A halal meat shop sells meat from animals slaughtered by halal method at an inspected plant, cut to order at the counter, and the groceries its customers can't find at a supermarket: basmati rice, spices, dates, frozen sambusas and parathas. Its customers come for trust: that every carcass came from a halal supplier, and that the counter never handles anything that isn't. The meat departments keep about 30 cents of each dollar, and ground and marinated meats made from trim keep more. The plan turns on the meat counter, a walk-in cooler, and wages for butchers who cut lamb and goat to order. The plan below works in departments per $100 of sales. In the example, a Columbus halal market starts with $153,500, ends its first year about $6,500 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 community, the meats, what's missing nearby, the goals.
- Cost a few items: supplier price by the pound, the card fee, the counter price.
- Plan sales by department per $100: lamb and goat, beef, chicken, groceries, frozen, ground and marinated.
- Buy from halal-certified suppliers, from inspected plants; the shop cuts, it doesn't slaughter.
- Ground and marinated meats made from trim keep the most.
- Many shops get their counter certified too; budget for it.
- TaroStack keeps each cutting's yield and each supplier's lot. More below.
Part 1: the business description
Crescent Halal Market, a made-up halal meat shop in Columbus, Ohio, writes:
Crescent Halal Market is a 2,800-square-foot halal butcher and grocery in Columbus with a counter cutting lamb, goat, beef and chicken to order, ground and marinated meats made in house, and groceries and frozen foods from East African, Middle Eastern and South Asian distributors. In its first year it aims to reach $63,000 of sales a month.
Part 2: what an item costs
| Item | Cost | Card fee | Total cost | Price | Cost share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goat, bone-in, per lb | $6.60 | $0.25 | $6.85 | $9.99 | 68.6% |
| Lamb chops, per lb | $9.80 | $0.37 | $10.17 | $14.99 | 67.8% |
| Whole chicken, per lb | $2.10 | $0.08 | $2.18 | $3.29 | 66.3% |
| Ground beef, made in the shop, per lb | $3.30 | $0.16 | $3.46 | $6.49 | 53.3% |
| Basmati rice, 10 lb bag | $13.50 | $0.50 | $14.00 | $19.99 | 70.0% |
Goat and lamb come in as whole and half carcasses and are cut to order, so their cost a pound carries the bone and fat trimmed away. Ground beef is made from the trim, which is why it keeps more of its price. Cutting yields are in butcher shop business plan.
Part 3: suppliers, certification and the counter
Lamb and goat come twice a week as carcasses from a halal-certified, USDA-inspected plant; beef in primals and chicken whole from certified suppliers; each delivery's paperwork names the supplier and its certifier. The shop cuts and grinds under a retail food license and doesn't slaughter. Many customers look for a certifier's sign at the counter, which is in how to get halal certified. How shrink is counted at a store is in grocery store shrink.
Part 4: what each category earns
| Category | Sales | Variable cost | Contribution | Margin | Hundreds a month at full speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamb and goat | $100.00 | $70.00 | $30.00 | 30% | 150 |
| Beef | $100.00 | $72.00 | $28.00 | 28% | 120 |
| Chicken | $100.00 | $70.00 | $30.00 | 30% | 100 |
| Groceries: rice, spices, dates | $100.00 | $72.00 | $28.00 | 28% | 150 |
| Frozen foods | $100.00 | $65.00 | $35.00 | 35% | 50 |
| Ground and marinated meats made in the shop | $100.00 | $55.00 | $45.00 | 45% | 60 |
At full speed the business sells $63,000 a month and keeps $19,510, 31%; lamb and goat bring $4,500 of it.
Part 5: the first year, month by month
Fixed costs are $16,050 every month: rent ($4,000), wages ($8,500), utilities ($1,800), insurance ($400), equipment upkeep ($300), register and software ($200), ads ($200), halal certification ($150), and other costs ($500). Sales start at half of full speed:
| Month | Sales | Profit | Cash, year to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $31,500 | −$6,295 | −$6,295 |
| 2 | $35,300 | −$5,112 | −$11,407 |
| 3 | $39,000 | −$3,974 | −$15,381 |
| 4 | $42,900 | −$2,763 | −$18,144 |
| 5 | $46,600 | −$1,625 | −$19,769 |
| 6 | $50,400 | −$442 | −$20,211 |
| 7 | $53,700 | $580 | −$19,631 |
| 8 | $56,200 | $1,348 | −$18,283 |
| 9 | $58,800 | $2,161 | −$16,122 |
| 10 | $60,500 | $2,692 | −$13,430 |
| 11 | $63,000 | $3,460 | −$9,970 |
| 12 | $63,000 | $3,460 | −$6,510 |
The year's sales are $600,900, and the business ends it $6,510 behind, before the owner's pay. It breaks even at about $51,830 of sales a month, in the seventh month. The lowest cash point, −$20,211 in month 6, is covered by the $30,000 of working cash with about $9,800 to spare. Eid al-Adha and Ramadan bring the busiest weeks of the year, for lamb and goat above all; the plan spreads them as monthly averages, so order carcasses well ahead of those weeks.
Part 6: the startup budget
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Opening inventory | $35,000 |
| Meat cases and walk-in cooler | $30,000 |
| Build-out | $25,000 |
| Band saw, grinder and slicer | $9,000 |
| Lease deposit and first month | $8,000 |
| Shelving | $8,000 |
| Register | $3,000 |
| Signs | $3,000 |
| Licenses and certification | $2,500 |
| Working cash | $30,000 |
| Total to start | $153,500 |
The $123,500 before working cash is earned back in about three years at full speed. A general butcher is in butcher shop business plan, and a grocery without the counter in small grocery store business plan.
Get the template
Download the halal meat 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 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 yield per carcass. Goats vary in size, the butchers trim differently on a busy Friday, and which supplier's lamb went into Tuesday's ground meat is on a delivery slip somewhere.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each cutting's yield and each supplier's lot, so a cut's true cost and its source are on record.
Each cutting a batch. Cutting a goat or lamb carcass into cuts is a batch: the carcass goes in, the cuts come out, and their cost a pound comes from what that carcass cost; trim ground into ground meat is a batch of its own.
Lots by supplier. Each delivery is received from its supplier with its lot, so which supplier's lamb went into a batch of ground meat is on record.
Dates, oldest first. Meat and frozen foods keep their dates, the oldest goes first, and an alert comes before a date runs out.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| What a carcass yielded | Weighed once | Every cutting batch |
| Which supplier's lamb went into the ground meat | A delivery slip | Batches by lot |
| Meat about to pass its date | Found in the case | An alert before the date |
Recipes, batches, lots and expiry 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.