Do you want to start a tea stall? If yes, you have landed at the right place. Here in this article, we list down the steps to follow to start a successful tea shop business with costs, licenses, and promotion.
At present, tea is the second most popular beverage in the world. In Asian countries like India( where it is locally called ‘Chai’), it is one of the oldest and must-have beverages for most people. It is consumed at any anytime be it day or night.
Presently, tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the United States. According to the Tea Association of the USA, on any given day, over 159 million Americans are drinking tea, consisting of almost 80% of households.
However, to build a profitable tea shop business, you need to follow some important steps. Let us have a look at them:
Here are the 10 Steps to Start a Tea Shop Business
1. Understand the Market
Before actually jumping into the business, it is essential to know as much as possible about the latest trends and demands of local tea consumers. Do detailed market research and gather information regarding the tastes of local customers, the types of tea they prefer, what other tea shops are providing, their pricing, and much more.
The information collected will help you in finding out the scopes that exist in the local tea market. Furthermore, it will help you to plan accordingly and explore the gaps to your advantage.
2. Select a Business Model
Broadly there are three ways a new entrepreneur can start a tea shop business. They are the following:
- Start a tea shop from scratch.
- Buy a franchise of a reputed tea shop brand.
- Or, buy an existing tea shop.
All three have got their own pros and cons. Based on your budget and passion, select the one that suits you best.
Read: Best Tea Business Ideas
3. Create a Business Plan
It is without saying, if you are planning to seriously enter into any venture, a business plan document is a must. It is true for the tea shop business too. A business plan document is essentially a roadmap for the present and future course of activities that your venture will follow. Some of the basic topics that must be addressed in your tea shop business plan document are as follows:
- Initial and recurring costs to run the tea shop
- Target customers
- Pricing plan
- How do you plan to promote your tea shop?
4. Select a Name for the Tea Shop
Another important aspect sometimes forgotten is choosing a catchy and attractive name for your tea shop. A properly selected business name will not only fetch extra customers but also enhance the brand growth of the tea shop business. You can check our article on the steps to follow to name a business to learn more.
5. Make Your Tea Shop Legally Compliant
Making your tea shop legally compliant will ensure you run your business activities tension and hassle-free. It is essential to register your tea shop business. Every country and state provides different types of company formations. Select the one that is best suited based on your resources and scale of operation.
Additionally, you will need to procure certain licenses and permits to operate a tea shop in your locality. Check with the concerned local authority or hire a local attorney and arrange them.
6. Select a Location
Location plays a vital role in the profitability and success of a tea shop business. An area of around 300 to 500 sq. ft will be enough for a tea stall. Select an area where you expect good traffic.
7. Arrange Equipment & Raw Materials
The major raw material in running a tea shop is sourcing different types of tea leaves. Some of the popular types are green tea, herbal tea, Darjeeling tea, etc.
Other tools include tea-making utensils, glasses, cups, chairs, tables, tea powder, tea masala, milk, sugar, water, etc.
8. Estimate the Costs of Starting a Tea Shop
The cost of starting and running a tea shop will largely depend on the location and size of the stall. One can open a small kiosk or a full-fledged hangout-oriented tea shop. A tea kiosk can be opened within a few thousand dollars whereas building a tea shop hangout shop with sitting arrangements can cost more than $1,00,000.
The costs include tea leaves, space rent, tea-making equipment, tea serving glasses, electricity charges, registration and license expenses, wages and salaries of personnel, etc.
9. Fix Pricing
Setting proper pricing is another key factor in the overall success of a tea shop business. One must take due consideration of the purchasing capacity of the local tea drinkers and the cost of the type of tea offered. The price will obviously be more for fancy tea compared to normal tea.
10. Promotion & Creating a Brand
Every business struggles and strives to come up with that one perfect name since business is all about competition.
However, being able to properly brand your tea shop business name is another crucial aspect you’ll need to look into.
Here we have compiled the top 5 best branding practices for your tea shop business for your convenience.
a) Design a Logo
Your logo and your tea shop business name – together will be the first thing that any customer or onlooker will see. These will also be the first point of impression.
Hence it goes without saying that designing a logo that matches the theme of the business name is crucial for the success of your shop.
Because many criteria are involved in making the perfect logo, and not just any logo will do, we recommend you check out our detailed article on it.
b) Create A Website
We have touched upon this topic earlier but not in terms of branding. Your tea shop business has to have a website for branding purposes too.
This will be your space on the internet where you will be able to showcase all that your tea shop has to offer.
Doing so will help spread the name of your shop and make it profitable faster. You can even hire a website designer and create your website from scratch.
However the faster and easier way is to buy ready-made websites, there are many such marketplaces through which you can do so.
c) Make A Slogan
The best thing you can do to convert a tea shop business into a brand is to create a slogan for it. This slogan will work in tandem with your logo and the name.
Research has shown slogans to be very effective. Since slogans by nature are short and quirky, it helps people remember the brand.
When making your slogan try to inculcate the personality of your business in it. Also, it should be as striking and attractive as possible, not boring.
As there are many more things that go into making a great business slogan we have a dedicated article just for it. We highly recommend you check it out
d) Have A Business Card And A Brochure
Business cards have been around for a long time. And there is a reason for it- it works. It is a subtle way to market while also increasing the reputation and image of your tea shop business name.
Customers are more likely to call back through this system than through social media marketing or other methods.
A faster way to increase visibility is to have a brochure. You can design a brochure in mass quantity and hand it over to people in a crowd.
Make sure you include all the necessary information as follows:
- Tea Shop Name
- Address
- Logo
- Phone Number
- Website
- Email Address
You can also include delicious pictures and graphics of your tea products. Plus you might also include the menu for home delivery options.
e) Host Giveaways
You can host gatherings by inviting people in your neighborhood for small giveaways. If you like you can also try to give out samples of your tea on the roads(maybe in a busy junction near your shop).
These methods are a great way to generate goodwill and will help to create a positive impression in the eyes of customers for your tea shop business.
Try to sample the most delicious products that you have so that people like them and come to your tea shop asking for more!