Coffee shop business plan template (UK) with a worked example
Updated 19 October 2026
A coffee shop business plan explains your concept, your customers and your numbers: how many customers a day you need, what they spend, your gross profit after coffee, milk and food, and your rent, wages and other costs. For a UK café, the key line is break-even customers per day. Our free template gives you every section a bank, Start Up Loans adviser or landlord expects, with prompts and a worked example in £. Copy it into Word or Google Docs, or print this page.
Free template: the sections below are the template. Copy them into Word or Google Docs, or print this page. No email needed.
Not financial advice. Figures are illustrative only. Ask an accountant to check your forecast before you borrow or sign a lease.
How to use this template
- Do your homework first. Our guide on how to open a café in the UK covers costs, planning, licences and equipment.
- Count footfall outside your chosen unit at 8am, 1pm and 4pm on different days.
- Price your menu, then check each item's margin with the GP calculator.
- Fill in each section below. Aim for 10–15 pages plus the numbers.
The template: section by section
1. Executive summary (write it last)
Prompts: your café's name and location; the concept in one sentence; your experience; how much you need and what for; year-1 sales and profit; break-even customers per day.
2. Concept
Prompts:
- Type: speciality coffee bar, neighbourhood café, grab-and-go, bakery café, or something else.
- What makes you different: the coffee, the food, the space, the hours, dogs welcome, a children's corner.
- Opening hours and days.
- Seats inside and out, and the eat-in / takeaway mix you expect.
3. Customers and market
Prompts:
- Who comes, when and why: commuters at 7:30, parents after the school run, remote workers, weekend brunch.
- Footfall counts from your own research.
- Competitors within a 10-minute walk: price of a flat white, opening hours, seats, what they do well.
- Your gap: what nobody nearby does yet.
4. Menu and pricing
Prompts:
- Drinks list with sizes and milk options, and the price of your best seller.
- Food: what's made in-house and what's bought in.
- GP target for each item and overall. Our worked example uses 70% overall; set yours from your own costings.
- Average spend per customer, inc VAT.
- VAT treatment: eat-in is 20%. Some cold takeaway food is zero-rated, but hot takeaway drinks are 20%. See VAT on takeaway food.
5. Premises
Prompts: address and size; lease length, rent, rent-free period, break clause and deposit; planning use class; fit-out needed; business rates and any relief.
6. Equipment and suppliers
Prompts: espresso machine and grinders (buy, lease or roaster-supplied), fridges, oven, dishwasher, furniture; coffee roaster, milk, bakery and food suppliers; packaging.
7. Team
Prompts: your role and hours; staff roles, hours and pay at or above the legal minimum; training (barista, food hygiene, allergens). Plan hours with a staff rota maker.
8. Marketing
Prompts:
- Pre-opening: signage, Instagram, local groups, a free coffee morning.
- Online: Google Business Profile, a simple website with your menu and order-ahead link (see café website examples).
- Repeat custom: loyalty card or app, regulars' offers. A paper card works: try our loyalty card maker.
- Monthly budget in £.
9. Operations and systems
Prompts: opening and closing routines; till and card reader; order ahead for commuters; table ordering on busy weekends; stock and waste tracking; food safety records.
10. Legal checklist
- Food business registered with the council at least 28 days before opening
- Food safety management system and allergen information for all 14 allergens
- Planning use class checked; advertisement consent for signs if needed
- Pavement licence for outside tables, if any
- Late night refreshment licence if serving hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am
- Insurance: public liability, employers' liability (once you employ staff), contents
- Business rates and VAT registration (threshold £90,000)
- Music licence if playing music
11. Financial plan
Include start-up costs and funding, monthly sales forecast, year-1 profit and loss, a 3-year summary, break-even and a 12-month cash flow. See the worked example.
12. SWOT and risks
List strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. For each big risk, write a trigger and a response. "If weekday trade is under 90 customers a day by month 3, cut the 3pm–5pm shift and launch a lunch meal deal."
Appendices
CV, menu with prices, supplier quotes, lease heads of terms, footfall counts, photos and floor plan.
Worked example: a 30-cover neighbourhood café
These figures match the forecast in our café guide. They are illustrative for a 30-cover café open 6 days a week, taking over a fitted unit. Use your own.
Start-up costs and funding
| Start-up cost | £ |
|---|---|
| Lease premium | 10,000 |
| Rent deposit (3 months) | 7,500 |
| Legal fees | 2,500 |
| Fit-out refresh and repairs | 6,000 |
| Espresso machine and grinders | 8,000 |
| Fridges, display chiller, oven, dishwasher | 5,000 |
| Furniture and décor | 3,000 |
| Till, card reader, QR menus | 1,000 |
| Signage | 1,500 |
| Opening stock and packaging | 2,000 |
| Launch marketing | 1,000 |
| Working capital | 25,000 |
| Total | 72,500 |
Funding (illustrative): savings £32,500, a Start Up Loan £25,000 (the maximum; the rate is fixed at 7.5% a year), equipment finance for the espresso machine £8,000, family loan £7,000.
Monthly forecast (year 1, steady month)
| Line | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Customers per day | 120 |
| Average spend (inc VAT) | £7.50 |
| Sales inc VAT (120 × £7.50 × 26 days) | £23,400 |
| Sales ex VAT (assuming all at 20%) | £19,500 |
| Cost of food and drink (30%) | £5,850 |
| Gross profit (70%) | £13,650 |
| Wages (including your own pay) | £7,500 |
| Rent | £2,500 |
| Business rates (after relief) | £300 |
| Energy and water | £900 |
| Insurance, card fees, software, repairs, marketing, waste | £1,200 |
| Total overheads | £12,400 |
| Profit before tax | £1,250 |
3-year summary
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customers per day | 120 | 130 | 140 |
| Average spend inc VAT | £7.50 | £7.75 | £8.00 |
| Sales ex VAT | £234,000 | £261,950 | £291,200 |
| Gross profit (70%) | £163,800 | £183,365 | £203,840 |
| Overheads (+4%, then +3%) | £148,800 | £154,752 | £159,395 |
| Profit before tax | £15,000 | £28,613 | £44,445 |
Year 1 assumes every month is a steady month. In real life the first months are usually slower, so build a ramp-up into your cash flow forecast, for example 60%, 70%, 80% and 90% of steady sales in months 1 to 4.
Break-even
Each customer brings £7.50 ÷ 1.2 × 70% = £4.38 of gross profit. Monthly overheads of £12,400 ÷ £4.38 ÷ 26 days = about 109 customers a day. At 120 a day you're only just ahead, which is normal in year 1.
Two levers that matter most:
- Average spend. An extra 50p per customer adds about £1,560 a month in sales inc VAT. Bundles help, such as "coffee and a pastry for £5".
- The morning rush. If the queue is out of the door at 8am, some people walk on. Order ahead for collection gets their coffee ready when they arrive. Menuthere's cafe ordering system does that with 0% commission. Collection-time pre-orders and online card payments are on Lite and above.
Run your own numbers in the break-even calculator.
Tips for a coffee shop plan that gets funded
- Base sales on counted footfall, not hope. Show your capture rate (for example, 3% of 4,000 passers-by).
- Show your sums for every line.
- Keep three months of costs as working capital.
- Be honest about seasonality. January and August are slow for many cafés.
- Show the plan B. Lunch deals, catering for offices, or a later opening on Fridays.
Running a pub or bar instead? Use our pub business plan template.
When the plan's done, set up your menu and order-ahead link in an afternoon.
FAQs
What should a coffee shop business plan include?
An executive summary, concept, customers and competitors, menu and pricing, premises, equipment and suppliers, team, marketing, operations, a legal checklist, start-up costs and funding, a sales forecast, a profit and loss, break-even, a SWOT and risks.
How many customers a day does a coffee shop need to break even?
It depends on your costs and average spend. In our illustrative example, a café with £12,400 monthly overheads and a £7.50 average spend needs about 109 customers a day.
How much does it cost to open a coffee shop in the UK?
Our illustrative example needs £72,500 to take over a fitted café, including £25,000 working capital. Converting an empty unit usually costs more. See our café guide for full cost ranges.
How much profit does a small coffee shop make?
It varies. In our example, year 1 profit before tax is about £15,000 after paying the owner a wage, rising as customers and average spend grow.
Should my forecast include VAT?
Plan on sales excluding VAT. Most café sales are standard-rated at 20%, but some cold takeaway food is zero-rated, so a real forecast can split sales by VAT rate.
Is there a free café business plan template in Word?
Yes. Copy the sections on this page into Word or Google Docs and fill them in. It's free, with no email needed.
Sources (6)
- Menuthere, How to open a café in the UK (worked forecast), menuthere.com/en-gb/guides/how-to-open-a-cafe-uk (written 11 Oct 2026).
- HMRC, Catering, takeaway food (VAT Notice 709/1), section 4.1: hot takeaway drinks standard-rated, most cold takeaway food zero-rated, gov.uk/guidance/catering-takeaway-food-and-vat-notice-7091 (accessed 11 Oct 2026).
- HMRC, VAT registration threshold (£90,000), gov.uk/vat-registration (accessed 11 Oct 2026).
- GOV.UK, Food business registration (register at least 28 days before trading), gov.uk/food-business-registration (accessed 11 Oct 2026).
- GOV.UK, Alcohol licensing (late night refreshment), gov.uk/guidance/alcohol-licensing (accessed 11 Oct 2026).
- Start Up Loans, Borrow up to £25,000, fixed interest rate of 7.5% per year, startuploans.co.uk (accessed 11 Oct 2026).