How to open a cafe, where to start? Cafe business plan. Required documents to start

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The restaurant business is becoming more and more popular in Russia. Now you can open a cafe or bar of exactly the kind that you have always dreamed of. It can be a mini cafe or a fast food restaurant. Perhaps you want to open a patisserie or make the first children's cafe in the area.

There are a lot of options, but what are the first steps you need to take to open a cafe? Where to start a business plan and what to look for when it's your first project?

Choosing a location for a successful establishment

The first key point in creating an establishment where you can eat is the choice of premises. The success or failure of the project will depend on it. You can make a chic renovation, create a unique atmosphere and hire a brilliant chef. But if the wrong area is chosen, then there will be no visitors: the cafe and the ticket office will be empty day after day. Unfortunately, there are a lot of such examples among those who are thinking about how to open a cafe.

Businessthe plan begins with a search for an area. When choosing a foothold, pay attention to the condition of the main communication systems. Pay attention to the availability of sewerage, water supply and heating. A good option would be to buy out the old dining room, where there is already a kitchen. It is harder and more expensive to build a new cafe from unsuitable for cooking, but cheaper premises: hangars and warehouses.

Most eateries and bars open in residential areas. If there was already a canteen, pub or restaurant in this place, then everything is in order, you can open a cafe in a residential building. But if you decide to open a cafe for the first time, where to start the process to avoid a lot of pitfalls? If the sounds of music and the aromas of the kitchen become uninvited guests of the tenants' apartments, then problems can begin very quickly. Therefore, it is worth taking care of good zoning of the room, sound insulation and exhaust hood in advance. If the residents find the neighborhood inconvenient, the cafe can simply be closed.

Shoot or Buy?

Renting is not the best option. Especially when it comes to a large cafe. The rent tends to grow, and not because of the good economic situation in the country. If you suddenly decide to move, then the repair and clientele will remain with the owner. Most of the venerable, established restaurateurs opened their business by buying out the property. After that, the institution can be advertised on a large scale, realizing that the cost of PR is an investment in the future. In addition, if the project does not take place for some reason, you can always rent out your space, but subleasing is more difficult.

Before openingit is worth contacting specialists in order to find out whether it is profitable to open a cafe, take into account all legal regulations and guest requirements. Based on these recommendations, a project plan is drawn up. After the cafe business plan is received, an example of it must be submitted to Rospotrebnadzor. After agreeing the project with government agencies, you can start repairing and redevelopment.

Meal with good taste

It is very important to choose a single concept and style of a restaurant or cafe. What audience do you want to work for? Who do you want to see among the guests? The answers to these questions will help you understand the values of your potential visitors and develop a suitable image. Don't forget to consider your ideas as your personal dream is now being realized.

It doesn't matter what level of restaurant you plan to open - it is important to find your "zest", around which the concept will be built. Think, what is this criterion that will distinguish your shop from all the others? This question will help you successfully open a cafe.

How to implement a business plan?

The first step will be segmentation and risk assessment. Enthusiasts often skip these stages, underestimating the weaknesses of the enterprise and the strengths of competitors. In addition, at this stage it is worth calculating the cash costs, finding out the payback period.

A working cafe business plan is an example of good preparation. It cannot be done without an accurate portrait of a potential client, his social income, tastes, lifestyle.

Right nowthe question is being decided where the cafe will receive the main profit from: due to a large turnover or a high markup? If, say, your typical guest is a young student who likes to spend time with friends, consuming chips and light beer, then expensive gourmet meals are unlikely to be appreciated by him. He will not understand the fabulous prices for a cream of 30 ingredients and a goose liver prepared according to a special recipe. This business planning option is likely to end in failure, despite the fact that you manage to open a cafe.

Getting Started: Documentation and Registration

This will require a package of documents.

Firstly, only an entrepreneur can do business in our country. You must first open an LLC or IP.

Second, build the following documentation package:

• permission to locate an establishment issued by Rospotrebnadzor;
• permit obtained from the fire authorities;
• confirmation of the premises' compliance with sanitary standards (lease agreement, staff medical books, state registration certificate, permission for raw materials and trade products);
• licenses to sell retail, alcohol and tobacco;
• patent for trading activity in the given territory (issued by local governments);
• notification of the start of activities.

Federal Law No. 294-FZ of December 26, 2008 “On the protection of the rights of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in the exercise of state control (supervision) and municipal control” regulates this activity.

A legal entity (entrepreneur) provides the necessary documentation to Rospotrebnadzor at the actual location. The completed notification is supplemented with a copy-extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (Entrepreneurs), as well as a copy of the certificate of registration with the tax authorities. These documents are enough to open a cafe.

Getting Started

The work of even the smallest catering is unthinkable without equipment. In order to brew a cup of coffee or make ice cream, you need a technical base. It is necessary to think over all the details at the design stage of the room.

All equipment should be as functional and practical as possible, durable, meet the requirements for bars, restaurants and cafes. Otherwise, the technique simply will not pay off.

Modern appliances allow you to quickly prepare quality meals. But high productivity is not only the result of a powerful technical base of the institution, but also the ability of the staff to work on it. It is very important to hold a workshop for employees after buying a new car.

The right equipment will increase the profitability of the business, while the wrong machines will lead to losses.

Furniture and furnishings

This is another important issue to devote your attention to before opening a cafe. Where to start building a situation? A profitable solution would be to order a set of furniture designed in a single design. However, this is an exclusive option - it is always more expensive. Canbuy ready-made furniture. If a cafe is the first such enterprise, then cheap furniture will serve as a model in order to better see the needs of the institution by its example. Ordering the right furniture will be easier next time.

Human factor: recruiting talented staff

The number of employees will depend on the sales volume of the establishment. All roads in the "edal" are reduced to the cook. He is like a captain on a ship. The chef should not only cook delicious dishes, but also decorate them beautifully. It is very good if you know your future chef in advance, even at the stage when you are developing a cafe business plan.

An example, when a case is opened under a well-known master, it will definitely not go unnoticed in the city.

The ideal composition of the kitchen is the chef, the required number of cooks and dishwashers. There should be two such trains - for a shift work schedule. The right hand of the owner - the chef - must cook quickly, while not reducing the quality of the dishes, since inundations of visitors quite often occur in such places.

If the chef is the soul of the establishment, then the next group of workers is his face. Bartenders, waiters, administrators personally address the client. The impression the lounge manager makes when welcoming guests could be the turning point in a relationship.

If you have no experience in hiring workers, then try the following advice. Remember your favorite place and try to talk to its owner about the choice of staff. Learn fromhim the details of how to open a cafe. The business plan of his idea is already living within the walls of the institution, and perhaps his advice will save you from financial and emotional disasters. The successful experience of a colleague is always invaluable to someone who knows how to learn.

Any owner will tell you that you should not choose employees based on just good looks. Sometimes administrators, like waiters, have to find themselves in very delicate situations where they need to defend the honor of the institution and not lose the client. Here, of course, you need intelligence, resourcefulness, the ability to communicate. Such a person can make mistakes, but should not let the owner down. The ability to resolve conflicts peacefully is a precious talent, so pay your employees for it when you pay.

A good waiter is also a great salesperson who can offer exactly what the customer wants or doesn't know what he wants yet.

In order for the cafe to be inexpensive, you can invite an already established team there, or at least the backbone of a team that has worked together for quite some time. This will help make the work process quick and harmonious. This is the important nuance that unfavorably distinguishes new establishments from established chains.

"Delicious" day

So, when the basic procedures are completed, and you can invite guests, the stage of purchasing food comes. Of course, if you have not invested in advertising and do not expect an influx of visitors on the first day, then you can gradually improve the menu, finalizing the kitchen. And yet you have traveled this path for the sake of success, and the success of the institution is itsfull house. Food is a perishable commodity, but it is better to stock up on it in excess than to be left with a full hall and empty refrigerators, explaining that you have just been able to open a cafe.

Where to start shopping? This question is worked out quite well in chain coffee shops. They have well-established deliveries with the best suppliers for the network, and when opening a new point, the franchise owner will already have an approximate estimate, telephone numbers for coordinating purchases. You can use this experience on your own, especially if you are going to open a cafe in Moscow, where there is a lot to gain experience.

Edible budget

A good advantage of large cities like Moscow is the ability to borrow or take part of the equipment for free.

Suppliers can provide showcases, refrigerators free of charge. In addition, venerable firms with deep pockets offer free souvenir accessories to attract customers. Bar mugs, ashtrays and even furniture with logos. All this will be an invaluable contribution to those who are eager to open a cafe inexpensively. Part of the equipment, such as a microwave or a kettle, it is quite possible to bring from home.

If you open a cafe in an average Russian city, the advantages will be different. There is no need to invest in interior design and diversify the menu every week. You don’t need fabulous advertising and a glamorous image of the institution. This may even scare off visitors who understand the word "coziness" differently than "metropolitan stuff".

First big expenseswill be utility bills, advertising, wages and food costs. The first months are usually unprofitable, but do not despair if you have already managed to open a cafe. Where to start in this situation is to gut the "financial cushion". This is the amount that is initially budgeted for a similar period. After the company is on a level course, the costs will mainly relate to the repair and upgrade of equipment.

In a hurry: how to open a fast food cafe?

If you are deciding the type of cafe, then it is worth noting that the demand for fast food is very high.

The fact is that this type of food is suitable for poorer groups of the population due to the low cost of lunch and office workers who snack on the go. This creates a certain blur in the client's portrait, but brings other criteria of the project to the fore.

Fast cafe should be located in a place with high traffic of people. You need to stand out from the competition. To do this, it is enough to open a mini-cafe at least around the corner from the shopping center where the rival is located: the main thing is that the flows of people do not intersect.

From a legal point of view, opening a fancy restaurant requires as much work as opening a fast food restaurant. But investments in the second will be ten times less. The owner of such a business mostly invests in primitive kitchen equipment and rental space.

The smallest gourmets

Kids are also connoisseurs of gourmetcooking. But they value rather something else. How to open a children's cafe in your city and not miscalculate? It should be noted that this is still an unfilled niche in Russia, while in the West there is a children's cafe in every crowded place, and a children's menu in every self-respecting restaurant.

Here, of course, special attention should be paid to the design of the room so that the kids feel comfortable. It is better to invite a designer and consult with animators, because they will arrange holidays and events here. Perhaps you should choose one stylistic line, a fairy tale, an era. The entourage should make children feel comfortable and recognizable, and their parents - fabulous.

A good place for a children's restaurant would be where there is a kindergarten, a clinic for babies or a playground nearby. It is quite enough to make a hall for 60 seats and fill the menu with bizarrely shaped pasta, soups and delicious cereals - with such a base you can already open a cafe.

Confectionery business

This is the most fertile ground for investment. To open a diner with one oven, 100 thousand dollars is enough. Therefore, opening a patisserie cafe is quite simple.

This establishment will delight guests with fresh pastries and a hot drink. By the way, what they come to the confectionery for is delicious bakery products, and they are good only fresh. Therefore, this type of cafe does not need a cook, but a baker.

Business profitability reaches 30% with an investment of 400 thousand dollars.

Pastry shops are very different. These can be art trams at metro stations where you can buy muffins and tea bags. But it can also be a pastry house with a century of history, where real works of art are made. And people are willing to pay for tasty and beautiful carbohydrates.