Common Ground Coffee

Words in [brackets] are blanks you fill in with your own details when you adopt this sample in Supreme Plan AI.

Executive Summary

Common Ground Coffee is a neighborhood coffee shop in Minnesota. We serve specialty coffee and tea, sell pastries and sandwiches from local bakeries and offer seating for working, studying and meeting friends. We are not trying to be a chain. We want to be the place the neighborhood uses as its living room.

Why this fits. People visit a coffee shop several times a week, so a good shop becomes part of daily life. The drinks themselves are made in minutes with high margins, and a friendly barista who remembers a name creates loyalty that a drive-through cannot. Local bakery partners give us a food menu without a kitchen and keep our neighbors' money in the neighborhood.

Here is what our numbers show. In Year 1 we plan about 41,380 drinks (roughly 113 a day) and about 12,258 pastries, food items and retail items. That brings in sales of $316,004, growing to $656,164 by Year 5. We expect a profit of about $51,800 in Year 1, a profit of about $76,100 in Year 2, a profit of about $114,800 in Year 3 and a profit of about $154,400 by Year 5. Rent, barista pay and the espresso machine and build-out paid for before the first cup are our largest costs, and the plan counts all of them.

We need $175,000 in total. Of that, $115,600 is startup costs (the espresso machine and bar, the counter build-out, furniture, signs, opening stock, permits, insurance, deposits and a cushion), and the rest is cash for the first months. I am putting in $30,000 of my own savings and asking for a $145,000 SBA 7(a) loan.

I am Priya Nair, the owner and head barista. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this plan, not promises.

Company Description

Common Ground Coffee will be a limited liability company (LLC) in Minnesota, owned by Priya Nair. We will rent about 1,200 square feet of street-level space in a neighborhood with homes, offices and shops, with a counter and bar, seating for about 30 and a small area for retail items.

What we believe. A coffee shop is more than coffee. It is a place where people feel welcome and slow down.

What we offer:
- Espresso drinks, drip coffee, cold brew and tea made to a standard recipe.
- Pastries and sandwiches from local bakeries and kitchens.
- Bags of beans from a local roaster.
- Free wireless internet and seating for working and meeting.
- A loyalty card and a corkboard for neighborhood news.

Food safety. We follow the state and local food rules, hold the permits the health department requires and train every barista in clean handling and allergen awareness. Allergens are posted and we never guess about an ingredient.

Where things stand today. The menu, budget and plan are written and the next steps are the lease, the build-out and the first two bakery partners.

Problem & Opportunity

Many neighborhoods have either a national chain, which is fast but impersonal, or no good coffee at all. People who work from home, students and parents of young children want a calm place with real coffee, but chain stores are loud and crowded, and drinks taste the same everywhere.

Local bakers and makers also lack easy places to sell. Each is too small to open a storefront, and customers rarely find them.

A neighborhood shop with good coffee, local food and a welcoming room solves both problems.

Products & Services

Common Ground Coffee will be the friendly, well-run shop the neighborhood has been missing.

What makes us different:
1. Better coffee. Beans from a local roaster, a clean machine and a standard recipe for every drink.
2. Local food. Pastries and sandwiches from nearby bakers, with the maker's name on the case.
3. A welcoming room. Comfortable seating, power outlets and quiet corners.
4. Familiar faces. Baristas who learn names and orders.
5. A fair price. Simple pricing with a loyalty card and no gimmicks.
6. A community role. A corkboard, a small event each month and space for a local group to meet.

Why customers return. The coffee is consistent, the room is comfortable and the staff is friendly.

Market Analysis

Who we serve:
- Neighbors who want a good coffee near home.
- People who work remotely and need a place to work.
- Students, parents and retirees.
- Office workers who stop in on the way to work.
- Local makers who want to sell pastries or goods.

How we sized the market. Our trade area is about a 10-minute walk or short drive. We are not counting on every person who drinks coffee. Year 1 plans about 113 drinks a day, which is a small share of the coffee bought within a mile of the shop. Replace this estimate with your own count of homes, offices and schools near your location.

Competitive Landscape

What customers can do today:

1. National coffee chains. Fast and everywhere, but impersonal and crowded.
2. Other independent coffee shops. Good, but usually farther away or small.
3. Gas stations and convenience stores. Cheap and quick, but the coffee is not the point.
4. Making coffee at home. Cheap, but no place to meet or work.
5. Local bakeries and cafes. Good food, but many do not have a full coffee program.

Where we fit. Common Ground offers great coffee, local food and a room people want to stay in. We will not try to beat the chains on speed or price. We will win on quality and welcome.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How customers will find us.

Before opening:
- Put up a coming-soon sign and share progress on social media.
- Invite neighbors, local business owners and bloggers to a soft opening with free drinks.
- Sign agreements with two or three bakeries and a roaster.
- Visit nearby offices and schools to share our menu.

After opening:
- A loyalty card: ten drinks, one free.
- A Google Business Profile and honest reviews from real customers.
- A monthly event such as a book swap, a local artist wall or a small concert.
- Wholesale coffee and pastry boxes for nearby offices.
- A community corkboard and a table for neighborhood groups.

What we will measure. Drinks per day, average ticket, loyalty card use and how many regulars visit each week.

Operations Plan

How the shop will run.

Hours. Early morning through early evening on weekdays and mornings through mid-afternoon on weekends, adjusted as the real traffic shows.

Staffing in Year 1. Priya works the bar and runs the business. One full-time barista and one part-time barista cover the rest of the week. Pay for each role is listed at the end of this plan.

Supplies and food. Beans come from the roaster each week, milk and supplies from a distributor and pastries from the bakeries every morning. We order small amounts so nothing goes stale.

Food safety. Baristas hold the training the state requires. Equipment is cleaned on a schedule, milk is kept cold and checked, handwashing is posted, allergens are labeled and the health permit is posted.

Cleaning. The bar is wiped between rushes, floors are cleaned daily and the espresso machine is cleaned and backflushed every night.

Management & Organization

The people who will run Common Ground Coffee.

Priya Nair, owner and head barista. She trains the team, buys the coffee, manages the budget and works the bar during the busiest hours. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Baristas (one full time and one part time at opening). Make drinks, serve customers and keep the shop clean. Every barista is trained in drink recipes, food safety and allergen awareness before their first shift.

Outside advisors. A bookkeeper, an accountant, an attorney who reviews the lease, an insurance broker, a coffee roaster and a free mentor from SCORE or the Small Business Development Center.

Staff pay in this plan is a full year per person: owner / Head Barista $38,000; full-Time Barista $32,000; part-Time Barista $18,000. Replace them with the pay you can offer where you live.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals and when we plan to reach them.
- Before opening (4 months ahead): sign the lease, finish the counter and bar, install the espresso machine and test every drink, get the health permit, sign agreements with two local bakeries, hire and train the first baristas and run a soft opening for neighbors.
- Year 1: about 41,380 drinks (about 113 a day) and 12,258 food and retail items; $316,004 in sales and a profit of about $51,800.
- Year 2: about 52,540 drinks and 16,063 food and retail items with a second full-time barista; $411,183 in sales and a profit of about $76,100.
- Year 3: about 63,870 drinks and 19,190 food and retail items with more evening events; $507,955 in sales and a profit of about $114,800.
- Year 4: about 72,131 drinks and 21,720 food and retail items and a wholesale coffee table at the shop; $583,351 in sales and a profit of about $128,300.
- Year 5: about 79,839 drinks and 24,054 food and retail items and a plan for catering or a second location; $656,164 in sales and a profit of about $154,400.
Growth depends on winning and keeping customers, so treat the later years as goals, not promises.

What we check every week: drinks and food items sold per day, average ticket, milk and coffee cost, waste, labor hours, reviews and cash in the bank.

Funding Request

How much we need and how we will use it. Total we are raising: $175,000.

How we got that number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds up three things:
- Startup costs of $115,600, listed item by item in the Startup Costs section: $24,000 for espresso machine and two grinders, $14,000 for brewing equipment, refrigeration and water filtration, $30,000 for counter, bar and millwork build-out, $12,000 for tables, chairs, shelving and fixtures, $3,000 for point-of-sale system and tablets, $5,000 for signs, menu boards and branding, $4,000 for opening inventory of coffee, milk, syrups, cups and pastries, $3,500 for health permit, business license and LLC filing, $3,000 for general liability and property insurance, first year, $8,100 for security deposit and first three months of rent, $3,000 for grand opening promotion, $6,000 for contingency.
- The cash the business uses before it breaks even, about $0. Sales cover the daily costs once the doors open, so the cash we need up front goes mostly to startup costs.
- A cash cushion of about $34,300: three months of Year 1 operating costs.
- Together, the cash used before break even and the cushion come to about $34,300, and the three pieces add up to about $149,900, rounded up to the nearest $500: $150,000.
We are raising $25,000 more than that, $175,000 in all, to cover a slower first season than planned and the cost of adding staff. With this funding, the lowest year-end cash balance is about $218,500, at the end of Year 1.

Where the money comes from:
- My own money: $30,000.
- SBA 7(a) loan: $145,000.

Kind of funding we are looking for. An SBA 7(a) loan from a lender that finances small food and beverage businesses, backed by my own savings and the shop equipment as collateral.

How we will pay it back. We expect a profit of about $51,800 in Year 1, a profit of about $76,100 in Year 2, a profit of about $114,800 in Year 3, a profit of about $128,300 in Year 4 and a profit of about $154,400 in Year 5. With this funding, the business has money in the bank at the end of every year of the plan. Our loan is the SBA 7(a) loan at 10.5% over 10 years, $1,957 a month. That payment is already included in our cash flow. We chose these as cautious planning rates; ask the lender for the real rates, which may be lower or higher.

What we are offering the lender: the shop equipment and my personal guarantee.

A smaller first step, if needed. If we cannot raise the full amount right away, we can start smaller and grow into this plan:
- Phase 1: open with one grinder, a smaller menu and shorter hours, which lowers the build-out and the loan.
- Phase 2: once the shop has regulars, add the second grinder, the full food menu and evening hours and follow this plan.
To plan the smaller start, make a copy of this plan (use Duplicate) and lower the numbers to match.

All numbers in this plan are estimates. We will update them as real results come in.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this plan:

- Your resume and a personal financial statement (a list of what you own and what you owe; lenders usually provide a form).
- Business registration papers and your EIN (your business tax number from the IRS, free at irs.gov).
- The lease or a letter of intent from the landlord.
- Quotes for the espresso machine, grinders and build-out.
- Your health permit and food manager certificate or applications.
- Letters from your roaster and bakery suppliers.
- Your menu with the cost and price of every item.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Beverage Sales: about $5.8 in Year 1, rising to $6.2; about $1.45 in direct costs, rising to $1.55; about 41,380 in Year 1, growing to 79,839.
- Food and Retail Sales: about $6.2 in Year 1, rising to $6.7; about $3.1 in direct costs, rising to $3.35; about 12,258 in Year 1, growing to 24,054.
- Beverage sales are counted by drink, about 113 a day in Year 1. Food and retail sales are counted by item and include pastries, sandwiches and bags of beans.
- Prices rise about 2% a year.
- Equipment ($0 in Year 1) covers the espresso machine, grinders and brewing equipment, which are listed under coffee bar equipment rather than equipment in this plan's startup costs, and later years ($0, $0, $0 and $0) replace and add equipment.
- Pay (a full year, per person): owner / Head Barista $38,000; full-Time Barista $32,000; part-Time Barista $18,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: rent and Utilities $32,400, marketing and Loyalty Program $6,000, supplies and Packaging $8,400, pOS Software and Technology $2,400. These grow between 3% and 8% a year.
- Customers and payers pay about 7 days after service, so at the end of Year 1 about $6,320 is still owed to us. Income tax at 21%.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and research.

Startup Costs