Coffee Shop Business PlanTemplate: Word Plan + Excel Financial Projections + Opening Checklist

The sections lenders, landlords and investors expect: executive summary, concept and value proposition, market analysis, competitive analysis, marketing plan, operations plan, management and staffing, financial plan, legal requirements and permits, and conclusions with an action plan. This kit gives you those 10 sections already written for a coffee shop with brunch in Word, plus the Excel financial projections that back them up and a 75-task opening checklist.

Built for a coffee shop with brunch: espresso machine and grinders, pastry case, oven, refrigeration, dishwasher, bar, seating and patio in the startup costs; a coffee and food mix in the P&L; six roles in the staffing sheet (owner-barista, morning barista, afternoon barista-server, brunch cook, weekend extra and relief cover); and the permits of a fixed location: zoning, building permits, certificate of occupancy and the health department plan review.

It depends on the space more than on the espresso machine: a unit that was already a cafe needs a fraction of the build-out of an empty shell, and rent and permits vary a lot by city. The Startup Costs sheet lists every line — LLC and legal, licenses and health plan review, architect and building permits, build-out, electrical and HVAC, plumbing with grease interceptor and hand sinks, espresso machine, grinders, oven, pastry case, refrigeration, dishwasher, bar, seating, patio, smallwares, signs, POS, opening inventory and launch marketing — plus deposits, pre-opening months, contingency and working capital. The kit's example coffee shop needs $263,687 in total cash; replace each line with your own quotes.

A coffee shop with seating and a full build-out usually needs more than that. With $50,000 the realistic routes are a kiosk or a coffee cart, taking over a space that's already built out as a cafe, buying used equipment, or adding a loan or a partner to your own money. Put each option in the Startup Costs sheet: the financing sheet tells you how much you'd need to borrow and whether the loan payments still fit (DSCR).

Rent, payroll with employer taxes, coffee, milk and food, utilities, insurance, card fees, accounting, software, cleaning, waste, pest control, music licenses, marketing and your loan payments. The 12-month cash flow adds them up month by month — with seasonality and quarterly sales tax — and shows your lowest cash balance and the month it happens.

It can be, but margins are tight and two lines usually decide it: rent and labor. The model checks your cost of goods, labor, rent and net margin against editable kit benchmarks (for example, rent up to 12% of sales and labor up to 35%) and runs three scenarios, so you can see whether the plan still works in a slow year before you sign a lease.

There's no honest single number: it depends on customers per day, average check, rent and how many hours you work behind the bar yourself. The 3-year P&L calculates it from your assumptions — revenue, cost of goods, gross margin, payroll, rent and other fixed costs, EBITDA, income tax and net profit — and the staffing sheet shows what the owner-barista role costs, so you can tell your salary apart from the business profit.

Not really: lenders, including SBA lenders, usually expect an owner equity injection (often around 10% for SBA start-ups; many want 20-30%), and landlords ask for a deposit and often a personal guarantee. What you can do is lower the cash you need: a smaller or second-generation space, used equipment, a partner who invests, or a local grant. The financing sheet shows the gap between what you need and what you have, and warns you when your sources fall short.

It depends on your state, county and city. The usual list: a business structure (LLC or sole proprietorship), an EIN, a seller's permit and a business license; a zoning check before you sign the lease; building permits for the build-out and a certificate of occupancy; a health department plan review and food establishment permit; a sign permit; a sidewalk cafe permit if you put tables outside; and a liquor license only if you serve alcohol. The opening checklist organizes 75 tasks in 6 phases. Treat it as a starting point and confirm the details with your local authorities.

Yes. It follows the format lenders usually ask for: a written plan, a 3-year P&L, break-even, three scenarios, a 12-month cash flow, sources and uses of funds and a loan schedule with the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR), checked against 1.25×, a common lender target. The loan schedule and the DSCR cover your main loan (bank or SBA 7(a)), the one you enter in the assumptions; the financing sheet also lists an SBA Microloan (up to $50,000, through nonprofit intermediaries), investors or partners and local grants as sources of funds, without amortizing them. It's a lender-ready format, not a guarantee of approval, and a planning tool, not financial, tax or legal advice.

Yes. The green cells are the ones you type — rent, customers per day, average check, wages and any startup cost line — and more than 700 linked formulas recalculate the rest. To change a calculated cell, use Review → Unprotect Sheet (there is no password). The workbook includes an Instructions tab.

Yes, with notes. Tax rates are editable cells: enter 20% VAT on eat-in sales and hot food (most cold takeaway food is zero-rated) and the VAT you can reclaim on purchases and on your build-out. The plan and the checklist add UK notes: register your food business with the council at least 28 days before you open, and expect a food hygiene rating inspection in your first months. UK minimum wage and employer National Insurance aren't preloaded: enter the current figures from gov.uk.

The price is $39 USD, a one-time payment. At checkout, Stripe can show the amount in your local currency (for example GBP, EUR, CAD or AUD) and converts it for you. The files have no currency symbol: you type amounts in your own currency.

No subscription: you pay once and get lifetime access to the online dashboard. When we improve the plan or the workbooks, you get the new version at no extra cost — just download the files again.

One purchase covers one business, with all of its locations. If you're a consultant or an investor, you can use the files with the projects you advise, but you can't hand them copies: each business buys its own.

Yes. A full 30-day guarantee. If the plan doesn't meet your expectations, we'll refund 100% with no questions asked.