Any of you own/owned coffeehouse/juice bar type place?

I have this irritating habit. I sometimes drink too much (that part's not irritating) and then SWMBO and I spin out ideas for new business ventures. The irritating part is when she later decides that one of these ideas is actually worthwhile and insists that we follow it to its logical conclusion.

The latest idea involves a combination coffeehouse/juicebar/retail shop geared toward both the recreational and competitive athlete with seasonal focus changing among running/biking/skiing and the retail focus on selling nutritional products with a natural foods focus. The idea is more evolved than this, and even in a sober state I have to admit it's not half-bad.

Now I need to figure out how to run numbers on something like this. You know, like how many $4.50 smoothies and $3.00 organic cookies can you actually sell per hour so I can run revenue projections, and what does it actually cost to fill a 1500 square foot space with tables and chairs? Anybody know this sort of stuff that would be willing to discuss it with me via personal message or email?

Feed mayonnaise to tuna fish. Boom! You're welcome.

A coffeehouse?

This is a skiing website, I now assume you hate skiing by deciding to start a business which will completely prevent you from skiing pretty much everyday.

But I do accounting, and have done so for several food/retail outlets. Naturally, a lot depends on what you want to have in the joint, but I can give you the ballpark numbers you need.

AdironRider, you're preaching to the choir. When she brought this up several days after our drunken visionary session, my first question was "do you really want to spend 60 or 80 hours a week in a coffeehouse?" That's why I need numbers. I need to show her just what it would take to make such a business successful, so she can do a realistic appraisal of whether it would be a better choice than her current job. Trust me when I say I'm not leaving the practice of law to run a juice bar three years before my oldest kid hits college age.

Sent you a pm.

Naturally the devil is in the details but plan on 25% food/bev costs, and a shitload of capital to outfit the place. Are you starting from scratch (aka the space has no kitchen stuff, fridges, etc or would you be looking for an established eatery to take over), cause that is going to require probably 2-3x the capital needed upfront to do it right and please the health inspectors, etc.

There's a combination restaurant/bar/high-end bike shop here. They kill it.

Embezzle from your silent partner.

thanks for the idea, I'm going to open one here in RNO - hope you live somewhere else!

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Originally Posted by jfost

thanks for the idea, I'm going to open one here in RNO - hope you live somewhere else!

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If you needed my help to come up with that little bit of a idea, then I am glad to have helped, and would also gladly give you a clue.

Brick & mortar retail operation conceived while drunk? Fuck yeah, those always work out. Be sure to sign a long-term lease, lease all the equipment, order a huge inventory of skis/boots, running shoes, bicycles, etc. and sign personal guaranties for the leases and the inventory.

Oh yeah, one more thing: start making friends with a bankruptcy lawyer.

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Originally Posted by Jamespio

If you needed my help to come up with that little bit of a idea, then I am glad to have helped, and would also gladly give you a clue.

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man I hope you have a more friendly person in mind for front-of-the-house...

Juice bar...really?

Could you handle (financially and emotionally) working 80 hours a week and clearing $20k the first year or two? No? Move along then.

find a little shop in your neighborhood that you like, see if a little cash infusion can take them to the next level.
send your S O to work in the shop as a committed employee while you handle the books.
ski much
bobbyF

There's only one way to make money with this idea.

Start one, lie about how well it does, then sell franchises.

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Originally Posted by Downbound Train

There's only one way to make money with this idea.

Start one, lie about how well it does, then sell franchises.

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I think they refer to this method in business school as.. doing a Herman.