Finding Supplies: How to Start Coffee Shop on a Budget

**This post, Finding Supplies: Coffee Shop on a Budget, does not replace actual financial advice from a professional. This is solely my opinion and experience**

Finding Supplies

There are a couple of avenues you can go for buying supplies to operate your coffee shop. Such as:

1. Online supply stores (such as Webstaurant, Barista Underground, etc)
2. Amazon (I’m not linking Amazon lol we all have a tab open on our phone already I’m sure)
3. Local distribution centers
4. Local grocery stores (not the best option for a budget)

What do we do?

Personally, I have found that Webstaurant has the fairest prices on syrups and alternative milk and cups.

I do not get the subscription. $100/month is not worth it yet for my small operation when I only place a single order each month and the shipping costs doesn’t warrant the extra monthly draft from our account.

For the couple of items we carry that aren’t sold on the wholesale site (like our Mexican chocolate syrup and a few items we needed to start) we go to Amazon.

Know Your Menu. Know Your Supplies.

You need to have a general idea of what your menu will be in order to have the correct supplies.

For us, we have just general latte or espresso based drinks (we do Cold Brew at markets or large events), Italian sodas, Lotus Energy, and recently added a Chai option due to many requests.

You can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. Just remember, it needs to fit on a menu board and you might be carrying all of this to and from your car if you don’t have a trailer yet.

Just tell me what supplies I need already!

Okay, okay! I hear ya! When we started a few months ago I just wanted someone to give me a checklist that I could follow and be done.

I live to serve lol

1. Coffee
   • Find a local roaster or someone you really like. Aim for around $10/pound at a wholesale price. Start with about 25 lbs to begin. And maybe like 1 or 5 lbs of Decaf.
2. Syrup Flavorings (Pro Tip: Webstaurant gives you a discount if you order in 4’s. I suggest only doing this with the big flavors until you learn your customers) I like Monin brand but a lot of people carry Torani. They’re similarly priced so it’s up to you.
   • Vanilla x 4, Caramel x 4, Sugar free Vanilla x 1 or 2, Sugar free Caramel x 1 or 2
   • Salted Caramel x 1
   • Toffee Nut and/or Hazelnut x 1
   • Simple Syrup x 1
   • Sauces- Get the 64 oz bottles of White Mocha, Dark Mocha, and Caramel.
   • Fruity Flavors if you do sodas or Red Bull drinks- Dragon Fruit x 4 (trust me), White Peach, Strawberry x 1 or 2, Cotton Candy x 4, Grapefruit x 1, Pineapple or Pina Colada x 1
   • Seasonal Flavors buy 2-4 bottles depending on how far into the season you are starting- Pumpkin Spice, Peppermint, Cookie Butter, etc.) Look at our Coffee Recipe page for some inspo!
3. All the Pumps- Seriously get enough pumps (the correct brand sizes) for the syrups and sauces and then get an extra or two just in case. They’re a pain in the behind.
4. Specialty Drinks? Like Lotus Energy drinks or Red Bull? Get only 1 jug of a simple base flavor like the White or Skinny White Lotus or a case of Red Bull to start!
5. Club Soda or Seltzer Water for soda drinks. If you have a Costco go there. I don’t (we live in the MIDDLE of the middle of nowhere). Safeway has a good price of $1 for a 2 liter bottle. I go through like 5 of them per day/event.
6. Chalkboard menu with chalk markers*- I have one from Hobby Lobby and one that’s an a-frame from Webstaurant
7. Steaming pitchers x 2
8. Thermometers x 2 (for the steaming)
9. OR, if you start with only cold brew- a 5 gal drink dispenser, and some large cold brew filter bags. This is how we started and we became super popular very quickly. (Pro Tip: You DO NOT need an espresso machine to start if you go this route. Save your money and make it work for you. As you grow, buy the machine. This might not be popular opinion, but a budget is a budget).
10. Straws
11. Cups and lids- A case of each (We carry two sizes for cold and two sizes for hot)
12. Feather Flag!!! Seriously we bought one on Amazon for like $30, it just says coffee, and it’s saved our butts so many times at events where there were other drink vendors. They saw our flag and headed to us even though there were bigger guys just two spots over. WORTH IT!
13. Stickers and flyers. I just bought some off of Vistaprint. They were super easy to make/design. You can just import your logo or just buy ones that say thank you but I mean branding and all. Super easy to use.

That’s it! Start with the basics and then as you run out of things you’ll learn what quantities to order in the future!

Our experience

Honestly, when we were starting we only had a table set up so we had to haul of the above items in our vehicle plus tables and an ice chest. If that’s you, I would suggest getting some plastic totes to carry all the syrups in or you will have a huge mess in your car. Trust me, we are still finding white mocha in our trunk even after cleaning it.

Having a trailer will make carrying all of these supplies easier but the hustle is real. Starting out with a table and pop up tent/awning is totally doable. We did it. I’m a small 5’1″ woman and I can get us set up in like 5-10 minutes flat now for the farmer’s markets carrying all of the supplies I listed above.

Buy your supplies and hustle! You CAN do this!!!!

Did I miss anything? What do you carry in your shop?

Best Wishes,

Ashley