Gourmet Coffee Shop Business Plan, Marketing Plan, How To Guide, and Funding Directory
The Gourmet Coffee Shop Business Plan and Business Development toolkit features 18 different documents that you can use for capital raising or general business planning purposes. Our product line also features comprehensive information regarding to how to start a Gourmet Coffee Shop business. All business planning packages come with easy-to-use instructions so that you can reduce the time needed to create a professional business plan and presentation.
Your Business Planning Package will be available for download after your purchase.
Product Specifications (please see images below):
- Bank/Investor Ready!
- Complete Industry Research
- 3 Year Excel Financial Model
- Business Plan (26 to 30 pages)
- Loan Amortization and ROI Tools
- Three SWOT Analysis Templates
- Easy to Use Instructions
- All Documents Delivered in Word, Excel, and PDF Format
- Meets SBA Requirements
One of the best things about owning and operating a gourmet coffee shop is that there are a number of different revenue centers for these businesses. First, they are able to generate extremely high gross margins from the sale of freshly prepared coffee and related beverages. Second, they also generate significant income from the sale of both ground and holding packages that can be enjoyed at home. Third, and although this is usually smaller revenue stream – these businesses will often sell K-cups, specialty coffee makers, and related products to enjoying coffee. As such, the multiple different revenue streams allow these businesses to generate significant revenues as well as moderately high gross profits. One of the other good aspects to these types of businesses is that they are relatively immune from economic recessions given the people are going to want to consume coffee on a daily basis. For many people, a cup of coffee in the morning is the only way that they like to wake up. As such, only a severe and deep economic recession or depression would impact the way that these businesses are able to generate revenue on a week to week basis.
The startup costs for a new gourmet coffee shop can vary but typically a range anywhere from $50,000 all the way to $300,000 depending on the location of the business. These costs may be either higher or lower depending on whether or not the business is going to carry significant inventories of coffee producing related equipment. Generally, the gross margins from the sale of prepared beverages typically ranges anywhere from 85% to 95%. For sales of ground coffee and beam packages the gross profits typically are anywhere from 50% to 75% depending on the batch. For sales of coffee making equipment and related items the gross margins typically are in the 50% range for a retail location.
A gourmet coffee shop business plan should be prepared if it in entrepreneur is seeking to raise capital from a bank or private investor in order to launch operations. As with all types of business planning documents, this document should feature a three-year profit and loss statement, cash flow analysis, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, and business ratios page that prominently features industry-standard information as it relates to the operations of these businesses. As it relates to the gourmet coffee shop industry, annual revenues in each of the last five years have exceeded $41 billion. There are approximately 60,000 locations within the United States that specialize in the sale of specialty beverages. The industry employs nearly three-quarters of a million people and has provided payrolls of $15 billion in each of the last five years. This is an established industry and it is expected that the ongoing growth rate will be equal to that of the economy in general.
Most financial institutions are willing to put the necessary capital in order to get a new gourmet coffee shop off the ground given the high gross margins and strong economic viability of these businesses in most markets. It should be expected that the entrepreneur is going to need to make a 10% to 20% equity contribution to the development of this business which is generally used for inventory acquisitions as well as working capital purposes. Usually, the build out of the location coupled with the furniture, fixtures, and equipment will be financed by a financial institution.
A gourmet coffee shop SWOT analysis should be produced in conjunction with marketing plans as well as business plans. For strengths, again these businesses are able to remain very strong during times of economic recession given the continued demand for coffee and specialty beverage products. The high gross margins allow these businesses to almost always remain profitable and cash flow positive in most economic climates. The barriers to entry are considered to be moderate once the location is established and has developed a strong customer base.
For weaknesses, these businesses will continue to face competition from major chain locations like Starbucks. However, many people have shied away from doing business with large chain businesses over the past 10 years as they seek more hand-crafted produced products. As such, to the development of a proper marketing campaign a gourmet coffee shop can effectively differentiate itself from a major corporate chain. This can be further accomplished through hosting live events as well as showcasing the work of local artists in order to create a community feeling within the business.
As it relates to opportunities, this is quite simple given that many gourmet coffee shop owners will seek to establish additional locations once their initial location has become profitable. Given that banks and lenders love these types of businesses the access to capital is significant and loans and lines of credit can be easily obtained for expansion purposes.
As it relates to threats, outside of major competitive issues there is always the ongoing risk of fluctuating coffee prices. This is a commodity business and worldwide prices can change drastically given demand, climate change, and other factors that impact coffee futures. However, there’s very little that can be done in order to ameliorate this risk. Changing of prices is usually the best way to remedy this type of issue during times of price spikes.
Finally, a gourmet coffee shop marketing plan should be produced as well. Foremost, it is imperative that the entrepreneur acquire and develop a very high visibility retail location so that significant foot traffic can be acquired on a daily basis. This is especially important as it relates to the sales of coffee given that these high-margin revenues often cover the entire operational expense of the business. A graphic designer can be hired in order to assist the company with developing signage that is eye-catching and will immediately draw traffic to the location. One of the other ways of these businesses will frequently develop the early revenues is establishing relationships with area restaurants, hotels, and hospitality business for wholesale orders of ground coffee.
A website should be developed as well as showcases location, coffee products available, equipment available, hours of operation, and contact information. This website should be listed among all major search engines including Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Beyond listing this website and search engines, many gourmet coffee shop owners will also take to developing profiles on Yelp.com, TripAdvisor.com, and related platforms where people can directly review the quality of the service and the products offered. This is important to do given that once the business receives a significant number of positive reviews then people will continue to flock to the location on an ongoing basis.
At the onset of operations, many entrepreneurs will distribute flyers that feature coupons for discounted or free coffee products in order to have people within the target market radius familiarized with the location and its offerings. By giving away free coffee during a grand opening. This can generate significant foot traffic as well as revenues from the sale of pastries and other small food items that are commonly associated with gourmet coffee shops.
The last part of the marketing plan should include a discussion regarding the usage of social media platforms like FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google+. Social media marketing is up a special importance to gourmet shops or any retail business for that matter given that many people will use these platforms in order to find local businesses. The ease of access especially through mobile applications to find local businesses can be of significant benefit to the gourmet coffee shop. Most importantly, many of these platforms allow for individuals to place customize reviews each time they have had an experience at the location. Over time, receiving a number of very positive reviews on social media platforms such as FaceBook can greatly increase the trust at the general public as with any business. As such, it does take time to establish a presence on social media the benefits can be significant especially given that specialize deals and discounts can be disseminated to the general public with a simple click of a button. This is especially important for a gourmet coffee shop business given that these companies need to quickly turn over their inventory given that there is some risk of inventory spoilage over the long run.