise.

You might already have funding in the form of:

• Personal loans
• Partners or sponsors
• Family/friends

You need to be clear to your investors about how much money you need, now and in the future. Detail how you’ll use any investment, such as paying for supplies or equipment, paying debts or hiring staff.

You’ll also need to balance your funding request between making sure you have enough to survive, but not more than is necessary. Ask for what you need, but don’t get greedy!

Your free sample coffee shop business plan

If you need an example of how a coffee business plan might look, we’ve pulled together a small Word template that you can use to get you started for your coffee business plan outline.

Included in this template, you’ll get:

• An example of your executive summary
• Products/services on offer
• Staff and management structure

Download.doc here

Launching your own business can be a nerve racking venture. The coffee shop market is a crowded place, but the good news for new business owners is that people love an independent coffee shop. Research has found that 7,022 independent cafés operate in the UK, with a value of around £2.4 billion.

By creating a well-thought out business plan you will get your business off the ground and help you to anticipate any future problems. A succinct business plan will show potential backers that you’re a solid investment and set you up for future success.

Download the Software

Full coffee shop business plan

Customer Testimonials

“I needed to put together a long-term business plan to cover all aspects of my new venture. I read a lot of books and attended courses, but I was struggling. Then I came across Teneric and suddenly it was all there in a format I could use and in terminology I could understand. After that, it was plain sailing to the Business Department at my local HSBC Bank”

Jill Shilcock, Managing Director, SEAS Education Advisory Service Limited.

“I wanted ideas for the type of information that needed covering in a business plan, and this gave me a template for the document I submitted to the bank. The business loan we were after was approved. If you have never written a business plan before, then I would recommend your product. It was very straightforward and offered some good advice.”

Gordon Mitchell, UK

“I needed a business plan quickly. The template was easy to use, just fill in the blanks on the wizard and refer to the help guide if I wasn't sure. Your system is good value, and I would recommend them to everyone needing a plan. Attached is the basic plan I threw together in a day for the bank. They specifically wanted cash flow projections, and the Excel spreadsheets were really what I was after from your product.”

John Waterhouse, UK

Small Business UK

Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

How to start your own coffee shop

Keep reviewing your coffee shop business plan

Fancy opening your own coffee shop? We explain what you need to know about cash flow, hiring staff and of course, finding the right coffee.

Starting a coffee shop is at once exciting and daunting – there’s a lot to factor in before you even start writing your business plan.

This guide will take you through the main steps of how to start your own coffee shop, with comments from experts in the industry and links to further information.

What should be included in my coffee shop business plan?

The first part of your start-up is always the same: your business plan.

Your coffee shop business plan will look very similar to any other. It should include:

• Your business proposition
• Unique selling point (USP)
• Target customer
• Marketing strategy
• Sources of funding
• Financial forecasts

What’s different with a coffee shop is that you’ll need to talk about what kind of coffee you’re going to use and what’s included in your menu. Is it food or drink that you expect to be your biggest money maker?

Along with the proposition, you should include your business’ purpose. Many businesses now launch with an ethical core. Not only will having your purpose in your business plan keep you on track with fulfilling your goals, but it will also help to attract ethical investors.

You must have these points nailed down before you approach partner companies. “The first questions we ask are, ‘What food are you going to serve? What kind of volume do you want to do?’ Sometimes they haven’t quite got that down on paper,” said Lloyd, founder of takeaway packaging supplier, Catering24 . “They need to work out the portions of food to costings, to then work out what volume they need to do per day to cover their premises or their van rental or pitch space and rental.

“It’s the nitty gritty details that we try and get down to because sometimes we can offer them a container that’s 30p per portion or one that’s 10p per portion. That starts to make the difference between whether the takeaway or coffee shop is actually going to be profitable from day one.

They need to know the cost per unit of everything that it takes – from ingredients all the way through to a stirrer to go with that coffee. It must be all priced in. “I can go to a van on the side of the road and get a £1 coffee from a polystyrene cup,” said Lloyds. “The cheap cup costs 10p and is not very ergonomically friendly. It’s actually got quite good insulating in the cup. If I go for that same quality of coffee in a 15p cup, I can sell it for £1.70 from the same brand, but it’s the perception of value that the customer is getting. Now it’s paper, it has a better fitting lid, you can actually sip out of it without it going over your clothes.”

Your business proposition and USP

Coffee shops are a popular trade and it’ll take ingenuity to stand out. This is where your business proposition and USP come in.

People watching, a popular pastime in cafés, could be illuminating here. “If you find this shop that you like, grab a coffee, sit outside for a few hours and just see how many people will pass,” said Stuart Wilson, founder of Lost Sheep Coffee. Yes, that’s a bit weird. But you can get an idea for them and who your target customer is.”

It’s also wise to know about current and upcoming trends in coffee and beyond. “For me, the next big thing is going to be your speciality coffees and your iced coffees. If I was a coffee shop owner now, I’d be planning for my iced coffee offering to be strong next year,” said Wilson. “All those sorts of things and your alcoholic coffees, like espresso martini. We talked to a few brewers actually about doing coffee-infused drinks, beers and stuff.”

Lloyd has noticed another trend coming from the rise in takeaways: “Afternoon tea boxes are massive at the moment. I Imagine someone starting out at the minute might not think of that first thing. They might think about takeaway coffee, because that’s what the norm is for a coffee shop.”

Décor can bring people into your coffee shop and support your USP. Think palm trees, retro arcade games or neon signs. For the basics, you can keep costs down buying furnishings second hand – it has added bonuses of being sustainable and giving your coffee shop a quirky charm.

Small Business Pro is the ideal tool for you when you’re starting your business. It will help with the heavy lifting of managing customers, taking payments, insurance, finance and HR, plus you’ll get a host of personal wellbeing benefits.

You can find out more about Small Business Pro here .

Where should I should set up my coffee shop?

This will depend on a few things: where you’re based, what units are available to you and what your goals are for the business.

Most will go for a traditional coffee house set-up. This a bricks and mortar café with indoor seating. Finding a location rests on what you want your business to be and where your customers are. Try Rightmove as it can show you spots that could potentially become your coffee shop while sites like Floorplanner will help you visualise where everything will be placed.

The other option is somewhat more mobile. Having a cart, kiosk or van has the advantage of being in a busy area like a train station or bus terminal for a much lower cost. Plus, you can opt for a fixed spot every day or, in the case of the cart or van, choose different spots and hit popular events like festivals. Lost Sheep Coffee started as a micro van back in 2012. Wilson tells us more: “For us, the cheapest way to do our [then] hobby was small, hence why it started with a three-wheeled coffee van. I set the whole thing up for less than £10,000. We were able to get a pitch slap bang in the middle of the high street in Canterbury, which, to this day, people still remember the cart. From a marketing perspective, it was fantastic.”

Why do people go for bricks and mortar coffee shops? “I think to be honest, it’s tradition,” said Wilson. “A lot of people don’t think of kiosks as a proper business. It’s just like a glorified market. Some people want the bricks and mortar, if you will, to feel validated.

“A kiosk doesn’t always bring that for someone. They are becoming a lot more popular now that you’ve got your Costas and your Greggs in the service stations. It has been popularised in the last four or five years.”

How much money will I need?

Start-Up Loans says that it can cost £20,000-£100,000 to start up a coffee shop depending on its size, offering and location.

Though it needn’t be as pricey. “A lot of people these days are taking on affordable units. So actually, they can start becoming a bit more accessible,” said Wilson. “A good selection of people who are starting out as a coffee shop these days are taken on premises that might be rates exempt, basically, because of the current government’s side of things.”

These could have perks like giving you three months free rent. They’re already fitted with water and electricity too. “I’ve got a customer who’s just launching one in Folkstone and she’s pretty much doing it for less than £15,000. It’s a full-size shop,” he added.

There are properties like this in the south east of England, but you should be prioritising areas that you know and like. If you do find such an affordable unit, just ask what your landlord can do for you.

However, it can be done more cheaply if you opt for a kiosk. “That chaos in Canterbury, that is a lot of work still done by me to be honest with you, but it’s still less – more like a £30,000 project” said Wilson. “The shop we had in Ashford was a 750 square foot shop and to kit that out from a shell with everything came in at around £15,000-60,000.”

He added that they’re looking into a bricks and mortar shop and it would cost £100,000 a year just on rent. The kiosk, just around the corner, costs a fraction. It could be worth going for the full shop as they generate more revenue. “You’ve got the kiosk, which you’d take X amount a year, and then your shop should be probably taking more like 700,000x,” said Stu. “You pay more, but you actually end up with a higher revenue stream.” Again, weigh up the costs and see which option works best for you.

As for your overall cash flow, if the rent is 15 per cent more than your projected rates and sales, it’ll be difficult to make a profit. Staff should not exceed 50 per cent of overheads, according to Start Up Loans.

Choosing the right coffee

Now, arguably the most important part of your coffee shop business.

Are you going single origin or a blend? Does the target customer decide the coffee or vice versa? Are you targeting regulars or passing trade?

“The product itself needs to be relevant to the to the person who owns the business, but also the person drinking it,” said James Sweeting, founder of coffee roasters, Lincoln & York . “These tend not to be one off purchases. They have a very high level of repeat client. I’m guessing that 90 per cent are likely repeat visitors.”

He added that you should really know your customer. “I think these days, you tend to think of an artisanal-type coffee shop, with hand-roasted coffee and healthy cake and all that kind of stuff,” said Sweeting. “Of course, it could be a coffee shop in a shopping centre, or it could be in another format that’s not necessarily Metropolitan. That’s why the coffee needs to be relevant.”

He does stress that there should be a ‘high-quality aspiration’, no matter if the coffee is espresso-based, filter or cold brew. “It should probably be a 100 per cent Arabica coffee blend, or singularity, or a blend of Arabica and Robusta beans that will produce a great espresso coffee. Quite often, you do need an element of reverse engineering to do that. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t really know the full 360 degrees of the coffee business.”

The coffee shouldn’t just reflect you as a business owner, it should also reflect the values and purpose of the business, as discussed earlier. If you’re claiming that you’re ethical, you need to root through your supply chains to make sure they have the same standards as you.

“You’ve got to have an idea of the standards – where it’s grown, some story element. Have you paid a fair price to your supplier? Has the supplier, in turn, paid their fair price to the grower?” said Sweeting. “if you buy something cheap, somebody has possibly been exploited. Can you defend yourself as a business if somebody walked in and said to a coffee shop and asked, ‘Where do you get your coffee from?’ If you can’t at least give an answer, you haven’t done the homework.”

A quick way to spot a supplier or roaster’s standards is to look out for certifications, which they’ll likely display on their website. Fairtrade means that the group of growers has been paid a known price level as well as covering elements of training and origin. Rainforest Alliance is more focused on the environmental management of the growing.

You should ask your supplier how the coffee will be roasted and how it behaves under certain types of roast. “You should ask questions on along those lines and say, ‘Well, what difference does it make if you roast it slowly and roast it dark? What does that do to the taste? And what will my consumer think of that when I make coffee to it with themes like that?’” said Sweeting.

Don’t forget to factor in the freshness of coffee. “There are one or two myths around whether coffee should be freshly roasted or not,” he added. “Well, of course, if you see ‘freshly roasted’ on a pack, well, it was definitely true when the rest of the pack was freshly roasted. By the time the consumer gets it, it might not be the case.

“Now, for a coffee shop, the ideal gestation period is probably two weeks to six weeks. The reason for that is and you could say well, ten days to 30 or 35. If coffee is very fresh, i.e. roasted one day, then consumed the next, the blend itself hasn’t had chance to settle down. When you get it into a grinder, you know the grinding characteristics will be different if you roast today, it’s a day old versus one that’s ten days old.” Ensuring it’s settled for around the same period each time will give your coffee more consistency, giving a consistent taste experience to your regulars.

Finally, there are questions about what certain roasters can offer. Some of the craft roasters can do very small quantities, perhaps up to six kilos. However, other businesses would want to be able to drop off around 20 kilos plus artillery products to make it worthwhile. “There’s a balance between pure coffee freshness and sensible logistics as well,” said Sweeting. “I think a coffee shop probably should be able to get a delivery every fortnight.”

If you’re struggling to commit to one supplier, you can sample a variety to see what their offerings are like. “Another good little way of coming across roasters you might want to work with is setting up subscription services,” said Wilson. “There are so many companies now that will send, say, three bags a month from different speciality coffee roasters from around the country. You could look into setting up a speciality coffee shop. Sign up for one of these for a few months or go old school and pick up the phone and just ask for samples.”

What coffee shop equipment should I be buying?

Now you want to ask yourself what equipment you’ll be buying and whether it will be new or second hand. It’s also important to look at the lifespan or warrantee.

Depending on what you’re offering, this could include:

• Espresso machine – £1,500 to £10,000 to buy. You can also lease for around £5 a day
• Cooking appliances
• Water softener, depending on location
• Coffee bean grinder
• Fridge/freezer
• Toaster/panini press
• WiFi router

It’s not just the purchase you’re thinking about. It’s also what you need to clean your equipment and how costly that’s going to be time-wise. “There are a lot there’s lots of great choices of coffee machines out there. It can be fully automatic, or semi-automatic or fully manual, but maintain them very well. It’s got to be scrupulously clean,” said Sweeting.

Some firms offer hospitality of coffee shop-specific point of sale (POS) systems. Read more at The essential guide to point of sale (POS) systems .

Finding the right suppliers for goods other than coffee is overlooked. Spend some time researching different suppliers, focusing on their story and values as well as their products.

“Try and get an idea of their history, how many years they’ve been trading. You want them to be big enough to support you when you’re starting out,” said Lloyd. “The long-term supply is lots of knowledge. They usually have customer service and salespeople that have been speaking to businesses for decades. Often, they have great ideas.”

Look for positive testimonials and third-party certifications to tell you what your supplier is like. “These are little cues to tell a customer that this is a reputable company, something that they can rely on,” said Lloyd. “They’re doing things properly in terms of sourcing supply. These products come from all over the world, sometimes it’s very difficult to for a café or coffee shop, to know where their products genuinely come from.”

Hiring staff and training

The size and goals of your coffee shop will help you decide which staff members you need to hire and who comes first.

You’ve got baristas and chefs/cooks of course, but your staff could extend to managerial roles, marketing and accounting, to name three. If you’re hiring them, your manager and marketing specialist should be recruited first, according to Rebecca Siciliano, managing director of hospitality recruitment firm, Tiger Recruitment . They’ll help you lay out the ground-level stuff before your café even opens.

It’s a good idea to have barista training yourself, even if you’re not the one making the coffee. But your baristas are incredibly valuable to your business – coffee shop owners often look for somebody who is already trained. However, training can vary, so it’s up to you to ask the right questions. “If it’s a coffee shop [they worked at before], fine.” said Wilson. He would then ask for the name of the coffee shop and look them up on Google and/or TripAdvisor to read the reviews and see pictures of the coffee. “You know, if it’s a greasy spoon or something, and they’ve made a couple of coffees that are frothy, that’s not barista training,” he said. “If they’re working for a well-known coffee shop, and you know they take their training seriously, then great.

“I then say, ‘Have you got any photos of your art?’ With someone who’s a barista who’s proud to be a barista, I guarantee you has photos on their phone. I then say, ‘Can you email it to me?’”

He added that the final thing during interview is getting them on the machine to make a coffee in front of you – the one they’re most comfortable making. “You can see what level of training they’re going to be at straight away,” he said.

If you can’t get hold of staff who are already trained, speak to your coffee roaster. They may offer training themselves or at least be able to give you some reputable names.

Attracting and retaining staff can be a real task across the hospitality industry, so try and offer what perks you can. “You have to offer a little bit more to be able to attract those candidates, like higher pay,” said Siciliano. “Then it’s also some of the other benefits. In fact, there’s one coffee shop we know of where they’ve got one designated day that all staff have been told that they can have the day off, just to acknowledge that they know how hard they’ve been working.” Flexible working is important too, with staff looking for leeway to have days off for important events or to be able to work during the day and have evenings off.

She also recommends posting roles on social media to target people who may already be interested in your brand.

With all this said, you should avoid overstaffing. “I’ve walked into a new café and they’ve got a 15-seat café and they’ve got five people working,” said Wilson. “The biggest, quickest way to kill any new business is to waste all your money on staffing costs. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you want to recruit people, but you’re no good to anyone if you go out of business.”

One way to tackle this is to hire temporary staff for busier periods. “Temporary staff can be ‘dialled up’ and ‘dialled down’ according to demand,” said Novo Constare, co-founder of Indeed Flex . “This makes them invaluable during busy periods when it’s hard to find enough permanent staff. Their flexibility means there’s no requirement to keep using them during quieter periods.

“Having ready access to good temporary staff also gives a coffee shop a defence against staff absences. A big pool of trained, vetted – and above all, available – workers can save the day at short notice if the shop’s regular staff call in sick.”

Legal considerations

This section will be dry but could save you an inordinate amount of hassle later on.

First off, register your business. This can be done as a limited company, as a sole trader or a legal partnership.

> See also: Should I go sole trader, partnership or limited company?

You must register your coffee shop through the government website at least 28 days before opening. It’s free to register and you can’t be refused.

Next, coffee shop licences. If the premises is not already classed as a coffee or a tea shop, you’ll need to get planning permission. Coffee shops will mostly be classed as an A3 premises which permit food and non-alcoholic beverages to be consumed on the premises. Find out what need with gov.uk’s licence finder .

There’s a lot of health and safety paperwork to get through. Visit the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for more information about your business’ needs.

The right insurance is crucial and there are a few different types.

Public liability insurance: Cover for claims made against you from employees or clients if something happens to them or their property is damaged as a result of your work. It can be an event which took place on your premises or off-site

Employers’ liability insurance: Protects you against claims for accidents involving staff and customers and covers issues with appliances and other breakages.

Deterioration of stock insurance: Covers damage to goods stored in specified cold storage spaces, which can happen because of a change in temperature caused by a breakdown of refrigeration equipment or accidental damage to it.

Contents insurance: Covers the contents of your coffee shop if they’re lost, damaged or stolen, including fixtures, fittings and your employees’ personal possessions.

Business interruption insurance: Could cover Covid-like events as well as weather-based events like flooding.

Different insurers will have different core packages and add-ons. Remember that, if applicable, your business insurance will need to cover takeaways as well as your delivery drivers. This also applies to alcoholic takeaway drinks and the provision of late-night refreshments in your establishment.

A couple of extras, should you need them. Get an entertainment license if you plan to play music in your caff. See PRS for more .

Finally, know about your staff’s employment rights – this includes working hours, holiday and other leave.

Marketing your coffee shop

Let’s start off with your branding – make sure it’s consistent online and offline. Having an instantly recognisable logo that you can put on all of your marketing material will help customers remember you.

For your offline marketing, this could be well-placed signage like bus stop advertising near your site. You’ve likely seen something similar with fast food restaurants who have signs with their logo and an arrow pointing towards their nearest restaurant.

Entice locals and passing trade into your shop with free samples of cake (Covid restrictions apply at time of writing). Drive more brand loyalty by joining a food event or hosting a coffee making/bakery classes. This can be in-person or online. Give participants an exclusive discount on their next coffee and cake or your in-store products.

Of course, it’s essential to establish regulars – they’re a great source of word-of-mouth advertising too. Treat them well by getting to know them and learning their regular order. Try getting in contact with local groups such as parent and toddler clubs or a nearby sports team – you can look at meetup websites for this – and offer them a regular space at quieter time to build up that customer base, making yourself the go-to for the locals. Having discounts and deals for quieter times and a loyalty scheme for regulars will drive footfall.

As for your online offering, you really need to consider having a website and being on at least one social media platform. This is especially true if you’re in the city and have a lot of competition. An easy starting point is getting on Google My Business. This is the widget you see when you type something like ‘coffee shops near me’ into the search engine. It includes your opening hours, images of your café and customer reviews.

Make sure you have a user-friendly and detailed website for customers to visit. They can find out more about you and your business story as well as your menu and info on upcoming events. We’ve got loads of guides to building a website , but here’s one tip: remember your keywords. This is what people will be searching when they’re trying to find businesses like yours. For example, include ‘afternoon tea’ and ‘high tea’ if that’s one of your main draws.

Take beautiful pictures of your food and drink for your website and social media. Customers will get a better sense of what you’re offering, and pictures may tempt them into coming to your café. Driving loyalty is important online too – you can achieve this through your newsletter. Offer an exclusive discount off their first booking or order when they sign up.

Plan for bigger events when your coffee shop will be busy. “They need to be looking ahead to Christmas. Big style,” said Lloyd. “This Christmas will be the biggest hospitality boom we predict for years. You need to be looking to Christmas and what’s going to make you unique.” He suggests speciality coffees like gingerbread lattes or other special syrups.

“We do our own Christmas cups for the independents. They can then play a massive part in the café’s own marketing.”

He warns of a ‘humongous drop in January’. “You’ve got to make it really work October, November, December. Then cash off, have a good Christmas. February and March will be when it starts to pick back up again.”

So, is opening a new coffee shop right for me?

As you can see, setting up a café is quite a process but don’t let that put you off if you believe in your idea.

Reading industry magazines like Caffeine and going to coffee events with other baristas and roasters will give you an introduction to the community. If you’re still unsure, try working in someone else’s coffee shop for a few days to gauge if it’s something you could do long-term.

For a transition into the coffee shop world, you could open a franchise such as Costa instead. Read Buying a franchise: the key considerations to find out more.

Trade Shows

Food & drink trade shows for coffee shop owners.

Further reading

Five successful business ideas for 2021

Anna Jordan

Anna is Senior Reporter, covering topics affecting SMEs such as grant funding, managing employees and the day-to-day running of a business. More by Anna Jordan

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COFFEE SHOP BUSINESS PLAN UK: Fresh Tips on How to WRITE a Coffee Shop Business Plan

• by Folakemi Adegbaju
• August 10, 2023
• No comments
• 8 minute read

Table of Contents Hide

How to start a coffee shop business, #1. the executive summary, #2. business description, #3. industry research, #4. marketing plan, #5. financial plan, #6. operations plan, #7. management plan, final thoughts, is owning a coffee shop profitable uk, do you need a licence to sell coffee in the uk, can i sell coffee on the street in the uk.

To secure the finance and support you need for your coffee business to succeed, it will be to your advantage to write a coffee shop business plan before you jump in and start daydreaming about it. A coffee business plan can serve as a road map for the expansion of your UK coffee business. Guess what? We’ve got a UK coffee shop business plan template just to make it easier for you!

Let’s start!

UK Coffee Shop Business

Coffee businesses, unlike restaurants, rely on foot traffic and frequently serve office workers during the week and bustling shoppers during the weekends. This implies there is less of a need to develop a truly original concept, yet it is still important to choose a strategy that makes your coffee shop stand out from the competition.

Coffee business ideas typically fall into one of two categories: either they are places to hang out for an hour or two, or they are quick and convenient for consumers on the go. With artisanal coffee becoming a major trend for independent coffee shops, the quality of your coffee can help set you apart from the competition. More repeat consumers will come to you if your coffee is better tasting. Utilizing specialty brews and high-quality beans can give your coffee establishment a clear advantage.

Starting a coffee shop business comes with a lot of tasks and some confusion about how to get started. Here are some steps you can follow to build up that empire, i.e., your own coffee shop, that you’ve always dreamed of:

#1. Study Your Coffee Competitors

The UK is a city where people take coffee more often than they take water. Because of this, coffee shops tend to be a lucrative kind of business in the UK, hence the reason the market is full of competitors. You should research the coffee industry before you start brewing coffee for your consumers. Analyze your competitors and find inspiration from the proprietors of independent coffee shops by reading their biographies. This is especially crucial if you are new to the business.

#2. Hiring Staff and Training

You can choose the staff members you need to hire and who should be hired first by considering the size and objectives of your coffee business.

Of course, you have baristas and chefs/cooks on staff, but your team may also include people in administrative, marketing, and accounting positions, to mention a few. Your manager and a marketing expert should be hired first if you are recruiting them.

#3. Location

When deciding how to open a coffee business, your choice of location will be the most important one. The two most important criteria you should look at while evaluating potential sites are location and size. Therefore, it might be worthwhile to choose a coffee location in a bustling urban area with lots of foot traffic. Even with a strong earning potential, a shopping mall may not be the best choice because the expensive rent may not be covered. If less obvious areas have good visibility, don’t ignore them. Future potential income from developing areas could be significant.

Don’t restrict yourself to regular coffee shops. Sometimes it can be wiser to invest in a coffee truck near a train station than a coffee shop on the main drag.

#4. Buy Equipment

There are a few commercial coffee machines that are appropriate for a coffee shop, but if you want to provide your customers with the best coffee possible, you should think about investing in an espresso machine . Also, the price and functionality of the espresso machine you want to buy should be taken into consideration. Consider how many people you’ll be serving coffee to each day, and make sure you have the capacity to do it promptly.

For the start of your coffee business, renting or leasing a coffee machine may be an option if your budget is tight and you cannot afford to buy a machine entirely.

#4. Write a Solid Business Plan 

You can use a coffee shop business plan as a tool to organize and rank the plans and costs for your coffee business in the UK. A coffee shop business plan in the UK is also necessary if you intend to apply for a loan or recruit investors.

We have a coffee business plan template in the UK compiled to put you through. The following are found in the coffee shop business plan template UK we’ve created for you:

• An executive summary 
• The business structure overview
• market analysis
• Competitor plan
• market plan 
• A financial plan 
• An operating plan 
• management strategy 

This coffee business plantemplate in thee UK will help you when creating your own business plan.

Download the Coffee shop business plan template

Depending on the size of your UK coffee business, a coffee shop business plan may be a few or even hundreds of pages.

#5. Financing Your Coffee Business

These things cost money: facilities, tools, personnel. Fortunately, if you’re just establishing a firm and need to raise cash, there are a variety of solutions available. While many people start their businesses with money they have saved or borrowed from family members, there are a number of alternative options.

Despite the tremendous success of Costa and other chains, coffee shops are not the type of firm to start up if you’re anticipating a rapid multi-million-pound exit. Even if you open several locations, your profit margins will be appreciable. Even then, your startup costs will be high. If you’re feeling especially ambitious, it might be worthwhile to see if you can obtain a company loan to aid with your launch.

#6. Regulation

There is currently no law requiring formal training in order to start a coffee business. However, it is your responsibility to make sure that you and everyone else dealing with food in your establishment are properly trained and/or supervised. The business owner is legally responsible, so be sure you have all the information you require.

You’ll need to be knowledgeable about the fundamentals of food preparation. Furthermore, the government has delegated control of all food safety regulations to the Food Standards Agency (FSA). The FSA can give you guidance on all food hygiene issues that can assist you in staying within the law and making your establishment safe for visitors.

Coffee Shop Business Plan UK

A coffee shop business plan describes your business idea and how it will be successful. It provides answers to queries like how much it will cost to open a business, how those costs will cover it, and how much revenue you anticipate from your café. A coffee business plan includes information about your competition, target market, and price structure. Here is a business plan template for your UK coffee business to put you through the process of writing yours!

The executive summary will be the first thing a reader sees when they open your UK coffee shop business plan. This also provides a general summary of every section in your business plan. A strong executive summary will open doors for you.

Also, consider who will read your UK coffee shop business plan and write the introductory paragraphs with that audience in mind, just like you did when thinking about the consumers who will visit your soon-to-be-opened coffee shop. Your executive summary is the most significant marketing tool your coffee business has as you are ready to begin.

It’s important to give a thorough description of your company, including specifics like how the concept will look, where it will be located, and the type of atmosphere or brand you plan to establish. Your company’s description paints an accurate image of your mission and objectives.

This entails gathering in-depth information about a nearby coffee shop, its average foot traffic, break-even points, and other important insights that can help you run your own coffee business successfully. Also, write out how your own coffee shop is going to be different.

Your marketing plan may be a section of your marketing strategy or it may be included separately. Will you post about your daily specials on social media? Will you collaborate with a different local company to run special promotions? This is a wonderful place to highlight your strategies for customer retention in addition to marketing. Are you going to provide loyalty programs or ask your staff to send your best clients a free cookie on their birthday? It’s simpler than ever to reward and keep the consumers who will frequently visit your coffee shop with a cafe point-of-sale system.

Create a financial plan for your coffee business. This component of your coffee business plan is typically the longest and most crucial, especially for lenders and investors. A summary of your start-up expenses, an income statement, anticipated cash flow, a balance sheet, and a break-even analysis should all be included. Keep in mind that your financial forecast must be accurate and realistic. However, it is not required to be entirely exact. Over the coming years, things will probably change, and you’ll need to adjust. Your viewers will be able to see what you anticipate will happen in the future thanks to this strategy.

The success of your coffee business depends on a solid operations plan. This needs to contain all the components necessary for you to operate your coffee shop successfully every day. You’ll include details on your workplace, personnel, tools, and supplies. Consider the up-front costs of housing, barista salaries, food items like coffee, and technology. Try to squeeze as many functions as you can out of a single instrument, it also entails the following:

• Hiring The Right Staff: This is essential to making and serving the coffee business. All potential avenues for finding suitable staff should be covered in a thorough hiring plan, including recruiters, employee recommendations, advertising in newspapers, job sites, or on other social media platforms.
• Training The Employees:  The most important duty after hiring the right people is to train them. For your personnel to follow, develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and a training manual. Techniques for managing crises and disasters must be included in the training.

You’ll need the help of a strong team to make your coffee business successful because no man or woman is an entity. You will describe your management group, personnel, and resources in this area.

There are some questions you need to add to the section of your management plan to make it more meaningful, they are:

• the arrangement of ownership. Do you work alone, in a partnership, or for a company?
• your executive staff. They, who? What is their function? And what is their background?
• people resources. Once you’re operating, how will you hire additional employees?

Another thing to remember is that it’s doubtful that your crew would labor for nothing, so be sure to include information on things like salary, benefits, and pensions.

Starting your own coffee business can be a nerve-wracking endeavor. The market for coffee shops is competitive, but the good news for startup business entrepreneurs is that customers adore independent coffee shops. This is where a  coffee business plan is needed to ensure you have a productive result.

You may also launch your own coffee business and prepare for potential challenges by writing a well-thought-out coffee business plan. A brief business plan will position you for success by demonstrating to potential investors that you are a sound investment. We are here to help you out with our well-detailed coffee shop business plan !

Due to their large profit margin and low cost of inventory, coffee businesses are very profitable. You can guarantee the success of your coffee business with good cost management.

Through the UK government website, which points you to information about your local council, you can register as a food business. There are no refusals and it is free to do, but you should register at least 28 days before the opening. No matter how you choose to sell your coffee, you must first register.

You must submit an application for a street trading permit. If you want to operate your coffee cart in a city centre rather than a suburb or town, you must do this. In your application, it’s important to identify any particular locations you have in mind.

Related Articles

• FOOD BUSINESS: Starting A Food Business From Home UK
• CAFE BUSINESS PLAN: How to Write With Templates & All You Need

FOOD BUSINESS PLAN: How To Go About Setting Up a Food Business Plan

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Create your cafe and coffee shop business plan template here. Learn how to start your business, with specialist advice and resources from Sage.

In the not-so-distant past, independent cafés and coffee shops were rapidly growing alongside popular franchises and chains.

While the pandemic has had a significant impact on the sector, slowing progress and sending plans askew, recent forecasts for hospitality are looking a lot brighter.

With business optimism climbing to its highest level since 2015, entrepreneurs across the UK can finally exhale and start to take measured steps towards brewing their business idea into a tasty reality.

Household spending on eating out remained strong, with those businesses tapping into e-commerce left better prepared to weather the storm.

As the economy recovers, that spend is set to increase as restrictions ease, markets stabilise and more disposable income becomes available.

According to the Accenture/HIS Markit Business Outlook , hospitality has jumped up to the most confident sector following a far less positive outlook towards the end of 2020.

Commuter towns, for example, are likely to see a huge surge in demand as people are able to spend time outdoors, and continue working from home .

Getting started

If you’re dreaming of setting up your own café , a thorough coffee shop business plan is the place to start.

You will need one if you are looking for partners, investors or lenders, and it’ll help you stay on track as you work towards your goals.

A business plan also helps you understand the purpose and nature of your company and competitive environment, plus your:

• Unique selling points (USPs)
• Strategic goals
• Milestones.

Jim Winship, director of the Café Life Association, says a business plan is especially important in this sector because many people start cafés and coffee shops without any business experience.

“They have a dream that they can do it better than others but don’t think enough about the business side,” he says.

“This puts you at risk, in terms of the business liabilities, if the dream is unrealistic. So, a business plan is critical to help manage this risk.”

This article will help you create a business plan for your café or coffee shop. Here’s what it covers:

How to write a coffee shop business plan

Executive summary, business overview, audience and market, products and services, updating and adapting your plan, coronavirus and coffee shops, start building your café business plan, your one stop shop for starting a business.

Thinking about starting a business or already putting your ideas into action? We’ve got the resources, expertise and software to help you achieve your goals.

There are no set rules about what a business plan should include.

Jen Walker, founder of  The Split Screen Coffee Company , says: “It doesn’t need to be overly formal but putting your ideas on paper is always useful and helps bring clarity.

“I have ideas flying around my head constantly and organising them has always served me well.

“As well as helping figure out what makes you special, it can feed into your market research, which is essential before making any big financial leaps.”

Before writing your proposal, search online for business plans of your favourite successful cafés and coffee houses to see how they did it.

Kick things off with your personal story.

Use exciting words to sell your idea and draw the reader into the narrative. Be creative with visuals, branding and design features as well as words, but always back this up with realistic detail.

If you want to secure funding , readers will also expect it to contain the following sections.

This should capture the reader’s attention and cover the key points about your business, like an elevator pitch.

Summarise your overall vision and where you fit into the market: the competition, market opportunity, your USP, and why and how you can build a profitable business.

Include details on the funding you’re looking for and how you plan to use it. If you already have some funding, summarise these details.

This section includes more detail on the above, plus a look at how you intend to execute key areas such as marketing, advertising, sales and operations.

It could also include exterior and interior designs, plus your website and other brand collateral.

Summarise the size of the market and sales of comparable products in your area and country. Identify any risks and challenges your company might face and how you plan to address or mitigate these issues.

Consider location, passing traffic, and any local amenities such as offices, universities, or business parks, as these will all play a part in how successful your venture is.

“Your café is a business, so you have to approach it that way,” says Jim. “For example, you need to understand the liabilities – of leases, employees and other standing costs – and whether you can support that risk with the likely sales volume.”

Summarise your short, medium and long-term goals with performance measures and milestones.

Include daily sales targets and consider how you can increase both volume and revenue by selling extras such as coffee mugs, branded bags of your house roast, or even tote bags.

Say how you will meet these goals and make sure they are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based.

Track your progress against these goals regularly – and throw in customer or stakeholder feedback while you’re at it.

Your café or coffee shop needs a great location and a clearly defined target market, large enough to support your income needs.

Provide in-depth customer analysis, including your target audience’s needs, preferences and priorities.

Show potential investors why there is a viable market in your target area.

Look at how many work premises are nearby, and how many might need sandwich deliveries, catering services, or provide footfall business.

Count how many people walk past at peak times and get demographic information about the area.

“There may be a good reason for one area having lots of coffee or sandwich shops and there may be room for another,” says Jim.

“But do your homework. Stand on the street and see what people are doing to understand the footfall.

“Where are they going to and from, at lunchtime, if it’s a sandwich shop, or while shopping if it’s a coffee shop in a shopping area. Prove there is sufficient volume to make it viable.

“Also, analyse the competition and whether your shop will be sufficiently different and attractive that people come to you instead.

“You need to do better than competition, which is difficult, or offer something unique.”

Include details of menus and any other products you sell, plus some information on where you will source materials and ingredients from, and how you’ll market your products.

Show how you source, price and present your goods to attract your target market.

Post-pandemic, it’s more important than ever to consider how delivery, click and collect, and ecommerce factor into your business.

This has been a lifeline that kept doors open and jobs secure for the majority of cafés and restaurants, and your reader will be looking for this kind of foresight.

Mention of all your key people, with skills and experience, and any roles you plan to hire for, whether that’s full or part time.

Explain the management and ownership structure and any plans to evolve it.

Outline how you plan to train, reward, and incentivise your staff; this kind of detail showcases the level of thought and research you’ve put into your business idea.

Include all your costs, from initial and ongoing to standing and variable. State your projected sales and profits after tax and outgoings.

Jim advises: “Cost every single item in your product to make sure you can price it for profit. People lose sight of that sometimes.

“Only after doing all the sums can you see whether the business will give you the income you need.”

If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to getting accurate financials, check out our guide on estimating figures for your business plan for more detailed information.

And when it comes to staying on top of your financials, using good cloud accounting software aimed at the hospitality industry will put you in good stead.

As your business evolves, your strategy and goals will change, so update your plan as often as possible – annually, quarterly, or even monthly.

“The more you stay on top of it, the better you can deal with issues that arise, so I recommend updating your plan monthly,” says Jim.

“If you are a small independent firm, you have the advantage that you can change quickly, but only if you recognise the need to.”

If you want to expand, ask yourself: “Do I understand the very different management skills and stresses involved?”

As well as updating your plan often, Jen recommends tailoring it to your intended reader.

“My plan has taken different forms depending on my audience,” she says. “For example, it has been handwritten, typed, and even used photos like a mood board.

“Think about who you are writing this plan for – your eyes only or potential investors?

“Others may not have the same interest in your concept as you do so make it clear, personal and interesting to them.”

In the past year, most cafés have changed their business plans drastically because of the trading challenges created by the pandemic.

As coronavirus recedes, you may have to plan your costs even more carefully; you may, for example, have backlogs of rents and loans to repay or renegotiate.

Or you may want more funding to exploit new opportunities.

“Banks are now offering pay-as-you-grow repayment plans, so if you need this, talk to your bank manager,” says Jim.

“We suggest any outstanding rent should be spread over the life of the lease and that rental agreements should be based on a percentage of turnover.”

Jen says she has changed her business plan radically since the start of the pandemic .

“I’m now collaborating with another local small business and we now have a joint plan for growing our range together,” she says.

“Collaborating has been a wonderful experience and has improved cash flow and given me more time off.

“My advice is not to view others as competition but think about how you can come together to improve your offering and boost your local economy.”

As the economy recovers, following your business plan’s structure will help you run a tight ship financially, take advantage of new opportunities, and persuade potential partners or investors to back you.

When writing your plan, take your time, research thoroughly, and ensure all elements are accurate and realistic.

But don’t make it a dry or tedious read. Investors back people as much as businesses, so let your personality and passion shine through.

Use our free business plan template for small food and drink businesses to get started on your café proposal. This includes everything you need to set out for success and show potential investors if and when that time comes.

We also provide a business model canvas that can help you distil the most important parts of your plan into a one-page document – check it out.

Business plan template for food and drink companies

Want to create a business plan for your food or drink company but not sure how to do it? Download our free and easy-to-use business plan template and you can get started.

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How to start a business plan for a coffee shop

Table of Contents

Market research

Finding your niche, independent shops, swot analysis, start-up costs, digital marketing, traditional marketing, manage your finances with a simple app.

Coffee culture is a huge industry in the UK. Following the example set by our other European neighbours, we now have coffee shops on every high street where people can meet friends, relax on their own, or even get some work done.

Even in the modern-day, where physical retail is struggling, coffee shops will always be a familiar feature of the hospitality world. 

But how do you go about starting your own coffee shop? As with most business ventures, it all starts with a business plan. 

This guide will give you some helpful advice on everything you need to consider when you’re creating your very own coffee shop business plan. 

Specifically, we’ll be talking about:

• Marketing 

Consider any competitors your business has (big and small) and find out why they operate the way they do. What will make customers come to your shop instead of your competitors?

Market research is also about your customers. Is there a high demand for coffee shops in your area? What kind of prices are they willing to pay?

Researching your competitors and customers should give you a good idea of whether or not there’s room for your coffee shop on the market. 

To help you put your market research into context, it’s important to know exactly how you will fit into the existing market.

To do that, we need to look at the way the coffee shop market is already divided. Generally speaking, we can divide coffee shops into two camps, big chains and independent shops. 

Stores like Starbucks, Costa, and Caffe Nero dominate the market. There’s most likely one near you already, so they will always be your main competition. They have the advantage of well-established brand recognition and a huge amount of resources. 

If you’d like to use those advantages, there’s nothing stopping you from opening a franchise on behalf of one of these big chains. 

It’s probably a safer bet in terms of customers (a Costa will always attract business) but you will have to share a portion of your profits with the chain or pay for the rights to the brand name. 

Starting your own coffee shop from the ground up will be more challenging, but potentially more rewarding. If you go down this route, you’ll need a strong idea of what makes your shop different from the competition. Will you offer a higher quality product or a more reasonable price?

Here are some common coffee shop ideas that others use to set themselves apart:

• Artisan coffee shops – They offer extremely high-quality products and customer service. It’s all about fresh, well-sourced ingredients, a beautiful atmosphere, and originality. Shops like these will often have slightly higher prices than the big chains, so the products have to be worth the extra money. 
• Cat cafes – You may have seen these around before. The name says it all – it’s a coffee shop with cats living in it. It’s a fun, interesting idea that’s sure to attract animal lovers. 
• “Nerd” cafes – Often doubling up as game stores, cafes like this put an emphasis on certain aspects of “nerd” culture. They might sell comic books, board games, card games, or even have some available that are free for customers to use. 

These are obviously not all the directions you can go with your business, just examples of what has worked for other coffee shops. The important thing is to offer something your competitors are not. 

Following your research, categorise your findings into four domains: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The first two are aspects of your business model, while the other two look at external factors.

For example:

• Strength: you have a good relationship with suppliers.
• Weakness: your business might have a lot of debt after start-up costs.
• Opportunity: there’s nothing around offering the same service as you.
• Threat: there’s a Starbucks within walking distance.

Using this breakdown, you can identify areas to highlight and areas that might need some special attention. 

Your budget is a crucial element of any business. A regularly updated budget should tell you if you’re making a profit and give you a reasonable estimate of future growth. 

If you’re starting a business, you’ll need to budget for any set-up costs like:

• Workspace furniture and equipment.
• Broadband and phone services to accommodate your business’ needs.
• Business cards or initial marketing materials.
• A dedicated website and email address.
• Software subscriptions or updates.

We have dedicated guides on budgeting so you can learn more about why budgeting is important to small businesses and how to budget for starting a business .

When you’re just starting out, you’ll find that most of your budget will go to a few essential items. 

Here’s a breakdown of the biggest expenses that every coffee shop needs:

• Building rental – for a shop that’s 50 square metres, anywhere between £5,000 and £7,000 per month. 
• Coffee machine – for a commercial machine that’ll last, prices start at around £1,000.
• Furniture – £1000 – £5,000
• Dishwasher – £600 – £2,000
• Display fridge – £599 – £1,500
• Barista wages – £7 to £10 per hour.

These figures are estimated at both ends of the price scale. You’ll have to decide as you go how much you’re willing to spend on each of these. 

The right marketing strategy will ensure a steady flow of customers heading into your coffee shop. Try a combination of the following tactics:

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are all great places to advertise your shop. 

Posting regularly is the best way to gain some traction, and there’s nothing wrong with getting friends and family to share your posts to get the ball rolling. 

You should also register on Google maps. It’s easy to do and will make it much easier for people to find you. To register, just go to Google My Business and follow the instructions. 

Alongside digital marketing, some more traditional forms of marketing can also be effective. You should consider:

• making business cards to hand out.
• printing flyers and posting them locally.
• networking with other coffee shops and restaurants in the area. 

You’ll want to think about the name of your coffee shop and if you want to include any unique branding with a logo or slogan. 

You’ll need to register your logo as a trademark with HMRC to prevent others from using it and to make sure you’re not using one that already exists. 

You don’t have to register your name unless you’re a limited company, but it’s a good idea to check it’s not already being used to avoid confusion amongst customers. 

Trademarking can be an expensive process and involves a few steps, so read our guide for more information. 

When you’re starting your own business, it’s important to keep your personal and business finances separate from day one – to save yourself from time-consuming admin headaches further down the line. 

Thousands of business owners use the Countingup app to make their financial admin easier. 

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place. With features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward! 

Find out more here .

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How to Create a Coffee Shop Business Plan

Producing a business plan is a clear way to demonstrate the seriousness and intent of your company. It maps out your commitment as a business owner and can be used as a benchmark to measure the success of your coffee shop.

There are many ways to create a coffee shop business plan, and we offer essential tips and areas of expertise to get you started.

Why You Need a Business Plan

Not only does a business plan show your dedication as a business owner, but it is also essential to keep your business on track for success.

A business plan is there for you to map out and explore all realistic possibilities, from the strengths to your competitor threats. Without one, it can be challenging to know if your business is succeeding.

A business plan provides a clear direction for your coffee shop as well as highlighting any challenges and competition in your path. With this information at your side, you can work out in advance what solutions you may need for any problems you may encounter, which will enhance your chances of success as a business owner.

How to Create Your Business Plan

Here at Esquires, we have advanced experience in opening coffee shops through a franchising business model. We ensure that each of our franchisees is supported throughout the process, all of which is included in our coffee shop franchise costs .

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of franchising when starting your own coffee shop business, take a look at our blog below where we explain how franchising works.

Understand Your Audience

Firstly, you need to know who your business plan is for. There are many reasons why you might create a business plan. For example, it might be to help establish how your coffee shop will function. However, knowing who your audience is will help you create an experience tailored to your customer to help ensure a busy and successful store.

If you need investors to start your coffee shop, you might be aiming your business plan to lenders or a bank. This is often a requirement for them to give you a loan. It will act as a form of persuasion to show that you know how to operate your business.

On the other hand, your coffee shop business plan may be used to attract new employees, especially for more senior roles such as managers and business partners. Without a business plan, there isn't any way to form an accurate judgement of your business from an external position.

Keep It Concise

Your business plan provides detailed information about your business, but overloading the document with too much detail that isn’t directly relevant can hinder the document.

Try to keep the information that is necessary to the reader at the forefront of the creation process. It is also essential that you avoid making it too lengthy and that you don't overcomplicate it, as this may distract from your business plan’s main objective, and will become overwhelming to read.

It needs to be a usable document that you can refer to, and others can easily understand.

Attach Supporting Documents Separately

Providing evidence to support your business plan can, and should, be included. Instead of having it in the text's main body, you can attach any information you may need as an appendix. These might include documents such as:

• Data from market research in evidence of your points
• Financial assumptions or forecasts
• Technical specifications
• Product literature

Make an Executive Summary

A key feature of a business plan is the executive summary. This stands as an independent document found at the start of the business plan. As the name suggests, it offers a brief overview of the entire business plan.

It will need to provide the reader with a clear reason behind creating the business plan and a summary of all the critical points involved. It is often regarded as the ‘first impression’ of your business plan and can go a long way in the final decision. Usually, if the executive summary impresses, the rest of the plan is read to confirm this decision.

The executive summary should be positioned at the start of your business plan. However, you will most likely create this section after you have completed the entire business plan. This is so you have all the facts and data to hand to create an impactful and accurate summary.

Stick to the Facts

An essential part of creating a business plan for your coffee shop is to ensure you have thoroughly researched your business and its competitors.

You want to provide a plan that is realistic and not over-optimistic. Over exaggerating your business’ potential is transparent and quickly detected. Evidence should support your goals, and this is why you may want to include it in the appendix.

Remember, the business plan is also for you to refer to, so you want to make the goals attainable to ensure it is used and is helpful to your business.

You will also need a section dedicated to risks and potential competitors to your coffee shop. An assessment of risks will need solutions to show you are prepared.

Check for Any Weak Areas

As you read through your coffee shop business plan, it is essential to try and read from the perspective of who you are showing it to.

• What weak areas will they highlight? How can you solve those issues?
• Is it a realistic plan based on actual facts? Are there areas that are over-emphasised that need reviewing? Do you have sufficient evidence for your aims?
• Ensure you have covered areas of risk and how you would find a solution.

Focus on Presentation

If you are presenting your business plan to a third party, a good presentation is crucial. However, you should maintain it even if the business plan is just for you because it needs to be accessible and easy to read.

You may want to consider including the following:

• A contents page
• The executive summary
• Appendix with additional information to support your points

Always Ask For a Second Opinion

This is especially vital if you are showing your business plan to another professional for approval. Let your friends or advisers review it for their input, especially on areas that don't seem believable or might be too complicated to understand from an outside perspective.

If you are set on opening a coffee shop but want the advantages of franchising, why not discover more about the opportunities at Esquires Coffee? Click on the link below and find out how franchising could offer you the perfect foundation to start your own coffee shop business.

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BUSINESS STRATEGIES

How to write a coffee shop business plan

• Nirit Braun
• Oct 30, 2023
• 12 min read

A coffee shop business plan is a detailed and strategic document outlining the essential aspects of starting and operating a coffee-focused business. It encompasses a comprehensive analysis of the business's goals, target audience, competitive landscape, marketing strategies, financial projections, operational procedures and more. This plan acts as a roadmap that guides entrepreneurs through the various stages of establishing and running their coffee shop, providing clear direction and a solid foundation for success.

When starting a business, especially in the competitive and dynamic realm of the coffee industry, creating a comprehensive and clear business plan is of paramount importance.

Ready to get your business brewing? Take Wix’s website builder for a whirl.

Top benefits of creating a coffee shop business plan

A well-crafted business plan helps entrepreneurs articulate their business goals, whether it's about offering unique coffee blends, creating a cozy ambiance or supporting sustainable sourcing practices. At the same time, a business plan requires entrepreneurs to identify and understand their target audience. This insight helps tailor marketing strategies, menu offerings and the overall customer experience to meet the specific preferences and needs of the intended customers.

Here's an overview of some key advantages to creating a coffee shop business plan:

Attracting investors and funding: A well-structured business plan acts as a persuasive tool when seeking investors or raising money for your business . It showcases your thorough understanding of the coffee industry, market trends and your strategies for success. This level of preparedness increases your credibility and instills confidence in potential investors, making them more likely to support your coffee shop venture.

Clear resource requirements: Writing a business plan prompts you to identify the specific resources, supplies and staff necessary to launch and operate your coffee shop. This includes everything from coffee beans and brewing equipment to furniture and interior decor.

Strategic financial planning: A comprehensive business plan outlines your financial projections, startup costs, operating expenses and revenue forecasts. This level of financial planning helps you determine how much funding you need to start a business . It also guides you in setting prices, managing cash flow and assessing profitability.

Market understanding and differentiation: Through market research and analysis, a business plan allows you to understand your target audience's preferences, behaviors and expectations. This knowledge helps you tailor your coffee shop's offerings, ambiance and marketing strategies to effectively attract and retain customers.

Risk mitigation: The process of creating a business plan prompts you to identify potential risks and challenges that your coffee shop might face. By acknowledging and addressing these risks early on, you can develop contingency plans and strategies to mitigate their impact.

Operational efficiency: A business plan outlines the operational processes required to run your coffee shop smoothly. It includes staffing plans, inventory management strategies and quality control measures. By establishing efficient procedures from the outset, you can minimize wastage, optimize resource allocation and ensure consistent customer satisfaction.

Goal setting and tracking: Your business plan serves as a benchmark against which you can measure your coffee shop's performance over time. By setting clear goals and key performance indicators (KPIs), you can track your progress and make necessary adjustments to stay on course toward achieving your objectives.

How to create a coffee shop business plan in 6 steps

Now we’ll walk through the six essential steps for crafting a coffee shop business plan tailored to your company's unique needs.

Executive summary

Business and domain names

Market analysis and research

Operations plan

Marketing and advertising plan

Financial plan

01. Executive summary

Your executive summary is a concise and compelling overview of your coffee shop business plan. It encapsulates the key elements of your plan and provides a snapshot of your business concept, strategies and financial projections. While appearing at the start of the business plan, it's often written last, as it draws from the content of the entire document.

A clear executive summary for a coffee shop business should include:

The essence of your coffee shop: What makes it unique? What kind of experience will customers have when visiting your establishment?

Market potential and your target audience: Explain why your coffee shop is well-positioned to capture this opportunity.

Competitor landscape: Identify what sets your coffee shop apart from the competition. This could be your specialty coffee blends, unique ambiance, sustainable practices or exceptional customer service.

Example executive summary for a coffee shop: "Bean Haven Coffee is a meticulously crafted coffee shop that aims to provide not just beverages, but an immersive coffee experience. We pride ourselves on our curated selection of ethically sourced beans, offering customers the finest hand-crafted brews in a cozy, rustic ambiance. Our competitive edge lies in our commitment to sustainability, from our bean-sourcing practices to our eco-friendly packaging. With a strong emphasis on community engagement and partnerships with local artists, we are set to become a cultural hub that brings people together over a shared love for exceptional coffee. Through strategic marketing campaigns, leveraging social media and collaborating with nearby businesses, we aim to establish Bean Haven Coffee as the go-to destination for coffee enthusiasts and connoisseurs alike. Our projected financials indicate that we will reach profitability within the first 18 months of operation. We seek funding to cover initial startup costs and our business model is designed to achieve sustainable growth and profitability."

02. Company and domain names

Knowing how to name a business is crucial for a coffee shop venture and a key step before you register your business . A strong and memorable name can resonate with customers and differentiate your coffee shop from competitors. Use descriptive words that reflect your coffee shop's essence, whether it's about taste, ambiance or values.

Utilizing a business name generator like the one from Wix can provide inspiration and spark creativity. Play with different combinations of words and ideas until you find a name that feels right. Once you've settled on a name, check its availability for domain registration. A domain name that matches your company name is essential for an effective online presence.

When choosing a domain name consider the following best practices:

Ensure that the domain name reflects your coffee shop's identity and offerings

Choose a name that is easy to spell and remember

Opt for a timeless name that won't become outdated quickly

If possible, include relevant keywords in the domain to improve search engine visibility

Steer clear of names that are easily confused with competitors or other brands

03. Market analysis and research

With more than 38,000 coffee shops in the U.S. alone, there are plenty of competitors to analyze. Including a comprehensive market analysis in your business plan is essential for understanding the competitive landscape and formulating effective strategies. Research your local coffee market, identify existing competitors and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Determine your target audience's preferences, behaviors and demographics to tailor your offerings and marketing campaigns accordingly.

A well-rounded market analysis can guide your business strategy, helping you position your coffee shop effectively, develop compelling value propositions and devise strategies to capture your desired market share.

04. Operations plan

The operations plan is a crucial section of your coffee shop business plan. It outlines the practical aspects of running your coffee shop. Use it to describe your chosen location and its significance for foot traffic, accessibility and target audience reach.

Then, take the opportunity to detail the interior design, layout and ambiance of your coffee shop to create a welcoming atmosphere. Next be sure to list the equipment needed for brewing, food preparation and service. Ensure it aligns with your menu and production capacity. Finally define the roles and responsibilities of your staff, from baristas to managers, and outline their qualifications and training needs.

05. Marketing and advertising strategies

The marketing and advertising portion of your business plan outlines your strategies for promoting your coffee shop and attracting customers. Depending on your target audience and brand positioning for this type of business , consider a mix of traditional and digital marketing methods. This means using social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to showcase your coffee creations, engage with customers and share your coffee shop's story. Collaborate with influencers, local organizations or other businesses to expand your reach and tap into new customer segments.

Additionally, you can choose to participate in community events, farmers' markets and collaborations with other local businesses to increase your visibility. Also consider implementing loyalty programs that reward repeat customers and incentivize them to visit regularly.

You’ll need to develop a suite of brand assets to use in your marketing as well, starting with a company logo. You can use a free logo maker to get a professional design in minutes.

Learn more: How to make a website

06. Financial plan

The cost to start a coffee shop business can range from $50,000 for a mobile operation to over $400,000 for a brick-and-mortar location with booth seating and a drive-thru. This hefty expense is just another reason why a financial plan is so important.

The financial plan is the backbone of your coffee shop business plan. It outlines your startup costs, operating expenses, revenue projections and funding strategy. Investors and lenders will closely scrutinize this section to assess the viability of your coffee shop venture, so remember to do the following:

Detail the initial investment required for equipment, interior design, licenses and permits

Estimate ongoing costs such as rent, utilities, supplies and salaries

Provide realistic revenue forecasts based on your expected capacity and customer traffic

Specify how you plan to secure funding

Highlight when you anticipate reaching profitability and generating positive cash flow

By meticulously planning your finances, you demonstrate a solid understanding of the financial aspects of your coffee shop business and showcase its potential for success.

Coffee shop business plan examples

Below we’ve put together business plan templates for two hypothetical coffee shop businesses, including all the sections discussed in our previous how-to steps.

Coffee shop business plan template 1: Coffee Haven Café

Coffee Haven Café is a charming coffee shop dedicated to delivering a premium coffee experience in a cozy and inviting setting. Our unique blends, ethically sourced beans and commitment to sustainability set us apart in a competitive market. By fostering community engagement and partnering with local artists, we aim to become a cultural hub that brings people together over exceptional coffee. Through strategic marketing efforts and a strong online presence, we project profitability within 18 months.

Company and domain name

Company name: Coffee Haven Café

Domain name: www.coffeehavencafe.com

Our marketing analysis revealed a growing demand for specialty coffee in our target location. We've identified key competitors and highlighted their strengths and weaknesses. Our target audience consists of young professionals and students who value quality and ambiance. By understanding these dynamics, we can tailor our offerings and marketing strategies effectively.

Location: Centrally located in a busy commercial area with high foot traffic

Premises: Rustic and inviting interior design that promotes relaxation and conversation

Equipment: High-quality espresso machines, grinders, brewing equipment and display cases for baked goods

Staffing: Experienced baristas, friendly waitstaff and a dedicated manager to oversee operations

Social media: Engage customers through Instagram, Facebook and X with enticing coffee shots and behind-the-scenes content

Local events: Participate in local festivals, art exhibitions and collaborate with nearby businesses for cross-promotions

Content marketing: Regular blog posts on coffee trends, brewing tips and spotlight features on local artists

Loyalty programs: Offer a loyalty card program with rewards for frequent visitors

Partnerships: Collaborate with nearby bookstores for reading sessions and local influencers for social media endorsements

Startup costs: $70,000 for equipment, furnishings, licenses and initial inventory

Operating expenses: Estimated monthly costs of $12,000 covering rent, utilities, supplies and staff salaries

Revenue projections: Projected revenue of $300,000 in the first year, growing to $450,000 in the second year

Funding strategy: Initial funding from personal savings and a small business loan from a local bank

Profitability timeline: Aim to achieve profitability within 18 months of operation

Coffee shop business plan template 2: Brew & Gather Coffee House

Brew & Gather Coffee House is a community-focused coffee shop aiming to create a warm and inclusive space for coffee enthusiasts. Our commitment to locally sourced ingredients and artisanal brewing techniques sets us apart. By fostering partnerships with neighboring businesses and hosting regular events, we aim to become a staple in the neighborhood. Our projected financials indicate profitability within the first two years.

Company name: Brew & Gather Coffee House

Domain name: www.brewandgathercoffee.com

Through extensive market research, we've identified an opportunity to serve a diverse community seeking an authentic and welcoming coffee experience. We've assessed competitors' offerings and identified an untapped niche. Understanding our target audience's preferences and values will guide our menu and marketing strategies.

Location: Situated near a local park, providing an oasis for relaxation and community gatherings

Premises: Modern yet cozy interior design with flexible seating arrangements to accommodate groups and individuals

Equipment: State-of-the-art espresso machines, pour-over stations and an open bakery display

Staffing: A blend of skilled baristas, friendly hosts and a community engagement coordinator

Social media: Utilize Instagram and TikTok to showcase brewing techniques, share customer stories and host virtual coffee-tasting sessions.

Local events: Host open mic nights, book clubs and workshops to engage the community.

Content marketing: Publish a monthly newsletter featuring coffee culture insights, staff spotlights and local partnerships.

Loyalty programs: Introduce a tiered membership program offering exclusive discounts and early access to events.

Partnerships: Collaborate with local farmers, artisans and musicians to create a truly immersive community experience.

Startup costs: $100,000 for leasehold improvements, equipment, permits and initial inventory

Operating expenses: Projected monthly expenses of $15,000, covering rent, utilities, wages and supplies

Revenue projections: Anticipate revenue of $350,000 in the first year, with a 15% increase in the second year

Funding strategy: Initial investment from personal savings and a crowdfunding campaign targeting the local community

Profitability timeline: Aim to reach profitability within the first two years of operation

How profitable is a coffee shop?

The profitability of a coffee shop can vary depending on a number of factors, including location, business model and marketing strategy. However, in general, coffee shops can be quite profitable.

According to a report by IBISWorld, the average profit margin for coffee shops is 8.33%. This means that for every $100 in revenue, coffee shops generate $8.33 in profit.

Some coffee shops are even more profitable. For example, coffee shops located in high-traffic areas, such as airports and office buildings, can generate profit margins of up to 15%. And coffee shops that sell specialty coffee drinks and food items can also generate higher profit margins.

Here are some tips for increasing the profitability of your coffee shop:

Choose a good location. A good location is essential for success. Look for a location that is convenient for potential customers and has high visibility.

Offer a unique selling proposition. What makes your coffee shop different from others? What can you offer that your competitors cannot?

Provide excellent customer service. This is essential for building a loyal customer base. Make sure your staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and that they are always willing to go the extra mile for your customers.

Market your coffee shop effectively. Let potential customers know about your coffee shop and the unique offerings you have. You can do this through online marketing, social media and word-of-mouth.

Control your costs. Coffee shops have high costs, so it's important to control your costs as much as possible. This means negotiating good deals with your suppliers, managing your inventory carefully and keeping your labor costs under control.

Why do coffee shops fail?

There are a number of reasons why coffee shops fail. Some of the most common reasons include:

Poor location: A coffee shop in a bad location won't attract enough customers to be successful. Coffee shops need to be located in areas with high foot traffic, such as near office buildings, universities and parks.

High overhead costs: Coffee shops have high overhead costs, such as rent, utilities and labor. If a coffee shop can't generate enough revenue to cover its overhead costs, it will eventually fail.

Poor management: Poor management can lead to a number of problems, such as low customer satisfaction, high employee turnover and financial difficulties. Coffee shop owners need to have a strong business plan and be able to manage their finances effectively.

Lack of marketing: Coffee shops need to market themselves effectively to attract new customers and keep existing customers coming back. Coffee shop owners need to develop a marketing plan and budget, and they need to track their results to see what is working and what is not.

Competition: The coffee shop industry is very competitive. Coffee shops need to offer something unique to stand out from the competition.

Coffee shop business plan FAQ

How do you start a coffee shop business plan.

To start a coffee shop business plan, you need to consider the following factors:

Location: Choose a location that is convenient for potential customers and has high visibility.

Target market: Identify your target market and tailor your business plan to their needs and preferences.

Menu: Develop a menu that includes a variety of coffee drinks and food items that will appeal to your target market.

Pricing: Set prices that are competitive and generate a sufficient profit margin.

Operating costs: Estimate your operating costs, such as rent, utilities, labor and inventory.

Marketing: Develop a marketing plan to reach your target market and generate awareness of your coffee shop.

How many cups of coffee does a coffee shop sell per day?

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A Sample Coffee Shop Business Plan Template for UK

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

A coffee shop, coffee café, or coffee bar is a small, informal restaurant where coffee and light refreshments such as snacks, sandwiches, muffins, fruit, or pastries are served to customers. It is also a place where coffee lovers meet to network and socialize. Please note that coffee shops are part of the specialty eatery industry, which also includes outlets specializing in products such as bagels, donuts, frozen yogurt, and ice cream.

Reports made available by Allegra World Coffee Portal’s market-leading report on the UK café industry revealed that the total UK coffee shop market is valued at £10.1bn across 25,483 outlets. The total UK branded coffee chain market is now valued at £4.4bn having recovered to around 87 percent of its pre-pandemic value.

Steps on How to Write a Coffee Shop Business Plan

Executive summary.

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. is a first-class coffee shop that will operate world-class coffee shops across major cities in the United Kingdom with her headquarters in the heart of London.

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will operate our coffee shop in a centrally located facility with a capacity to accommodate 50 people per time with enough parking space. James Salford is the founder and CEO of James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd.

Company Profile

A. our products and services.

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will be involved in the sale of;

• Coffee beverages
• Drinks and water.

Our products are designed to give our customers all the satisfaction and fulfillment they need from a coffee shop.

b. Nature of the Business

Our coffee shop will operate with a business-to-consumer model.

c. The Industry

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will operate in the cafes & coffee shops industry.

d. Mission Statement

Our mission is to establish a standard coffee shop business that will make available different types of coffee in a conducive environment that is specifically designed for socializing and networking.

e. Vision Statement

Our vision is to establish a coffee shop that will become the number one choice in and around our coffee shop locations.

f. Our Tagline (Slogan)

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. – James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd., The Melting Pot for Coffee Lovers!

g. Legal Structure of the Business ((LTD or Ltd), PLC, LLP)

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will be formed as a Private Limited Company (LTD).

h. Our Organizational Structure

• Chief Executive Officer (Owner)
• Accountant (Cashier)
• Baristas, Waiters, and Waitresses
• Security Guard

i. Ownership/Shareholder Structure and Board Members

• James Salford (Owner and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer) 52 Percent Shares
• Dennis Wembley (Board Member) 18 Percent Shares
• John Kingsley (Board Member) 10 Percent Shares
• Henry Peter (Board Member) 10 Percent Shares
• Maggie Benson (Board Member and Sectary) 10 Percent Shares.

SWOT Analysis

A. strength.

• Ideal location for a coffee shop business
• Highly experienced and qualified employees and management
• Access to finance from business partners
• Access to varieties of coffee supplies
• Excellent customer testimonials.
• A reliable and efficient method of preparing coffee
• Safe and secured facility.

b. Weakness

• Financial Constraints
• A new business that will be competing with well-established coffee shops and other bars that retail coffee.
• Inability to retain our highly experienced and qualified employees longer than we want

c. Opportunities

• A rise in the number of people who want to socialize after the prolonged covid19 lockdown and coffee shop provides such an opportunity
• Online market, new services, new technology, and of course the opening of new markets.

i. How Big is the Industry?

The cafes & coffee shops industry is a big and thriving industry. The total UK coffee shop market is valued at £10.1bn across 25,483 outlets.

ii. Is the Industry Growing or Declining?

The coffee shop line of business is constantly growing. It might interest you to note that the cafes & coffee shops in the UK will grow at the rate of 42.8 percent in 2023.

iii. What are the Future Trends in the Industry

The future trends when it comes to the coffee shop business will revolve around technology. Software that is meant to predict what customers want, online stores, and deliveries will come forward.

iv. Are There Existing Niches in the Industry?

No, there are no existing niches when it comes to the coffee shop business.

v. Can You Sell a Franchise of your Business in the Future?

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. has plans to sell franchises in the nearest future and we will target major cities with thriving coffee markets in the United Kingdom.

• The arrival of a new coffee shop business within our market space
• Unfavorable government policy and regulations.
• Steady wage expenses
• Economic uncertainty
• Liability problems
• The Food Standards Agency (FSA) could change its regulatory status and decide to enforce strict regulations that can strangulate new businesses like ours.

i. Who are the Major Competitors?

• Costa Coffee
• Tina We Salute You
• Relish, Foundry Court
• Red Roaster
• Dose Espresso
• Kilimanjaro
• Roasters Coffee
• The Apple Tree
• Coffee Aroma
• Monmouth Coffee
• Society Café – Oxford
• Laynes Espresso – Leeds
• Boo Boo Coffee – Birmingham
• Origin Coffee Roasters – Porthleven, Cornwall
• Foxes Café Lounge – Carlisle, Cumbria
• Bold Street Coffee – Liverpool
• The Scandinavian Coffee Pod – Cheltenham
• Prufrock Café – London
• Wayland’s Yard – Worcester
• Bould Brothers Coffee – Cambridge

ii. Is There a Franchise for Coffee Shop Business?

• Really Awesome Coffee
• Krispy Kreme
• Esquires Coffee
• Coffee-Bike

iii. Are There Policies, Regulations, or Zoning Laws Affecting Coffee Shop Business?

Yes, there are regulations and zoning laws for coffee shops in the UK. Please note that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is responsible for food safety and hygiene in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. FSA is a non-ministerial department, supported by 7 agencies and public bodies.

Under the Food Safety Act, 1990 and the General Food Law Regulation 178/2002 you are responsible for ensuring that the food customers eat is safe and the quality is what they expect. This means you should understand exactly what foods can cause problems.

It is important to also state that in the United Kingdom, the basic food law is intended to assure consumers that foods are pure and wholesome, safe to eat, and produced under sanitary conditions. Generally, food law prohibits the importation and distribution of food products that are adulterated, or have labels that are false or misleading in any context.

Marketing Plan

A. who is your target audience.

i. Age Range

Our target market comprises adults above 18 years old who have the finance to purchase coffee drinks from us.

ii. Level of Educational

We don’t have any restrictions on the level of education of those who we are ready to welcome to our coffee shop.

iii. Income Level

There is no cap on the income level of those that will buy coffee drinks from us.

iv. Ethnicity

There is no restriction when it comes to the ethnicity of the people that will purchse coffee drinks from us.

v. Language

There is no restriction when it comes to the language spoken by the people that will purchase coffee drinks from us.

vi. Geographical Location

Anybody from any geographical location is free to buy and drink our coffee.

vii. Lifestyle

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will not restrict any customer from purchasing coffee drinks from us based on their lifestyle, culture, or race.

b. Advertising and Promotion Strategies

• Deliberately Brand Our Shop.
• Tap Into Text Marketing.
• Make Use of Bill Boards.
• Share Your Events in Local Groups and Pages.
• Turn Your Social Media Channels into a Resource
• Develop Your Business Directory Profiles
• Build Relationships with players in the key industry.

i. Traditional Marketing Strategies

• Marketing through Direct Mail.
• Print Media Marketing – Newspapers & Magazines.
• Broadcast Marketing -Television & Radio Channels.
• OOH, Marketing – Public Transits like Buses and Trains, Billboards, Street shows, and Cabs.
• Leverage direct sales, direct mail (postcards, brochures, letters, fliers), print advertising (magazines, newspapers, coupon books, billboards), referral (also known as word-of-mouth marketing), radio, and television.

ii. Digital Marketing Strategies

• Social Media Marketing Platforms.
• Influencer Marketing.
• Email Marketing.
• Content Marketing.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Marketing.
• Affiliate Marketing
• Mobile Marketing.

iii. Social Media Marketing Plan

• Start using chatbots.
• Create a personalized experience for our customers.
• Create an efficient content marketing strategy.
• Create a community for our target market and potential target market.
• Gear up our profiles with a diverse content strategy.
• Use brand advocates.
• Create profiles on the relevant social media channels.
• Run cross-channel campaigns.

c. Pricing Strategy

When working out our pricing strategy, James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will make sure it covers profits, insurance, premium, license, economy or value, and full package. All our pricing strategies will reflect;

• Cost-Based Pricing
• Value-Based Pricing
• Competition-Based Pricing.

Sales and Distribution Plan

A. sales channels.

Our channel sales strategy will involve using partners and third parties—such as referral partners, affiliate partners, strategic alliances in the event and party planning industry, and freelancers to help refer customers to us.

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will also leverage the 4 Ps of marketing which are place, price, product, and promotion. By carefully integrating these marketing strategies into a marketing mix, we can have a visible, in-demand service that is competitively priced and promoted to our customers.

b. Inventory Strategy

The fact that we will need supplies such as coffee, sugar, milk, teacups, and straws means that James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will operate an inventory strategy that is based on a day-to-day methodology for ordering, maintaining, and processing items in our warehouse. We will develop our strategy with the same thoroughness and attention to detail as we would if we were creating an overall strategy for the business.

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will make sure we work with “Just-in-time (JIT) inventory” – (JIT involves holding as little stock as possible, negating the costs and risks involved with keeping a large amount of stock at hand.)

c. Payment Options for Customers

Here are the payment options that James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will make available to her clients;

• Payment with cash
• Payment via credit cards
• Payment via check
• Payment via mobile money transfer

d. Return Policy, Incentives, and Guarantees

At James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd., our customers are our top priority hence if you receive coffee drinks that are different from what you paid for, we will sincerely apologize. You can call us as soon as you notice that there was an error in your order so you can come and pick up the right order.

For credit card payments, you will be refunded the sales price amount associated with the error and recharged for the new items’ price. For cash payments, you will be asked to pay the difference of the balance if the new coffee drinks have a greater value than the coffee drinks received in error.

In the same way, you will receive the difference of the balance back as credit for the new item if less than the coffee drinks received in error. In some cases, we may offer you store credit. Your order will be a priority if you come to pick it up. In all cases, please return the coffee drinks order in the original container(s) to our host.

e. Customer Support Strategy

Our customer support strategy will involve seeking customer feedback. This will help us provide excellent customer service to all our clients and investors. We will work with effective CRM software to be able to achieve this goal.

Regularly, we will work towards strengthening our Customer Service Team and also Leverage Multi-Channel Servicing as part of our customer support strategy.

Operational Plan

We plan to expand our revenue by 45 percent in the second year. The plan will include a marketing, sales, and operations component. The operations component of the plan would include attracting partnership and retainer deals that will enable the firm to boost our coffee shop business sales and support revenue growth.

a. What Happens During a Typical Day at a Coffee Shop Business?

• The business is open for the day’s work
• The coffee shop serving area is cleaned and ready for the day’s business
• Supplies such as coffee, sugar, milk, glass cups, and straws are purchased, and ready for use
• Customer’s orders are taken and they are served or their orders are delivered to them
• Cashier collect’s cash and reconciles account for the day
• Administrative duties are carried out
• The store or warehouse is restocked when required.
• The business is closed for the day.

b. Production Process (If Any)

The production process of coffee drinks involves;

• Getting the supplies ready
• Mixing coffee drinks.
• Filling in cups and serving the coffee drinks.

c. Service Procedure (If Any)

The service procedure for a coffee shop business starts with a customer requesting coffee drinks. Once the request is gotten, it will be processed and the customer will be served or the order delivered to a location as requested.

d. The Supply Chain

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will rely on key players in the event and party planning industry to refer business deals to us. So also, we have been able to establish business relationships with wholesale suppliers of coffee, sugar, milk, glass cups, straws et al.

e. Sources of Income

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. makes money from the sale of;

• Drinks and water

Financial Plan

A. amount needed to start your coffee shop business.

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. would need an estimate of £75,000 successfully set up our coffee shop business in the United Kingdom.

b. What are the Costs Involved?

• Business Registration Fees – £12.
• Legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits – £1,300.
• Marketing, Branding, and Promotions – £1,000.
• Business Consultant Fee – £2,000.
• Insurance – £1,400.
• Rent/Lease – £35,000.
• Other start-up expenses include commercial satellite TV subscriptions, and phone and utility deposits (£1,800).
• Operational Cost (salaries of employees, payments of bills et al) – £30,000
• Start-up Inventory – £7,500
• Store Equipment (cash register, security, ventilation, signage) – £1,750
• Furnishing and Equipping the Shop and Kitchen – £30,000
• Website: £600
• Opening party: £2,000
• Miscellaneous: £1,500

c. Do You Need to Build a Facility? If YES, How Much Will it Cost?

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will not build a new facility for our coffee shop business; we intend to start with a long-term lease and after 5 years, we will start the process of acquiring our own facility.

d. What are the Ongoing Expenses for Running a Coffee Shop Business?

• Supplies such as coffee, sugar, milk, teacups, straws et al
• Utility bills (gas, internet subscriptions, phone bills, signage and software renewal fees et al)
• Salaries of employees
• Equipment maintenance
• Marketing costs

e. What is the Average Salary of your Staff?

• Chief Operating Officer (Owner) – £40,000 Per Year
• Manager – £30,000 Per Year
• Accountant (Cashier) – £28,630,000 Per Year
• Barista, Waiters, and Waitresses – £22,100 Per Year
• Cleaners – £18,000 Per Year
• Security Guard -£24,000 Per Year

f. How Do You Get Funding to Start a Coffee Shop Business

• Raising money from personal savings and sale of personal stocks and properties
• Raising money from investors and business partners
• Sell shares to interested investors
• Applying for a loan from your bank/banks
• Source for soft loans from your family members and friends.

Financial Projection

A. how much should you charge for your product/service.

The price of our coffee drinks to a large extent depends on the type of coffee drinks, but on average, we will sell a cup of our coffee drinks anywhere between £1.50 and £4.

b. Sales Forecast?

• First Fiscal Year (FY1): £160,000
• Second Fiscal Year (FY2): £250,000
• Third Fiscal Year (FY3): £300,000

c. Estimated Profit You Will Make a Year?

• First Fiscal Year (FY1) (Profit After Tax): £65,000
• Second Fiscal Year (FY2) (Profit After Tax): £100,000
• Third Fiscal Year (FY3) (Profit After Tax): £120,000

d. Profit Margin of a Coffee Shop Business Product/Service

The ideal profit margin we hope to make at James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will be between 20 and 60 percent all things being equal.

Growth Plan

A. how do you intend to grow and expand .

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. will grow our coffee shop business by first opening other outlets in key cities in the United Kingdom within the first five years of establishing the business and then will start selling franchises from the sixth year.

b. Where do you intend to expand to and why?

James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. plans to expand to;

• Auckley, South Yorkshire
• Dorchester, Dorset
• Ammanford, Carmarthenshire
• Prestwich, Manchester
• Bradford, West Yorkshire
• Birmingham-Wolverhampton
• Leeds-Bradford
• Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire
• Southampton-Portsmouth

The reason we intend to expand to these locations is that available statistics show that the cities listed above have the highest and most thriving market for coffee drinks in the United Kingdom.

The founder of James Salford® Coffee Shop, Ltd. plans to exit the business via family succession. We have placed structures and processes in place that will help us achieve our plan of successfully transferring the business from one family member to another and from one generation to another without hitches.

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The Ultimate Coffee Shop Business Plan and Template

If you are looking to write a coffee shop business plan, you have come to the right place.

A coffee shop business plan is an essential tool for coffee shop owners or people who want to open a coffee shop. A business plan will help you plan your strategy for success and act as a guide as you look to build your coffee shop.

In this article, we’ll look at why you should write a business plan for your coffee shop or cafe, as well as provide you with a sample and a template that contains inspiration for the things you should include in your coffee shop business plan.

Table of Contents

• 1 Why Write a Coffee Shop Business Plan?
• 2.1 Executive Summary
• 2.2 Company Overview
• 2.3 Market and Customer Analysis
• 2.4 Sales and Marketing Plan
• 2.5 Management Team
• 2.6 Financial Plan
• 3 Wrapping Up

Why Write a Coffee Shop Business Plan?

The basic idea behind a coffee shop is simple. The business needs to sell enough coffee products to cover costs and make a profit. However, many variables will define whether your business is successful.

A coffee shop business plan will help you plan a strategy for success. It will consider factors such as opportunities, risks, and how you will market yourself . By having a good idea of this before you start a coffee shop, you will be better placed to overcome or avoid any difficulties.

Here are some examples of how a business plan could help iron out any difficulties:

• While creating the market analysis section, you may decide that competition is too intense. If this is the case, you could look for a new area with fewer competitors or find a way to make your coffee shop business stand out.
• By creating a marketing plan before you open, you can put yourself in an excellent position to make sales from the moment you start a coffee shop.
• By creating cash flow projections, you will be able to spot any potential financial issues well before they come to light, preventing cash flow problems.

Without a business plan, you would either not know about the potential difficulties listed above, or you would be aware of them but lacking any defined strategy for overcoming them. By creating a coffee shop business plan, you can tackle issues with a clearer head.

Business plans are also essential documents if you plan to apply for funding for your coffee shop.

You’ll likely need to submit the business plan to the bank when applying for a loan, or to investors when applying for equity funding. Having a well-thought-out business plan shows you have done your market research and analyzed your idea which helps give investors an overview of the risks and potential rewards of investing.

If you are going to use your business plan to apply for funding, you’ll need to go into a little more detail about the financials of your business. This will include your income and expenses and you’ll also need to include a section that discusses how you will use the money you’re raising.

Coffee Shop Business Plan Template

A Google search will reveal differences when it comes to the exact sections you should include in your coffee shop business plan.

Nonetheless, a coffee shop business plan template will include the sections listed below. In this part of the article, we’ll go through a coffee shop business plan template and discuss what you should include in each section.

Executive Summary

The executive summary is a short overview of your coffee shop business plan. It should include all the important details about your business. When deciding what to include, think about what you would want someone to see if they told you they would only read this one section of your plan.

Open your executive summary with a statement about what your coffee shop business is all about. Talk about what it will offer that is unique and mention why you think it will be successful. Is it the only coffee house in town, for example?

Coffee shop name: AI Coffee Shop

Executive Summary:

AI Coffee will serve high-quality coffee to office workers and business people who work nearby. We will sell espresso-based drinks with a focus on providing quality at speed. We will sell coffee to take away as well as to eat in, with an indoor seating area with space for 25 customers in our coffee shop.

While there are other coffee shops in the area, we believe that there is demand for more — especially ones that focus on a high-quality product. We will also provide a light lunch menu and pastries that we believe will differentiate us from other coffee shops in the area. 

Company Overview

In the company overview section, you should include practical details about your coffee shop business. This will include:

• The structure and ownership of your coffee shop
• The staff you plan to hire and what you will pay them
• Your company’s mission statement, and startup expenses

While this may seem like a lot of work, the good news is this also serves as a way to kill two birds with one stone. As you flesh out your company’s goals & vision statements, it’s important to track this information in an internal wiki . Not only will this help your business stay true to its course, but it can also serve as a great resource for your staff.

AI Coffee will be a privately held company owned entirely by Mr Smith, who will also manage the coffee shop. We will hire two full-time employees with at least two years of barista experience, as well as four part-time employees to help during busy periods.

Startup costs for the coffee shop will be $70,000, which will be spent on rent, renovations, and purchasing equipment. The owner has put up half the money and has borrowed half from a bank. Based on annual sales of $160,000 and after costs and wages, we expect to be profitable within the second year. 

Market and Customer Analysis

In the market analysis section, you should include details about the local market. This can include information on competitors, such as other coffee shops or any fast-food joints, restaurants, or bars that you think will be competing for your coffee shop’s money.

You should also outline what makes your coffee shop business unique and why you think it can be successful despite the competition. You can also include wider information about the coffee industry.

In the customer analysis section, you need to include information about your target market. Include details on who they are and why you think they will like your coffee shop, with metrics where possible. If you performed market research before starting your coffee shop business plan, include that here.

Market Analysis

The coffee industry is expected to keep growing between 2020 and 2024 in the U.S. Research suggests that coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the country, with the average person drinking two cups per day. We believe that this growth, plus the high volume of coffee people drink each day, makes opening a coffee shop a good business opportunity . 

Competitor Analysis

AI Coffee will be located in a vibrant district that is seeing offices open up and new companies move in. There are currently two other coffee shop competitors in the immediate area, but we believe there is room for more.

Our shop’s main advantages are that it is closer to a new office building than the other shops. We also plan to differentiate ourselves by offering a small lunch menu, unlike any of the existing coffee shops, as well as various customer loyalty schemes . 

Customer Analysis

The location of the coffee shop has high footfall, especially before and after work and during lunchtimes. The area has a high proportion of local professionals who can afford to spend money on coffee and other drinks. 

The office blocks in the immediate vicinity are home to around 2,500 people. There are also other buildings being developed nearby. The location is also close to shopping and entertainment districts. We expect to receive significant revenue from passersby, who will keep us busy during the day. 

Sales and Marketing Plan

Before you start a coffee shop, you should have a clear idea of what your business’s sales strategy will be.

Your sales strategy contains practical details on how you will handle sales. You should also include sales forecasts and how you have come up with these forecasts. In this section, you should include information about the products you will sell and your pricing strategy.

Your marketing plan will discuss the strategies you will use to get customers through the door. Discuss your budget and expected returns on investment. If you have a particularly complex marketing plan, you may want to create a separate document for this and only include the highlights in your business plan.

AI Coffee will open from 7.30 a.m. until 7.30 p.m. seven days a week. We expect the hours immediately before and after office hours, as well as between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., to be the busiest of the day, with much of our sales being to take out. 

We will use a commercial espresso machine and we expect to be able to produce up to a maximum of 70 cups of coffee per hour, which should be sufficient during busy times. 

We will sell our espresso-based drinks and tea at between $3 and $6, depending on the drink and the size. We will sell pastries at between $2 and $5, as well as light meals at between $7 and $12. These meals will be packaged so customers can either eat them on-site or take them away. 

We expect to generate around $730 per day from food and drink sales. 

Marketing Plan

We will market our coffee shop to customers in the nearby area through display marketing in relevant locations. We will also use social media marketing to target people nearby, and we will connect with people through our social media accounts. We will use these accounts to keep customers updated with new menu items as well as offers and discounts. 

We will also create a website and an app, which we will use to run a customer loyalty scheme . We will provide the option to order coffee through the app and pick it up at the shop. We think this will appeal to busy professionals. 

Our marketing will focus on the quality of the coffee we sell, as well as the benefits of our shop to office workers ( in-app ordering ). During the week after we open, we will offer substantial discounts on coffee to attract people to our business. This offer will be central to our marketing during this period. 

We will encourage repeat customers using a loyalty scheme that will give them a free cup of coffee when they buy eight drinks.

Our marketing budget will be $500 in the first two months, but we will cut this down to around $350 a month after that. 

Operating Plan

The operating plan will include details of how you will run your coffee shop. This will include costs, as well as specifics about things like opening times, food and drink production, prices, and more.

It will also allow you to spot any potential conflicts. For example, if you plan to serve 150 office workers between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m., can you do it with only two members of staff or would you be better off hiring another employee?

You can also use this section to explain any licenses or certifications you need to get before you open your shop, as well as how you will train employees.

We will open from 7:30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. We will always have at least three staff members in place to take care of making coffee, process sales, and keep the coffee shop tidy.

We will buy our coffee wholesale from a supplier that specializes in high-quality coffee. This coffee will cost $40 per five-pound bag. We will keep enough coffee in stock to last for at least one week. 

In terms of equipment, we will use a commercial grinder to grind beans before making each cup. 

We will buy pastries and light meals from a local supplier who will also take care of the packaging. We will receive a daily delivery at 7 a.m., thirty minutes before the shop opens. 

We will thoroughly clean up the shop after closing to ensure it is ready for the following day. We will build HACCP processes to stay compliant with food safety regulations. All members of staff will receive training so they know about these processes.

Management Team

In the management team section, you should include who the business owners are and who will manage your coffee shop. You should write about any experience or qualifications they have that will help make them successful.

If the owners won’t be managing the coffee shop, you should include details about who will take care of the day-to-day running of the business. In this section, include how much you will be paying each of the management team as well as how any profits will be shared amongst the owners.

The owner will also manage the coffee shop. The owner has over ten years’ experience working in coffee shops, including six years in various management positions. AI Coffee will also hire two full-time employees. These employees will have at least two years’ experience working in a coffee shop. We will pay each full-time employee $22,000 a year.

We will also hire four part-time employees with or without experience to work at weekends and provide cover during the week. We will pay these employees $10 an hour. 

Financial Plan

The final section of the coffee shop business plan is the financial plan. Here you need to go into detail about how your business will be financially successful.

Include operating costs (this includes the cost of equipment), loan repayments, cash flow and expected revenue (in the first year, especially). Also, include a balance sheet analysis that shows how much revenue you need to take in to become a profitable coffee business.

In this section, we will explain our financial plan, including costs, expected sales, and profit. We will also include a balance sheet. We believe this plan accurately illustrates why AI Coffee will be financially successful. 

ADD FINANCIALS 

Wrapping Up

That’s all for our coffee shop business plan guide. We hope that this has equipped you with enough knowledge on how to start a coffee shop and will help you with your business planning.

To find out more about getting a business up and running, check out our guides to writing a business proposal in 2019 and writing a small business marketing plan.

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Restaurant Types

How to write a coffee shop business plan.

Tyler Martinez Author

Tyler Martinez

Business Plan for Coffee Shops Guide

The market for coffee is saturated and highly competitive – luckily, in the  U.S. 70% of people drink coffee every week and 62% every day , generating incredible, consistent demand. Coffee shops have the imperative, and the luxury, of selecting a fraction of that market to target. And since every neighborhood needs one — or a few to choose from — the opportunity for getting into the coffee shop business is huge.

The coffee industry divides coffee shops and cafes into waves based on the kind of coffees served and the brewing methods used. First wave coffee is usually reserved for talking about the kinds of coffee served at restaurants that don’t focus on coffee – imagine the pot of generic dark roast you get at your favorite diner or dive. Second and third-wave coffee describes what we generally think of as coffee shops. 

The second wave refers to the popular, corporate chains that popped up on every corner in the late 90s and early 2000s – second wave coffee shops tend to serve consistent coffee and market drinks with lots of flavours and syrups. 

Third-wave coffee shops focus on the bean – coffees are roasted in small batches and roasters take great care to enhance the desirable flavour notes that occur naturally in coffees. There is also an emphasis on optimising brewing and extraction to create the best-tasting cups of coffee possible while complimenting the coffee’s taste with often housemade syrups or flavourings.

But no matter which type of coffee shop you want to open, once you have your idea you've got a long list of to-dos ahead of you. That's where your coffee shop business plan comes in.

Why Write a Coffee Shop Business Plan?

Like any restaurant business, the process of opening a cafe or coffee shop has dozens of steps. They often overlap, or one needs to be done to start the next one, and things can get complicated quick. That's why you need a map — and that map takes the form of a coffee shop business plan.

The type and style of coffee you want to sell, the customer base you wish to attract, and the experience you want to provide all contribute to the overall success of your coffee shop concept, and all of these factors are clarified by writing a business plan.

A coffee shop business plan is crucial in defining what niche of the coffee industry your what your coffee shop to occupy and determining the best business model and concept to succeed in that niche in your location. Your business plan forces you to think through every single detail of your business, helping you (and potential investors) determine that it's not just viable, but a recipe for success.

How to Write a Coffee Shop Business Plan (Description, Examples, Proposals)

As a genre, business plans are pretty straightforward, which is why this coffee shop business plan template is a helpful tool for imagining and planning your coffee shop. Download a customizable version of the business plan template and read on to learn more about how to make it work for your coffee shop.

Elements of a Coffee Shop Business Plan

Executive summary.

A concise introduction to your coffee shop’s concept in the form of an executive summary is the first section of a business plan. The executive summary introduces key elements of your business plan, such as an overview of the budget, the business’s mission, market, and core values, and a coherent vision for your product and style of coffee service. 

Most coffee shops are counter-service restaurants focused on quality coffee, but some function as kiosks, or drive throughs, or even full-service cafes. Knowing what market space you want your shop to occupy in relation to the local competition is crucial.

As you write the executive summary for your coffee shop’s business plan, imagine your reader and how you might capture an interest of theirs and persuade them to keep reading and potentially invest.

Company Overview

The differences between a company overview and an executive summary may seem subtle, but the company overview is more of a glossary for the rest of your business plan rather than a summary – more practical than attention-grabbing.

The company overview introduces the type of restaurant, ownership structure, and customer experience. In the case of a coffee shop, the company overview will define the brewing processes, coffee and food products, location, and labor and hiring practices for baristas.

The company overview is also your chance to communicate the more conceptual visions for your brand to investors. Consider including information about how your coffee shop’s name, logo, color scheme, and presence make your customers feel and contribute to the experience.

Team and Management

Management and staffing in coffee shops can be highly specialized and competitive, and it’s important to make decisions about team structure and management before you start hiring. Baristas are often asked to be salespeople, line cooks, and a beverage development team in addition to producing coffee drinks.

Who will be in charge of research and development for coffee drinks and brewing methods? Will you be outsourcing for food, cross-training baristas to make food, or hiring a kitchen staff? Are you hiring someone to do marketing and PR online and on social media, or do you expect your manager to fill that role as well?

Also consider including information about what kind of jobs you plan to create, whether they are full-time or part-time, how you will hire or train workers with the right skill set, and how you plan to provide benefits and good pay. Your staff will factor into other crucial elements of your business plan, such as the budget and food/beverage production, so it’s important to have a concrete picture of your staffing needs.

Sample Menu

A sample menu is a unique feature of a business plan for a restaurant. Second and third-wave coffee shops, however, are expected to offer certain beverages while you might set your shop out from the competition with offerings unique to your shop.

Drip coffee, iced coffee, espresso beverages, teas – these are all standard. Coffee shops craft uniquely flavored beverages, partner with high-quality roasters, or create an ambiance that is in demand in an area to set themselves apart from the inevitable competition from second-wave corporations. 

The sample menu will also force you to think concretely about how you plan to produce and serve the coffees and tea drinks and sandwiches or pastries on that menu. How will you store milk, brewed coffee, kegs for cold brew and nitro, and what brewing equipment will you need?

Restaurant Menu Templates

Use these menu templates as a starting point for your menu design or to give your menus a refresh.

Market Analysis

Competition in the coffee industry is stiff and finding an opening in the market is crucial to the success of any foodservice business. Investors will typically ask about three core aspects of the market in which you operate: the target market, location, and competition.

There is always a demand for coffee – but, does what you want to offer meet a gap in what other local coffee shops offer. Maybe there is a space in the market for a coffee shop with a nice patio or one that has a robust menu for the inevitable customer that makes your coffee shop their office or the lunchtime coffee drinker.

Concerning location, it’s not uncommon to see two coffee shops as neighbors – one serving sweet second wave drinks and the other brewing pour overs for adherents of third-wave coffee culture.

That second-wave shop next door isn’t your competition nor are you theirs because you attract a different segment of the coffee-drinking population. What you should be concerned about are the other specialty cafes or coffee roasters in the area that might be competing for the same customers. Maybe your shop is set apart, then, by walkability, superior quality, or ambiance.

It’s important to research the routes to meeting your sales goals for your restaurant and communicate those routes in your business plan to potential lenders or investors.

Marketing and Publicity

Many coffee shops focus on digital marketing: they stay very active on social media and ensure they have a robust web presence with a great website. Because there is so much competition in the coffee market, a clear, cohesive brand is crucial to helping you attract customers but consistent, quality coffee and service will create regular customers.

You might also think about what opportunities you have to draw customers in by opening your coffee shop as a venue for performers or artists – lots of coffee shops allow local artists to hang prints, paintings, or macramé on the walls, or host open mic nights.

If there’s a space in the market for something like that in your community, it might be a good chance to create a loyal, local customer base while supporting local arts. Investors and customers alike, especially if they are locals, will be impressed by your plans to enhance the community. 

Branded Graphics

One of the most exciting parts of building a business plan can be imagining a cohesive brand for your new business. Think about how the ambiance of your coffee shop and the ethos of your business can be represented through your business’s logo and aesthetic. Display your branding consistently throughout presentations and documents in your business plan.

Business Operations

Business plans include information about customer service, the point of sale, sales and inventory tracking, accounting, and the supply chain of the products on your menu. Business operations concerns unique to coffee shops include where you will park the truck and how that spot will let you access your customers. 

Do you plan to be an owner/operator in your coffee shop, acting as the general manager and the owner, or do you plan to hire management staff to handle everything from payroll to production? Will you need a seasoned barista to develop brewing methods and beverage recipes or a kitchen manager to make pastries and sandwiches?

Because coffee shops can offer such a range of food and drinks, it’s important to plan for the complexities of how management and production will work, how employees are expected to guide customers through the experience, and how you will balance quality, consistency, and speed in production.

These myriad responsibilities are complicated further when spread across the handful of employees on a coffee shop payroll. Balancing employees, products, customers, inventory, and finances can be a daunting task and the business operations section is your opportunity to tell investors that you’re up to it. 

Sales Forecasts and Operating Expenses

It’s especially important when starting a coffee shop to consider management and labor when considering costs: coffee shops are small storefronts with relatively low profit margin, depending on demand, and can easily go in the red when juggling an inventory for a small kitchen in addition to all the necessities for serving coffee and tea drinks. 

One common analysis to include in a business plan is a break-even point analysis, which compares how much sales are required to break even with the cost of expenses each month. Investors will be interested in the potential for profit and loss before they contribute to your business, but to produce a profit a loss statement for a restaurant that isn’t open yet will require some educated projections.

Finally, a cash flow analysis will detail how you will spend money on labor, supplies, and operations which will show investors that the coffee shop can support itself without additional investment. Consider how the process of coffee beans, teas, pastry, your own and your employees’ salaries, and the costs of maintaining the coffee shop and brewing equipment balance at the end of each fiscal quarter.

Financing and Loans

If you are seeking to secure funding, have already secured partial funding, or have a plan to fund your coffee shop, it is crucial to include that information in your business plan. 

Some coffee shops go with SBA loans, others get microloans or work with alternative lenders, and others work with brick and mortar banks. Whatever route you choose — and there are so many different funding options! — provide your audience (and potential investors) with your detailed funding goals and plans, including projections and expected expenses.

How to Present a Coffee Shop Business Plan

There are a few ways to prepare to communicate with investors about your business plan and get them interested. As you write and edit your plan, you’ll have become the world’s only expert on your coffee shop. Remember that the way you talk about your business should be tailored to the situation you find yourself in.

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Downloadable Template for Your Coffee Shop Business Plan

What is a coffee shop business plan?

A business plan is used to describe a number of documents or forms that details a business’s future goals, as well as the steps involved in getting them there along with an estimation of how long it should take for them to be successful. In this case, we will specifically be looking at coffee shops and the processes needed to build a successful one.

Coffee Shop Business Plan Template

To get a better idea of what a proper business plan for a coffee shop should look like, click on the link below to be taken to your very own downloadable business plan template that can work as a great reference point for you as you put together your own business plan. Simply input your own information into the template to make the process easier for yourself.

Why does my coffee shop need a business plan?

While there are many trends that may come and go, one that has stood the test of time is people wanting a cup of coffee from their local cafe. Whether it be bright and early and they need the extra bit of caffeine to jump-start their day, or it’s late in the evening and they need a boost to get through a long list of tasks, buying a cup of coffee has been ingrained in our society and how we live our lives.

This prominence has made slinging caffeine an ideal investment for many business owners as they carved a path into their customers’ everyday lives. While a classic cup of coffee has, and will always be popular, brands like Starbucks and Caribou Coffee have dominated the industry for a number of years and have caused many mom & pop locations to close their doors. Even with the international brands acting as competition, opening your own coffee shop can still be a lucrative venture as long as you understand what you’re getting yourself into and prepare yourself accordingly.

The best way to assure the success of your coffee shop is by having an optimal business plan in place that will guide you through each step of the process as well as fill you in on what you can come to expect on your journey of slinging cups of coffee to the masses. Building a business plan that is thorough enough to build a successful coffee shop is no easy feat, which is why this blog will be analyzing what goes into a great coffee shop business plan as well as providing you with a downloadable template that you can reference during each stage of the building of your business.

Another way to assure the success of your coffee shop is by using an employee scheduling platform that makes it easy for your managers to create and send out employee schedules so they’re able to focus on more important tasks. Which is why you should click on the link below to begin your free trial of Deputy and see for yourself how the platform is able to optimize your scheduling procedures.

Types of Business Plans

The first step of putting together an effective business plan for your coffee shop is understanding what type of business plan would be best for your coffee shop. Despite what most people think, business plans aren’t as straightforward as they’re made out to be and you need to be aware of each type so that you choose the one that fits best for your coffee shop. Here are a couple of the most common types of business plans that are useful for potential business owners.

1. Traditional Business Plan

A traditional business plan is the most common that is used amongst businesses and consists of a comprehensive amount of information that includes an executive summary, description of the company, analysis of the market, etc. While a traditional business plan is largely comprehensive, it’s still fairly straightforward by providing readers with all the information they need to know that they’re going into a sound investment and that the business is poised to be stable.

2. Lean Startup Business Plan

If you want to start your coffee shop in a hurry, need to explain it quickly, or want it to be a simple business like a stand outside of an office building that serves coffee, then a lean startup business plan may be the best option for you. A lean startup business plan will typically use a lot of visual aides like graphs and other tools that are useful for visualizing tradeoffs as well as other important facts regarding your company.

3. Growth Business Plan

If you have already started your coffee shop and are looking for a way to secure investment so you can further your growth, a growth business plan may be a good fit for your organization. They are detailed and in-depth plans for growth and are typically made for external purposes so that companies are able to secure funding for their next ventures.

4. Strategic Business Plan

Another notable business plan is a strategic business plan that provides an in-depth map of a company’s goals along with how they plan on achieving those goals. A strategic business plan typically consists of five different elements: the vision of the business, the mission statement, success factors, strategies used for achieving goals, and a timeline detailing when they plan on implementing certain strategies. A strategic business plan is great for detailing to each employee, as well as anyone else, exactly how the business is planning on becoming successful.

5. Operations Business Plan

An operations business plan is usually made for internal purposes and contains information regarding company operations, upcoming deadlines that people need to be aware of, as well as the responsibilities for each of the employees to ensure that the goal is reached.

6. Feasibility Business Plan

A feasibility business plan is made to answer two big questions about a specific business venture, these questions are: who will purchase the products and can the business turn a profit. Although they’re built to tackle a host of different topics regarding a new business, some of the most important points of interest are the specific consumers that are going to be interested in the product in the first place, the amount of money that will be needed to keep the business going, as well as a host of other topics.

While all of these strategies are effective in helping a company work to reach its goals, the downloadable template attached to this blog will mimic a traditional business plan because it’s the most straightforward and commonly used form that business owners use for their own ventures.

What goes into a business plan?

A business plan is the foundation of any successful business and provides the building blocks for you while you’re in the process of building your coffee shop. Not only that, but you’ll need a top-notch business plan if you want to assure that you’ll be able to secure funding in the form of loans from banks. That said, here are the sections of a business plan you’ll need to organize and build out if you want your coffee shop to reach the level of success you dream of.

1. Executive Summary

First and foremost, your business plan will need an executive summary that will serve as an introduction and will let everyone know what your goals are for the document ahead. In other words, it is a summary of your entire business plan and its purpose is to give readers a brief idea of the topics you plan on touching on. Also, although it will visually be the first item that appears in your business plan, you should write it last. That’s because you want your executive summary to be all-encompassing in regards to what it covers in the document and the only way you can ensure it’s as effective as you need it to be is by completing it after you’ve done everything else. This way, you have an overview of everything you’ve touched on in the piece fresh on your mind and will be better suited to piece together your executive summary.

Also, your executive summary should also contain your company’s mission statement, which is a shortened statement of a company’s goals or overall purpose. To give you an edge on your competition, here are some quick tips for producing an effective mission statement.

Have your target demographic in mind when you’re writing the mission statement so you have a clear idea of what would make someone want to support your business.

Define what your business does for its customers. For a coffee shop, this should include some variation of providing high-quality coffee and great customer service to all of your customers.

It should reflect the long-term vision for your company, as well as stating what your company stands for both internally and externally.

Pay attention to the four important elements of any great mission statement, these are value, inspiration, plausibility, and specificity.

Keep it short! Remember that a mission statement should only be 1-2 short, succinct sentences. Input too much, and you risk overloading the reader with information that they don’t care about.

2. Company Synopsis

The next section of your business plan is the company synopsis that is used as an overview of the most important aspects of your company. It covers information like the history of your company, your founders, location, management team, number of employees, etc. In other words, it’s everything about your company that you feel is relevant for an investor or anyone else on the outside looking in.

That said, it’s also the first introduction that people have with your business as well as with yourself as a business owner, so make sure you’re putting your best foot forward. A company synopsis is also typically one of the shortest parts of a business plan and involves a lot of the “who, what, when, where, and why” of your business. Here are a few questions you should consider that can really help in piecing together your company synopsis.

• What is the product you’re offering?
• How will I solve my customers’ issues?
• What impact does my product have on my customers’ lives?
• How will my product fill the hole that similar businesses in my area haven’t?

3. Product Synopsis

Although you touched on your products in the company synopsis, it’s time to get into more detail by spending this section explaining just how your coffee shop’s products will work to please your customers and keep them coming back. For example, this means going over the type of coffee you’ll be serving and giving details on whether it’s organic, single-sourced, etc. You should also detail how you’re planning on preparing it, other items you’ll serve aside from coffee, etc. Although you may see a coffee shop as a very straightforward business, you still need to go into plenty of detail during this step so you know you didn’t leave anything out.

4. Market Analysis

The next section of your coffee shop’s business plan is the market analysis, while the previous sections worked to introduce your business to people who are unaware of your brand, the market analysis is used to prove that your business will have a sizable consumer base that will be enough to sustain the business as well as provide an avenue of profits for a number of years going forward. In other words, this section serves to show readers you have actual proof backed with data that your business will be able to attract and sustain a sizable number of customers. Here are some numbers you should uncover to assure that your market analysis is hitting all the points that it needs to.

• What is the size of the market? (Will it be local, national, worldwide, etc.)
• How long should it take for the company to break even?
• How much is it growing? What proof do you have that it’s growing?
• How much profits should the coffee shop be bringing in each year?

5. Strategy & Implementation

The strategy & implementation section of a business plan gives an overview of your sales & marketing strategy as well as how you plan on implementing them within your business. No matter how amazing your product is or how efficient of a worker you are, you need a strategy in place to make sure you get your business’s name out there. Make sure to include the following items:

• An explanation of how you’ll promote your business to consumers and the rest of the market.
• Costs associated with all of your sales & marketing strategies.

6. Financial Planning & Projections This section of your business plan should be made with the assistance of your accountant or some other financial consultant that can help you with market analysis as well as setting goals for your coffee shop. You should make sure that this section includes realistic financial figures like forecasted income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, as well as capital expenditure budgets for the coming years.

Closing thoughts

The world runs on coffee, so it’s understandable that you would want to carve out your own space in the industry. That said, keep in mind that you’ll have plenty of competitors and that you’ll need a strong business plan if you want to come out successful.

One way to guarantee success is by making sure your employees are using a reliable platform for receiving their schedules as well as keeping count of their hours worked each week. Click on the button below to start your free trial and find out for yourself why Deputy is a perfect fit for your organization.

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How To Write a Coffee Shop Business Plan: Step by Step

• Templates & Guides

Want to open a coffee shop of your very own? Give it the best chance for success by writing a coffee shop business plan.

But, what exactly is a business plan, why do you need one, and what’s the best way to make such a plan?

In this article, we discuss the answers to those questions and how the right technology can help you run things smoothly once your coffee shop business plan becomes a reality.

Table of contents

What is a coffee shop business plan, do you need a coffee shop business plan, creating a coffee shop business plan.

A coffee shop business plan is a written document that describes:

• The nature of the business
• How the business is organized
• The business’s financial projections
• Goals the business would like to reach
• Strategies for reaching those goals
• The time frame for reaching those goals

In essence, a coffee shop business plan is a roadmap that provides structure and direction to an as-yet unformed operation.

Many first-time, prospective entrepreneurs wonder if they really need a business plan to get started. The answer is yes .

Without a business plan, it will be very difficult — some would say impossible — to get a loan from a bank or funding from an investor.

But, even if funding isn’t a major concern right now, a business plan provides clear direction on how you intend to get where you’re going and how to make your new endeavor a success .

Sure, we’ve all taken a road trip (or gone traveling) without a map or a plan, and sometimes that can be fun.

Starting a new business, though, demands much more of an investment than just picking a direction and heading out. Starting a new business can occupy all of your time, money, and energy for years to come, so you don’t want to commit yourself without a plan.

That’s what the coffee shop business plan is: a map to help you keep moving in the right direction when things are going smoothly and to show you how to get back on track when they aren’t.

As you get started writing your very own business plan, keep in mind that the document you produce doesn’t have to be the final draft right away, nor does it have to include every single detail about your business.

Yes, some business plans are hundreds of pages long. Yours may reach that level in the end, but don’t allow that fact to overwhelm you now or stop you from getting started.

Get the information on the page to the best of your ability, and then go back and edit as needed to make it the best it can be. A business plan is a living document that may change as your business grows. But it and your business can’t go anywhere until you write your first draft.

Here’s how to get started.

Step #1: Ask and answer questions

As we mentioned, some business plans can be chock-full of details and facts about the business itself, and many first-time owners wonder where all that information comes from.

The answer is simple: The details in your business plan are basically answers to questions you and anyone else may have about how to go about transforming your idea into reality.

Before you write one word, sit down and consider all of the questions you have about what you’re getting into.

For example, you may ask yourself:

• Who will run the business?
• What makes that person qualified to do so?
• What niche will the business fill?
• Who are the business’s target customers ?
• How will the business market and sell its food and beverage to them?
• What is the size of the market you intend to sell to?
• What is the business model for the business?
• How will the business make money?
• Who are the competitors?
• How will the business compete?
• Will the business have an advantage over the competition?
• How does the business plan to manage growth?
• What are the risks and threats confronting the business?
• What can you do to mitigate those risks and threats?
• What are the business’s financial requirements?

Go through the list and answer as many of those questions as you can in whatever level of detail you can muster.

The nice thing about starting with this step (instead of jumping right into word one of the main sections of the plan) is that you can use the answers you generate as the basis for what comes next.

Step #2: Write an executive summary

While the other sections in your coffee shop business plan can go in any order you choose, the first section should always be the Executive Summary.

This section gives a brief overview of the main elements of the coffee shop you plan on running, including:

• Overhead costs
• Labor costs
• Return on investment (ROI)

Keep in mind that this information is here at the start to give readers a quick introduction to the plan. If they want more detail, they can read on.

It’s also important to remember that you’ll likely repeat much of the information in the executive summary later on in your business plan.

That’s OK. You won’t be penalized if a reader finds the exact same details elsewhere in your document.

Step #3: Describe your company

Next, write a description of your company. More specifically, write about the who, what, why, where, and how of your coffee shop.

View the Business Description section as the physical details about the business you intend to run, including:

• Business name
• Your experience
• Contact information
• Partners involved (if any)
• The tax status of the business (e.g., sole proprietor, LLC/LLP, S-Corp)
• Intended or existing location of your coffee shop

It can also be helpful to include a brief mention of your coffee shop’s short- and long-term goals as well as your plan for achieving those goals.

Step #4: Conduct a market analysis

The next section to include in your coffee shop business plan is Market Analysis.

Most market analyses describe three distinct views of the business:

• The industry as a whole (in this case, the coffee shop industry)
• The competition your coffee shop will face (e.g. other shops in the area)
• The marketing you’ll execute to bring in customers

As with the previous two sections, the Market Analysis section can be a relatively brief discussion of these three concepts.

As your coffee shop business grows, you can add sections that address those concepts in more detail later on.

Step #5: Explain your coffee shop’s financials

Both you and your investors are going to want to know how much money it’s going to take to get the coffee shop set up, running, and turning a profit. That’s where the Financials section comes in.

While brevity is important (if not mandatory) in the first few sections on this list, when you explain your coffee shop’s financials, you want to be as detailed as possible.

This is especially true if you hope to secure bank funding or get involved with investors.

To provide the level of detail you need to make the Financials section as complete as possible, consider hiring an accountant to help you prepare this section so that it will be as accurate as possible.

Taking advantage of technology

As you research and write your coffee shop business plan, include information about the technology you’ll use to help run your business.

More specifically, find a software suite that makes it easier to manage and optimize your team.

The Sling app , for example, includes a long list of tools to help make your workforce management as efficient and productive as possible, including:

• Advanced employee scheduling
• Integrated time clock
• Comprehensive communication
• Flexible task management
• And much more

Try Sling for free today to get a better idea of the many ways it can help you once your coffee shop business plan becomes a reality.

Then, for further business management resources, help scheduling your employees, and tips for getting the most out of your team, visit GetSling.com today.

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This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for specific advice.

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Table of Contents

Dreaming of opening a coffee shop? You’re not alone. The coffee industry is bustling with passionate business owners eager to make their mark. However, becoming successful coffee shop owners requires more than just a love for the brew. It demands a clear vision that differentiates your coffee house in a saturated market. A well-crafted business plan not only gives life to your idea but also sets your business on a path to thrive. Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned entrepreneur, this guide, complete with a free template, will help you craft a business plan that markets and propels your coffee venture to success.

What is A Coffee Shop Business Plan?  

A coffee shop business plan is a comprehensive document that explains what your business idea is, how you intend to penetrate the coffee market, and the strategies you’ll employ to run your coffee shop successfully. When opening a cafe, many aspiring cafe or coffee shop owners underestimate the value of a structured plan. However, this document does more than just outline the needs to open a coffee shop; it gives a detailed roadmap for your new business, offering clarity on every aspect of its operation.

More than that, presenting a well-structured business plan to potential investors is essential. It not only showcases your commitment but also your understanding of the industry, making it a vital tool for securing funding. While crafting a business plan can seem daunting initially, it’s the foundation that both clarifies your idea and sets your business on the trajectory for growth and success in the competitive world of cafes and coffee shops.

Why A Business Plan Is Important For A Successful Coffee Shop Business?

1. Clear Vision and Objectives

When you set up your coffee shop, having a business plan establishes a clear vision and defines your objectives. It is the backbone that steers every decision you’ll make. Without a clear outline, you may find yourself swaying from one idea to the next. With a detailed business plan, you can present a clear business proposal to stakeholders, ensuring them and yourself of the path you plan to tread.

2. Financial Planning

A comprehensive business plan is imperative for accurate financial planning. It will include information on how much capital is required to start, what your ongoing costs will be, and the revenues you plan to generate. If you’re seeking external funding, investors will want to see how you plan to use their money, and most importantly, how you plan to make a return on that investment. If you plan to sell specialty blends or unique treats, the financial section can also help you plan a strategy for pricing, promotion, and sales forecasts.

3. Operational Efficiency

Operational efficiency is the linchpin that holds all business operations together. A business plan will map out every detail, from supplier agreements to employee schedules. You may want to create special events or loyalty programs for regular customers, and this is where a business plan can help you plan a strategy for success. It becomes the reference point, ensuring that daily tasks align with the broader objectives, guaranteeing that resources, time, and efforts are used optimally.

Step-by-step Guide To Write A  Coffee Shop Business Plan

1. Executive Summary

The Executive Summary is like the introduction of a novel – it provides a snapshot of what is to come. Typically, you write the executive summary last, even though it appears first in your business plan. It encapsulates the essence of your coffee shop’s mission, objectives, and financial overview, succinctly explaining what your business concept is about. This section is crucial because many coffee shops fail to engage potential investors right off the bat. Ideally, it should be concise – a page or two.

What should you cover in an Executive Summary?

• Introduce Your Coffee Shop or Cafe: Provide a company overview, giving readers insight into what makes your coffee shop unique from the myriad of coffee bars in the market.
• State Your Mission and Vision: Describe what drives your coffee business and where you see it in the future.
• Outline Your Objective: Define clear, measurable goals that you aim to achieve.
• Provide a Financial Overview: Highlight projected profit margins, a brief balance sheet, and other pertinent financial data.

2. Coffee Shop Business Description

This section paints a picture of your coffee shop. It’s where you elaborate on how you plan to infuse the local coffee market with your unique brews and pastries.

What should you cover in the Coffee Shop Description section?

• Coffee Shop Concept: Dive into the types of coffee drinks you plan to offer, whether it’s a rich espresso or a classic brewed coffee.
• Unique Selling Proposition: Discuss what makes your coffee shop stand out, be it a special blend of coffee beans, a unique roasting method using a specific coffee roaster, or artisanal pastry offerings.
• Operational Plan: Briefly touch upon how you’ll manage your coffee shop, from sourcing beans to serving cups of coffee.

3. Market Analysis

Before pouring your first espresso, performing market research before starting your coffee business is essential. This section dives deep into understanding your potential customer base and the coffee industry landscape in your area.

What should you cover in this section?

• Target Market: Describe your ideal customer. Are they local residents, office workers, or students?
• Location: Discuss the significance of your chosen location. Are there many coffee shops in the area? How does your location cater to your target market?
• Competition: Analyze existing coffee shops. What coffee and food products do they offer? What pricing strategy do they employ? How will your coffee shop compete or complement them?

4. Organization and Management

Behind every successful coffee shop is a robust organizational structure and a competent management team.

What should you cover in the Organization and Management Plan?

• Coffee Shop Ownership Information: Highlight the business’s legal structure.
• Profiles of Your Coffee Shop Management Team: Include details about your baristas, perhaps a part-time accountant, and someone to manage marketing. It can be helpful to create profiles for each role, detailing responsibilities and expertise.

5. Sample Menu

Your menu is the heart of your coffee shop. It’s more than just a list of coffee and tea; it’s an expression of your brand.

What should you consider when creating a Sample Menu?

• Menu Items: Detail the types of coffee, espresso drinks, and pastries you plan to offer. Maybe consider including non-coffee items like teas or specialty drinks.
• Unique Selling Proposition: Reiterate what makes your coffee or food items different from other coffee shops in the area.
• Menu Pricing : Discuss your pricing strategy, keeping in mind profit margin, competitors’ prices, and your target customer base.

6. Marketing Plan

To brew success, it’s not enough to have a fantastic coffee product; you must effectively market it.

What should you cover in a Marketing Strategy for your Coffee Shop Business?

• Define Your Brand: What voice, theme, or emotion do you want your coffee shop to evoke?
• Lay out your plans for social media campaigns, local partnerships, loyalty programs, SEO for website, and other promotional strategies.
• Considering using an  online food ordering system  in your food truck
• Create a  digital menu with QR code  to make your menu easy for your customers to access online

7. Operations Plan

Efficiency is key to the daily grind of running a cafe. The operations section provides a detailed look at the day-to-day operations of your coffee shop business. 

What Operational Issues should you address in your Business Plan?

• Supply Chain: Where will you buy your coffee beans? Who will be your coffee roaster?
• Operating Hours: Consider the best times to cater to your target market.
• Staffing: Detail roles, such as barista, manager, and part-time support.
• Equipment: List down essential equipment, from espresso machines to ovens.

8. Financial Plan

In this crucial section of your business plan, delving into the financial specifics is paramount to lay out a concrete roadmap for the fiscal aspects of your coffee shop.

How Much Does It Cost to Start a Coffee Shop?

Starting a coffee shop is not just about brewing the perfect espresso; it’s also a substantial financial commitment. The cost for opening a coffee shop can range from $80,000 to $250,000. These costs can vary widely based on factors such as location, size of the establishment, equipment quality, and inventory requirements. Moreover, the process of opening a coffee shop might also involve unexpected expenditures, so it’s essential to account for some buffer in your budget.

How Many Ways to Fund Your Coffee Shop?

There are multiple avenues for funding your coffee venture. Traditional bank loans, personal savings, angel investors, crowdfunding campaigns, and partnerships are just a few options. It’s crucial to assess which option aligns best with your business vision and financial situation.

Important Questions to Consider When You Create Your Funding Request If you’re seeking funding, there are several questions you’ll need to answer in your business plan:

• How much money do you need to start and maintain your coffee shop until it becomes profitable?
• What will the funds be used for specifically?
• How do you plan to handle financial challenges that might arise?
• How do you plan to repay any loans or provide a return on investment?

9. Financial Projections

The financial projections section of your business plan forces you to translate your coffee shop vision into numbers, ensuring you’ve accounted for all key metrics that can make or break your venture.

Break-even analysis:

This is the point where your coffee shop’s total revenues equal its total costs. Simply put, it’s when you neither make a profit nor a loss from selling coffee. 

Use this formula:  Fixed Costs / (Price – Variable Costs) = Break Even Point

Projected profit and loss statement:

This will provide a forecast of your expected income and expenses, giving a clear view of your venture’s profitability.

Cash flow analysis:

Essential for understanding the liquidity of your business, this tool is especially crucial for coffee shops, considering the fluctuating expenses and incomes coffee shops offer. When drafting this, consider who will read it, as stakeholders like investors or lenders might have specific expectations.

Coffee Shop Business Plan Template 

• Mission: To offer the community high-quality coffee in a comfortable and vibrant environment.
• Vision: To become the go-to local coffee spot that fosters community connections and coffee appreciation.
• Coffee Shop Description: “Java Junction” will be a modern coffee hub that emphasizes direct-trade coffee beans and a relaxed, inclusive atmosphere.
• Costs: Estimated initial costs are $125,000.
• Profits: Projected annual profit by year two is $75,000.

2. Description of the Coffee Shop

• Coffee Shop Concept: A community-focused café emphasizing artisanal methods.
• Coffee Shop Name: Java Junction
• Coffee Shop Type: Sit-down café with an adjacent mini-library.
• Location: Main Street, Downtown Area – chosen for its high foot traffic.
• Order Fulfillment: Orders taken at the counter with table service for food.
• Working Hours: Mon-Fri (7 am – 9 pm), Sat-Sun (8 am – 10 pm).

3. Menu Offer

• Type of Food and Drink: Coffee, teas, pastries, and sandwiches.
• Offer: From classic espresso shots to unique blends like “Lavender Latte”.
• Unique Selling Point: Every coffee product uses direct-trade beans, ensuring farmer fairness.

4. Market and Competition Analysis

• Market Analysis: The local population includes a mix of professionals, students, and tourists. Many search for quiet spots to work or relax.
• Target Customer: Professionals aged 25-40 and students.
• Size of the Target Customer: Approximately 15,000 individuals.
• Competition Analysis: Three established coffee shops within a mile.
• Size of the Competition: Ranging from small boutique coffee shops to a larger chain.
• Competitors’ Offer: Basic coffee drinks, with limited specialty items.
• Competitors’ Prices: Average of $4 for a coffee drink.

5. Investment Plan (Detailed Cost Analysis)

Investment Cost (One-off): $75,000

• Equipment: $30,000
• Renovations: $20,000
• Initial Stock: $10,000
• Licenses: $5,000
• Miscellaneous: $10,000

Operating Costs (Monthly): $17,000

• Rent: $3,000
• Salaries: $10,000
• Utilities: $1,000
• Stock: $2,000
• Marketing: $1,000

6. Financial Forecast

Year one is projected to break even, with a profit of $50,000 expected in year two, and $75,000 in year three, considering growth and expanding customer base.

• Owner: Jamie Smith, a coffee enthusiast with a business degree.
• Manager: Alex Brown, previously managed a successful coffee chain for five years.
• Baristas: A team of 4 skilled individuals passionate about coffee.

8. Marketing Plan

Java Junction will use a mix of social media marketing, local print advertising, and loyalty programs to attract and retain customers. Regular events, such as “Buy Our Coffee Day” and collaboration with local businesses, will drive foot traffic and community engagement, integral components for starting your coffee shop and making it successful.

This coffee shop business plan sample is hypothetical and serves as a template. Tailoring specifics to your local market, vision, and unique aspects will be necessary. Every coffee shop has nuances that can make them successful, whether it be the coffee products they sell, the environment they cultivate, or the events they host. Focus on what will make your coffee shop stand out and be sure to engage your community.

Tips For Writing a Business Plan For a Coffee Shop

Your business plan becomes the blueprint of your vision. Here are essential tips to consider:

Comprehensiveness is Key: Ensure your plan encompasses all sections you should include, such as marketing, financial projections, and operations. A well-rounded plan provides a holistic view of your business.

Tailor to Your Audience: If you’re presenting to potential investors, focus on profitability and growth projections. For a landlord, emphasize the benefits your coffee shop will bring to their property.

Specialize in Marketing: Given the competitiveness in the coffee industry, it’s crucial to have a solid marketing plan. If marketing isn’t your strength, consider hiring someone to do marketing for your venture. A strong online presence, loyalty programs, and community engagement can set you apart.

Research Your Market: Understand what nearby coffee shops include in their offerings. Identify gaps in the market and strategize on how your shop can fill them.

Stay Flexible: While a business plan provides direction, remain adaptable. The coffee industry is dynamic, and your ability to pivot can prove invaluable.

Separate Sections for Clarity: If your plan becomes too dense, you might want to create a separate document for specific sections like a detailed marketing strategy or an in-depth market analysis. This makes your primary business plan concise and more readable.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. how profitable is owning a coffee shop.

Owning a coffee shop can be profitable, depending on factors like location, quality of products, and management. On average, after expenses, many coffee shops report a profit margin of around 3% to 5%, with some successful ones achieving even higher. However, it’s essential to factor in initial setup costs, ongoing expenses, and market competition.

2. How do I start a coffee shop business plan?

Starting a coffee shop business plan involves multiple steps. Begin by defining your coffee shop’s mission and vision. Conduct market research to understand your target audience and competitors. Then, detail out sections like your product offerings, pricing strategy, marketing plan, financial projections, and operational procedures. If you’re thinking of opening a coffee shop, a well-thought-out business plan is indispensable.

3. What is a business plan for a coffee shop?

A coffee shop business plan is a detailed document that outlines your coffee shop’s objectives, strategies, and operational procedures. It acts as a roadmap, guiding you from the startup phase to establishing a thriving business. Moreover, if you need a coffee shop business loan or investment, this plan becomes crucial in convincing stakeholders of your venture’s viability.

4. What are the 4Ps in a coffee shop business plan?

The 4Ps stand for Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. In the context of a coffee shop:

• Product: What type of coffee and related products will you offer?
• Price: How will you price your coffee? Will it be premium or competitive?
• Place: Where will your coffee shop be located? Is it accessible to your target audience?
• Promotion: How will you market your coffee shop? Will you offer promotions or loyalty programs?

These elements help in creating a marketing strategy tailored to your coffee shop’s unique needs and market position.

Launching a coffee shop is not just about brewing the perfect cup but weaving a narrative that resonates with your community, fostering an ambiance that people gravitate towards, and maintaining a seamless operation that drives profitability. The meticulous creation of a business plan is a pivotal step in this endeavor. It’s the beacon that guides budding entrepreneurs through the complexities of the coffee industry. In such a competitive marketplace, a well-structured, comprehensive business plan can make the difference between a fleeting venture and a thriving institution. To potential coffee shop owners, embrace the process, let your passion shine through in your plan, and remember that every great coffee shop started with a simple idea, much like a single coffee bean ready to brew greatness.

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How To Create A Coffee Shop Business Plan: Step By Step

Opening a coffee shop is both exciting and challenging.

If you want your business to succeed, learning how to write a coffee shop business plan is important .

Coffee shop owners enjoy a great deal of freedom when it comes to the products and services they offer, the decor within the establishment, the people they hire, and many other aspects of the business.

Even small coffee shops can turn a substantial profit. Why?

Well, coffee shops also add value to the surrounding community, giving residents a safe, uplifting place to gather.

However, some coffee shops will fail .. In fact, the U.S. Small Business Administration reports that approximately one-third of small businesses will fail within the first two years.

By the end of five years, half of all small businesses will fail. To give your coffee shop the best chances of success from the first moment the doors open, you need a solid business plan. To create an effective business plan, follow the steps below.

Competition

Company overview, exit strategy, step 1: brainstorming and market research.

Before you begin writing your coffee shop business plan, spend some time learning about business plans in general. Business plans for all types of businesses usually have six different sections: executive summary, opportunity, execution, company and management summary, financial plan, and appendix.

You should have an executive summary at the beginning of your business plan, although it may well be the last part of the plan that you write.

It is also a good idea to spend some time brainstorming basic ideas for your new coffee shop and performing market research. Write down any ideas you have for the business so you can refer to them later. As you research the market, be sure to focus on your specific region for the best results.

If other people will have a stake in the business, consider including these individuals in the process of brainstorming and writing the business plan.

Step 2: Opportunity Section

The next step in completing your business plan involves constructing the opportunity section of the document. This section focuses on defining several key components of your business, including the products you intend to provide, the problems you will solve within the community or market, your target consumer, and your competition.

Identifying Problems And Solutions

Begin this part of the plan by outlining the problem you will solve for consumers and how your solutions will be different from the competition. Some examples of problems a new coffee shop may solve include:

• Consumers have no access to gourmet coffee within a reasonable driving distance.
• Consumers lack good places to congregate in town.
• Consumers have access to inferior coffee and/or bakery options only.
• The area’s coffee shops have poor service, high prices, or some other characteristic that causes problems for customers .

Now, describe the strategy you will use to solve the problem you have defined.

For example, if you are establishing the town’s first coffee shop, you may be hoping to provide consumers with access to gourmet coffee and bakery products closer to home. On the other hand, if you will be competing with other coffee shops in the area, you may be hoping to provide better quality products, a better atmosphere, and/or better prices.

Target Market

Your business plan’s opportunity section should also define your target market. Although you may be hoping that your new coffee shop will appeal to everyone in the area, you need to narrow down this target market, so you can focus your efforts on the people most likely to frequent your establishment.

For example, your target market may be young adults between the ages of 18 and 35.

Alternatively, you may be looking to advertise as a family-friendly establishment, focusing your efforts on people with children. In some cases, you may define two or more market segments you hope to target.

To complete the opportunity section of your business plan, take some time to research and describe your coffee shop’s competition. Are there other businesses in the area offering the same types of solutions?

Examples may include small coffee shops, as well as chains. If you plan to sell baked goods along with coffee, you may consider local bakeries or counter service restaurants as competition as well.

Step 3: Execution Plan

The execution section of your business plan focuses on the exact strategies and tools you will use to bring your coffee shop vision to life. This section will include information about marketing plans, sales strategies, the specifics of your operations, and your goals and objectives for the business.

This section of your business plan is one of its most important components, as it gets into the details as to how you plan to run your business and achieve success.

Marketing Plan

The purpose of this part of your business plan is to determine how you will reach your target market and draw them into your coffee shop. This plan should include details about the pricing structures you will use for the different products you serve, as well as information about your advertising strategies.

Begin the marketing plan by crafting a position statement. This statement describes how you will present your coffee shop to customers and how you will set yourself apart from the competition.

For example, your position statement may describe your business as a high-end gourmet establishment with quality products that aren’t available anywhere else.

On the other hand, if you are hoping for a more casual coffee shop, your position statement may describe your establishment as low-key and more affordable than other options in the area.

Your marketing plan also must include a pricing structure. As you determine prices for the different products you intend to sell, remember that prices should cover your costs, comply with market rates for the same product, and turn a profit. Your pricing structure will be intricately tied to your positioning statement as well.

Finally, spend time developing a strategy for advertising and promoting your coffee shop to the public.

The operations section of the business plan lays out the details of your business’s day-to-day operations. Having a solid operational strategy will make a significant difference in the efficiency and profitability of your establishment. Subsections that should be covered in this part of the business plan include:

• Sourcing – Before opening a coffee shop, you will need to find sources for the ingredients in your products, including coffee and any food products you want to serve.
• Milestones – Your milestones are your planned goals that indicate what you want to accomplish with your coffee shop over time. For example, you may indicate that you want to open by a certain date or serve a specific number of customers within a certain amount of time.
• Metrics – The metrics section of operations will indicate how you plan to measure your coffee shop’s performance. Examples of metrics include revenue, profit, number of customers served, and number of repeat customers.
• Assumptions and risks – The assumptions and risks section outlines the factors you assume will support your business, as well as the factors that threaten the success of your business.

Step 4: Company And Management Summary

The company and management summary covers the structure of your business and names the key players. In a smaller coffee shop, this section of the business plan may be relatively short. However, you should still list the people who are invested in the success of the establishment.

Team Overview

The team in charge of your coffee shop may consist of the owner as well as the people you have hired to act as managers. If you have not yet hired anyone to act as a manager, you can list the qualifications you hope to see in prospective managers instead.

In fact, if you haven’t hired anyone yet, constructing this part of the business plan is an exercise that will help you figure out exactly how many people you will need to hire before your coffee house can have its grand opening.

In this section, you can include a mission statement that describes the way you will approach customer service. Ideally, this statement should be only one or two sentences in length.

Your company overview can also include information about the business’s location and its legal structure. If your coffee shop has an interesting backstory, you can include a subsection on company history as well.

This section is optional for many coffee shop businesses, but it is a good opportunity to solidify your business’s identity and purpose. If you are seeking help from investors, including this section in the business plan can improve your chances of success.

Step 5: Financial Planning

The last major part of your coffee shop business plan deals with finances. For many people, this is the most difficult part of the plan to write. However, because it will play an important role in the success of your coffee shop, having a solid financial plan is essential.

In order to construct your financial plan, you need to draft several financial statements. These statements include:

Sales Forecast

The coffee shop’s sales forecast is designed to predict how your sales revenue will look over the first few years of your business. If you don’t have much experience in the coffee business , it may be difficult to guess how much you will expect to sell.

If you are not sure how to begin, you can start with average sales information for other businesses in the area and adjust it based on different factors, such as the fact that your business will be new and won’t have regular clientele immediately.

When constructing your sales forecast, remember to take the direct expenses you will incur to make your sales into account. These expenses, which are also known as the “cost of goods sold,” will include any expenses you incur when creating your menu items.

Examples of direct costs include the cost of ground coffee, syrups, and bakery product ingredients. Do not include expenses that are not directly related to products, such as the cost of business insurance or the wages you pay to employees.

Personnel Plan

The personnel plan you create for your coffee shop will include detailed information about the expenses related to employees. These expenses include the wages you will pay as well as other costs such as insurance and payroll taxes.

Although larger businesses may break this information down based on categories of people, smaller coffee shops will usually list employee costs on an individual basis.

Profit And Loss Statement

Your profit and loss statement is the financial statement that demonstrates whether your business is making a profit. If your business does not make a profit, this statement will demonstrate the size of the loss.

Because you have not yet started operating your coffee shop, all of the information on this sheet will be hypothetical when you create your business plan. However, this statement still has value for planning purposes.

Your profit and loss statement will pull information from the two financial statements you have already created (the sales forecast and personnel plan). It will also incorporate other information that hasn’t been covered yet, such as the other expenses you will incur while running your business. Examples include building rent, utilities, and insurance expenses.

In addition, your profit and loss statement should include a final figure that takes all of your hypothetical revenue and expenses into account and calculates either a profit or a loss.

Specific components of a profit and loss statement include:

• Income – This will include the estimated amount of money you expect to bring in from coffee sales and any other source.
• Cost of goods sold – This figure will include the cost of ingredients and other items you must purchase in order to make and serve your coffee, bakery items, and anything else your coffee shop sells.
• Operating expenses – These expenses are indirect expenses associated with running your coffee shops, such as the cost of insurance, rent, and wages paid to baristas.
• Gross margin – Your coffee shop’s gross margin can be calculated as the cost of goods sold subtracted from its total sales.
• Miscellaneous expenses – If you have expenses related to depreciation, taxes, interest, or a similar cost, list them here.
• Total expenses – This figure is the total of all operating expenses and miscellaneous expenses for your coffee shop.
• Operating income – The operating income is your coffee shop’s earnings before taxes, interest, and other such expenses have been subtracted. To calculate this figure, start with your sales total and subtract the cost of goods sold and total operating expenses.
• Net profit or loss – Your net profit or loss is the bottom-line figure that tells the exact amount of profit or loss for your coffee shop.

Balance Sheet

Your coffee shop’s balance sheet is a basic overview of the business’s financial health . This statement will list all of your company’s assets as well as its liabilities. Assets may include a building (if owned) and equipment. Liabilities include any unpaid debts, such as business loans and outstanding employee wages.

Cash Flow Statement

Your business’s cash flow statement is designed to track the flow of cash in and out of your business over time. Most cash flow statements will begin with the amount of cash you currently have on hand. The statement also incorporates anticipated income and expenses.

The coffee shop’s cash flow statement will help you anticipate how your business’s buying power and needs will change over time, so you can make wise financial decisions.

The final section of your financial plan is your exit strategy, which will include details about how you will end your business. If you are just starting out and as such don’t have any plans to sell your business, this section could be omitted or kept very short.

If you decide to include this section, it should describe your ideal situation for leaving the coffee shop business. For example, your exit strategy may involve merging with another coffee shop or chain. Alternatively, you may hope to sell your business to a new owner.

Step 6: Executive Summary

Although the executive summary is usually listed first in a business plan, it is easier to construct this component of the plan after the other sections have been completed. The executive summary section will introduce your coffee shop and provide an overview of the remainder of your plan.

Your executive summary be suitable as a standalone document if necessary. As you construct your executive summary, be sure to include: As you construct your executive summary, be sure to include:

• The problem your coffee shop solves
• The way your coffee shop solves the problem
• The coffee shop’s target market
• The coffee shop’s competition
• An overview of your management plans
• A summary of your finances
• The milestones you hope to meet

The Final Word On Your Coffee Shop Business Plan

Constructing a detailed, useful coffee shop business plan takes time and research. If you are having trouble getting started, consider reaching out to a professional for help. You may also be able to find a business plan template online to help guide your writing.

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Aisling is an Irish food and drinks writer and journalist fueled by coffee and herbal tea. She followed up her journalism degree with nutrition studies. Find Aisling on LinkedIn .

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Coffee Shop Business Plan

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Java Culture

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">, opportunity.

People near the University of Oregon need not just coffee and tea, or pastries and snacks, but also a place to meet comfortably, have a group discussion, or just sit quietly, work, and read. That is available now near the University of Oregon campus, but too crowded too often, and not the right combination of factors for everybody.

Java Culture coffee bar is determined to become a daily necessity for local coffee addicts, a place to dream of as you try to escape the daily stresses of life and just a comfortable place to meet your friends or to read a book, all in one.

Java Culture will focus its marketing activities on reaching the University students and faculty, people working in offices located close to the coffee bar and on sophisticated teenagers. Our market research shows that these are the customer groups that are most likely to buy gourmet coffee products. Since gourmet coffee consumption is universal across different income categories and mostly depends on the level of higher education, proximity to the University of Oregon campus will provide access to the targeted customer audience.

Competition

Java Culture’s direct competitors will be other coffee bars located near the University of Oregon campus. These include Starbucks, Cafe Roma, The UO Bookstore, and other Food service establishments that offer coffee.

Great coffee, pastries, additional options for tea etc, very welcoming atmosphere, good wireless, desk space, comfortable chairs and tables, good pastries, a location close to the university campus.

Expectations

We plan to grow as shown in the chart below, taken from our sales forecast. We aim to maintain an industry-standard 60% gross profit margin and reasonable operating expenses, and to produce reasonable profits in the second and third year.

Financial Highlights by Year

Financing needed.

The owners will invest $140,000 and take out a bank loan for $30,000  to cover the start-up expenses and assets needed plus deficient spending in the early months.

The start-up expenses of $27,000 include:

• Legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits as well as the accounting services totaling $1,300.
• Marketing promotion expenses for the grand opening of Java Culture in the amount of $3,500 and as well as flyer printing (2,000 flyers at $0.04 per copy) for the total amount of $3,580.
• Consultants fees of $3,000 paid to ABC Espresso Services <name changed> for the help with setting up the coffee bar.
• Insurance (general liability, workers’ compensation and property casualty) coverage at a total premium of $2,400.
• Pre-paid rent expenses for one month at $1.76 per square feet in the total amount of $4,400.
• Premises remodeling in the amount of $10,000.
• Other start-up expenses including stationery ($500) and phone and utility deposits ($2,500).

These expenses will be incurred before launch, so they take their place in our financial projections as negative retained earnings of $27,680 at the end of the month before we begin. That number shows up in the balance sheet.

The required start-up assets of $143,000 include:

• Cash in the bank in the total amount of $67,000, which includes enough to cover employees and owner’s salaries of $23,900 for the first two months and cash reserves for the first three months of operation (approximately $14,400 per month).
• Coffee beans (12 regular brands and five decaffeinated brands) – $6,000
• Coffee filters, baked goods, salads, sandwiches, tea, beverages, etc. – $7,900
• Retail supplies (napkins, coffee bags, cleaning, etc.) – $1,840
• Office supplies – $287
• Espresso machine – $6,000
• Coffee maker – $900
• Coffee grinder – $200
• Food service equipment (microwave, toasters, dishwasher, refrigerator, blender, etc.) – $18,000
• Storage hardware (bins, utensil rack, shelves, food case) – $3,720
• Counter area equipment (counter top, sink, ice machine, etc.) – $9,500
• Serving area equipment (plates, glasses, flatware) – $3,000
• Store equipment (cash register, security, ventilation, signage) – $13,750
• Office equipment (PC, fax/printer, phone, furniture, file cabinets) – $3,600
• Other miscellaneous expenses – $500

Funding for the company comes from two major sources–owners’ investments and bank loans. Two major owners, Arthur Garfield and James Polk, have contributed $70,000 and $30,00 respectively. All other investors have contributed $40,000, which brings the total investments to $140,000. The remaining $30,000 needed to cover the start-up expenses and assets came from the two bank loans–a one-year loan in the amount of $10,000 and a long-term (five years) loan of $20,000. Both loans were secured through the Bank of America. Thus, total start-up loss is assumed in the amount of $27,000.

The amounts show up in the balance sheet in the month prior to opening. The $140,000 investment shows up as Paid-in Capital. The $27,000 expenses show up as negative retained earnings. Assets and liabilities are there. This is all according to financial standards.

Problem & Solution

Problem worth solving.

People near the University of Oregon need not just coffee and tea, or pastries and snacks, but also a place to meet comfortably, have a group discussion, or just sit quietly, work, and read. That is available now near the University of Oregon campus, but too crowded too often, and not the right combination of factors for everybody. 

Our Solution

Java Culture will make its best effort to create a unique place where customers can socialize with each other in a comfortable and relaxing environment while enjoying the best brewed coffee or espresso and pastries in town. We will be in the business of helping our customers to relieve their daily stresses by providing piece of mind through great ambience, convenient location, friendly customer service, and products of consistently high quality. Java Culture will invest its profits to increase the employee satisfaction while providing stable return to its shareholders.

Target Market

Market size & segments.

Coffee consumption has shown a steady 2.5% growth rate in the United States over the last decade. The retail coffee industry is flourishing in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The local climate, with a long rainy season, is very conducive for the consumption of hot non-alcoholic beverages. At the same time, hot dry summers drive people into cafes to order iced drinks. Furthermore, coffee has really become a part of the lifestyle in the Pacific Northwest. Its discerning coffee drinkers are in favor of well-prepared, strong coffee-based beverages, which they can consume in a relaxing environment.

More specifically, the University of Oregon as close to 25K students and another 5-10K faculty and staff. And it is embedded in the Eugene, OR community of 200K people. Our main market will be students, faculty, staff, and nearby residents. But the campus area is a hub for the community and will attract other customers. 

Current Alternatives

Our Advantages

Java Culture will cater to people who want to get their daily cup of great-tasting coffee in a relaxing atmosphere. Such customers vary in age, although our location close to the University campus means that most of our clientele will be college students and faculty. Our market research shows that these are discerning customers that gravitate towards better tasting coffee. Furthermore, a lot of college students consider coffee bars to be a convenient studying or meeting location, where they can read or meet with peers without the necessity to pay cover charges. For us, this will provide a unique possibility for building a loyal client base.

Keys To Success

The keys to success will be:

• Store design that will be both visually attractive to customers, and designed for fast and efficient operations.
• Employee training to insure the best coffee preparation techniques.
• Marketing strategies aimed to build a solid base of loyal customers, as well as maximizing the sales of high margin products, such as espresso drinks.

Marketing & Sales

Marketing plan.

Java Culture will position itself as unique coffee bar where its patrons can not only enjoy a cup of perfectly brewed coffee but also spend their time in an ambient environment. Comfortable sofas and chairs, dimmed light and quiet relaxing music will help the customers to relax from the daily stresses and will differentiate Java Culture from incumbent competitors.

In order to build up its client base, Java Culture will use some strategic banners and fliers during the launch period, utilize customer referrals and cross-promotions with other businesses in the community from time to time, and loyalty programs that work with android and IOS and other mobile phones, which is the preference of our market.

Our main thrust will be getting people to know, like, and trust us with content and engagement in Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter.  We intend to maintain social media presences that are light on self-serving promotional quasi-advertising content, heavy on community participation, content, and engagement. 

Java Culture baristas will handle the sales transactions. To speed up the customer service, at least two employees will be servicing clients–while one employee will be preparing the customer’s order, the other one will be taking care of the sales transaction. All sales data logged on the computerized point-of-sale terminal will be later analyzed for marketing purposes.

Locations & Facilities

Java Culture coffee bar will be located on the ground floor of the commercial building at the corner of West 13th Avenue and Patterson Street in Eugene, OR. The company has secured a one-year lease of the vacant 2,500 square feet premises previously occupied by a hair salon. The lease contract has an option of renewal for three years at a fixed rate that Java Culture will execute depending on the financial strength of its business.

The floor plan will include a 200 square feet back office and a 2,300 square feet coffee bar, which will include a seating area with 15 tables, a kitchen, storage area and two bathrooms. The space in the coffee bar will be approximately distributed the following way–1,260 square feet (i.e., 55% of the total) for the seating area, 600 square feet (26%) for the production area, and the remaining 440 square feet (19%) for the customer service area.

This property is located in a commercial area within a walking distance from the University of Oregon campus on the corner of a major thoroughfare connecting affluent South Eugene neighborhood with the busy downtown commercial area. The commercially zoned premises have the necessary water and electricity hookups and will require only minor remodeling to accommodate the espresso bar, kitchen and storage area. The coffee bar’s open and clean interior design with modern wooden decor will convey the quality of the served beverages and snacks, and will be in-line with the establishment’s positioning as an eclectic place where people can relax and enjoy their cup of coffee. The clear window displays, through which passerby will be able to see customers enjoying their beverages, and outside electric signs will be aimed to grab the attention of the customer traffic.

Milestones & Metrics

Milestones table.

Key Metrics

We have our forecasts for sales, direct costs, and operating expenses. As we get into the business we’ll develop standards based on experience for Facebook likes, Twitter follows, and other social media engagement. We expect to watch these very carefully. 

Ownership & Structure

Java Culture is majority-owned by Arthur Garfield and James Polk. Mr. Garfield holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of ZYX. He’s worked for several years as an independent business consultant. Previously, he owned the ABC Travel Agency, which he profitably sold four years ago. Mr. Garfield has extensive business contacts in Oregon that he will leverage to help his new venture succeed. Mr. Polk has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the XYZ State University. For the last five years he has worked as a manager of DEF Ristorante, a successful Italian restaurant in Portland, OR. Under Mr. Polk’s management, the restaurant has consistently increased sales while maintaining a lower than average level of operating expenses.

Investors will not be involved into the daily management decisions at Java Culture. They will hire a professional manager who will oversee all the coffee bar operations. Three full-time baristas will be in charge of coffee preparation. They will hire two more part-time employees to fulfill the staffing needs. In the second and third year of operation will add additional employees if and when needed. 

Management Team

A full-time manager will be hired to oversee the daily operations at Java Culture. The candidate (who’s name is withheld due to his current employment commitment) has had three years of managerial experience in the definitely industry in Oregon. This person’s responsibilities will include managing the staff, ordering inventory, dealing with suppliers, developing a marketing strategy and perform other daily managerial duties. We believe that our candidate has the right experience for this role. A profit-sharing arrangement for the manager may be considered based on the first year operational results.

Personnel Table

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

Key assumptions.

• We assume a steadily growing potential market in line with growth at the university, trends. 
• We assume industry standard gross margins
• We assume relative status quo regarding technology and trends in the coffee industry

Revenue by Month

Expenses by month, net profit (or loss) by year, use of funds.

The start-up expenses include an estimated $17,000 consisting of several items:

• Legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits as well as the accounting services totaling $1,500.
• Insurance (general liability, workers’ compensation and property casualty) coverage at a total premium of $1,500.
• Other start-up expenses including website ($4,000) and phone and utility deposits ($2,500).

The required start-up assets of $71,000 include:

• Plates, glasses, etc. worth approximately $2,000
• Espresso machine
• Coffee maker
• Coffee grinder 
• Food service equipment (microwave, toasters, dishwasher, refrigerator, blender, etc.)
• Storage hardware (bins, utensil rack, shelves, food case) 
• Counter area equipment (counter top, sink, ice machine, etc.)
• Serving area equipment (plates, glasses, flatware)
• Store equipment (cash register, security, ventilation, signage) 
• Office equipment (PC, fax/printer, phone, furniture, file cabinets) 
• Other miscellaneous expenses

Sources of Funds

Projected profit & loss.

Projected Balance Sheet

Projected Cash Flow Statement

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Election latest: Starmer avoids saying where funding for NHS reform will come from as poll suggests public backs tax rises to pay for healthcare

Rishi Sunak is heading to a Ukraine Peace summit in Switzerland, having spent the past few days at a G7 summit in Italy. Meanwhile, Labour is campaigning on health today, and also workers' rights in Scotland, while a poll suggests most people want more money spent on the NHS.

Saturday 15 June 2024 18:30, UK

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Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer faced a grilling from our political editor Beth Rigby  and our live studio audience in Grimsby this week.

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Rishi Sunak has just addressed delegates at the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland.

Here is what he said, as he said it:

• The prime minister says they are there "united" because they "choose peace";
• "The Ukrainian people did not ask for this fight, but in defending their country, their valour and their sacrifice have been truly humbling to witness";
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• The PM says the summit is a chance to move towards a just peace;
• He concludes: "We want to see an end to this war, and we want to make this the day that the path towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine became that much closer."

Rishi Sunak has arrived in Switzerland for what is likely to be his last international engagement before the UK general election.

The prime minister is attending an Ukraine Peace Summit – along with 50 other world leaders – at a secluded resort near Lake Lucerne.

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He will say: "Putin has no interest in a genuine peace. He has launched a sustained diplomatic campaign against this summit, ordering countries to stay away, spinning a phoney narrative about his willingness to negotiate."

The event is the largest world leader gathering focussed solely on Ukraine since the Russian invasion began.

Mr Sunak is expected to meet the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reiterate the UK's support for the country and re-emphasise that any peace deal should be on his terms.

The meeting comes a day after the prime minister arrived back from the G7 summit in Italy and at the midway point of the general election campaign.

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Recent months have seen Sir Keir Starmer work to increase his own presence on the international stage, attending the COP climate summit in Dubai and the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The Labour leader was also pictured speaking to world leaders, including President Zelenskyy, at D-Day commemorations in France last week.

Rishi Sunak was criticised for leaving the events early and subsequently apologised.

The prime minister also attended the Trooping of the Colour parade and is expected back in the UK on Saturday evening to continue campaigning.

Rishi Sunak spoke to broadcasters on arrival at the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland a short while.

He expressed pride in the UK's support for Ukraine, saying it has "played a leading role", and was the first to provide lethal aid.

On the summit itself, that Russia is not attending, he said it's "right that we find a lasting peace on terms that are acceptable to Ukraine based on the principles of the territorial integrity and the UN charter".

The PM was also asked about matters at home.

It was put to him that his poll rating is disastrous, and is asked what he is doing to address it.

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Mr Sunak went on to say that Labour is putting forward "no ideas".

"Just higher taxes. £2,000 worth of high taxes for every working family. I don't want to see that happen."

That claim about taxes that Mr Sunak and the Conservative Party have continued to repeat has been branded highly dubious by experts, including our economics and data editor Ed Conway .

After attending the G7 summit in Italy, the PM jetted back to the UK for Trooping the Colour this morning.

Following that national celebration of the King's birthday, he has immediately flown to Switzerland for the Ukraine Peace Summit.

Over 100 countries and organisations are attending the conference this weekend - including Ukraine's President Zelenskyy - to find a way of setting a path towards peace with Russia.

Vladimir Putin has not sent a delegation, however.

By Alexandra Rogers , political reporter

The Conservatives have raised just 10% of the donations they managed to collect in 2019 under Boris Johnson in the first week of the election campaign.

Electoral Commission data released today shows the Tories raised £574,918 in the period 30 May to 5 June, compared with the £5.7m they received from 6-12 November five years ago.

The figures show political parties reported £3.2m in donations in the first week of the election campaign.

Mr Sunak's party raised £574,918 through donations alone, on top of £22,453 that came from public funds.

Meanwhile, Labour generated £926,908 from donations alone and £652,411 from the public funds that are given to opposition parties with more than two MPs.

They show a complete turnaround in Labour's fortunes from the 2019 election, when the party raised just £218,500 in the first week of that campaign.

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By Professor Will Jennings, Sky News elections analyst

Even a poll-obsessive like me would have to admit that during election campaigns we often spend too much time focusing on the election 'horse race' - who is up and who is down in the polls - on an almost hourly basis.

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On Wednesday, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer faced a grilling from Sky's political editor Beth Rigby  and our live audience in Grimsby on their plans for government.

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