Hi guys,
Long time lurker/reader, first time really posting!
My colleagues and I have finally scraped together close to six figure capital to start up our cafe. We're aware this is on the lower side, so we have to keep to a tight budget any way we can. We have collectively ~6 years in coffee, and specialty is what we love and want to do for ourselves. Will start out primarily as takeaway coffee with kitchen-less food setup, with the possibility to expand into kitchen later (ie. allocation of water/gas/elec + floorspace).
Would heartily welcome any advice, especially on the more difficult stuff. (Roasters, bean choice, equip, branding we've got down, of course
Some of the things we're looking at:
- water quality in Maribyrnong - esp in relation to extracting compounds & filtration type
- any permits (we're aware of trade waste, facades, food safety) and how to approach them
- how to identify and cost plumbing/electrical requirements
- leasing vs purchase of hydra/strada-level machine - what's best for startup/initial cashflow. and how many providers are there for leasing in Melb?
- self fitout: best places to source for cheap fitouts? (we will empty interior to a shell and work the tenancy)
- And of course, any pearls of wisdom you can only get from actually having done it!
Thanks, any comments appreciated!
John
Long time lurker/reader, first time really posting!
My colleagues and I have finally scraped together close to six figure capital to start up our cafe. We're aware this is on the lower side, so we have to keep to a tight budget any way we can. We have collectively ~6 years in coffee, and specialty is what we love and want to do for ourselves. Will start out primarily as takeaway coffee with kitchen-less food setup, with the possibility to expand into kitchen later (ie. allocation of water/gas/elec + floorspace).
Would heartily welcome any advice, especially on the more difficult stuff. (Roasters, bean choice, equip, branding we've got down, of course

Some of the things we're looking at:
- water quality in Maribyrnong - esp in relation to extracting compounds & filtration type
- any permits (we're aware of trade waste, facades, food safety) and how to approach them
- how to identify and cost plumbing/electrical requirements
- leasing vs purchase of hydra/strada-level machine - what's best for startup/initial cashflow. and how many providers are there for leasing in Melb?
- self fitout: best places to source for cheap fitouts? (we will empty interior to a shell and work the tenancy)
- And of course, any pearls of wisdom you can only get from actually having done it!
Thanks, any comments appreciated!
John
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