What does the Open My Cafe guide cover?

The guide covers every stage of opening a cafe — site and lease assessment, layout and equipment planning, services and infrastructure, health and food safety approvals, fitout and contractor management, supplier setup, staffing and training, and launch readiness.

Who is the Open My Cafe guide for?

The guide is designed for first-time cafe operators, experienced operators opening a new site, and investors or managers backing a cafe concept. It is built from 35 years of real-world cafe and hospitality design experience.

How much does the Open My Cafe guide cost?

The Open My Cafe guide is $97 USD. It is available as an instant digital download. A Launch Bonus Pack (including the Concept to Sales Programme, Build My Brand Playbook, and How to Choose and Brief a Designer) can be added for $137 total.

Is this guide relevant outside Australia?

Yes. The planning frameworks, layout principles, equipment specifications, contractor management tools and launch systems in this guide apply to cafe openings globally. Specific approval and licensing requirements vary by location and should be verified with local authorities.

Open My Business — Cafe Planning Guide

OPEN MYCAFE.

I've watched cafes spend $100,000 fixing problems that were visible before they signed the lease. This guide exists so you don't.

Get this guide — $97 See what's inside ↓

Guide price

$97

USD — instant download

What you get

Site & lease assessment
Layout & equipment planning
Approvals & health permits
Fitout & services guide
Supplier & launch checklist

What this guide covers

Everything a first-time cafe operator actually needs.

Most cafe projects that go over budget do so before the fitout even starts. Wrong site. Wrong services. Wrong approvals. Wrong brief to the shopfitter. I've watched it happen more times than I can count — and almost every time, the problem was visible before anyone committed to anything.

This guide takes you through every stage in the right order. So you're asking the right questions before you sign — not spending six figures finding out what you should have asked.

What's covered

Site & Lease AssessmentWhat to check before you sign — services capacity, zoning, extraction requirements, ventilation.
Layout & Equipment PlanningEspresso bar placement, workflow design, seating configuration, equipment specification.
Services & InfrastructurePower, water, drainage, ventilation and gas requirements for a commercial cafe environment.
Health & Food Safety ApprovalsWhat approvals are required, who to talk to, and how long it actually takes.
Fitout & Contractor ManagementHow to brief a shopfitter, read a quote, manage the build and avoid the most common cost blowouts.
Supplier SetupCoffee, food, packaging, POS — how to set up supplier relationships before you open.
Staffing & TrainingHiring baristas, front-of-house setup, and training framework before day one.
Launch ReadinessSoft opening strategy, social setup, local marketing and launch checklist.

Where cafe openings go wrong

Before you sign.
During the build.
At the bar.

The Site Decision

Signing a lease without checking extraction requirements, drainage capacity or ventilation. A coffee bar in the wrong location costs a fortune to fix.

The Fitout

Equipment quoted incorrectly, services underspecified, DA timelines missed. These are the most common reasons cafes open late and over budget.

The First 90 Days

Opening without enough float, inconsistent product, no launch plan. The first three months set the trading pattern — getting it right matters.

Who this guide is for

First-timers and people who've been burnt.

First-Time Operators

You know coffee. You've probably watched someone else's venue and thought you could do it better. This guide gives you the operational framework to do exactly that — without the $100,000 mistakes I've watched others make.

Experienced Operators Expanding

You've done it before. You know what went wrong last time. This guide helps you make sure it doesn't happen again.

Investors & Managers

You're backing someone else's concept. This guide tells you what a properly planned cafe opening looks like — and what the warning signs are when it isn't.

Get the guide

Open My Cafe

The Open My Cafe guide covers every stage from site selection to launch. It's built from 35 years of real cafe openings — including watching people make $100,000 mistakes that were completely avoidable.

At $97, it costs less than an hour of the mistakes. And it covers exactly the ground where most first-time cafe operators get into serious financial trouble.

Cafe planning guide

$97

USD — instant download

Guide includes

Complete site & lease assessment framework
Layout and equipment planning guide
Services and infrastructure checklist
Approvals and permits pathway
Fitout and contractor briefing tools
Supplier setup and launch checklist

Get Open My Cafe — $97 →

Instant download. No subscription.

Upgrade your order

ADD THE LAUNCH BONUS PACK

Add three tools that cover the rest of the project — a 16-week launch programme, a brand playbook, and a guide to hiring and briefing your designer without expensive misunderstandings.

$97 + $40

$137

Guide + all three bonuses

Add bonuses — $137 →

Years of experience

Who built this

Experience you can actually use.

The Open My Business guides were built from 35 years of designing and opening physical venues — hundreds of real projects, with real budgets, real approvals and real consequences when things went wrong.

This isn't theory. It's what actually happens when you open a physical venue, and what you need to do about it.

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The information on this site is for general planning purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial or professional advice. Always obtain appropriate advice from qualified professionals before committing to a site, signing any lease or agreement, or making significant financial decisions.