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