| By :
Mark Etinger
You make the best coffee in town. A friend roasts a special blend of beans for you, it's that good. You make the best pastry in town. Nobody else even makes pastry, actually. You know frozen when you taste it. Increasingly, your friends find themselves at your door around breakfast time on the weekends, and increasingly, you are surprised to discover that this doesn't annoy you at all. In fact, it's the most fun you have. You wake up one morning, visions of homemade almond croissants dancing in your eyes, and realize: you want to open a cafe. Starting a cafe takes money. Even if you find a great source for discount kitchen appliances, a friend who roasts you a special coffee blend, and you do all the cooking and serving yourself. Luckily, not all this money is yours. After you do the figures, you'll draw up a business plan and present it to the bank, where, the idea is, you'll get a small business loan. Here are the numbers you need to think about: Let's start with the golden rule: Rent should take up no more than 25 percent of your revenue. Payroll should go toward another 25 percent (unless you do the work yourself, which is probably how you'll want to start). 35 percent should go toward the product. The remaining 15 percent is what you take home. (And satisfaction! And leftover croissants!) Now, a little nittier, grittier, what you're going to need: Commercial property. You'll need to research the location you want for your cafe. How much it will cost you to lease or buy? You have to sell it, too, in a way. You want the bank to think that a cafe located in that spot is likely to make money. Furnishings, fixtures, equipment. Find a source for top of the line discount kitchen appliances. You want really good stuff, but at cheap prices. Go with simple, excellent pieces. For example, Wolf gas ranges, rather than fancy new electric stovetops. Marketing and advertising. There are different ways you can go with this one. Getting some pro-bono work from an art student is a great idea. Or paying them with free breakfast for a year? Think about your prospective clientele. Make a webpage, a Facebook fan page, a Twitter account. Post an ad in the local arts papers in addition to your local news rag. Licenses. This includes the license you need to serve food, alcohol if you go that (far more expensive, but also lucrative route), and also building health codes. It's a hassle, but get it all taken care of before you open your doors. Stock/perishable supplies. This is going to be the fun part, the part you know how to do already. You just have to enlarge your scale, figure out how much you'll cook on your shiny, new, beautiful discount kitchen appliances. Have fun with it! Realistically, a bank is not going to give you all the money you need. Once you've figured out the costs for the above, try to set aside (beg, borrow from Great Aunt Edie) ten to twenty percent of your total start up costs. Make sure you invite Aunt Edie for tea and crumpets, too. It may be all the thanks she desires. Good luck!
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