In 11 Easy Steps, How to Open a Juice bar

You will need a great location, a business plan and juicing equipment to open a juice bar/storefront that offers fresh-squeezed juices. The average annual revenue ranges from $100,000 to $600,000. Starting costs are between $20,000 and $400,000. Juice bars that are successful require creativity, hard work, and a passion to make fresh food.

These are the 11 most important steps for opening a juice bar:

1. Find out how juice bars work

You need to understand the basics of opening a juice bar. Juice bars offer freshly prepared drinks such as juices, fresh-squeezed or cold-pressed juices, and fruit smoothies. Popular menu items include protein shakes and juice shots loaded with vitamins. Simple food items such as sandwiches and salads are also available.

The Juice Box in New Haven, Connecticut, uses ShopKeep POS

Working in a juice shop is the best way to get a feel for how juice bars work. Consider working in a juice shop before you start your own business. You will learn how juices are made and the daily aspects of running a juice store.

You can’t get firsthand experience at a juice shop, so you will need to research the market from outside. You can learn about the marketing strategies and advertising campaigns of juice bars in your local area, their menu items, peak times and number of employees as well as their hours of operation.

2. 2. Create a budget

Budgeting for your future business will be more an art than a science. It’s important to have some guidelines and road maps in place to help ensure that your cash flow is stable. You can expect your business to be profitable for several months or even years after it opens. Therefore, you must determine how much money you are able to invest and how much funding you will get from outside sources. Then, create a plan to cover all expenses.

Start by determining how much money is needed to open your business. You should consider storefront costs, construction costs and licenses, as well as permits and permits. Next, calculate your monthly fixed and varied expenses. Fixed expenses include things such as your rent payment or your phone bill. They will not change. Variable costs, like the cost of marketing campaigns or juicing ingredients, are more volatile.

Setting your budget is the most difficult part. This is because you need to estimate your monthly sales once your doors are open. Be realistic and be cautious. It is better to have more than you expect than to be short. Add your monthly sales to your fixed and variable expenses. This is your expected cash flow. It is a good idea to have a large cash reserve fund to cover any expenses that arise if you don’t meet your sales goals.

3. Plan a Juice Bar business

After you have a good understanding of how juice bars work, you will need a business plan for your juice bar. For funding such as small business loans or bank financing, a business plan is necessary. A business plan can help you understand your financial situation and create a plan that will make your business profitable.

These are the elements of a typical business proposal.

• Executive summary A paragraph that outlines the purpose and mission of your company, as well as why it will succeed.
• Business Description: Describe the market need your juice bar fills in the community. Also, describe your customers and the talents on your team.
• Market analysis Give an overview of the juice bar market, including trends, successful competitors, and your strengths.
• Management and organization: Describe who will run your business, and what experience they have in juicing or working in retail.
• Product line Describe the types of juices that you plan to sell along with any food or beverages. Include research about why you are choosing those products such as sales trends data or specific health benefits.
• Marketing and Sales: Discuss your overall marketing strategy and how you plan to attract and retain customers.
• Requests for funding: Please outline your requirements and indicate how you intend to use the funds.
• Financial projectionsDetail how you business will be stable and profitable. This includes a projected financial timeline for at least five years. Include a plan for how you will repay the loan if you borrow funds.
• Appendix This space can be used for any additional documents such as logos or branding designs, sketches of how your juice bar will look, credit histories and licenses, permits, etc.

Use the format and software that you feel most comfortable when writing your business plan. Many people prefer to use traditional word processors such as Microsoft Word and Google Docs. PowerPoint can be used to create your business plan. You can also use business planning software to create templates and help you navigate the process.

LivePlan is a popular business plan software that makes writing a business plan easy

Options for Juice Bar Franchises

You can open a franchise juice bar instead of starting your own business. Franchises offer a built-in brand, national or regional marketing, and guidance in managing day-today operations using established policies and procedures.

Opening a franchise can prove costly. A juice bar franchise costs anywhere from $200,000 to $500,000, including construction fees and franchise fees. You will also have to pay royalties for any sales that you make after your juice bar opens.

These juice bars are very popular:

• Smoothie King: $20,000 – $30,000 franchise fee
• Jamba Juice: $25,000 franchise fee
• Freshii: $30,000 franchise fee
• Robeks Fresh Juices and Smoothies: 25,000 franchise fee
• I Love Juice Bar: $25,000 franchise fee
• Juice it Up: $10,000-$25,000 franchise fee
• Tropical Smoothie Cafe: $25,000 franchise fees

These fees are not franchise fees. You will also need to pay application fees and other deposit fees, depending on which franchise you choose, to open your storefront, as well as any construction costs. The franchise will also charge you ongoing royalties and marketing fees.

The Best Legal Structure for Your Juice bar

It is crucial to choose the right legal structure for your business. This will determine how you collect and report taxes, what you get paid, and how much personal liability you have. There are many legal structures available, but the most common in juice bars and small businesses like juice bars is sole proprietorships or limited liability companies ( LLCs).

If you do not register for an LLC, sole proprietorships will be the default legal structure that your business falls under. Sole proprietorships combine your personal and business finances. This means that your business income will be considered your personal income. It also means that your business income can be affected by legal actions, bankruptcy, and other unforeseen circumstances. Your personal assets such as your home and car could be at risk. While some retail business owners choose to be sole proprietors, this legal structure is mostly used by consultants and freelancers.

Because it allows you to separate your business assets from personal assets, LLCs are the best legal structure for small restaurants and retail shops. From a tax standpoint, LLCs look similar to sole proprietorships.

Organise your finances

It is crucial to have your professional and personal bank accounts separate before you start your business. Chase Business checking accounts are available for small businesses. They have low fees, convenient locations and unlimited cash deposits. For the first time Chase Total Business Checking account holder, you can get a $300 bonus. Register at Chase

Chase Business Checking

4. Pick a location for your Juice Bar

The location you choose for your storefront can make or break it. This kind of pressure can make it difficult to choose a location. How do you begin? How can you determine which areas are most profitable? The first step is to narrow down your geographic area and consider what is practical. You’ll likely be working long hours when you start your juice bar, so ensure you pick a location that has a good commute.

After you have narrowed your geographic area, it is time to analyze the various neighborhoods. These are some of the factors to consider when selecting a location.

• Health-conscious customers:Juice bars customers tend to be health-conscious. Look for areas that have successful yoga studios and gyms as well as other wellness businesses.
• High-traffic locations: To get your business noticed, you’ll need to look for main streets, downtown areas, and shopping centers that have a lot of customers.
• Sidewalks, foot traffic:Juice bar are great for attracting walk-in customers during summer months.
• Parking availability Customers who drive to your store must also be able to access it. Make sure you have plenty of parking.
• Other juice bars Do not open a juice shop too close to an already existing juice business. This will give you a negative advantage from the start.

When choosing a location to open your juice bar, the budget is another important factor. It may be worthwhile to spend a lot on a high-traffic area because a significant portion of your business is likely to come from impulse and walk-in customers, regardless of the location of your store. As a rule, food and beverage businesses shouldn’t spend more than 6% of their monthly gross revenue on rent.

Mobile Juice Businesses

To open a juice bar, you don’t need to have a physical storefront. Mobile businesses and food trucks are becoming more popular. You can promote your business by using a food truck to bring customers to you. In addition, opening a food truck business will usually be less expensive than opening one, although you always have the option of expanding.

Juice Bar Kiosks

A mall kiosk is another option for your juice bar location. There are many leasing options available for kiosks located in the middle of indoor shopping malls. Kiosk leases are also available at many airports. Kiosks can be leased from mall managers and can run up to a few thousand dollars each month during peak season.

5. Rent & Outfit Your Storefront

After you have chosen a location, it is time to start designing, building, or outfitting your juice bar. While a well-designed shop will create a welcoming atmosphere and increase sales, a poorly designed juice bar can feel cramped or crowded.

Designing a juice bar is more difficult than designing a regular retail shop due to the various plumbing, electrical and sanitation requirements. These are the main considerations for designing your juice bar.

• Commercial kitchens must comply with the health code
• For kitchens and juicing areas, plumbing, electrical, as well as ventilation are required
• Proper food storage and proper waste disposal
• Sanitation strategy

Place the Checkout Counter

A well-placed checkout desk will increase your floor space, and create waiting areas and lines that aren’t inconvenient for customers seated at the counter. Juice bars are known for having seating areas in the front with the counter to order and pay at the back. The inside right wall of traditional retail stores is your display or “power wall”.

The power wall can be used as a juice bar. Customers can sit on the left side of the store which is often the most visited and visually viewed by customers.

 “If you go through the main entrance, you will see that the seats and tables are to your left. You will find the place where you can line up to order your food (where the Menu Board IS YOUR power wall) right down the middle. Starbucks has this down to a science. Although their layouts can vary, their basic formula of slowest to medium speed to fastest — laid out left to right — is what enables many of their stores to pull in around 80% of their gross revenue from drive-thrus.

–Thalia Toha is a brand strategist and brand manager at Thalia Toha group

Create a Welcoming Environment

Many juice bars are similar to coffee shops in that they encourage customers to sit down, relax, and chat with their friends. Customers will spend more money if they spend more time in your store. You should offer Wi-Fi, gentle music and comfortable seating.

The more time customers spend in your juice bar, the more they will spend

Get ready for the Juice Bar Outfitting Checkout

To manage your sales, orders, and inventory, once your counter has been placed, you will need a point of sale (POS) system installed. A POS system saves time and gives you deeper insight into your customers, sales, inventory, and employees. Many POS systems include built-in payment processing. This means that you will only need to deal with one provider.

When choosing a POS, there are many things to consider. It is important to make a list of the features you desire before you begin seriously looking at different options. POS systems are evaluated using the following criteria:

• Pricing: Most POS programs have a monthly charge, while others charge additional for specific features.
• User-friendliness: Use free trials to try out different systems. Also, to ensure that the interface is intuitive and easy to use, read user reviews.
• Inventory Management: Make certain the solution you choose has features that allow for ingredient-level tracking to ensure accurate stock counts after every customer order is fulfilled.
• Customer management tools Almost every POS system has a customer directory, but they differ in how loyalty, marketing and customer feedback are included.
• Ecommerce functions Some POS solutions offer features that allow you to create a website and place orders online.

Lightspeed, a highly-rated and popular POS system for small businesses, is highly regarded. It is a cloud-based POS system for iPads that allows you to manage inventory, customize menus, and integrate offline payment processing. Lightspeed offers a free trial.

Visit Lightspeed

6. Purchase Juicing Equipment

Commercial-grade equipment is also required. Depending on the type of menu items that you offer, you’ll need different appliances. It is crucial to invest in quality equipment so your business can grow and that you don’t have to worry about the cost of replacing or repairing it.

These are the essential equipment for your juice bar.

• Commercial blenders
• Juicers
• Refrigerators
• Ice machines
• Measurement and scales
• High-quality knives
• Cutting boards
• Storage containers
• To-go cups to hold juices
• Napkins and utensils

Choose locally sourced produce whenever possible to save on costs and for the freshest ingredients

Different types of commercial juicers

There are three types of juicers. Each has a different purpose and each price point. You may choose to use one or all three depending on your business. These are the three types:

• Centrifugal juicer.Fast Juicer for juicing fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens. This is also the most economical type of juicer.
• Masticating juicer – Extracts more nutrition from fruits and vegetables at a slower speed.
• Triturating juicer Slowest juicer, but highest yielding. Ideal for leafy greens.

Sourcing fruits and vegetables

A steady supply of fresh fruits, vegetables is also essential. It is best to source local whenever possible. You will get the best ingredients and you can save on shipping or freight. It is often cheaper to buy directly from local farms and orchards than from a wholesale food distributor.

 “A piece of produce begins to lose nutrients immediately after it is harvested. Locally grown produce has a better chance of reaching that point sooner than imported from elsewhere in the country or around the world. Local produce takes less time to be harvested and used in recipes, which makes it taste fresher. It doesn’t need to be preserved in wax, which can make it taste less fresh. You’re also supporting local farmers and communities, as well as the environment.

–Samantha Eaton is a Certified Nutrition & Eating Psychology Coach at www.HealthyEaton.com

7. Create your own recipes & menu

You will need to create your menu and recipes before you open your juice bar. It can be difficult to find the right recipes and ingredients if you are new to juicing. You should research the most popular combinations and ingredients, and ask your friends and family to try your recipes.

These are the top juice trends and ingredients:

• Celery juice
• Juices made with carrots
• Blends of greens such as spinach, apple, and kale
• Citrus blends
• Ginger
• Lemon

Juice bars often offer light foods such as yogurt parfaits and salads. This is something you might want to offer in your juice bar. Make sure that your kitchen is up-to-date with local food codes and is not only serving juice.

Take advantage of seasonal ingredients and local trends when crafting your menu

8. Create a Juice Bar Branding Strategy

A marketing strategy and branding plan are essential for opening a juice bar. A logo, color scheme and marketing plan are essential to attract customers to your juice bar. Effective marketing strategies for local shops include both digital and offline strategies. The basics of marketing include creating a logo and a website.

Make a logo

First, create a logo. Your logo should be unique, flexible, and graphic. It shouldn’t have too much text. Try to find a symbol or concept that represents your juice bar. Remember that your logo will be used on your website, menus, to-go cups, store signage and many other places.

You don’t need to be a professional designer or a Photoshop expert to create a logo. Many websites offer free tools to help you create a logo. There are many options for building a logo, including Canva and LogoJoy.

Create a website

A website is essential for any business owner. A website will help potential customers find you business by searching Google. It’s not difficult to create your own website. You can create a website for your business with very little to no cost. All you need is a domain name and web hosting.

Squarespace offers small business owners a cost-effective and popular web design tool. You can create a professional-looking website that highlights your juice using the many templates available on this platform. Squarespace partners with ChowNow, an online ordering system that allows customers to order juice right from their home. Squarespace is a great place to start.

Squarespace

9. Hire & Train Employees

You will need to find outstanding employees before you open your juice bar to the general public. It can be difficult to navigate the hiring process if you’ve never hired employees before. Make sure you go through the new employee checklist which outlines all the steps required to obtain an Employer Identification Number, register for state and local taxes and so forth.

Write compelling and attractive job descriptions before you start the hiring process. Identify the positions that you are looking for (e.g., manager, shift supervisor, associate). You should also consider the qualities that you look for in a candidate. Remember that you will be training your employees how to juice as well as how to provide excellent customer service. You should choose candidates who have the characteristics you cannot train, such as a strong work ethic. Add in the company’s values and you will find that your employees love working at your juice bars.

Employees are the front-lines of your business ― their customer service skills can make or break sales

It’s crucial to train your staff before opening your juice bar. Skills like customer service and juicing are a matter of practice. Your staff should be able to provide outstanding customer service from the moment they start working in your store. To do this, host a “boot camp” for paid training where staff can practice customer service skills, review menus, discuss expectations, and learn about the products and menu items at your store. To keep training interesting, you can incorporate contests and games.

Gusto notifies employees via email every time they receive a direct deposit.

After you hire your staff, you will need an HR management software to manage payroll, benefits and time tracking. Gusto provides all-in-one HR Management with prices starting at $6 to $12 per month. Gusto offers a 30-day free trial.

Go to Gusto

10. Plan a grand opening

You want to make a big splash when opening a local business. Hosting a grand opening is the best way to attract attention. You can make sure that your event is attended by inviting friends and family. Also, you should start advertising as soon as possible. Send a press release to local media outlets or neighboring businesses. Make an event on Facebook. Place an advertisement in your local newspaper.

Make sure to contact your local Chamber of Commerce

Register for your local Chamber of Commerce. They are experts in grand openings and can help you plan one. The Chamber of Commerce not only shares best practices but also has many connections within the community and a large network of business owners. They can help you promote the event and recruit other local businesses to show support.

Some Chamber of Commerce chapters have also made arrangements with local newspapers or elected officials to allow them to attend business openings. It is a great way of increasing visibility. There is nothing wrong with contacting the Chamber of Commerce in your area and working together to plan your event.

11. Advertise Your Juice Bar

The hard work begins once your business has opened. It will take constant effort to advertise your juice bar and attract customers. Your online reputation could be the key to whether or not customers will choose your business.

Online Reviews

Small businesses need to manage online reviews. It is important to find out what customers have to say about you online. This will allow you to understand what your customers love and what needs to be improved. Potential customers will notice that you care about their experience and respond to reviews.

Yelp is used by millions of people every day! Yelp is used to locate local businesses, such as restaurants, cafes, and juice bars. Yelp is easy to sign up! You can respond to reviews, upload photographs, update business information and much more with the Business account. Yelp! To sign up.

Yelp! For Business

Use social media

Yelp! Although Yelp is an important tool, it’s not the only one you should use for your business. Facebook and Instagram are great tools for managing customer feedback, and to promote your business. You can create a Facebook Business Page that includes your contact information, hours, and website information. Post frequently to promote different juices, promotions, or events. You can also create a Facebook Ad for a few dollars per day to reach thousands of customers.

Register your Juice Bar on Google

Registering your business on Google is another important step to advertise it. This service, Google My Business is available for free to business owners. It allows you create a profile which will be displayed in search results for people searching for your business or juice bars in your local area. You can set up hours and contact information. Share information such as special promotions. Google Maps will show your juice bar if you register your business.

It can be difficult to manage Yelp!, Facebook and Instagram while also managing the day-today operations of your juice bars. A digital marketing agency like Hibu might be a good option if you don’t have enough time to manage your online presence. Hibu provides solutions for online reputation and review management, social media marketing and websites. Hibu also offers tools such as a custom marketing plan and a marketing checklist. Hibu is the place to start.

Visit Hibu

Tips to Open a Juice Bar

It is not easy to open a juice bar. There are many strategies that you can employ to increase sales and keep customers coming back once you have opened your juice bar.

Tap Into Trends

The health food trends are always changing. Ginger juices and juice shots were very popular a few years back. Celery juices, turmeric shots, and even celery juices are very popular. To ensure your customers get what they want, pay attention to industry trends.

Cleanses & Programs

You might also consider selling pre-made juices or programs. Cleanses are particularly popular in spring and summer, and January when people make New Year’s resolutions. Others simply love to drink fresh, cold-pressed juice every day and want to purchase a pack to take home. It is possible to increase sales by selling cleanses and packs made-to-order or prepackaged in a refrigerator.

Offer a loyalty program

Many POS systems like Lightspeed offer a loyalty program. This feature can be added to your store to increase repeat visits and sales. While traditional loyalty programs such as punch cards can be effective, digital loyalty programs enable you to track customer usage and engage and send customers messages about promotions or rewards.

Take into account seasonal changes

Juice bars are associated with fresh ingredients. You might consider offering seasonal juice mixes that are based on what fruits and vegetables you have at the time. Sales can be driven by limited-edition items and seasonal menu items.

Juice Bar’s Frequently Asked Questions

It takes many steps to open a juice bar.

What exactly is a juice-bar?

Juice bars offer freshly squeezed juices and smoothies. Juice bars can offer prepared or made-to-order drinks and cater to health-conscious customers.

What is the average profit margin for juice bars?

A juice bar with a 50% to 70% gross margin can make between 50% and 70% gross profits. Gross profit is the net result of all expenses, including labor and overhead costs. Juice bars typically earn between $100,000 and $600,000. Your business’s potential earnings will vary depending on where you are located, overhead costs and customer volume.

What is the cost of opening a juice bar?

A juice bar can be opened for as little as $400,000. The most costly option is usually a franchise. A juice bar food truck or kiosk in a mall will cost you between $50,000 and $100,000.

Bottom line

A juice bar can be fun and lucrative if you plan well, use thoughtful recipes and have a solid business plan. The global juicing market is valued at $9 billion and the U.S. $2.2 billion. The U.S. juice bars market is growing at a rate of about 7% per year. If you have ever considered opening a juice bar in the United States, now is the best time.