Are you interested in starting a tea café? Do you need a sample tea café business plan template? Do you want to know what it takes to setup a successful tea café? If YES, then I advice you read on. Due to increasing awareness about the health benefits of tea and the dangerous side effects of coffee, tea is rapidly becoming more popular than coffee. And with the emergence of various blends of tea that promise to do anything from increasing alertness to lowering blood pressure to and to enhancing weight loss, the demand for tea is escalating.
If you pride yourself on knowing the various blends of tea and tasty pastries that should go with them, you can turn this knowledge into a lucrative business by starting your own tea cafe. If this idea sounds great to you, then follow these steps to get your tea cafe up and running:
Starting a Tea Café – Sample Business Plan Template
1. Write your business plan
Developing a business plan for your business is a must—regardless of what business you are looking at. A good plan includes a mission statement, outlines for your current and projected finances, a thorough analysis of the market and your competition, your offerings, your unique selling points, and your solutions to potential obstacles.
While the primary role of your business plan is to guide you through the start up process and beyond, it will also come in handy when you are trying to seek funding from third parties, such as angel investors and banks. So, it must be complete, accurate, and professional.
2. Meet legal requirements
You need to register your Business Name and obtain all the necessary licenses that apply in your state or country. Also, you must comply with all local, state, and country regulations for starting a business. In addition, apply for a tax identification number with your state’s Internal Revenue Service.
You can contact the appropriate local agencies to find out about all the requirements that your business must meet before its launch. These requirements vary from by state or country. If you don’t have an idea how to go about any of these processes, then you should contact a seasoned attorney to help you out. You sure don’t want to run into legal problems once your business kicks off.
3. Study the competition
Studying the competition is one of the smartest things to do before starting your business. This will help you understand how they operate, how they attract customers, how much they are charging for their offerings, and so on. By studying your competition, you will also be able to figure out how to build your business with high standards and excellent customer service, and you will be able to improve on whatever areas your competitors are getting wrong.
4. Find a good location and set up your cafe
The location you choose for your tea cafe can determine the success of the business. So, you should choose a very good location. A busy street with plenty of parking space is ideal. And ensure that there are large windows, so that passers-by can appreciate the atmosphere your tea cafe provides.
Avoid buying a location that was once used by a failed tea business, as it will be difficult to overcome the poor reputation established by the previous occupants. Instead, you should choose an empty building that was previously occupied by another business that is not a tea cafe.
After you have secured a good location, you can go ahead and decorate the cafe. Choose a unique pattern for the entire décor and install chairs and stools that will make customers comfortable and relaxed. Place individual lamps on each table, as it works better than overhead lighting.
5. Get the necessary equipment
For your tea cafe, you will need linens, teacups, silverware, and pastry dishes. You can either purchase or rent these items. Each option has its own advantage: renting allows you to change your equipment at will, while purchasing them will reduce your monthly overhead, since you will not have to pay a monthly rental fee.
6. Hire employees
Before you hire employees to work in your tea cafe, you should decide whether you will hand them part-time or full-time contracts. Then advertise the positions using both online and offline media. Be sure to give details of what each position entails, the pay, and the required level of experience. However, you must hire only skilled and highly experienced workers, as the reputation of your business hinges on their experience and skills.
7. Open your doors
You should consider opening softly at first. This is a quiet opening without a lot of fanfare, which allows you to test drive the cafe and its products before staging a grand opening. The grand opening will follow days to weeks of advertising and aggressive marketing through every effective online and offline medium.
Marketing your tea cafe will be on going. You will need to design a website and social media profiles to attract clients via the internet. You will also need to advertise in your local newspaper and on radio/TV in order to reach potential customers.