Thinking about opening a Drive-Thru Coffee House

[Buckeye]

Hello,
I am in the VERY initial stages of potentially opening a Drive Thru Coffee House. I have recently moved from Oregon, where there can be 2-3 drive thru coffee houses on a busy intersection. Now I am living in Ohio and the only choice for coffee is at Starbucks or Dunkin. I really think small drive thru houses would do very well here.

I have never worked in the food or coffee industry before so I know I have a lot to learn. I worked for BIG business in the past and feel like a small business is in my future.

I know this might sound shallow but I want to make the right decision financially. I have a good business sense, I am a hard worker and I am able to financially able to fund this project almost on my own.

So I guess I have 2 questions: :question:What is a range of income that a low to medium traffic coffee house generate?

And, :question:Any suggestions on how I should start this quest? I am OK with not being up and running for 6-9 months.

Thank you in Advance for any help!!!

 

[John P]

1. It varies. It depends on your avg. ticket, avg. # of tickets daily, profit margin per drink, labor, efficiency and waste. It could be $1 or it could be $40K. The answer is likely somewhere between the two.

2. If you want to even have a hope of doing it right, plan on 18 months to 2 years before you open. 6-9 months? Not happening if you want to be successful.