Gourmet Food Store Business Plan, With a First Year

A gourmet food store sells things people can't get at the supermarket: cheese cut to order, good olive oil and pasta, local makers' jams and sauces, gift boxes. The cheese counter keeps nearly half its price but throws out what dries or molds; pantry goods keep less but sit safely on a shelf; local makers' products can be bought or consigned, which moves the risk to the maker. Gift boxes keep the most and fill December. The plan turns on rent, wages and how much cheese is cut and wrapped against what sells. In the example, a Boise specialty food store starts with $83,900, ends its first year about $747 ahead before the owner's pay, and makes about $3,300 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 store in a paragraph: the street, the counter, the makers, the goals.
• Cost each category per $100: the goods, card fees and shrink.
• Plan sales by category: cheese counter, pantry, local makers, gift boxes.
• Consigning local products moves the risk of unsold stock to the maker.
• The cheese counter keeps the most per dollar, and throws out the most.
• Gift boxes fill December: plan the boxes and the staff.
• TaroStack keeps the shelves counted and the reorder list in days of cover. More below.

Part 1: the business description

Camel's Back Provisions, a made-up specialty food store in Boise, Idaho, writes:

Camel's Back Provisions is a 1,400-square-foot specialty food store in Boise's North End, with a cheese and charcuterie counter, pantry goods, products from 40 Idaho makers bought outright or on consignment, and gift boxes for holidays and businesses. In its first year it aims to reach $38,000 of sales a month.

Part 2: what $100 of sales costs

The gift boxes' shrink is the box, ribbon and filler, not lost goods. For consigned products the goods column is the maker's share, paid when the jar sells. How opening the store works is in how to open a specialty food store.

Part 3: the counter, the makers and the holidays

The cheese counter cuts to order and wraps a few wedges for the grab case each morning. Most local makers sell to the store at wholesale; a few newer ones consign, and are paid monthly for what sold. In November and December, gift boxes for businesses double the counter's work. Cheese cut and sold at the counter is in cheese shop business plan.

Part 4: what each category earns

At full speed the business sells $38,000 a month and keeps $15,810, 41.6%; the cheese counter brings $6,300 of it.

Part 5: the first year, month by month

Fixed costs are $12,500 every month: rent ($4,000), wages ($6,500), utilities ($900), ads ($300), insurance ($250), register and software ($150), and other costs ($400). Sales start at half of full speed:

The year's sales are $362,300, and the business ends it $747 ahead, before the owner's pay. It breaks even at about $30,040 of sales a month, in the sixth month. The lowest cash point, −$13,489 in month 5, is covered by the $15,000 of working cash with about $1,500 to spare. The plan treats every month alike once sales are built up; a real year has a December twice the size of a February, which is where gift boxes earn their place.

Part 6: the startup budget

The $68,900 before working cash is earned back in about one and a half years at full speed. A general store's mix is in general store business plan, and gift boxes on their own in gift box business plan.

Get the template

Download the gourmet food store 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 shrink share for the counter. Some weeks the store cuts more brie than it sells, consigned jars sit for months, and nobody knows which maker is owed what until the end of the month.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps the shelves counted, the reorder list in days of cover, and what was thrown out by reason.

Receiving by supplier. Each delivery is received against its purchase order, so what was ordered, what came and what it cost are on record.

Counts and the reorder list. Shelves, coolers and the back room can be counted on a phone with no signal, and the reorder list shows what runs out first in days of cover.

Shrink with a reason. Cheese that dried or molded at the counter is recorded with its reason, expired, damaged or lost, and reported by item.

Receiving, 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.

Questions people also ask

How much does it cost to start a gourmet food store?

The example budgets $83,900, including $15,000 of working cash; the build-out is the biggest item.

Is a gourmet food store profitable?

It can be: the example makes about $3,300 a month at full speed before the owner's pay, and ends its first year ahead.

What sells best in a specialty food store?

In the example, the cheese counter brings the most, $6,300 a month of contribution, and gift boxes keep the most of each dollar.

Should a specialty store buy or consign local products?

Buying costs the store when jars don't sell; consigning moves that risk to the maker, who is paid when they do. The example does both.