Opening a coffee shop with no experience ?

[fuggles]

I have restaurant experience and coffee shop experience.

However, how does someone buy a property ? Or begin looking for one ?

How do you get suppliers, buy stock, food, etc ?

How much money would be needed to start up ?

 

[Merchant UK]

I have restaurant experience and coffee shop experience.

However, how does someone buy a property ? Or begin looking for one ?

How do you get suppliers, buy stock, food, etc ?

How much money would be needed to start up ?

Are you Serious?? Is this a Joke Thread?

if you don't know those answers then how do you think your going to run a Business?

 

[Levi]

How much does it cost to start a coffee shop?
This is not exactly easy to answer as it will depend a lot on the size and standard of your coffee shop. However, most people who start a coffee shop which will be around 50 to 60 sqm and has 40 to 60 covers will spend around £30k.

The lowest amount you could probably get away with is £20k. A big coffee shop on the high street could easily cost you £50k and of course you could spend even more if you want to.

Think about your return on investment and keep your cost down whenever you can. Spend your money on the right things and focus on what is important to you.

The important thing is to put your heart into it and try to do most of the work yourself. Find local builders and do good research before you make any decision.

You can purchase lease equipment to keep the initial cost down. Most espresso machines can be leased for about £5 per day. A full setup of espresso equipment could cost £4k to £5k for a high quality espresso machine and grinder so leasing might be a good option to keep your initial cost down.

Initial cost for the lease (rent) could also take up a large part of your budget. See if you can get a rent-free period.
Picture
Picture
Some examples of cost
These are just rough estimates and there will be many more things to spend your money on but we hope it gives you a rough idea.

£2,500 - £10,000 for espresso equipment
£1,000 - £2,500 for dishwashers
£1,000 - £2,000 for flooring
£500 - £2,000 for ceiling
£100 - £500 for painting
£500+ general building work
£500 - £3,000 for AC
£250 - £1,000 for crockery
£250 - £2,000 for a till
£500 - £1,500 for accountancy
£500 - £2,000 for solicitor
£500 - £1,500 for insurance
£1,000 - £3,000 for initial stock
£100 - £2,000 for signs and marketing
plus deposit and rent advances


Always have a contingency budget, somewhere around 20%. And ensure that you have a working capital when you open your doors.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Sounds like you would be best off finding a franchise package that includes equipment and stock supply - usually not cheaper than doing-it-yourself, but means you don't have to worry about where to source from.

Or find an existing coffee shop that is for sale and start there.

 

[Ryan000001]

Are you Serious?? Is this a Joke Thread?

if you don't know those answers then how do you think your going to run a Business?

Seriously what is up with comments like these?!

The guy is probably just thinking of starting up at some point after a career in the industry and came here looking for a bit of help.

This is meant to be a place you can come for that kind of advice, not to be slated like he's in the school playground

 

[Merchant UK]

Seriously what is up with comments like these?!

The guy is probably just thinking of starting up at some point after a career in the industry and came here looking for a bit of help.

This is meant to be a place you can come for that kind of advice, not to be slated like he's in the school playground

Its an answer any decent business person would give. How on earth do you expect to start and succeed in a business you have not experience or knowledge in.

The Original Post Title says

Opening a coffee shop with no experience ?

Yet in the post he states

I have restaurant experience and coffee shop experience.

If the above was true then he would have already knowledge of where the coffee shop gets it stock from, be it a cash and carry or van delivered by a company.

How do you get suppliers, buy stock, food, etc ?

Silly question, again, working in a coffee shop or restaurant you'll already have an idea where the suppliers are and how to contact them.

As for how do you buy stock or food? need i say any more

Running a business is a lot of hard work and i doubt if members here want to do all the hard work for this guy, so he don't have to?

Its not slating the guy off its just constructive criticism, to learn a bit more on what you want to do for a business as opposed to asking completely simple questions which he should really find out for himself, if he's incapable of doing that is it fair to build his hopes up too high only to lose his money and the business because his mind is completely blank of even the most basic of business startup questions.

I left the best one till last

How much money would be needed to start up ?

How long is a piece of string

 

[Ryan000001]

I don't agree. The answer below yours is very helpful. If people don't have anything nice to say......

 

[Merchant UK]

I don't agree. The answer below yours is very helpful. If people don't have anything nice to say......

Then look at the rest of this guys posts

starting with this one

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=306221

The Guy is just asking pot luck questions and it almost appears to be like Homework question for kids

if he made an effort to find out some of the questions himself, Thats where google comes in handy, otherwise it just looks like someone coming up with crackpot ideas and expecting members here to do all his research for him.

If he made an effort, then people will respond accordingly, Asking masses of questions, some of which should be fairly obvious to the average person, leads me to believe these are not serious posts as what people would like to believe, but spammy homework type posts where the OP asks members to find out everything for him so he don't have too.

When you've read that post do a search, theres loads more similar pointless posts http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/search.php?searchid=9733050

 

[Ryan000001]

Fair enough then. Seems a little odd that!

 

[ethical PR]

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/search.php?searchid=9733439

for anyone else who wants to see more of Fuggles pointless posts

 

[10032012]

How much does it cost to start a coffee shop?
This is not exactly easy to answer as it will depend a lot on the size and standard of your coffee shop. However, most people who start a coffee shop which will be around 50 to 60 sqm and has 40 to 60 covers will spend around £30k.

The lowest amount you could probably get away with is £20k. A big coffee shop on the high street could easily cost you £50k and of course you could spend even more if you want to.

Think about your return on investment and keep your cost down whenever you can. Spend your money on the right things and focus on what is important to you.

The important thing is to put your heart into it and try to do most of the work yourself. Find local builders and do good research before you make any decision.

You can purchase lease equipment to keep the initial cost down. Most espresso machines can be leased for about £5 per day. A full setup of espresso equipment could cost £4k to £5k for a high quality espresso machine and grinder so leasing might be a good option to keep your initial cost down.

Initial cost for the lease (rent) could also take up a large part of your budget. See if you can get a rent-free period.
Picture
Picture
Some examples of cost
These are just rough estimates and there will be many more things to spend your money on but we hope it gives you a rough idea.

£2,500 - £10,000 for espresso equipment
£1,000 - £2,500 for dishwashers
£1,000 - £2,000 for flooring
£500 - £2,000 for ceiling
£100 - £500 for painting
£500+ general building work
£500 - £3,000 for AC
£250 - £1,000 for crockery
£250 - £2,000 for a till
£500 - £1,500 for accountancy
£500 - £2,000 for solicitor
£500 - £1,500 for insurance
£1,000 - £3,000 for initial stock
£100 - £2,000 for signs and marketing
plus deposit and rent advances


Always have a contingency budget, somewhere around 20%. And ensure that you have a working capital when you open your doors.

Try not to steal content for your posts!!!

A resource you might be interested in...

http://www.howtostartacoffeeshop.co.uk/idea-of-costs.html

 

[ChesBrad]

I know a guy who knew nothing about selling coffee. He started out selling from a small trailer outside a BP garage (with the owner's permission of course). A few years later he took over a coffee shop at this scenic seaside venue. It's a small business but he's very happy.

 

[Merchant UK]

I know a guy who knew nothing about selling coffee. He started out selling from a small trailer outside a BP garage (with the owner's permission of course). A few years later he took over a coffee shop at this scenic seaside venue. It's a small business but he's very happy.

Thats nice, its not rocket science selling coffee though is it, most burger vans sell it.

 

[JonathanSEO]

Good coffee is quite difficult to get right.

 

[sebsuma]

very basic questions so I am guessing you haven't done much research yet, but dont worry we all have to start somewhere. You will find all that your looking for online. Look for a property in the paper, buy stock from bookers or import it and how much money do you need? Well i would say 20k+

 

[arcon5]

Thats nice, its not rocket science selling coffee though is it, most burger vans sell it.

Actually there's an art to making good coffee and you can usually tell the difference between the amateurs and professionals. From quality of bean sourced to its roast to getting the espresso mixed with milk within 10 seconds, longer its stood to more bitter it becomes.
In fact just getting the temperature of the milk right is important.

It's because of this people often go for the big companies they know what to expect and how much they get for their money.

 

[10032012]

Actually there's an art to making good coffee and you can usually tell the difference between the amateurs and professionals. From quality of bean sourced to its roast to getting the espresso mixed with milk within 10 seconds, longer its stood to more bitter it becomes.
In fact just getting the temperature of the milk right is important.

It's because of this people often go for the big companies they know what to expect and how much they get for their money.

Very much so. Many think the variables are as simple as how fresh the beans are and where they come from haha

My personal experience as a coffee lover (some would say coffee snob) is that neither the two major coffee brands can do good coffee, Nero struggles but at one branch I been to was quite good (is the best out of the big 3 easily). Independents are tricky, many have no clue but the ones which separate themselves from the rest know about good coffee and can do latte art (try asking someone that in starbucks! LOL!) As for non-espresso... McDs and BK can't do it - KFC isn't bad at all.

We are still a nation of tea drinkers (I don't drink it) but coffee is on the increase... its actually quite concerning how many outlets suffer to produce average coffee let alone anything spectacular.