Are you thinking about opening a coffee shop? Before pouring that first cup of coffee for a customer, there are a few things to consider.
With a highly competitive coffee shop market, you need all the tools you can get to stand out from the crowd. One vital part of opening a business is writing up a business plan.
Without a business plan, it’s more difficult to stay focused on your goals and the revenue of your business. Having one can also help investors and executives understand their connection or the part they’ll play in your business.
In this article, we’ll get you started with your business plans by sharing the most important tips you’ll need to be successful.
The Basic Business Plan for Opening a Coffee Shop
Your coffee shop plans should be organized through a simple business plan.
Your business plan should cover these basic aspects: The summary, business overview, market analysis, and competition. The business plan should also include your plans for marketing, management, operation, and finances.
In your summary and business review, you can determine the name and location of the shop, as well as the products you’ll be selling. This is a general overview of your business, but it should be written toward the end to keep it concise but detailed on the foundation of your business.
Market Analysis and Competition
A market analysis will help you determine your desired audience for your coffee shop. It also helps outline how you’ll stand out from your competitors. Within the market, coffee shops are highly competitive, so it’s important to accurately outline how you’ll be able to create revenue even with competition.
Be sure to include how the location of your business will determine your tactics for building revenue and a solid client base. It all comes down to: how are you going to stand out from the crowd and make money with your coffee shop? What makes your business unique?
Plans
The next part of your business plan will outline the marketing, management, operations, and financial plans for your business.
Your marketing plan should outline your advertisement and promotion techniques, as well as pricing and sales. How will you drive customers in? How much will you spend on advertisements?
Next is your management plan. Who owns the coffee shop? What is the structure of the ownership? Are there any staffing or management requirements for the place of business? These are important to include.
Then you’ll need to outline your business’s operating hours, facilities, equipment specific to the coffee shop, and how many employees you’ll need to operate at full capacity. This will be covered under the operations plan.
Know Your Revenue Projection
If you want to attract investors with your business plan, the financial plan will play a large part in their interest. Projected income statements and projected cash flow statements will help the investor understand how your business will be profitable.
Be sure to include the projection for the first year to provide a clear and thorough understanding of the financial plan. Include an analysis of when and how you’ll break even and start to gain profit.
These projections and analyses should be presented with graphs or tables to accurately outline your first year. To get started, you can use this coffee shop revenue projection template.
Knowing your revenue projection is not only helpful for investors, but it’s also helpful for you. If you know the revenue projection, you can understand what your first year from your opening date should look like to be successful.
About 18.4% of private businesses fail within their first year. Without a solid foundation of your revenue and projections in a thorough business plan, it’s possible to fail within your first year.
Tips and Tricks for Creating a Thorough Business Plan
Now that you have the basics, you should also know what’s going to take your business plan to the next level.
Keep your business plan to about 30 pages or less. Since your coffee shop isn’t a big business, it doesn’t need to be long. Be thorough, but keep it concise.
Include charts and data when necessary. These charts and graphs will be helpful for anyone reading the business plan to understand the financial aspects of your business.
Any other graphics or photos can help enhance the vision for your coffee shop’s atmosphere. Whenever appropriate, add photos to show a cohesive idea for your coffee shop.
Avoid jargon or long-winded sentences. This will ensure that your goals and vision for your business are focused.
It’s important to be objective in your business plan. Know what may or may not work for your business, and don’t be afraid to change things around.
Most importantly, articulate why you care about starting this business and what makes you want to open your coffee shop. This will inform investors, and anyone else involved that you’re dedicated and care about the success of the business.
Your Coffee Shop Business Plan
Creating a business plan as a new business owner is the first step in seeing your vision come to life. Take your time writing it and edit as many times as you need to. Your business plan is essential for creating your vision and for culminating the interest of others.
Working with a template for your researched data can help you collect and visualize your business plan. This is one step that can help secure the success of your coffee shop.
So, what are you waiting for? Start writing!
