How to Open a Cafe From Scratch

On today’s topic, we will talk about this kind of private business, like How To Open A Café. A business that can be called today fashionable and interesting for many entrepreneurs. But in which, however, there are several pitfalls

Step by step instructions for opening a cafe
What Things you have got to know before you plan to open a cafe
Types of cafes
Choosing a place
Team
Documentation
Rent
Project
Promotion
What does it cost to open a café
How To Open A Café
How To Open A Cafe With A Low Budget
What is the Cost To Open A Café
How To Open A Cafe Shop
How To Open A Small Café
How Much To Open A Café
How To Open Up A Café
How To Open A Cat Cafe

HOW TO OPEN A CAFE FROM SCRATCH- STEP BY STEP GUIDE [2020 EDITION]

Types of cafes

Cafes can be very different – vary in the kitchen (what is the main product offered?); according to the method of service (with or without waiters); as well as cafes can be located in stationary rooms, and can be, for example, summer ones. But, perhaps, in the framework of this article, we will consider only permanent establishments. Yes, perhaps it is also important to understand before opening a cafe whether you will be targeting banquets, weddings, and other events. That is, will there be a “banquet” option. What can you compare the opening of a cafe with? Indeed, everything is known in comparison, and the closest analog in format is, perhaps, a restaurant. But the seats in the cafe, as a rule, are smaller – from about 50 to 100. The menu in the cafe is simpler – that is, it consists of simpler dishes; it is shorter than in a restaurant. If the average menu in a restaurant consists of 80 positions, then in a cafe it is appropriate to have a small menu – positions 40. Therefore, the personnel in the cafe need less qualified than a restaurant. Service is faster and less formalized than in a restaurant.

Check cards

When opening a cafe from scratch, first of all, you should think about the Product, that is, about the menu. See, places with what formats, what kind of kitchen is already present in your intended location, what is missing there. For this, it would be nice to be a little puzzled and to conduct a mapping – building a map of the trade territory. It is not necessary for this to attract highly paid professionals; you can do it yourself. However, the results of your observations should be transferred to paper. This can be useful for your partners (if you intend to conduct this business with partners), to write a business plan (if you plan to apply to the bank for a loan), it will be useful to you six months after opening, when you decide to “check cards” and understand whether your business is expected to develop, or is it worth changing something in it.

What usually consists of a map analysis plan:

Characteristics of the territory – general description, specificity, influencing objects, development trends
Traffic and pedestrian flows. Thread nodes Points of Attention
Characteristics of the contingent. The volume of the potential audience. Visiting potential.
Competitors – characteristic, location, the zone of influence
Potential cross-marketing partners – characterization, location, customer ratings

Also, in the food industry, everything changes quickly enough … The speed of change, by the way, depends directly on the size of the city. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, the rate of change of trends is the highest. Here you can observe such examples, when some institution was first a pub, after 2-3 years we see here a trendy restaurant of author’s cuisine, and a couple of years later – an oriental restaurant. At the same time, a change of concept may or may not be accompanied by a change of business owners. In millionaires like Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, and others – everything is already happening more slowly, with a certain time lag from the capitals. In the provinces, however, there may still be trends in favor that have been noisy a decade ago – for example, pizza and sushi. How to understand what trends are now “entering” the market of your city? How to open a cafe, which will be not just another catering, but a successful business? Perhaps there is only one advice here – expand your horizons, attend industry exhibitions (the largest of which is the Moscow PIR), you can go on gastro-tours (if you decide to take the search for the only correct concept seriously). It is clear that if you decide to open a cafe of Georgian cuisine (this trend, by the way, is still growing in many cities of Russia), then Georgia should also be in the “destination” column on your trip.

Team and Plan B

Continuing the theme of Georgia … When you open a cafe from scratch, and the cafe is Georgian cuisine, you need to clearly understand who you will have in the kitchen to cook. Ideally, of course, this should be an authentic chef – Georgian by nationality. Thus, you differentiate from competitors, guarantee “foulness” (from the English. True) recipes and present to the public one of the “physical evidence” (the term settled). Evidence that you have a real Georgian cafe, and this should be supported by the interior, staff, and atmosphere of the cafe as a whole. At the same time, being in a gastro tour in Georgia, you can combine business with pleasure – take interesting video materials, take beautiful photos, and upon arrival, start to get pages on social networks and make your future YouTube channel. Who else should be on your team? People who “close” other important areas and areas of responsibility – finance, inventory, economic and legal security, management, bar, service, supply … Decide for yourself what you and the other team members will do in this scheme, will Are they hired employees or your partners? Who will act as an investor? If there are several partners, it is always important to agree on who brings in, does and has “at the entrance” and “at the exit.” What will you do if everything goes according to plan? And if everything does not go very smoothly? And investments, for example, will pay off with a delay from the original plan? Also, I am confident that it is necessary to provide for the so-called “Plan B.” My team and I have already opened more than a dozen restaurants and cafes, and several times (!) The situation was such that, for example, the chef from the restaurateur team, who walked half a start with us, suddenly left the project, having developed only a part of the menu. And time is ticking, and the rental holidays are ending … Therefore, dear entrepreneurs, I advise you to always keep in mind the above-mentioned “Plan B.”

Documents, project documentation

With documents for opening a cafe now everything is much simpler than it was before. There is no obligation for the future restaurateur to submit to the Rospotrebnadzor authorities developed project documentation for approval. There is a notification procedure – opened a cafe, notified the authorities about it and work! And the first time you will not even be “nightmare” as a representative of a very small business. But after all, no one has canceled the sanitary requirements both for designing and arranging a cafe and for managing current work in it … What if you built a cafe, but forgot to fence there, for example, a toilet room for personnel, which must be there? At the first check, you are guaranteed to be closed for 90 days since this violation on the spot cannot be eliminated. Due to the above, I recommend to businessmen to prepare project documentation (especially the first and most important section – “technological solutions”). And if you want more confidence in the future, then coordinate it, this documentation, “in the old manner” in your body Rospotrebnadzor. On the initiative of you, although, I repeat, you have no such duties now. You also need to think about such an important factor as the safety of your food products. To do this, each restaurateur must develop, document, and implement a food management system based on the principles of HACCP, which came to us from America and Europe. Not in every city of Russia, the authorities pay due attention to the control of this approach, but the restaurateur has such a duty, and there are huge fines for non-compliance.

Rental issues

Another important document that you encounter during the opening of a cafe is a lease agreement. It is important to explain to the landlord that the cafe is a fairly capital-intensive business, that it can pay off for two or three years, that you will significantly improve the premises (especially if there has not been a cafe there before). And therefore, firstly, you need a “long” contract (preferably from 5 years and more), the contract must, therefore, be registered with the regentry office, and secondly, you need normal rental holidays (ideally 3-4 months – just about as long as it takes to open a cafe with an uncomplicated menu and a regular, rather than elegant, interior). It is advisable to focus your attention to such a section as the termination of the contract. This paragraph should not have such an interpretation that the landlord can put you on the street if you “break something” or he “does not like something.” I believe that there are two reasons for the termination of the contract by the landlord. The first thing is if you suddenly started conducting activities outside the food industry (which is written in black and white in the contract) – that is, you suddenly decided to sell clothes here. And the second – well, if you do not pay the rent on time. These are, of course, essential requirements. Of course, each landlord has his position, and there will certainly be requirements that are better discussed “on the shore.” Here you can put it this way – it is not enough to find a good room at a reasonable price, you also need to conclude a lease agreement under working conditions. And it does not hurt to bring a good lawyer to this issue if you are not yourself.

Project, menus, and equipment

All these terms are closely intertwined since the choice of equipment directly depends on the choice of the menu and title (important and characteristic for your concept) groups. Understanding the cooking methods your chef needs to prepare the chosen kitchen and trend in the menu, you choose the heating equipment. Of course, perhaps a hundred percent of cases in your kitchen will still be a stove as such, and quite possibly some combi-steamer .. even with a stove, you also need to make a decision – either you work on a habitual cast iron stove, or you trust modern technologies and use induction hobs, which are more expensive to purchase, but from the first day they will start to save you electricity, and the month cherz 3-6 will fully pay off. Of course, in addition to heat, the cafe kitchen should be neutral, refrigeration, mechanical equipment. In the bar, respectively, coffee machine

Promotion

About social networks, we have already mentioned in this article. Indeed, this is a relatively simple and inexpensive channel for promotion. And I would advise starting a social network long before the opening of the cafe, to form a certain potential demand for your menu already and start creating a loyal audience. By the way, it does not hurt to have not only a social network but also a site, even if made in the format of a simple landing page on the designer. On the site you can, for example, place a button and a form of receiving a bonus e-card – this, in my opinion, is an ideal modern way to capture the contacts of a potential guest. An electronic card is also a way of constant communication with guests, and an element of a digital sales funnel, with which you can also gather an audience long before the opening of your project. It is worth mentioning the traditional and “free” promotion channel cafe – “word of mouth.” The channel, of course, is very good in terms of price – quality, but to launch it, you have to surprise your guests with something. Or, more correctly, to surprise. This can be not only the original “chips” in the interior, identity or method of service, which you really want to tell your friends about but also the informational occasions you constantly create, which guests will find out via social networks, direct mail to the messenger or email !) and other possible channels of communication.

WHat Does It cost to open a cafe

In the topic “How to open a cafe?” This question is, of course, the most “interesting.” I say this in this way since it is traditionally one of the first questions that entrepreneurs ask me when they are thinking of opening a cafe. And, it must be understood that, of course, it depends on the individual characteristics of the project. Often you will be able to submit a more or less exact budget only when you complete the main design work, show the projects to potential contractors, and receive a commercial offer from them. And it is better to offer because it would be better to talk with several contractors. Keep in mind that equipment, custom-made furniture, construction works are traditionally the most important items of the investment budget and they, as well as organizational aspects (project management), should be paid close attention. Below is an example of a budget café with the author’s design for 100 seats.

Sample raw data
The total area of the object (sq. M), incl. 300
Trading room, sq.m. (incl. rooms for visitors) 180
Technological and utility rooms, sq.m. 120
Number of seats 120
Expenditure Budget (RUB)
Registration expenses 15,000
Design work 525,000
The budget for coordination with installations, state fees 350,000
Arrangement of communications inside the building, construction and finishing works 2,900,000
Low-current system 875,000
Equipment, standard furniture, inventory 4,200,000
Promotional Products 230,000
Advertising campaign 300,000
Remuneration, rent, and other expenses before opening 450,000
Working capital 300,000
TOTAL 10,145,000
Unforeseen expenses (12% of the project cost) 1,014,500
TOTAL for unforeseen expenses 11,159,500

What include:

Design work
Design project
Technological design assignment (TX)
Working documentation

Arrangement of communications inside the building, construction and finishing works

Disassembly work
Construction of new partitions (redevelopment of premises)
Ventilation and air conditioning
Hot and cold water, heating
Heating
Sewage
Grease Traps
Electrical work
General construction and finishing works
The device of stained glass windows, entrances, windows
Parking device, landscaping
Lifts, elevators

Low-current system

Fire alarm
Alarm system
Automation system and computer network
Internal Video Surveillance System
Communication systems (PBX / cellular manager, etc.)
Music system
Video equipment
the Internet

Equipment, standard furniture, inventory

Production equipment
Furniture and equipment Cafe
Office equipment
Additional interior details and decor
Promotional Products
Signboard
Polygraphy

Working capital

Initial inventory of products for work

Of course, you can open a cafe with a smaller budget. It is not necessary to immediately open such a great cafe (300 sq.m.), as in the example. You can save on equipment – buy some of the equipment; think about whether you need a license for the retail sale of alcoholic beverages at once for 5 years, or it is easier for you to pay for it annually; use the full competence of their own and their partners (what if your partner has its own construction company?), and so on.

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Conclusion On How to open a cafe from scratch- Step By Step Guide [2020 Edition]

We hope that these, I hope, useful tips within this article still harmoniously tell you how to open a cafe from scratch and do it with the least amount of errors. Tag: How much does it cost to open a café, How To Open A Café, How To Open A Cafe With A Low Budget, How Much Does It Cost To Open A Café, How To Open A Cafe Shop, How To Open A Small Café, How Much To Open A Café, How To Open Up A Café, How To Open A Cat Cafe