Do you want to start a juice bar smoothie business? If YES, here is a complete guide to starting a juice bar business with NO money and no experience; plus a sample juice bar business plan template and juice bar marketing plan.
Loads of people are becoming aware of the need to cut down on carbonated drinks and drink more of juice because of the enormous health benefits it has, and this is the reason why juice bars are springing up in different locations all around major cities in the united states.
It is now obvious that the juice bar business is one cool business that an aspiring entrepreneur can settle for. The reality is that the juice bar business is one of the businesses that an entrepreneur can successfully start in the corner of a busy street or on a mobile shop without breaking the bank for cash.
At the same time, big-time investors can also leverage on the high demand for fresh juice to set up their own juice bar in strategic locations all around key cities in the United States of America. Come to think of it, juice bars can be located in any part of town as long as there are people living or working there.
Commonly, juice bars are located in airports, sea ports, shopping malls, hotel lobby, railway stations, bus stations, campuses, hospital lobby, and sport centers and in any public facilities as long as you are given the permission to locate your juice bar there.
If you operate a mobile juice shop, then there won’t be any restriction to the places you can sell your fresh juice just like the conventional food truck business.
Opening a juice bar just like starting any other business might not be entirely easy, but it is a straightforward business that can generate huge and steady profits if well positioned and properly managed.
In as much as starting a juice bar does not require any professional skills, you would still need good business skills and of course customer service skills if indeed you want to build a profitable business.
So, if you are considering opening a juice bar business, all you would need is some capital to purchase or lease/rent a suitable facility (if you are not settling for mobile juice shop), get the required equipment:
(juicers/juice smoothie making machines, disposable cups, trays, and other serving wares), and furniture. You would also need some additional capital to purchase the initial supply of assorted fresh fruits, pay your employees at least for the first 3 months, and also pay your utility bills.
Steps to Starting a Juice Bar Smoothie Business
1. Understand the Industry
The Juice and Smoothie Bars industry has come a long way and it is still evolving with loads of smoothie drink makers bringing in new flavors and packaging into the industry.
Smoothies have been around for many years, but they are becoming more popular in recent time due to the health benefits that come with it. This industry consists of businesses that basically make and retail smoothies and freshly made juices.
Juice is one commodity that is consumed in all parts of the world and of course those that are in the business of producing juice are known to generate sales year in year out if the business is well-managed.
As a matter of fact, economic downturn hardly affects the consumption of juice because it is a commodity that is as affordable and considered a healthy substitute to soft drinks and other processed juices.
The Juice and Smoothie Bars industry has grown steadily over the last five years as juice bars have adapted to the rapidly changing consumer preference and lifestyle. In recent years, the perceived high sugar content of some juices has forced the industry to adapt its offering.
Because of this reason, cold pressed juice, which is made by hydraulically chopping and crushing produce such as spinach, kale and ginger without using heat, thereby yielding highly nutritious juice, has risen to prominence.
The Juice and Smoothie Bars industry is a thriving sector of the economy of the United States of America and they generate well over $2 billion annually from more than 1,435 registered and licensed juice and smoothie bar companies scattered all around the United States of America.
The industry is responsible for the employment of over 35,861 people. Experts project the Juice and Smoothie Bars industry to grow at a 2.9 percent annual rate. Smoothie King and Jamba Inc. are the leaders in the Juice and Smoothie Bars industry; they have the lion market share in the United States of America.
With this kind of business, if you want to start on a small scale, you can choose to start servicing a school around you or even the whole of your local community. All you need are contacts, packaging, networking and good marketing and customer service skills.
However, if you intend starting it on a large scale, then you should consider spreading beyond your local community to the state and even national levels with adequate structure for outlets and distribution networks.
If you are contemplating starting your own juice bar business in the United States, you should ensure that you carry out a thorough market survey. If you get some key factors wrong before starting your business, then you are likely going to struggle to stay afloat.
The smoothie and juice bar industry will continue to blossom because people will always want to drink smoothies or fresh juice when they are thirsty and can’t afford to go home to fix it for themselves. Despite the fact that the industry seems over-saturated, there is still room big enough to accommodate aspiring entrepreneurs who intend opening their own fresh juice bar in the United States of America.
Some of the factors that encourage entrepreneurs to start their own juice bar business are that the business is a thriving business that is easy to set up and manage with minimal startup capital and manpower.
Over and above, juice bar business is indeed a profitable line of business and it is open for any aspiring entrepreneur to come in and establish his or her business; you can choose to start on a small scale servicing a community or you can choose to start on a large scale with several outlets in key cities all around the United States of America.
2. Conduct Market Research and Feasibility Studies
- Demographics and Psychographics
The composition of those who buy and drink freshly made fruit juice from juice bars cut across all genders and age groups.
The truth is that when it comes to selling fresh fruit juice, there is indeed a wide range of available customers. In essence, your target market can’t be restricted to just a group of people, but all those who reside around the locations where you have your fresh fruit juice bar and who have purchasing power.
3. Decide Which Niche to Concentrate On
It is important to state that there is no known niche area when it comes to the juice bar business. Every player in this line of business are basically involved in preparing and serving/selling fresh fruit juice alongside snacks, water and perhaps smoothie drinks and other beverages.
The Level of Competition in the Industry
The competitions that exist in the fresh fruit juice bars line of business goes beyond competitions amongst juice bars in your location; you are expected to compete with smoothie bars, fast food restaurants, mobile food trucks, regular restaurants and any other outlets that also sell fruit juice. Thus, it will be right to say the competition in the fresh fruit juice bar business is tough.
The truth is that no matter the level of competition in an industry, if you have done your due diligence and you brand and promote your products or business properly, you will always make headway in the industry. Just ensure you can deliver excellent customer services and you know how to attract and reach out to your target market.
4. Know Your Major Competitors in the Industry
In every industry, there are always brands that perform better or are better regarded by customers and the general public than others.
Some of these brands are those that have been in the industry for a long time, while others are best known for how they conduct their businesses and the results they have achieved over the years. These are some of the leading juice and smoothie bars in the United States of America and in the globe;
- Jamba Juice Safeway/Conifer
- Inta Juice Smoothies
- Kwench Juice Café
- Urth Juice Bar
- Health in Hand Juice and Smoothie Bar
- Rock Steady Juice Joint & Acai Bar
- Elderberry’s, Elderberries, Elderberrys Roanoke, Smoothies, Wraps
- Juic’d Smoothie & Juice Bar
- Smoothies Extreme Nutrition & Oxygen Bar
- Pulp Juice and Smoothie Bar
- Health Smoothies and Juice bar
- Paninis & Company Juice Shop
- Island Grill Smoothie and Juice Bar
- Smoothie
- Fresh Juice Bar
- Tropical Smoothie Café
- Juice Bar Bearden, Knoxville
Economic Analysis
Part of what you need to do if you are looking towards successfully launching a business and maximizing profits, is to ensure that you get your economic and cost analysis right and try as much as possible to adopt best practices in the industry you choose to build a business in.
Fresh fruit juice bar business is not a Green business as you will come across several juice bars and any other outlets that also sell fresh fruit juice when you drive through town.
So, if you are mapping out your economic and cost analysis, you should carry out thorough market survey and costing of what is required to rent a space where you are expected to open your juice bar business and the amount required to purchase juice making machines (blenders), juicers, refrigerators, ice block making machines, coolers, assorted fresh fruit supplies and also the cost to successfully run the business.
If you are considering starting a fresh fruit juice bar business, then your concern should not be limited to the cost of renting a shop facility and purchasing juice making machines, but also on branding and on how to build a robust clientele base. The truth is that if you are able to build a robust clientele base, you are sure going to maximize profits in the business.
5. Decide Whether to Buy a Franchise or Start from Scratch
When it comes to starting a business of this nature, it will do you good to buy the franchise of a successful and well-established juice bar as against starting from the scratch. Even though it is relatively expensive buying the franchise of an established fresh fruit juice bar, but it will definitely pay you in the long run.
But if you truly want to build your own brand, after you must have acquired the required skills, then you might just want to start your own fresh fruit juice bar business from the scratch.
The truth is that it will pay you in the long run to start your fresh fruit juice bar business from the scratch. Starting from the scratch will afford you the opportunity to conduct thorough market survey and feasibility studies before choosing a location to launch the business.
Please note that most of the big and successful fresh fruit juice bars around started from the scratch and they were able to build a solid business brand.
It takes dedication, hard work and determination to achieve business success and of course you can build your own fresh fruit juice bar business to become a successful brand with corporate and individual clients from all across the city where your fresh fruit juice bar business is located.
6. Know the Possible Threats and Challenges You Will Face
The truth is that if you decide to start your own fresh fruit juice bar business today, one of the major challenges you are likely going to face is the presence of well-established juice bars and other outlets that also sell fresh fruit juice. The only way to avoid this challenge is to create your own market.
Some other challenges and threats that you are likely going to face is economic downturn; if the economy is in bad shape, fresh fruit juice bar businesses and other outlets that also sell fruit juice usually struggle to maintain their old customers or even welcome new customers. unfavorable government policies can also hamper the growth of your fresh fruit juice bar business.
There is nothing you can do as regards these threats and challenges other than to stay positive that things will work well for you.
7. Choose the Most Suitable Legal Entity (LLC, C Corp, S Corp)
If you are considering starting a fresh fruit juice bar business, the legal entity you choose will go a long way to determine how big the business can grow.
You can either choose a general partnership, Limited Liability Company or even a sole proprietorship for your fresh fruit juice bar business. Ordinarily, sole proprietorship should have been the ideal business structure for a small scale juice bar business especially if you are just starting out with a moderate startup capital in a small neighborhood and with just one outlet.
But if your intention is to grow the business and have chains of juice bars across the United States of America and other countries of the world via franchising, then choosing sole proprietorship is not an option for you. Limited Liability Company, LLC or even general partnership will cut it for you.
8. Choose a Catchy Business Name
When it comes to choosing a name for your business, you should be creative because whatever name you choose for your business will go a long way to create a perception of what the business represents. Usually it is the norm for people to follow the trend in the industry they intend operating from when naming their business.
If you are considering starting your own fresh fruit juice bar business, here are some catchy names that you can choose from;
- Shelly Pearson® Fresh Juice Bar ®, LLC
- Betty & I™ Fresh Juice Bar, LLC
- Fresh Experience© Juice and Smoothie Bar, Inc.
- Mango® Fresh Juice Bar, Inc.
- Okay™ Juice and Smoothie Bar, Inc.
- Top It™ Juice and Smoothie Bar, Inc.
- Corner Street© Fresh Juice Bar, Inc.
- Your Choice® Fresh Juice Bar, LLC
- Dorothy McConville™ Juice and Smoothie Bar Inc.
- Melvin McConkie© Fresh Juice Bar, Inc.
9. Discuss with an Agent to Know the Best Insurance Policies for You
In the United States and in most countries of the world, you can’t operate a business without having some of the basic insurance policy covers that are required by the industry you want to operate from. So, it is important to create a budget for insurance and perhaps consult an insurance broker to guide you in choosing the best and most appropriate insurance policies for your fresh fruit juice bar business.
Here are some of the basic insurance covers that you should consider purchasing if you want to start your own fresh fruit juice bar business in the United States of America;
- General insurance
- Health/Medical insurance
- Liability insurance
- Workers Compensation
- Overhead expense disability insurance
- Business owner’s policy group insurance
10. Protect your Intellectual Property With Trademark, Copyrights, Patents
If you are considering starting your own fresh fruit juice bar business, usually you may not have any need to file for intellectual property protection/trademark.
This is because the nature of the business makes it possible for you to successful run it without having any cause to challenge anybody in court for illegally making use of your company’s intellectual properties.
But if you just want to protect your company’s logo and other documents or software that are unique to you or even jingles and media production concepts, then you can go ahead to file for intellectual property protection. If you want to register your trademark, you are expected to begin the process by filing an application with the USPTO.
11. Get the Necessary Professional Certification
When running a fresh fruit juice bar business, you do not need to have any formal training or special certification before you can be allowed to open and operate a fresh fruit juice bar business in the United States of America and in all countries of the world.
All you need is informal training that will expose you to the in and out of preparing varieties of juice and effectively running the business. On the other hand, if you come across any form of certification that can aid you to conduct your fresh fruit juice bar business, then by all means try and pursue such certification.
12. Get the Necessary Legal Documents You Need to Operate
The importance of having the necessary documentation in place before launching a business in the United States of America cannot be overemphasized. It is a fact that you cannot successfully run any business in the United States without the proper documentations.
If you do, it won’t be too long before the long hand of the law catches up with you. Here are some of the basic legal documents that you are expected to have in place if you want to legally run your own fresh fruit juice bar business in the United States of America;
- Certificate of Incorporation
- Business License
- Tax Payer’s ID/Tax Identification Number
- Foods and drinks handler certificate
- Health inspection Certificate
- Proof of district-issued food and drinks manager identification card
- Copy of license for the service support facility and/or a recent inspection report
- Business Plan
- Employee Handbook
- Employment Agreement (offer letters)
- Operating Agreement for LLCs
- Insurance Policy
- Online Terms of Use
- Online Privacy Policy Document
- Company Bylaws
- Memorandum of Understanding
- Building License
- Franchise or Trademark License (optional)
13. Raise the Needed Startup Capital
Launching a fresh fruit juice bar business can be cost effective especially if you choose to start on a small scale by running a small fresh fruit juice bar business in a street corner.
Securing a standard and well-positioned store/kiosk and purchasing blenders, juicers, refrigerator, ice block making machines, coolers, assorted fresh fruit supplies and other supplies are part of what will consume a large chunk of your startup capital.
If you choose to start the business on a large scale, you would need to go source for fund to finance the business because it is expensive to start a standard large – scale juice bar business.
When it comes to financing a business, one of the first things you should consider is to write a good business plan. If you have a good and workable business plan document in place, you may not have to labor yourself before convincing your bank, investors and your friends to invest in your business.
Here are some of the options you can explore when sourcing for startup capital for your fresh fruit juice bar business;
- Raising money from personal savings and sale of personal stocks and properties
- Raising money from investors and business partners
- Sell of shares to interested investors
- Pitching your business idea and applying for business grants and seed funding from donor organizations and angel investors
- Source for soft loans from your family members and your friends
14. Choose a Suitable Location for your Business
As regards choosing a location for your fresh fruit juice bar business, the rule of thumb is that you should be guided by the demand for fresh fruit juice and easy access to wholesale purchasing of fresh fruit supplies directly from farmers, fruits hubs or wholesale fruit distributors.
If you are able to secure a central location for your fresh fruit juice bar business, it will give people easy access to locate your bar.
It cannot be over-stressed that the location you chose to open your fresh fruit juice bar business is key to the success of the business, hence entrepreneurs are willing to rent or lease a facility in a visible location; a location where the demography consists of people with the required purchasing power and lifestyle
Most importantly, before choosing a location for your fresh fruit juice bar business, ensure that you first conduct a thorough feasibility studies and market survey. The possibility of you coming across similar business that just closed shop in the location you want to open yours can’t be ruled out.
Here are some of the key factors that you should consider before choosing a location for your fresh fruit juice bar business;
- The demography of the location
- The demand for fresh fruit juice in the location
- The purchasing power of the residents of the location
- Accessibility of the location
- The number of fresh fruit juice bars and any other outlets that also sell fresh fruit juice in the location
- The local laws and regulations in the community
- Traffic, parking and security
15. Hire Employees for your Technical and Manpower Needs
In general practice, there are no special technology or equipment needed to run this type of business except for juice making machines, Storage hardware (bins, utensil rack, shelves, food case), Counter area equipment (counter top, sink, ice machine, etc.), receipt issuing machines, Sound System (For playing music), Point of Sale Machines (POS Machines), CCTV Cameras and Flat Screen TVs.
You will also need laptops, internet facility, telephone, fax machine and office furniture (chairs, tables, and shelves) amongst others and all these can be gotten as fairly used.
As regards leasing or outright purchase of a bar facility, the choice is dependent on your financial standing, but the truth is that to be on the safe side, it is advisable to start off with a short term rent/lease while test running the business in the location.
If things work out as planned, then you go on a long term lease or outright purchase of the property but if not, then move on and source for other ideal location/facility for such business.
When it comes to hiring employees for a standard fresh fruit juice bar business with more than one outlet, you should make plans to hire a competent Chief Executive Officer (you can occupy this role), Admin and Human Resources Manager, Merchandize Manager, Bar Manager, Smoothie Machine and Juicer Operators, Sales Girls and Sales Boys, Accounting Clerk and Cleaners.
On the average, you will need a minimum of 5 to 10 key staff members to run a small scale but standard juice bar business.
The Service Delivery Process of the Business
When it comes to the business services process of juice bar business, it is the duty of the merchandise manager to help the organization purchase fresh fruits and packaging/serving materials. They source for good purchasing deals and they also ensure that they only purchase at the right prices that will guarantee them good profits.
Since the essence of running a juice bar is to serve freshly made juice to customers without any preservative, then there will be need to always have assorted fresh fruits in the bar.
Usually, when customers visit the juice bar, they are expected to go through the menu and make their choice. For example, if a customer wants fresh pineapple juice or a combination of two or more fruits; the fruits are juiced and then served directly to them.
It is important to state that a fresh fruit juice bar business may decide to improvise or adopt any business process and structure that will guarantee them efficiency and flexibility; the above stated fresh fruit juice bar business process is not cast on stone.
16. Write a Marketing Plan Packed with ideas & Strategies
Running a business requires that you should be proactive when it comes to marketing your goods or services. People and organizations will purchase fresh juice from your bar if they know that they are going to get the best and of course value for their money.
As a matter of fact, your marketing strategy will center on quality, efficiency and pricing, and above all excellent customer service. The truth is that if you are able to put the above stated in place, you won’t struggle to retain your old customers and at the same time win over new customers.
Businesses these days are aware of the power of the internet which is why they will do all they can to maximize the internet to market their services or products. In other words, a larger percentage of your marketing effort will be directed to internet users and your website will become your number one marketing tool.
Here are some of the marketing ideas and strategies that you can adopt for your fresh fruit juice bar business;
- Introduce your fresh fruit juice bar by sending introductory letters alongside your brochure to corporate organizations, households, sports organizations, gyms, schools, celebrities and other key stakeholders throughout the city where your fresh fruit juice bar is located
- Advertise on the internet on blogs and forums, and also on social media like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn to get your message across
- Create a basic website for your business so as to give your business an online presence
- Directly market your products
- Engage in road shows in targeted communities from time to time to promote your fresh fruit juice bar business
- Join local juice bar business associations for industry trends and tips
- Provide discount days for your customers
- Advertise our business in community based newspapers, local TV and radio stations
- List your business on yellow pages ads (local directories)
- Encourage the use of Word of mouth marketing (referrals)
17. Work Out a Reasonable Pricing for your Services & Products
A major key factor that will help you sell your fresh fruit juice at rock bottom prices is to purchase your fresh fruit supplies directly from farmers, fruit hubs or from fruit wholesalers in pretty large quantities. The truth is the higher the quantity of items that you purchase directly from farmers and wholesalers, the cheaper you tend to get them.
Another strategy that will help you retail your fresh fruit juice at the right price is to ensure that you cut operational cost to the barest minimum, and channel your efforts towards marketing and promoting your brand name. Aside from the fact that this strategy will help you save cost, it will also help you get the right pricing for your products.
You can also try as much as possible to work with independent contractors and marketers; it will help you save cost for paying sales and marketing executives.
18. Develop Strategies to Boost Brand Awareness and Create a Corporate Identity
If you are in business and you are not deliberate about boosting you brand awareness and communicating your corporate identity, then you should be ready to take on whatever the society portray your business to be.
If your intention of starting a fresh fruit juice bar business is to grow the business beyond the city where you are going to be operating from to become a national and international brand by opening chains of fresh fruit juice bars and franchising, then you must be ready to spend money on promotion and advertisement of your brand.
No matter the industry you belong to, the truth is that the market is dynamic and it requires consistent brand awareness and boosting cum promotion to continue to appeal to your target market. Here are the platforms you can leverage on to boost your brand awareness and create corporate identity for your fresh fruit juice bar business;
- Place adverts on both print (newspapers and food and drink magazines) and electronic media platforms
- Sponsor relevant community based events
- Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google + et al to promote your fresh fruit juice bar business
- Install your billboards in strategic locations all around your city or state
- Engage in roadshows from time to time in targeted neighborhoods to create awareness of your fresh fruit juice bar business
- Distribute your fliers and handbills in target areas
- Contact corporate organizations, households, sports organizations, gyms, schools, celebrities and other key stakeholders throughout the city where your fresh fruit juice bar is located informing them about your fresh fruit juice bar business
- List your fresh fruit juice bar business in local directories
- Advertise your fresh fruit juice bar business in your official website and employ strategies that will help you pull traffic to the site
- Position your Flexi Banners at strategic positions in the location where fresh fruit juice bar business is located
- Ensure that all your staff members wear your branded shirts and all your vehicles and trucks/vans are well branded with your company logo
19. Create a Suppliers/Distribution Network
In order to successfully run a fresh fruit juice bar business, you should try and partner with park managers and event planners; they are in the better position to give you platforms to sell your fresh juice to a large number of people at the same time especially during events that they are hosting or organizing.