# Coffeshop/Cafe data needed



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Can anyone point me in the right direction here please? I'm putting together detailed financial plans/projections for a coffeehouse and cafe business and it would be very helpful to see some typical or best practise data and KPIs, based on real UK results rather than just opinions.

The sort of thing I'm talking about are:

- Gross and Net Profit Percentages

- Average customers per day, or something similar. 230 coffees per day is one such stat.

- Operating Capacity as a percentage of Maximum Capacity (e.g. if they can seat 50, do they average out at 40 in real life, as its impossible to operate at full capacity, and hence Operating Capacity is 80%)

- Typical/ideal ratio of Staff to Customers

- Gross Profit/Net Profit per sqm

etc etc

With all these "start up a cafe" consultants out there I'd expected this sort of thing to be much easier to obtain.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

MikeHag said:


> With all these "start up a cafe" consultants out there I'd expected this sort of thing to be much easier to obtain.


The first question I would ask is "do you have a budget for research?" as most consultants will charge for their time and often for information they furnish you with too

Allegra Strategies publishes a fair amount of data that may be of use, and the rest can be found through hard graft and visits to the local library and council (planning applications), as well as looking at existing business plans and filed company accounts

Average number of customers depends on many factors. Footfall, your prices, quality, demographic, brand visibility and customer service are just some variables

Operating capacity again varies as you will need to factor in busy times with slow times and your target market will influence these figures greatly too

The ladies who lunch market may spend longer at a table and less overall than a cafe serving local businesses where employees pop in to grab a coffee in their break or hold short meetings as an external office space

Ideal ratio of staff to customer varies as some cafes with 3 staff are as efficient as 5 staff cafes - but have different food offerings or may choose not to offer table service.

Hopefully this gives you some food for thought


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Thanks Glenn - really appreciate your reply.

Yeah, the "it depends" thing is always going to bite me in the bum... it's karma coming back to haunt me for all the times I gave it as an answer when I was a consultant







But what I'm after are 'average', 'industry standard' or 'best practise' data. I know what you're going to say







That data won't necessarily be relevant to my business as my variables and factors will differ. But it will give me an aunt sally/straw man that I can work with in my financial modelling.

Allegra's publications looks very interesting indeed but their pricing seems aimed at bigger players or established businesses rather than new independents. This report - http://www.allegrastrategies.com/Publications/UK-Independent-Coffee-Shop-Report-2008.aspx - would be fantastic to get hold of (the table of contents and sample pages are brilliant) but at £400 the price isn't right as I feel I could invest that better elsewhere. But great to know someone has gone to the trouble of collecting this data and I'll think about it whilst looking for a more cost-effective source.

Thanks again Glenn!


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