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AyRojgar

Coffee shop

An espresso machine and imported beans. A cup sells from Tk 50 to Tk 400, but a shop moves 70-100 cups a day - customers sit for hours over a single cup.

  • Last reviewed: 21 September 2026
  • Version 1
Coffee shop

Coffee shop

Starting capital
৳2,25,000 – ৳25,00,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
2 – 8 people
First sale
30 – 90 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
12 – 36 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Shop · Hard

About the business

A coffee shop's accounts come in two parts. One is fixed: the espresso machine, the grinder, the furniture and the rent. The other is per cup: beans, milk, sugar and a paper cup. Of the two, the beans are the biggest and the most volatile item, because good beans are almost all imported. On the National Board of Revenue tariff, bulk coffee beans carry a total tax incidence of 64.25 percent, and 96.1 percent if they arrive in packs of up to 2.5 kg. Roasted beans in Bangladesh on 21-09-2026 ran from Tk 3,000 to Tk 6,850 a kg - North End's Hill Tract Blend at Tk 890 for 250g, an Ethiopian bean at Tk 1,610 for 250g, Lavazza at Tk 6,850 a kilo. The price comes in two tiers: at Baatighar in Dhaka a regular cup of Bandarban hill-grown coffee is Tk 50 and a large one Tk 190-270, while at the premium end the managing director of McLaren's says Tk 350-400 a cup is now normal. The real story is in the count. Baatighar sells 70-80 cups a day of its hill coffee, up to 100 on Fridays and Saturdays; McLaren's took only Tk 1,500-2,000 a day when it opened in January 2024, which is four or five cups. People come to a coffee shop to sit and talk, so one cup holds a table for hours. Then there is power: on 19-09-2026 load shedding was 1.4 percent in Dhaka and nil in Chattogram, but 31.2 percent in the Mymensingh zone - and an espresso machine gives nothing without electricity.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳80,000 – ৳4,00,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳50 – ৳400 / unitMarket quote
Variable cost৳30 – ৳120 / unitEditorial estimate
Gross margin30% – 72%Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue30 – 90 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time12 – 36 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle0 – 3 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss3% – 10%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity40 – 100Practitioner verified

What you need to start

  • Espresso machine and grinder - Daraz, 21-09-2026: Sonifer SF-3534 Tk 4,999; Miyako CM-2038 BT Tk 9,990; Dessini 20-bar Tk 11,713; Sonifer SF-3535 15-bar Tk 12,999; De'Longhi EC9 Tk 13,950; De'Longhi EC230 Stilosa Tk 16,850; De'Longhi EC685 Dedica Tk 28,950; Philips EP2220 fully automatic Tk 59,500. Grinders: manual burr Tk 1,291-1,724, electric burr Tk 6,270. These are home or light-duty machines; commercial one- or two-group machine prices could not be verified here, and that machine is the real capital in this trade.Equipment
  • Coffee beans - North End Coffee Roasters, 21-09-2026: Hill Tract Blend Tk 890 for 250g / Tk 1,425 for 400g; Espresso Roast Tk 1,020 / Tk 1,585; Brazil Yellow Bourbon Tk 1,035 / Tk 1,610; Colombia Huila Tk 1,120 / Tk 1,740; Ethiopia Worka Yirgacheffe Tk 1,610 / Tk 2,535. Daraz: Royal Cafe Regular 1kg Tk 550; dark roast 1kg Tk 2,994; Bancoff Brazil medium roast 1kg Tk 3,300; Lavazza Crema e Aroma 1kg Tk 6,844-6,850. Milk: Milk Vita 1 litre Tk 110, Aarong Tk 105, Pran Tk 100; sugar Tk 110-115 a kg in Dhaka (TCB 20-09-2026).Starting stock
  • Fire safety certificate; no size exemption, and 'coffee house' and 'restaurant cafe' are both listed on the e-licence portal. Group 1 (sugar, paper): Tk 1,000 for 151-300 sq ft, Tk 2,000 for 301-500, Tk 4,000 for 501-1,000, Tk 6,000 for 1,001-2,000. Group 3 or 4 (LPG, cooking oil, ghee and butter): Tk 2,400 for 151-500, Tk 4,000 for 501-1,000, Tk 6,000 for 1,001-3,000. Application form Tk 100 by treasury challan. It expires on 30 June of the financial year; a 5 percent monthly late fee for six months, then cancellation. Rebates of 5 percent for a pucca building and another 5 percent for an approved fire safety plan.Licence
  • Environmental clearance, depending on capital. Family-run with investment up to Tk 5 lakh is cottage industry and needs none. A restaurant with capital above Tk 30 lakh is Green serial 27: a direct clearance with no location clearance, in 7 working days, valid five years, no processing fee, a clearance fee of Tk 10,000 (Tk 10-50 lakh) or Tk 20,000 (Tk 50 lakh to 1 crore), renewed at half, plus VAT. A shop between Tk 5 and 30 lakh is not named in the list, and falls to the schedule 14 pollution test instead: kitchen wastewater under 400 mg/L COD and under 10 cubic metres a day of liquid waste puts it in Green.Licence
  • Value added tax: VAT on restaurants is 5 percent, the National Board of Revenue having reversed a proposed increase and kept the rate at 5 percent (16-01-2025, over twelve months old). Roasting and packing your own beans brings in the BSTI CM licence: roasted and ground coffee item 24(b) BDS 805:2016, soluble coffee powder 24(a) BDS 763:2016, roasted coffee-chicory powder 24(c) BDS 806:2016 - a Tk 4,600 sample test each (Tk 9,200 urgent over 4 days), plus 15 percent VAT.Licence
  • Trade licence. City corporation Model Tax Schedule 2016: serial 162 'coffee house' Tk 500; air-conditioned, it becomes a restaurant under serial 34(a) - Tk 2,500 in Dhaka North, Dhaka South and Chattogram, Tk 2,000 in other cities; without air conditioning serial 34(b) at Tk 1,000 or Tk 700. Signboard tax Tk 80 per square foot. In a pourashava, serial 11(5) 'coffee house / snacks bar / fast food / juice bar' is Tk 2,000 air-conditioned (class A) or Tk 1,700, ordinary Tk 500 or Tk 400, with a Tk 50 application fee and signboard tax at Tk 100 per square foot. Fiscal year; after 30 September a city corporation charges Tk 100 a month or 10 percent of the fee a month, whichever is higher.Licence
  • Food business registration with the Food Safety Authority - schedule 1, item 1 of the draft regulations: restaurants and every business preparing or serving ready-to-eat food. Valid three years, renewal at least 90 days before expiry. The Authority's draft schedule 10 makes registration free with a Tk 100 renewal; press reporting says Tk 1,000 and Tk 500 - the fee is disputed. Restaurants are graded out of 100 with a green, yellow or red signal.Licence
  • Running and dialling in an espresso machine every day (grind, dose, time), steaming milk, cleaning and maintaining the machine, and judging beans. Without a trained barista a costly machine wastes costly beans; roasters such as North End list training on their site, though its cost could not be verified here.Skill
  • A regular supply from an importer or a local roaster. On the NBR operative tariff, HS 0901 green or roasted bulk beans carry CD 25 percent, SD 0, VAT 15, AIT 5, RD 5 and AT 7.5 - a total tax incidence of 64.25 percent; in packs of up to 2.5 kg a 20 percent SD is added and the total becomes 96.1 percent. Instant coffee (2101) carries CD 25, SD 20, VAT 15, AIT 5 and RD 5. So the bean price rests on both the taka and the duty.Supplier
  • A shop with seating, air conditioning (which also changes the trade licence band), Wi-Fi, and a commercial power connection - DPDC LT-E Tk 15.36 flat, Tk 18.43 at peak (5 to 11 pm) per unit, with a Tk 90 per kW monthly demand charge on the approved load; on a 5 kW connection the demand charge alone is Tk 450 a month. A coffee shop's busiest hours are the evening, exactly the peak rate. No source for shop rent was found.Workspace

How the work is done

  1. 1Pick the spot for people who sit, not people who pass. Universities, office districts, anywhere people want to stay an hour or two. Outside Dhaka and Chattogram there are far fewer of these customers - weigh that against the rent.
  2. 2Check the power situation first. On 19-09-2026 load shedding was nil in the Chattogram zone and 1.4 percent in Dhaka, but 10.4 in Cumilla, 14.5 in Rajshahi, 15.9 in Khulna, 19.5 in Sylhet and 31.2 in Mymensingh. An espresso machine does not run without power, and since 21-09-2026 diesel is Tk 135 a litre - a generator costs three and a half times the grid per unit.
  3. 3Settle where the beans come from. Imported bulk beans carry a total tax incidence of 64.25 percent, and 96.1 percent in packs of up to 2.5 kg, so running a shop on imported small packs is the dearest route there is. Buy from a local roaster, or look at hill-grown beans from Bandarban and Khagrachhari; North End's Hill Tract Blend at Tk 890 for 250g is their cheapest bean.
  4. 4Choose the machine for the sales you will actually make. On Daraz home espresso machines run from Tk 4,999 to Tk 28,950 for a De'Longhi Dedica, with the fully automatic Philips EP2220 at Tk 59,500 and a burr grinder at Tk 6,270. Commercial one- or two-group machine prices could not be verified here - get quotes from suppliers. Seventy to a hundred cups a day does not need a big machine; the mistake usually runs the other way.
  5. 5Take the trade licence. In a city corporation 'coffee house' is serial 162 at Tk 500, but an air-conditioned shop is a restaurant under serial 34(a) - Tk 2,500 in Dhaka North, Dhaka South and Chattogram and Tk 2,000 in other cities. Signboard tax is Tk 80 per square foot. In a pourashava 'coffee house / snacks bar' is Tk 2,000 air-conditioned and Tk 500 otherwise.
  6. 6Register with the Food Safety Authority - schedule 1, item 1 of the draft regulations covers restaurants and every business serving ready-to-eat food, for three years. The Authority's restaurant grading scores out of 100 with a green, yellow or red signal, and that is where the rules on keeping hot food above 63 degrees and cold food below 5 degrees sit.
  7. 7Take the fire safety certificate. 'Coffee house' and 'restaurant cafe' are both listed business types on the Fire Service e-licence portal. Milk, sugar and paper put it in group 1: Tk 2,000 for 301-500 sq ft, Tk 4,000 for 501-1,000, Tk 6,000 for 1,001-2,000; LPG or cooking oil puts it in group 3 or 4: Tk 4,000 for 501-1,000 and Tk 6,000 for 1,001-3,000.
  8. 8Past Tk 30 lakh of capital, remember environmental clearance - the Environment Conservation Rules 2023 list 'restaurant (capital above Tk 30 lakh)' as Green serial 27: no location clearance, issued in 7 working days, valid five years, no processing fee, a clearance fee by investment (Tk 20,000 at Tk 50 lakh to 1 crore), renewed at half.
  9. 9Keep two price points. Baatighar sells a regular cup at Tk 50 and a large one at Tk 190-270 - the cheap cup brings people in and the large cup carries the profit. The Tk 50 cup leaves about 30 percent, the Tk 270 cup about 65.
  10. 10Do the sums on sitting time. One customer holding a table for two hours over one cup means that table gives no more than four or five cups a day. Food, a second-cup offer or a time limit at busy hours - without one of these the tables cap the income.
  11. 11Buy beans in small lots. Roasted beans lose flavour within weeks of opening; North End sells in 250g and 400g packs - hold a week or two of beans against your daily sales.
  12. 12Roasting and packing your own beans is a separate calculation. Roasted and ground coffee is item 24(b) on BSTI's mandatory list (BDS 805:2016) and soluble coffee powder 24(a) (BDS 763:2016) - a Tk 4,600 sample test each, plus 15 percent VAT, and 19-94 working days for the CM licence. Selling by the cup needs none of this.

Seasons

  1. JanHigh
  2. FebNormal
  3. MarNormal
  4. AprNormal
  5. MayNormal
  6. JunNormal
  7. JulNormal
  8. AugNormal
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovHigh
  12. DecHigh
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitChattogram · The second city, and the best placed for power - load shedding in the Chattogram zone was nil on 19-09-2026. For an espresso machine that is the single biggest advantage. Cafe numbers and cup prices were not separately verified here.
  • Strong fitDhaka · Almost the whole coffee shop market is here - Baatighar, McLaren's, Awake Cafe. A cup sells from Tk 50 to Tk 400, and universities and office districts supply customers who sit. Load shedding was only 1.4 percent on 19-09-2026, though the government is raising it here from September 2026. Rent is the highest in the country, though the figure could not be verified here.
  • PossibleBandarban · The source of the country's hill coffee - Baatighar keeps its cup at Tk 50 on Bandarban beans, and North End's cheapest bean is its Hill Tract Blend (Tk 890 for 250g). An advantage on raw material, but few local customers; the selling is in the tourist season.
  • PossibleCumilla · A town on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway with a university and a cantonment. Load shedding in the Cumilla zone was 10.4 percent on 19-09-2026. The cafe market was not verified here.
  • PossibleKhagrachhari · Another coffee-growing area in the Chittagong Hill Tracts; like Bandarban, the raw material is close and the customers few. Production volumes were not verified here.
  • PossibleRajshahi · A university and education town with customers who sit. But the Rajshahi zone was losing 14.5 percent to load shedding on 19-09-2026, and cup prices have to stay below Dhaka's.
  • PossibleSylhet · There is spending power from migrant families and tea-estate tourism, but load shedding in the Sylhet zone was 19.5 percent on 19-09-2026 - hard to run without a generator.
  • Weak fitMymensingh · A university town, but on 19-09-2026 the Mymensingh zone had the country's worst load shedding at 31.2 percent, with some areas losing 10-18 hours a day in August 2026. For a shop that depends on an espresso machine this is currently the hardest place of all.

Risks and cautions

  • HighDemand: The tables do not turn. People come to a coffee shop to talk, read or work, so one cup holds one table for hours. Baatighar sells 70-80 cups a day, 100 on Fridays and Saturdays; McLaren's took only Tk 1,500-2,000 a day when it opened - four or five cups at Tk 350-400. The machine can make hundreds of cups but the income is capped by the number of tables, and outside Dhaka and Chattogram there are fewer customers who sit.
  • HighWorking capital: The bean price is not yours to set. Good beans are almost all imported, with a total tax incidence of 64.25 percent on bulk and 96.1 percent on small packs. So when the taka falls or duty rises the bean price moves at once, while raising the menu price loses customers. Roasted beans here run Tk 3,000 to Tk 6,850 a kg - the beans in the same cup can cost anywhere from Tk 54 to Tk 123 depending only on which you bought.
  • HighDependency: An espresso machine makes nothing without electricity. On 19-09-2026 load shedding was 1.4 percent in Dhaka and nil in Chattogram, but 10.4 in Cumilla, 14.5 in Rajshahi, 15.9 in Khulna, 19.5 in Sylhet and 31.2 in Mymensingh. In the same season, national load shedding ran 96-175 MW in April 2025 and 940-2,086 MW in April 2026. And in September 2026 the government decided to raise load shedding in Dhaka too. A generator runs on diesel at Tk 135 a litre (from 21-09-2026), about Tk 54 a unit - three and a half times the grid. And when the power goes the milk spoils.
  • MediumWorking capital: The machine is the capital, and it is slow to come back. Awake Cafe & Bistro was reported to have put about Tk 8 crore into the shop, training, equipment, marketing and supply. Even a small shop puts a large sum into a commercial machine, grinder, air conditioning and furniture - and at 70-100 cups a day that can take one to three years to return. If you give up the shop the machine does not fetch half its price.
  • MediumCompliance: Installing air conditioning turns a 'coffee house' into a 'restaurant' - the city corporation trade licence goes from Tk 500 to Tk 2,500. Above Tk 30 lakh of capital the environmental clearance rules apply. Operating without registration carries six months to a year or Tk 1,00,000-2,00,000 under section 38 of the Safe Food Act, and a trade licence not renewed by 30 September draws a surcharge of 10 percent of the fee or Tk 100 a month in a city corporation.

Sources

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