A micro market is an unattended store in an office or a factory break room: open shelves and coolers, and a self-checkout kiosk where people scan and pay. The operator owns the equipment, stocks it and pays the host a small commission. Fresh food sells well but is thrown out at its date; drinks keep the widest margin. The plan turns on the restocking route, the van and the driver's wages, and placing enough markets to fill the van. In the example, a Denver micro market operator starts with $118,500, ends its first year about $13,200 ahead before the owner's pay, and makes about $4,300 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 business in a paragraph: the locations, the products, the goals.
- Cost each category per $100: goods, host commission, kiosk fees, shrink.
- Plan sales by category: fresh food, snacks, drinks, frozen.
- Fresh food sells well and expires: stock it to what sells.
- The route, the van and the driver are the fixed costs.
- Place markets close together, so one route fills a day.
- TaroStack keeps each market counted and the reorder list in days of cover. More below.
Part 1: the business description
Front Range Micro Markets, a made-up micro market operator in Denver, Colorado, writes:
Front Range Micro Markets runs self-checkout markets in eight Denver workplaces, with fresh sandwiches and salads from a licensed kitchen, snacks, cold drinks and frozen meals, restocked three times a week from a small warehouse. In its first year it aims to reach $25,000 of sales a month.
Part 2: what $100 of sales costs
| Category | Goods | Host commission | Kiosk and card fees | Shrink | Cost | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh sandwiches and salads | $48.00 | $5.00 | $5.00 | $4.00 | $62.00 | 38.0% |
| Snacks | $45.00 | $5.00 | $4.00 | $1.00 | $55.00 | 45.0% |
| Drinks | $40.00 | $5.00 | $4.00 | $1.00 | $50.00 | 50.0% |
| Frozen meals | $48.00 | $5.00 | $4.00 | $1.00 | $58.00 | 42.0% |
The host commission is 5% of sales, paid monthly to each workplace; the kiosk and card fees are the payment processor's and the software's cut. Fresh food's shrink is what's pulled at its date.
Part 3: locations, the route and the food
Each market needs about 150 people on site to pay its way. A driver restocks Monday, Wednesday and Friday, pulling anything at its date and counting each market as it goes. Sandwiches and salads come from a licensed kitchen the business buys from, delivered the night before, in commissary kitchen business plan.
Part 4: what each category earns
| Category | Sales | Variable cost | Contribution | Margin | Hundreds a month at full speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh sandwiches and salads | $100.00 | $62.00 | $38.00 | 38% | 60 |
| Snacks | $100.00 | $55.00 | $45.00 | 45% | 80 |
| Drinks | $100.00 | $50.00 | $50.00 | 50% | 90 |
| Frozen meals | $100.00 | $58.00 | $42.00 | 42% | 20 |
At full speed the business sells $25,000 a month and keeps $11,220, 44.9%; drinks bring $4,500 of it.
Part 5: the first year, month by month
Fixed costs are $6,950 every month: wages for a route driver ($4,000), warehouse space ($1,200), van fuel and upkeep ($900), kiosk software ($300), insurance ($250), and other costs ($300). Sales start at 35% of full speed:
| Month | Sales | Profit | Cash, year to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $8,700 | −$3,048 | −$3,048 |
| 2 | $10,500 | −$2,234 | −$5,282 |
| 3 | $12,200 | −$1,473 | −$6,755 |
| 4 | $14,000 | −$671 | −$7,426 |
| 5 | $15,800 | $140 | −$7,286 |
| 6 | $17,500 | $904 | −$6,382 |
| 7 | $19,200 | $1,668 | −$4,714 |
| 8 | $21,000 | $2,479 | −$2,235 |
| 9 | $22,500 | $3,148 | $913 |
| 10 | $23,800 | $3,734 | $4,647 |
| 11 | $25,000 | $4,270 | $8,917 |
| 12 | $25,000 | $4,270 | $13,187 |
The year's sales are $215,200, and the business ends it $13,187 ahead, before the owner's pay. It breaks even at about $15,490 of sales a month, in the fifth month. The lowest cash point, −$7,426 in month 4, is covered by the $12,000 of working cash with about $4,600 to spare. Sales build as markets are placed, one or two a month; the plan starts at about a third of full speed and reaches all eight by month eleven.
Part 6: the startup budget
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Eight micro markets: kiosks, coolers and shelving | $72,000 |
| Used van | $20,000 |
| Opening inventory | $8,000 |
| Warehouse shelving and cooler | $6,000 |
| Licenses | $500 |
| Working cash | $12,000 |
| Total to start | $118,500 |
The $106,500 before working cash is earned back in about two years at full speed. A staffed store's version is in convenience store business plan, and what fresh sandwiches cost in sandwich shop business plan.
Get the template
Download the micro market 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. Each market sells differently, sandwiches expire on different days, and the driver can't tell from the van what each market needs on Wednesday.
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. Sandwiches and salads pulled at their date is recorded with its reason, expired, damaged or lost, and reported by item.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| What to order this week | A walk around the shelves | The reorder list |
| What a delivery cost | Invoices in a drawer | Receiving by supplier |
| What was thrown out | Not recorded | Shrink by reason and 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.