Smoothie Business Plan, With a 12-Month Projection

A smoothie business plan sets out where you'll sell and what, what a smoothie costs and sells for, the cart or kitchen it needs, and the first year month by month. The fruit in a 16-ounce smoothie costs about a dollar, and the cup another 30 cents, which makes the margin look enormous until the staffing goes in: two people at a cart for a six-hour event cost the same whether 50 smoothies sell or 150. That's the number that decides what to charge. In the example below, a smoothie cart in Tampa sells smoothies and bowls at markets and events, protein add-ons, and frozen smoothie packs to gyms, makes a profit from month 2, and ends the year about $40,800 ahead on $115,600 of sales, after paying $20 an hour for everyone at the cart. Below is a description example, what a smoothie costs, how much to charge, the projection, the startup budget, and a free template.

The short version

• Describe the business in a paragraph: where you sell, what you sell, the cart, the goals.
• Cost a smoothie with its share of the people at the cart, about $2 in the example.
• Charge enough that a slow event still covers the staff; $8 for a 16-ounce smoothie here.
• Bowls cost more to make and serve; price them for it.
• Add-ons like protein are almost pure margin.
• Frozen packs for gyms use the commissary's quiet days.
• TaroStack keeps the fruit, cups and packs counted, by site, at what they cost. More below.

Part 1: the business description

Key Lime Blends, a made-up smoothie business in Tampa, Florida, I use in these examples, writes:

Key Lime Blends sells fruit smoothies and açaí bowls from a cart at farmers markets, festivals and corporate events, and makes frozen smoothie packs for gyms in a licensed commissary kitchen. In our first year we plan to work ten events a month and supply 8 gyms.

Part 2: what a smoothie costs

The staffing line is two people for a six-hour event, $240 at $20 an hour, over about 120 smoothies. A bowl takes two more minutes to build. A slow event that sells 60 smoothies doubles the staffing share to $4, which is why the price has to hold up on the quiet days, not just the busy ones. How events are costed and planned, staff included, is in catering business plan.

Part 3: how much to charge

At $8, a smoothie leaves $4.11 on a typical event day. At $6, it would leave $2.17, and a slow day would leave almost nothing. The protein add-on is the easiest money at the cart: one question, $1.54. Gym packs leave less each, but they're made at the commissary between events and delivered by the case. How to price something you sell to a business that resells it is in how to price handmade items for wholesale.

Part 4: the first year, month by month

Fixed costs are $1,340 a month: the commissary kitchen ($400), market and event fees averaged over the year ($500), the cart and trailer loan ($250), insurance ($80), generator fuel ($60), and the website and software ($50); what a market day really costs is in cost to sell at a farmers market. Sales start at 15% of full speed and reach it by month 11:

The year's sales are $115,600 and the profit $40,809, on top of $20 an hour for everyone at the cart.

Part 5: the startup budget

A cart that serves food is a mobile food unit, and in many places that means a permit, an inspection and a licensed commissary where it's stocked and cleaned; check with your county or city before buying a cart. Dairy, nuts in toppings and whey protein are the allergens to have on the menu board.

Get the template

Download the smoothie business plan workbook. Four sheets: your products with price, variable cost and monthly volume at full speed; the 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

Ten events a month, a cart restocked from the commissary each morning, frozen fruit bought by the case from two suppliers, and gym packs going out on the days between. Nobody knows how many cups are on the cart and how many at the commissary, which events paid for the staff, or when the açaí runs out.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps the stock where it is and the cost of what sells.

The cart as a site. The commissary and the cart are sites, so fruit and cups moved to the cart for an event are counted there, and what comes back is counted back, on a phone with no signal needed at a festival.

Recipes for every cup. Each smoothie, bowl and pack is a recipe, and units convert: frozen fruit bought by the 30-pound case, used by the ounce, so the cost of a smoothie follows the price of fruit. Gym packs are batches made at the commissary, and gym orders are sales orders for their delivery day.

And the açaí before it runs out. The reorder list works in days of cover at the rate each item really moves, against each supplier's lead time, and margins are reported by product and by customer.

Recipes, batches and margins by product and customer are on every plan, from $49 a month; the cart as its own site, beside the commissary, is on Standard at $99. 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 should I charge for a smoothie?

Enough to cover the fruit, the cup and the people at the cart on a slow day. In the example, a 16-ounce smoothie costing $3.89, with $2 of staffing, sells for $8.

What is the profit margin on smoothies?

In the example, 51% on a smoothie at an event once staffing is counted, 43% on a bowl, and 77% on a protein add-on. Without the staffing, a smoothie looks like about 75%, which is how prices end up too low.

How much does it cost to start a smoothie business?

In the example, about $14,500: $11,500 for a used cart and trailer, blenders, a freezer and coolers, a card reader, signs, permits and first supplies, and $3,000 of working cash.

Is a smoothie business profitable?

It can be. In the example, a cart working ten events a month with gym packs on the side ends the first year about $40,800 ahead on $115,600 of sales, with $20 an hour paid for everyone at the cart.