Constructing a Coffee Shop Business Plan

So, you are ready to build your new coffee shop. Like any similar endeavor, it is a great idea to build your business plan – first to provide a roadmap of where you are going and then to help with your financing, if that is what you plan to do. Here at Hard Bean, we think business plans are so important, and we help you write them by providing an outline for your coffee shop.  However, it is important for YOU to do the research on the coffee business to decide what you want the focus and the mission of your coffee shop to be (No, it is not just to sell a lot of coffee) and protect the financial growth of the business.

A good general business plan for a coffee shop, and one that we like, will contain the following:

An Executive Summary:

This will talk about what the coffee shop will be; why you will be successful; how the Hard Bean program will help you get started; ownership experience; the mission of the business; choice of location and how you plan to hire and maintain employees;  high – level financial information. This part of the business plan is your vision.

The Coffee Industry:

There are many resources to learn about the history of coffee, coffee shops, and the size of the market.  Answer the following questions for your business plan. Why is this a good industry in which to build a business, and how will my business fit in?

A Market Analysis for Your Coffee shop:

What is the industry outlook and your target market; what does your competitive research show;  trends in the industry and how you will benefit; how will you be better than your competitors. These questions provide a guide in your Business Plan to market your coffee shop.

Your coffee shop:

What will be the legal structure of your coffee shop? What will your organizational chart look like? Who will run the business?

Products you will sell:

Time to think about what types of coffee, other drinks you will provide, and how you will change your offering with changes in consumer tastes.

Marketing plan/strategy:

While creating your business plan, you will include information about how you will find customers and keep them, why consumers will want to buy your coffee product; and how online and social media marketing will impact your coffee shop.

Source of Funds:

How do you intend to finance the business? Your business plan will provide information about your funding requirements, how much funding you will need to get to a breakeven point, how you will use your funds – equipment, product, employees salaries, how you will pay off your debt.

Financial projections: 

This will show the bank or other interested parties that your coffee shop has a great chance of growing and succeeding.  Pro-forma income statements, balance sheets, cash flow projections, and capital expenditures for the next 5 years, graphs and charts are good here.

Appendix:

Here is where you provide supporting documents like….resumes, credit history of owners, store layout; pictures of other stores, product descriptions, and pictures.

We encourage every potential Hard Bean Coffee owner to take the time to carefully consider the investment in a coffee shop business and determine if the program offered by Hard Bean is a good fit for their personal, professional, and financial goals. Thinking through and developing a great business plan is a good way to make sure your Coffee Shop venture will produce a fun and profitable business.