Self-serve frozen yogurt is priced by the ounce, which means the customer decides the ticket and the toppings bar decides the cost. A 10-ounce cup at 69 cents an ounce is $6.90, and costs about $2.05 in mix, toppings, the cup and the card fee. Self-serve needs fewer staff than a scoop shop, so the plan turns on rent in a busy shopping center, the machines and their service, and the season: summer evenings carry the year. In the example, an Augusta frozen yogurt shop starts with $223,000, ends its first year about $6,200 behind before the owner's pay while sales build, and makes about $3,500 a month at full speed. Below is each part of the plan, the first year month by month, the startup budget, and a free template.
The short version
- Describe the shop in a paragraph: the shopping center, the families nearby, the goals.
- Cost a cup by the ounce: mix, toppings, the cup and spoon, the card fee.
- Plan sales by category per $100: cups, shakes, take-home pints and parties.
- Rent and machines are the fixed costs that decide the month.
- Watch the toppings bar; heavy toppings at the same price per ounce cost more.
- Budget working cash for winter, and check it against the lowest cash point.
- TaroStack keeps each yogurt mix and topping as an item, so a cup's true cost follows their prices. More below.
Part 1: the business description
Peach State Froyo, a made-up self-serve frozen yogurt shop in Augusta, Georgia, writes:
Peach State Froyo is a 1,600-square-foot self-serve frozen yogurt shop in a shopping center near two schools, with 12 flavors, a toppings bar, shakes, take-home pints and birthday parties. In its first year it aims to reach $28,000 of sales a month.
Part 2: what a cup costs
| A 10-ounce cup | Yogurt mix, 8 oz | Toppings, 2 oz | Cup and spoon | Card fee | Cost | Price | Cost share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At 69 cents an ounce | $0.96 | $0.70 | $0.18 | $0.21 | $2.05 | $6.90 | 29.7% |
Fruit and candy toppings cost more per ounce than the yogurt, so a cup heavy with toppings costs more to make at the same price. How a food cost share is judged is in what is a good food cost percentage.
Part 3: customers and staffing
After school and summer evenings are the business; Saturday birthday parties fill the slow mornings. Self-serve means one person on the register and one cleaning and refilling most of the day, two in the evening rush.
Part 4: what each category earns
| Category | Sales | Variable cost | Contribution | Margin | Hundreds a month at full speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-serve cups | $100.00 | $30.00 | $70.00 | 70% | 220 |
| Shakes and smoothies | $100.00 | $32.00 | $68.00 | 68% | 30 |
| Take-home pints | $100.00 | $35.00 | $65.00 | 65% | 15 |
| Birthday parties | $100.00 | $28.00 | $72.00 | 72% | 15 |
At full speed the business sells $28,000 a month and keeps $19,495, 69.6%; self-serve cups bring $15,400 of it.
Part 5: the first year, month by month
Fixed costs are $16,000 every month: rent ($5,000), wages ($7,500), utilities ($1,500), insurance ($300), machine service ($500), register and software ($250), ads ($500), and other costs ($450). Sales start at half of full speed:
| Month | Sales | Profit | Cash, year to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $14,100 | −$6,184 | −$6,184 |
| 2 | $15,600 | −$5,138 | −$11,322 |
| 3 | $17,300 | −$3,955 | −$15,277 |
| 4 | $19,000 | −$2,770 | −$18,047 |
| 5 | $20,700 | −$1,587 | −$19,634 |
| 6 | $22,400 | −$404 | −$20,038 |
| 7 | $23,900 | $639 | −$19,399 |
| 8 | $24,900 | $1,337 | −$18,062 |
| 9 | $26,100 | $2,172 | −$15,890 |
| 10 | $26,800 | $2,660 | −$13,230 |
| 11 | $28,000 | $3,495 | −$9,735 |
| 12 | $28,000 | $3,495 | −$6,240 |
The year's sales are $266,800, and the business ends it $6,240 behind, before the owner's pay. It breaks even at about $22,980 of sales a month, in the seventh month. The lowest cash point, −$20,038 in month 6, is covered by the $40,000 of working cash with about $20,000 to spare. The months here are averages; froyo sells far more in July than in January, so change the shares in the workbook's second row for winter.
Part 6: the startup budget
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Build-out and signs | $80,000 |
| Frozen yogurt machines | $45,000 |
| Toppings bar and freezers | $18,000 |
| Furniture | $15,000 |
| Lease deposit and first month | $10,000 |
| Signs and branding | $6,000 |
| Opening inventory | $4,000 |
| Scale and register | $3,000 |
| Licenses and permits | $2,000 |
| Working cash | $40,000 |
| Total to start | $223,000 |
The $183,000 before working cash is earned back in about four and a half years at full speed. A scoop shop is in ice cream business plan, and the gelato version in is a gelato business profitable.
Get the template
Download the frozen yogurt 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 ramping up, profit, cash, the first profitable month, the lowest cash point and whether the working cash covers it; your fixed costs; and the startup budget. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The plan uses one cost a cup. The toppings bar uses a different one every night: candy prices move, cut fruit spoils, and a week of heavy-handed toppings changes what each ounce really costs.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each yogurt mix and topping as an item, so a cup's true cost follows their prices.
Mixes and toppings as items. Each mix and topping is received with its supplier and price, so a new price changes its cost.
Counts with no signal. The freezer and toppings bar can be counted on a phone with no signal, and the reorder list shows what runs out first in days of cover.
Waste with a reason. Cut fruit thrown out at close is recorded as waste with a reason, reported by item.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| What the toppings cost this month | Worked out once | From each delivery |
| Mix before the weekend | A guess | The reorder list |
| Fruit thrown out | Not recorded | Waste by reason and item |
Items, counts and the reorder list are on every plan, from $49 a month. 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.