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You may be doing what I did…. Searched high and low, dug into every search engine, and all you want to know is -
Google: how much it cost to open a cafe? How much should I budget for labor? Is this too much capital to ask for? Too little? What’s a COG? Why the hell do I even need a business plan. This will take forever to create. slams laptop shut. another year passes and you start that process over, because your passion for this will not leave you alone!
Yes my process exactly. It wasn’t until I lost my day job, mom to a new baby, and so sad to not be in the industry I loved so much that I realized, it’s either figure this out or I keep hustling for something that I’m not passionate about. I spent years researching food and bev business, read every statistic, read every food biz book, met with mentors, one time I even paid a CPA $1500 (money I charged and did not have!) to review my numbers… I am not lying, he fell asleep in our meeting. The mentors and sleepy CPA I did meet, were discouraging. Shared out of date statistics and told me it was a saturated market and Portland didn’t need another cafe.
They could not have been more wrong. For one reason and one reason alone:
If this is your passion, it is worth pursuing. And for me it was and the risk was well worth the reward.
If this is your story and you’re up against pursuing your passion or sticking with the day job, I promise you it is worth the risk. Even if you know you may need to keep your day job but you need to start chipping away at opening your own pop up, cafe, or bakery, this is the perfect place to start. Committing to a business plan and seeing it through has been the most invaluable tool I’ve had as I’ve grown Keeper.
I’ve relied on it for growth, scaling, budgeting, how to align my voice and tone for leadership, customer service, and marketing. I can hold all my questions up to my business plan and there is an answer.
The process took countless hours because the reality is, this industry is large but it is niche. There is very little tangible info in one place to help you create a business plan for a cafe or bakery.
So I made it for you.
Here you’ll find :
Series of short audio prompts
Downloadable practice templates for budgeting
My complete business plan for Keeper Coffee that has stood the test of time. It opened my micro pop up in 2019, my first brick and mortar location in 2020, and the second location in 2025. I took this bullet proof business plan to the bank with ZERO investors and secured $600k in funding to open my Milwaukie location. This business plan will be downloadable and editable for your use so you don’t have to create anything from scratch.
I wrote my business plan two years before I opened I opened my first location. I needed to create a difinitive line between not being a business owner and actually being one and this was the key for me. I knew I wasn’t ready to take the leap, so I needed to take the steps. I began to invest my time into my ideas, give it shape, give it a name. All of that time and energy paid in dividends, it has the been the resource I rely on the most. It’s s the map I needed in my business journey to get from point A to B to C to…. Z and I never get lost.
Wether your sourcing funding or needing a way to craft and commit to your new cafe, bakery, or retail concept, this is it.
Dive in with me in creating your business plan! I promise, you’ve got what it takes and the world needs what you have to offer.