Café business simulator
See what your café would turn over, how many regulars you'd win and who you'd lose them to — month by month for two years — before you spend real money.
Coffee, cake and the regulars who decide whether you last a year. This one opens as Corner Café: A neighbourhood café selling coffee, breakfast and lunch to locals, workers and passers-by. Rename it, reprice it, or describe your own café and let Nova rewrite it to fit.
What a steady café ends up with
Played steadily for all two years — quality first, then growth, a fair share of the bank spent each year — a steady café here ends its last year on $131k of revenue, still $1.2k short of a profit, with 273 regulars and 1.6% of the market (#5 of 5).
It starts from nothing: $60k in the bank and you, 55 hours a week, with no regulars yet.
People who play it well do better, and a bad plan runs out of money.
Revenue in the last year: $131k
Lost in the last year: $1.2k
Regulars at the end: 273
Share of the market: From nothing to 1.6%
Where it finishes: #5 of 5
Years and decisions: 2 years, monthly
What you'll decide each month
Each month you set what a visit costs, how many regulars you can serve and who is on shift, what you spend on being known in the neighbourhood, and when to open in another neighbourhood.
Each decision shows on a forecast before you file it, and every period resolves against the rivals and the economy.
Who your regulars are
Food lives on its regulars. A new place gets tried because it is new; whether those people come back next month is what decides the second year.
20,000 regulars in all, across your town, the next town over, the villages around, the county town and out by the ring road.
Weekday regulars: Locals and workers who come back every week if it is quick and fairly priced. About 9,000 of them, worth $515 a year each.
Treat-yourself crowd: People who come for something good and will pay for it. About 5,000 of them, worth $858 a year each.
Families: Bigger orders, early tables, and a long memory for a bad visit. About 3,600 of them, worth $686 a year each.
Tourists and passers-by: Here once, chosen on a review or the sign outside. About 2,400 of them, worth $229 a year each.
Who you're up against
Three rivals are already in it, and they play to win: they cut prices, spend on marketing and answer what you do. Most of the market is theirs on day one.
The coffee chain on the corner: The biggest, and slow to change — it has stopped listening to its smaller customers. Holds about 26% of the market.
The bakery that does coffee too: Wins on price and little else; its customers leave the moment somebody is better. Holds about 22% of the market.
The specialty roastery: Clever and quick, but stretched thin and hard to get hold of. Holds about 10% of the market.
How it works
Free until you start: building and previewing cost nothing, and starting is $10, once.
Build it — free: Press build and you get your own copy of this market: four kinds of regular, three rivals and five neighbourhoods.
Make it yours: Change any number, describe your café in a sentence or two and let Nova fill it in, or upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history to fit it to your real figures.
Preview — free: See what a steady café ends up with, and every warning worth reading, before you pay anything.
Start — $10: Pay once to start, your seat included. Then run it month by month for two years.
Also for
coffee · coffee shop · tea · brunch · barista · espresso
How much does the café business simulator cost?
Building and previewing are free: make your own copy of this café market, change anything in it and see what a steady café ends up with without paying. Starting the simulation is $10, once, and your own seat is included.
Can I make it match my own café?
Yes. Every number can be changed — the regulars and what they pay, the rivals, the neighbourhoods, the costs and the starting cash. Or describe your café in a sentence or two and Nova, SparkTower's AI, fills every section in for one Nova action. If you already trade, upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history and the simulation is fitted to your real numbers, starting from where your business stands today.
Are the numbers realistic for a café?
The template is checked against what real ones do: played steadily, a believable one finishes year two turning over between $120k and $500k, with between 200 and 1,500 regulars. This one's preview comes to about $131k and 273. Your own prices, costs and figures change that, which is the point of trying it here first.
Can I use it to test a café business plan?
That is what it is for. Put your plan's prices, costs and starting cash in, play it forward month by month, and see whether the money lasts, how many regulars you would need and what a rival's price cut does to you — before you put real money in.
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