How To Open A Café On A Relatively Low Budget

We live in a café culture! In fact it’s fair to say that we can’t get enough of them. Even during the recession the café business was booming as people continued to start their day with their favourite caffeine fix. So if you’re in for a slice of the action and want to open your own profitable café, but on a limited budget can it be done?

Deciding on café type

The first thing you want to consider is the type of café you want to open and the clientèle you are hoping to attract. Are you looking to attract those who want a quick coffee and a bite to eat before they carry on with their day, or are you after those that choose to hang around, such as the growing number of freelancers who might choose to base themselves in your café? Understanding your target market is going to help you to focus on their needs, thus saving you cost on unnecessary items of equipment, furniture, staff etc.

Think about the type of food and drink

It could be that you want to open all day selling a wide selection of drinks and foods, making it more of an eaterie than a traditional café. You may on the other hand want to keep it fairly simple with great quality coffee and snacks. Either way this will help you decide which kitchen equipment/machinery is essential and what you don’t really need

Think about space needed and location

Location and size of your café are likely to have a big impact on your bottom line. So unless you simply have to be in the trendiest part of the city you might want to base yourself in an up and coming area that hasn’t quite reached its potential. This way you’re liable to cut your rental costs significantly. Also you might want to think about starting off smaller. Let’s say for instance you had twenty customers. Put them in a smaller premises and the place looks busy and popular. However transport those same twenty people into a larger premises and all of a sudden it appears empty. Which scenario do you think would be more appealing to passing customers looking to grab a cup of your finest?

Décor and furnishings

So it’s time to furnish your café. Well it doesn’t have to cost you the earth. Try buying your café furniture from wholesale companies who sell direct to the trade. There are often some great deals to be had if you shop around so make sure that you do your research well. Another way to furnish on the cheap is to upcycle. So rummage through those garage sales, or explore those attics and turn unwanted items into trendy shabby chic.

Spread the word

Finally you’re getting close to opening and you need to let people know about it. Rather than paying for expensive advertising/marketing use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to spread the word. They’re free and have the potential to reach a multitude of people.

Here at Cafe Solutions we have in stock a wide variety of café furniture at great prices, so give us us call on (07) 3205 1616 or check out our website atwww.cafesolutions.com.au and save yourself some serious cash.