A cheese shop buys whole wheels and sells them by the wedge, and the plan turns on what happens in between. Every wheel loses some weight to rind, trim and crumbs when it's cut, so a pound sold costs more than a pound bought, and a wedge left too long in the case dries out or grows mold. The plan works in categories per $100 of sales, cut-to-order cheese, pre-packed cheese, charcuterie, crackers and jams, boards and gift boxes, classes, and each wheel is priced from its cost per sellable pound. In the example below, a Pennsylvania cheese shop opens with $153,500, ends its first year about $8,100 ahead on $486,400 of sales, and makes about $4,600 each month at full speed, before the owner's pay. Below is each part of the plan, the rules on raw-milk cheese, the first year month by month, the startup budget, and a free template.
The short version
- Describe the shop in a paragraph: the town, who buys cheese, what they can't find at the supermarket, the goals.
- Price each wheel from its cost per sellable pound: wheel cost ÷ (weight × the share left after cutting).
- Plan sales by category per $100, with card fees and the case's shrink in the cost.
- Raw-milk cheese has to be aged before it's sold; for cheddar, at least 60 days at 35 °F or more.
- Boards, gift boxes and classes keep the most of each dollar.
- Cut to the day's sales, wrap well, and sell the ends and crumbs in a bin.
- TaroStack makes each cut a batch from the wheel's lot, so every wedge carries its wheel and the rind's cost. More below.
Part 1: the business description
Brandywine Cheese Shop, a made-up cheese shop in West Chester, Pennsylvania, I use in these examples, writes:
Brandywine Cheese Shop is a 1,000-square-foot cheese shop with a cut-to-order counter of about 120 cheeses, half from Pennsylvania and nearby farms, charcuterie sliced to order, crackers, jams and olives, cheese boards and gift boxes made in the shop, and tasting classes in the evening. In its first year it aims to reach $50,000 of sales a month.
Part 2: what a wheel costs by the pound sold
| Wheel | Weight | Cost a pound | Sellable after cutting | Cost a sellable pound | Price a pound | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aged cheddar, cloth-bound | 40 lb | $7.20 | 94% | $7.66 | $15.99 | 52.1% |
| Alpine-style, 20 lb wheel | 20 lb | $14.50 | 90% | $16.11 | $29.99 | 46.3% |
| Raw-milk blue | 6 lb | $13.00 | 93% | $13.98 | $26.99 | 48.2% |
| Soft bloomy rind | 2.2 lb | $11.00 | 97% | $11.34 | $21.99 | 48.4% |
Cost a sellable pound = cost a pound ÷ the share left after cutting. The alpine wheel's hard rind and the crumbs from cutting it take 10%, so its $14.50 a pound is $16.11 by the time it's in the case. Ends and crumbs sold from a bin at a lower price earn some of that back. How a yield changes the cost of what comes out is in batch yield formula.
Part 3: the rules on raw-milk cheese
Milk products sold across state lines in final package form have to be pasteurized or made from pasteurized ingredients, except where the cheese standards allow curing instead (21 CFR 1240.61). The cheddar standard, for one, says cheddar made from unpasteurized milk is cured at not less than 35 °F for at least 60 days (21 CFR 133.113). So a raw-milk cheese in the case should come with its make date, and the shop should know it's old enough. Cutting and wrapping cheese and slicing charcuterie fall under the shop's retail food permit, which inspects the case temperatures and the counter. This is general information, not legal advice.
Part 4: what each category earns
| Category | Sales | Variable cost | Contribution | Margin | Hundreds a month at full speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheese cut to order | $100.00 | $58.00 | $42.00 | 42.0% | 250 |
| Pre-packed cheese and butter | $100.00 | $66.00 | $34.00 | 34.0% | 50 |
| Charcuterie sliced to order | $100.00 | $60.50 | $39.50 | 39.5% | 60 |
| Crackers, jams and olives | $100.00 | $61.50 | $38.50 | 38.5% | 65 |
| Boards and gift boxes | $100.00 | $56.50 | $43.50 | 43.5% | 50 |
| Classes and tastings | $100.00 | $32.50 | $67.50 | 67.5% | 25 |
The cut-to-order cheese's cost includes the rind loss, the wrap, card fees and 2.5% for wedges that dry out or mold. At full speed the shop sells $50,000 a month and keeps $20,935, 41.9%; the counter brings $10,500 of it, half the sales. Classes keep the most of each dollar and sell the cheese afterward. How a board is priced is in how to price charcuterie boards, and building gift boxes from stock in kitting for gift boxes.
Part 5: the first year, month by month
Fixed costs are $16,300 every month: rent ($4,500), wages for two cheesemongers and weekend help ($9,500), utilities and the walk-in ($900), insurance ($350), the register, scale and software ($150), ads ($400), and other costs ($500). Sales start at 55% of full speed:
| Month | Sales | Profit | Cash, year to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $27,700 | −$4,700 | −$4,700 |
| 2 | $30,000 | −$3,739 | −$8,438 |
| 3 | $32,600 | −$2,659 | −$11,098 |
| 4 | $35,100 | −$1,592 | −$12,690 |
| 5 | $37,700 | −$512 | −$13,202 |
| 6 | $40,000 | $448 | −$12,754 |
| 7 | $42,600 | $1,528 | −$11,226 |
| 8 | $45,100 | $2,594 | −$8,632 |
| 9 | $47,000 | $3,393 | −$5,239 |
| 10 | $48,600 | $4,040 | −$1,199 |
| 11 | $50,000 | $4,635 | $3,436 |
| 12 | $50,000 | $4,635 | $8,071 |
The year's sales are $486,400 and the profit $8,071, before the owner's pay. The shop breaks even at about $38,900 of sales a month, in the sixth month; the first five lose $13,202, which the working cash covers. The holiday weeks, with gift boxes and party boards, are the busiest of the year, so a shop that opens in autumn reaches them early.
Part 6: the startup budget
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Cheese case and walk-in cooler | $40,000 |
| Build-out and signs | $35,000 |
| Opening inventory: wheels and wedges | $30,000 |
| Lease deposit and first month | $9,000 |
| Slicer, wires and label scale | $8,000 |
| Licenses and permits | $1,500 |
| Working cash | $30,000 |
| Total to start | $153,500 |
The $123,500 before working cash is earned back over a little more than two years at full speed. A cheesemaker's plan, from the other side of the counter, is in cheese making business plan.
Get the template
Download the cheese shop business plan workbook. Four sheets: your categories, each per $100 of sales with its variable cost and hundreds a month at full speed; the first year, month by month, with sales, profit and cash; your fixed costs; and your startup budget with working cash. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
A plan in categories hides the wheels: 120 of them, each bought at its own price, cut at its own loss, wrapped into wedges that dry out in their own time, some raw-milk with make dates to check, and boards built from a dozen of them. A spreadsheet can't say what a pound of the alpine really cost after cutting, which wedges came from which wheel, or whether a raw-milk blue was old enough when it went into the case.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack makes each cut a batch from the wheel's lot, so every wedge carries its wheel and the rind's cost.
Cutting as a batch. Cutting a wheel is a batch: 20 pounds of alpine go in, 18 pounds of wedges come out, so each pound of wedges carries the rind's cost, and the wedges get a lot of their own that records the wheel's lot.
Dates on every wheel. Each wheel is received with the cheesemaker's lot and make date, so a raw-milk cheese's age is on the record, and wedges keep their dates with an alert before they run out.
Boards and recalls. A cheese board or gift box is a recipe too, so it takes its cheeses off stock and costs what it used. If a cheesemaker recalls a wheel, one recall report shows which wedges and boards it went into and what's still in the case.
| The job | Spreadsheet | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Cost a pound after cutting | Worked out by hand | From the cutting batch |
| Which wheel a wedge came from | Written on the label, maybe | Each wedge lot records its wheel |
| A raw-milk cheese's age | The invoice, somewhere | The wheel's make date on its lot |
| A cheesemaker's recall | Pull the case | One report: wedges, boards and what's left |
Recipes, batches, lots, expiry and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month; TaroStack connects to Square. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.