Today, many of us dream of opening our own business. But how to choose a profitable niche in order not to burn out? One of the promising areas of business is coffee houses on wheels. This is due to the fact that so many people drink several cups of coffee daily. And where better to do this than on the street? This business is quite easy to start, but in order for it to start to generate stable profits, it is necessary to clearly establish the work process. So what needs to be done to open a coffee shop on wheels? The business plan, which will be presented later, will help you realize this idea.
What is this business?
For the first time, such a format of street trade outlets as mobile coffee houses appeared in Europe, from where it eventually came to our country. Despite the fact that this type of business in Russia is very poorly developed, consumers appreciated the convenience and practicality of such points of sale, therefore the coffee shop on wheels, the business plan for which will be given below, attracts the attention of an increasing number of entrepreneurs. The advantage of this type of business is ease of launch and minimal investment when compared with city coffee houses.
Market condition
Before you talk about how to open a coffee shop on wheels from scratch, a business plan for which is very easy to draw up, you need to study the market and evaluate the prospects of this niche business. According to statistics, every person periodically drinks coffee, so there is a steady demand for it. Thus, it is much easier to survive in this market segment than in many other niches.
It is important to understand here that the survival of a coffee house on wheels depends on the following factors:
- the quality of the drink;
- coffee shop locations.
The convenience of this type of activity is mobility. If necessary, you can move to places with more traffic, thus increasing your own sales.
The basic idea of a business plan and the essence of a startup
The main objective of any business plan is to make the project profitable.
If you don’t know how to start a business plan for a coffee shop on wheels, you should first decide on the following data that will be used when writing it:
- Type of activity: sales of coffee through a mobile point of sale.
- Form of ownership: individual entrepreneur.
- Tax system: simplified.
- Bookkeeping: independently.
- Number of points of sale: 1.
- Assortment: various types of coffee.
- Starting capital: 1 million rubles.
The main goal of a business plan is to calculate the amount necessary for the implementation of the project, determine the potential of the business, assess potential risks and calculate the payback period. Without these calculations, the business plan of the coffee shop on wheels will be incomplete, and the business launched on it will be ineffective.
Competitiveness and Potential Consumers
The market for mobile coffee houses is not oversaturated, so there is no strong competition here. In addition, there is the opportunity to change the parking location, which allows you to completely avoid competition. The main consumers are all passers-by, regardless of age, who lead an active and eventful lifestyle that does not allow them to sit in a cafeteria for a glass of coffee.
Ways to start a business
So, how to open a coffee shop on wheels, a business plan for which you can draw up yourself?
There are two main ways to start a business selling coffee through mobile points of sale:
- Starting from scratch on your own.
- Buying a franchise.
The franchise eliminates any headache, because with it you get a fully working business system, as well as undergo training on managing a coffee shop on wheels. But we will consider starting a startup from scratch.
What documents will be needed?
In order for your coffee house on wheels, an example of a business plan to be presented later in this article, to flourish, you will need to prepare the following package of documents:
- Registration document as an individual entrepreneur.
- Permission from state bodies of local self-government to place a retail outlet.
- List of products to be sold. Served in the district sanitary and epidemiological station.
- Employment agreement.
- Certificate of conformity for the coffee machine.
- Sank for the seller.
- Conclusion on the safety of products from the sanitary and epidemiological station.
In order to sell coffee on wheels, you will need to re-equip the transport place. Therefore, in addition to the above documents, you will also need a certificate of coordination of the design features of the car, an act of passing an auto examination, and a certificate of compliance.
Which transport is best suited for this business?
Most entrepreneurs buy cars of the following brands to launch a coffee-wheel startup: Renault Canggu, Peugeot Partner, Citroen Berlingo and Fiat Doblo. The average cost of these cars is 800,000 rubles. As an option, you can consider buying a used car, but in our business plan we will take into account the new vehicle.
What equipment will be required?
The heart of any coffee shop is a coffee machine, so you should consider buying professional equipment. This will require about 70 thousand rubles. Save on this is not worth it, because the number of sales depends on the quality of coffee. The coffee machine will also require two autonomous power sources that can provide 12 hours of continuous operation. Their cost is 4,000 rubles.
Cost of starting a business
To open a coffee shop on wheels in Russia, whose business plan will launch a profitable business, it will take 1 million rubles.
The main items of expenditure are as follows.
Name | Quantity, pcs | Cost, thousand rubles |
Registration and approval | - | 23 |
Vehicle | 1 | 800 |
Coffee machine | 1 | 70 |
Batteries | 2 | 4 |
Re-equipment of the vehicle | 1 | 40 |
Raw material purchase | 22 kg | thirteen |
Advertising car decoration | | fifty |
Total | | 1,000,000 |
The costs of re-equipment of the vehicle include the installation of a cash register and refrigeration equipment, the arrangement of a workplace for the seller and other related costs.
As for the calculation of the costs necessary for the purchase of ingredients for the preparation of hot drinks, they were carried out on the basis that 100 glasses of the drink will be sold daily, for the preparation of each of which you need 7 grams of coffee. The average cost of a kilogram of coffee today is 600 rubles.
Thus, one million rubles is enough to open a coffee shop on wheels, the business plan of which is discussed in this article.
Employees
To obtain a stable profit, it is necessary that the coffee shop on wheels work seven days a week and 12 hours a day, so for its normal functioning it will be necessary to hire two sellers. The remuneration of each of them will be 25 thousand rubles a month.
Product Cost
To get a stable profit from a coffee house on wheels, a business plan must necessarily include the calculation of the cost of one cup of coffee and a mark-up on it.
Making a cup of coffee will cost you the following amount:
Name | Cost, rub. |
Glass | 3 rub |
Coffee | $ 4.30 |
Water | 0.40 rubles |
Milk | 3 rub |
Sugar | 0.64 rub |
Total | $ 11.34 |
One cup of coffee is on average sold at 60 rubles, but in order to attract as many buyers as possible and quickly reach the break-even level, the cost of the drink at the first stages of work will be 50 rubles.
How much will the project pay for itself?
Having at our disposal information on the amount of costs needed to launch a startup, and on the margin, we can calculate the period of time necessary to reach the break-even level. Selling on average 100 cups of coffee daily, which is quite realistic in principle, for one month the profit from the business will amount to 59,980 rubles, and for the year of operation the business will bring 719,760 rubles. Thus, the coffee shop on wheels, the tips of the business plan are tested in practice, will fully return the invested funds for 1 year and 5 months.
Key challenges for the future
Having opened one mobile coffee shop, do not stop there. We should set ourselves tasks for the future that will allow us to develop and scale our business. With the right approach to business management, you can even create a whole coffee network.
The main tasks are:
- Establishment of work.
- Search for good suppliers offering low prices for raw materials and quality logistics.
- Hiring staff.
- Increase in sales.
- Going to breakeven.
- Market research in order to study potential competitors and consumer preferences.
- Getting work experience.
- Search for potential investors in order to attract financial resources for further development.
You can supplement this list with your tasks and goals that you want to achieve.
Potential risks
Any type of business is associated with certain risks.
As for the opening of a mobile coffee shop, they are as follows:
- seasonal sales drops;
- rise in price of raw materials and finished products, as a result of which the demand for coffee may fall;
- equipment failure or vehicle breakdown;
- intrigues of competitors;
- decline in sales due to low qualifications of employees.
Despite the fact that the listed risks seem significant, any problem can be solved, which allows the owner of a mobile coffee shop to independently control the risks.
As it turned out, a coffee shop on wheels is a great idea for a business. In order for your profit to grow every month, you need to correctly draw up a business plan, calculate all the costs, and, most importantly, do not lose your hands in case of first failures. Do not be afraid to take risks, because without trying to open your own business, you will never know about all its subtleties.