How Much Does It Cost to Open a Small Private Coffee Shop? What About Learning Coffee Costs? How to Run It?

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

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Tired of the 9-to-5 grind and daily office politics, unwilling to put up with the boss's mood swings. I decisively slammed my resignation letter on the boss's desk and began envisioning my ideal coffee shop.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, sunlight streams through large glass windows onto the dining tables. The air is filled with the fragrance of books and coffee, soothing piano music lifts the spirits, while old photographs on the white walls have slightly yellowed. A clean, gentle girl leans against a rattan chair beside the bookshelf, holding a quiet, folded-ear cat in her arms. She is absorbed in reading an English novel, seemingly completely oblivious to the noisy world outside the window.

Suits, high heels, and bosses—gone forever!

Eagerly began investigating and learning the craft, handling everything personally, investing 100% passion, all for a good storefront. But after scouring every street and alley in the city, either dissatisfied with the rent or the location, more than half a year passed without finding a suitable space.

It was only then that the business nature behind the artistic dream of opening a coffee shop became apparent—raw materials, rent, decoration, staff, and more all needed to be considered.

When economic returns don't match investment, you might endure losses for one or two months on the passion of realizing your dream. But what about six months? Eight months? When you're continuously losing money for 10 days, sentiment still plays a role. But when you're losing money for one month, two months, three months, can your sentiment persist? Based on my limited industry observations, many small business owners can't bear it after two consecutive months of losses. They might not close their shops, but their mindset has already changed—they begin to worry and feel anxious. This anxiety also transfers to employees and customers, causing service quality to decline and further reducing revenue—a vicious cycle.

If you haven't even considered these issues clearly, you're not yet a qualified entrepreneur. A qualified entrepreneur should consider whether they can withstand the consequences of failure before taking the first step. Therefore, before you decide to open a coffee shop, I want to talk with you about what it's really like to run one.

How Much Does It Cost to Open a Small Coffee Shop?

How much does it cost to open a small coffee shop (30-40 square meters)?

Initial costs: Rent + transfer fees + rental deposit.
Mid-term costs: Decoration expenses.
Late-term costs: Equipment costs + raw material costs.
Operating costs: Salaries + operating reserve funds.

Cost Analysis:

Initial Costs: Rent + transfer fees + rental deposit.
Rent Control: First, choose a good location—higher foot traffic is better, but higher traffic means higher rent. Personally, I suggest keeping rent under 10,000 yuan for a small coffee shop.
Transfer Fees: Best to avoid these if possible; if required, keep them under 30,000 yuan.
Rental Deposit: Typically one month's rent.

Mid-term Costs: Decoration expenses.
Decoration Budget: Since you're renting someone else's property, I don't recommend investing too much in decoration. Personally, I suggest light decoration with emphasis on soft furnishings.

Late-term Costs: Equipment costs + raw material costs.
Equipment Costs: A complete set of standard coffee shop equipment (espresso machine, coffee grinder, ice maker, smoothie machine, refrigerator, etc.) can be fully equipped for under 50,000 yuan.
Raw Material Costs: Coffee beans + milk + other ingredients: 5,000 yuan is generally sufficient.

Operating Costs: Salaries + operating reserve funds.
Salaries: For an 80-square-meter shop, 2-4 staff members are sufficient. I suggest budgeting for 6 months of salaries from your own funds.
Operating Reserve Funds: Generally reserve no less than 6 months of expenses: rent + staff salaries + utilities, etc.

For a 30-40 square meter shop: total investment requires 100,000-150,000 yuan.
Rent 30,000 yuan (3 months' rent plus deposit) + decoration 50,000 yuan (basic decoration, storefront sign, and soft furnishings like tables and chairs) + equipment 50,000 yuan (bar equipment) + other expenses 20,000 yuan = 150,000 yuan

Note: Costs vary by city; the above is for reference only.

What Are the Costs and Profits for Coffee and Other Beverages?

Cost Analysis:

Coffee Costs:

Assuming a 300ml coffee serving; we typically use 2 espresso shots. If a 500g bag of espresso beans costs 60-70 yuan, a double shot requires 18-20g of grounds, making 28 double espresso shots. So espresso coffee costs 2-3 yuan.

Milk Costs: Assuming a carton of milk costs 10 yuan per liter. Making one coffee requires 250ml of milk for frothing, so milk cost per cup is 2.5 yuan.

Total: 2.5 + 2.5 = 5 yuan (cost of one coffee, excluding sugar packets, labor, and other miscellaneous expenses)

Juices: This depends on whether you use concentrated juice or fresh fruit. I personally recommend fresh fruit—people today are more health-conscious and really dislike beverages made from concentrated juice.

Milk Tea: Milk tea cost structure = black tea + milk + evaporated milk + condensed milk, etc. However, specific costs depend on your ingredients and ratios. Generally, one cup costs no more than 5 yuan.

For example, you might want to open a takeout-style coffee shop like Guangzhou's .jpg coffee shop, which only offers 4 espresso drinks, but actually 6 types of coffee: iced Americano, hot Americano, iced latte, hot latte, hot Flat White, and hot cappuccino. Because it's takeout only, the variety is small but refined. The coffee beans are sourced from the famous Australian brand SEVEN SEEDS (one of Melbourne's most renowned coffee bean suppliers).

Liyun Community is Guangzhou's famous coffee distribution center. To the north are Tianhe City, Tianhuan, Zhengjia, and other core commercial areas in the city, basically located in the heart of the Tianhe business district. The entire Liyun Community location appears more mature and lively.

I believe many office workers will come to pack a coffee to-go around noon. Located deep in the bustling downtown area with high foot traffic and many commercial institutions (people), it serves as an excellent business supplement for the surrounding area—a quiet green oasis amidst prosperity.

Americano ¥15 cold / hot
Latte ¥18 hot / ¥20 cold
Flat White / Cappuccino ¥18 hot

It's said they sell 200 cups daily at sunrise.

Unique Business Philosophy

To run a coffee shop well, beyond the sentiment that transcends commerce, you need scientific strategies and methods. Many people don't learn the basic knowledge and skills of running a coffee shop, wanting to open one just because they have some spare cash—this mindset is wrong, and it's why well-operated coffee shops are becoming increasingly rare.

To attract customers, you need your unique business philosophy. To give customers a completely new experience and make them feel surprised—that's what creates repeat customers.

First, define your target customer group, understand their needs, and satisfy those needs with your unique philosophy. Once this step is done well, use a powerful sentence to explain why your shop is unique—that's how you'll go far.

For example, you might want to open a self-roasting coffee shop like Guangzhou's FrontStreet Coffee. The shop has only 4 tables. It's truly not large—if you arrive slightly late, there might be no seats available, and sometimes it can even feel a bit cramped. Next to the bar counter sits a roasting machine, and the blackboard is densely filled with information about various beans. The owner roasts beans every day. Once the machine starts in the morning, the entire FrontStreet Coffee street is filled with the aroma of coffee beans.

"From the roaster to the coffee grinder, from the espresso machine to the coffee's taste, aroma, tasting environment, and brewing methods—we need to consider all factors to ensure customers get the most wonderful coffee experience."

Today's FrontStreet Coffee mainly focuses on selling coffee beans, making it more like a coffee laboratory than a coffee shop. Most customers are coffee enthusiasts—people with the same hobby and passion gathering together. Coffee enthusiasts love to cluster together, and this couldn't be more true, because only they know where those truly delicious specialty coffee shops are hidden.

In addition to self-roasting, they also specialize in various coffee brewing techniques, will tell you about the differences in coffee-making equipment and coffee information, and even help coffee lovers improve their professional skills.

Americano ¥23 cold / hot
Latte ¥25 hot / ¥20 cold
Single origin: ¥30 per cup

The Bitter Reality of Coffee Shop Work

Coffee shop work is bitter.

Don't think that working in a coffee shop means happily chatting through the day. A shop that sells 100 espresso shots daily means frothing milk 50 times, washing 100 cups, 100 saucers, and 100 glasses. You arrive early at the coffee shop to clean and wash all the equipment once. At closing time, you need to put everything back in its place to prepare for tomorrow. The most troublesome part is communicating with customers. Coffee customers include all types of species—expressing different opinions, venting grievances, filled with bitterness toward you. To handle these, you need to activate a high-level confidence mode, as well as a nanny mode, to satisfy various customer needs.

Repeat customers come because you treat them honestly, and because of your honesty, they introduce other friends to come here. You don't need to make world-class delicious cakes—you just need to use high-quality ingredients, and people will experience your sincerity and be happy to buy. Your coffee production is the same: buying expensive, high-quality machines isn't enough; you also need to work with top-tier roasters (who provide high-quality, stable coffee), and then you can produce high-quality coffee.

Arm yourself and your partners with coffee knowledge, attend professional coffee training to meet high-standard customers and your own high standards, and prepare to open your shop.

How Much Does Coffee Training Cost?

Generally, there are 7-day coffee courses covering practical and theoretical content, allowing you to understand the basics before opening a shop. Tuition typically ranges from 4,000-6,000 yuan. For internationally certified coffee courses and obtaining international barista certification, tuition ranges from 4,000-20,000 yuan.

Please don't misunderstand—I'm not saying coffee shops can't make money. I can responsibly tell everyone that with the right methods, coffee shops can absolutely achieve entrepreneurial goals and realize financial success.

More importantly, due to the unique atmosphere and depth of coffee shops, this entrepreneurial endeavor possesses a spiritual fulfillment that general startup projects lack—but the premise is that you must be professional enough. Expecting your coffee shop to be valued at tens of millions upon opening is just dreaming. Not every coffee shop can succeed like Blue Bottle. If some do, it's because business experts are operating behind the scenes, able to fully mobilize resources, seize opportunities, and predict trends. If this is your first time opening a shop, being profitable every day means you've already succeeded.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473