How to Start a Cat Café Business Successfully

Start a Cat Café Business

Cats & Coffee

How to Start a Cat Café Business

The concept of cat cafés has taken the world by storm, combining the love for coffee with the joy of feline companionship. If you're a cat enthusiast with dreams of creating a unique and cozy space for both coffee lovers and cat aficionados, starting a cat café might be the perfect venture for you.

We’ve looked at many different coffee shop concepts and ideas over the years, but the one that stands out is undoubtedly cat cafés. This unique and exciting coffee shop concept has the extreme pawtentional (sorry, I can’t help myself!) to leave a positive impression on your local target market and be very profitable.

The chances are your town does not yet have a cat café, which may give you an additional reason to take a second look at this type of coffee business. So, in today’s post, we will discuss how to start a cat café coffee shop and some of the critical considerations that you’ll want to keep in mind.

Cat Café Definition: What is a Cat Café?

A cat café is a coffee business that offers customers the experience of spending time with cats while drinking their favorite coffee, other beverages, and food items.

To clarify, a cat café isn’t simply a cat-themed coffee shop with feline art on the walls or cat décor (although that could be a great idea!). Instead, we’re talking live cats here interacting with coffee shop customers.

Here's a step-by-step guide to help you embark on this delightful journey.

Further Reading: Steps to Starting a Coffee Shop

How to Start a Cat Cafe Business

Benefits of Having a Cat Café

There are several benefits of opening a cat café or cat coffee shop. Other than making a profit, a cat café might be able to position your coffee shop in an advantageous position. Let’s go through the list below.

Benefits of operating a cat café:

• Competitive advantage over other regular coffee shops
• Customers may stay longer, order more food
• Offers multiple streams of income
• Excellent branding opportunities
• Helps your local community

Competitive advantage

The chances are that there aren’t many cat cafés in your neighborhood. So, providing your customers with a unique experience can be your competitive advantage.

This advantage will set you apart from all of your competitors and provide you with a unique place within your community to operate. Operating a cat café can, therefore, provide you with minimal direct competition.

Customers may stay longer

When you sit down with pet cats, time can fly.

With cats lounging and playing around, customers may be enticed to stay longer and order more food and drinks. This can increase your sales volume and profit margins. With the addition to cats, your coffee shop is no longer a place to grab a quick coffee to go, but instead, it’s a destination spot meant to allow people to take some time and enjoy the company of cats.

Multiple streams of income

Some cat cafés can charge for the time spent with the cats. This charge will help keep the cats fed and healthy. In addition, with a cat café, a little creativity can add the possibility of selling merchandise. The additional cat-centered products can all help improve your sales and average sales receipt.

Excellent branding opportunities

The branding opportunities you can have with coffee and cats are numerous. In addition to being fun, cute, and memorable, your branding can work as an excellent starting point for your marketing campaigns and customer loyalty efforts.

Helping your local community

Unfortunately, many communities see many stray cats in the streets even today. Your cat café can work to facilitate pet adoptions. You can also spend a certain percentage of your revenue on charitable work: adopting cats, providing medical treatments, and finding new owners and homes. Additionally, you can put a separate donation box for philanthropic purposes so that your customers provide donations.

Further Reading: How to Start a Coffee Shop Successfully

How to Start a Cat Coffee Cafe Business

How to Start a Cat Café Business

Define Your Mission

Successful coffee shops revolve around their mission. Your cat café should be no different. Therefore, you’ll want to develop a mission for your café that resonates with your target market.

For example, Neko Cat Café in Seattle provides a cat-coffee experience with a purpose. While they serve coffee, beer, and other menu items, they also allow their patrons to spend time with cats for an additional fee. Additionally, they provide their customers the opportunity to adopt a cat.

Neko Café’s mission is to “rescue as many cats as humanly possible.” They have partnered with King County Animal Rescue and other organizations to help get the cats adopted and into good homes.

What will your cat café mission be?

Develop Your Concept

Once you’ve determined a mission, you’ll want to develop your concept. In addition to having cats, take a step back and consider the whole experience. How will your customers interact with your cats? In addition, what type of coffee shop food and beverages will you offer – and what will the décor and furniture be like?

Your concept will define what your coffee shop is all about – make it fun, playful, and inclusive.

Research and Planning:

Begin with thorough research to understand the legal requirements, zoning regulations, and licensing needed for a cat café in your area. Develop a comprehensive business plan that outlines your vision, target audience, revenue streams, and operational details.

Create Your Cat Cafe Business Structure

Every business needs to legally create a business structure. Establishing your business as a legal entity will entitle you to open up a bank account, establish yourself with vendors, and hire employees, among many other things.

There are a variety of business structures to choose from. From setting yourself up as a corporation or leaning on the benefits of a coffee shop LLC, you’ll want to make sure you remember to take this step. Since you’ll be working with cats and perhaps other animal rescue organizations, you may also want to consider setting up a non-profit coffee shop.

Choose Your Location

Your cat café location will play a significant role in your success. But this is true for all coffee shops and most other retail shops.

Choose a cat café location that aligns with your cat-loving target demographic and local regulations. Ensure the space is comfortable for humans and cats, with designated play, relaxation, and dining areas.

Easy access to your target market will be necessary for a steady stream of paying customers. But unlike your typical coffee shop location, you may have to consider any special zoning considerations due to the housing of cats.

Your location may have to have a special and secure area for your cats, such as a separate room or section in the café. This will prevent the cats from meandering behind the coffee bar, into the kitchen, or possibly disturbing customers’ food.

Permitting Process

When it comes to permitting, having a cat café will often be just like having a regular coffee shop – but with the unique addition of having several cats on the premises. 

Navigate the legalities of operating a cat café, including health and safety regulations, food service permits, and adherence to animal welfare standards. Consult with local health departments and animal control authorities to ensure compliance.

Many health departments may not be as familiar with approving a cat café concept, so you must work with them to ensure you can open correctly. Just have the mindset that each department wants to ensure the safety of your customers and employees – and take steps from there.

Further Reading: Requirements to Start a Coffee Shop

How to Start a Cat Coffee Shop Business

Working With Partners

Like all coffee shops, cat café owners will work with various partners. From wholesale coffee roasters bakeries, and other vendors, you will need to reach out to potential vendors. Unlike typical coffee shops, a cat café may require owners to work with vendors distributing pet food and other pet products.

As you look to jump-start your coffee business, you’ll want to look at various vendors in your area that you believe you can work with.

Cat-Friendly Design

Create a cat-friendly environment with cozy nooks, climbing structures, and comfortable resting spots for the feline residents. Work with an animal behaviorist to design a space that accommodates the needs of the cats and provides a stress-free experience for both cats and customers.

Your cats will likely temporarily live in your café. You will want to determine how this would work logistically and practically. Will you have a separate room with food, water, and storage?

Cats may need to be separated from customers or other cats for various reasons. Having adequate space that plans for any scenario with cats will be necessary.

Design the café area with a warm and inviting ambiance. Choose cat-themed décor, comfortable seating, and a menu that caters to coffee and snack preferences of your human visitors. Create a tranquil atmosphere where patrons can enjoy their coffee while interacting with the resident cats.

Where will the Cats Come From?

As an owner of a cat café, you’ll want to determine just where you will get your cats from. In addition, you will need to ensure that they have minimum standard care, such as their “shots.”

Understanding basic information – whether or not they have been spayed or neutered and their overall health conditions – will be very important.

Partner with a Shelter:

Early in your coffee shop planning, consider partnering with a local animal shelter or cat rescue organization to provide a home for adoptable cats. This not only contributes to a noble cause but also delivers an additional layer of community engagement to your cat café business. For example, Neko Café gets cats from King County Animal Rescue and other non-profit organizations.

This may be one of the most challenging things because many of these organizations want to work with established organizations and businesses they trust. So, developing your mission and reputation by meeting with them early in your business development may be critically important.

Keeping the Cats Safe

Since you own and operate a cat café, you’ll need to create systems and “in-house” that need to be followed by staff and customers.

Rules must be taught to your employees and baristas and posted to your customers. For example, you might have strict rules on not feeding animals, washing hands before and after spending time with your cats, and not inappropriately handling the cats.

Hygiene and Safety Protocols:

Establish stringent hygiene and safety protocols to ensure the well-being of both cats and customers. Implement regular veterinary check-ups for resident cats, maintain cleanliness, and provide hand sanitizing stations for visitors.

Staff Training:

Train your staff on cat behavior, health, and safety protocols. Ensure they can effectively manage interactions between cats and customers and create an enjoyable experience for all.

Developing Your Cat Café Budget

Developing a budget for your cat café will be similar to that of a “regular” coffee shop, with the added costs for caring, housing, and supporting your feline friends.

Your cat café budget will incorporate much of the standard costs associated with a new coffee shop startup. You will have two separate budgets that you will want to be aware of.

• Your Startup Costs
• Your Operational Costs

For more information, read our detailed post, Plan Your Coffee Shop Budget.

Once you get your coffee shop startup budget in order, you’ll need to determine how to raise the necessary money. At Coffee Shop Startups, we refer to this as determining your coffee shop funding mix.

Marketing and Promotion:

Utilize your unique competitive advantage to create a strong online presence through social media platforms, showcasing the adorable cats and unique experiences offered at your café. Implement promotional strategies, such as loyalty programs and themed events, to attract a steady flow of customers.

Grand Opening:

Host a cat-friendly grand opening event to generate feline-caffeine buzz and attract the community. Consider collaborating with local influencers, media outlets, and animal advocacy groups to amplify your reach.

How to Start a Cat Café

Action Steps To Take Today

Write a Cat Cafe Business Plan

It will be essential to articulate your thoughts and ideas into one cohesive document. In addition, since many property managers, lenders, investors, and future partners may have never worked with a cat café before, they may be very interested in reading your business plan.

Your cat café business plan, thus, is an excellent tool to help you develop your thoughts and create a sense of buy-in from your readers.

Find out more information by reading our recently updated article, How to Write Your Coffee Shop Business Plan.

Research the Cat Cafe Competition

The cat cafe niche is highly unique. If a cat cafe is nearby, consider altering your concept or customer experience to claim a unique spot in the general marketplace. 

Additional questions:

Is it profitable to open a coffee shop?

Owning and operating a coffee shop can be a business. However, several factors can determine its success and profitability. First, as a business owner, you must steer your coffee business with the right people, equipment, and knowledge.

Factors determining profitability can vary from increasing your sales, choosing the right location, hiring great people, and managing your overall business effectively.

However, if you want to understand how much money you can make as a coffee shop owner, read our updated post, How Much Money Does a Coffee Shop Make?

Will a cat café be a feasible option for me?

Starting a cat café or a cat-centered coffee shop can present an excellent opportunity for you. First, however, you’ll need to do the necessary research and planning, as we discussed earlier.

In addition to starting a typical coffee shop, you’ll want to look at where you’ll set up your cat café if the location serves the right demographic, and if you will be able to raise the necessary funds needed to get to sustainability. If you are on the fence about starting a cat cafe, you may consider a variety of other coffee business concepts. For example, you may want to start a mobile coffee business – or a drive-thru coffee stand business.

Starting a cat café is a delightful endeavor that combines the joy of coffee and the charm of feline companionship. By meticulously planning, ensuring compliance with regulations, and creating a space that prioritizes the well-being of both cats and customers, you can embark on a journey that brings happiness to all who visit your unique establishment. So, gear up to purr-suade your dreams and let the cozy world of cat cafés unfold before you!

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Based in Seattle, Washington, USA, Coffee Shop Startups is dedicated to providing you with the most relevant information on how to start a coffee shop business successfully. Over the last 11 years, we've helped thousands of aspiring coffee business owners worldwide. We harness the experience, wisdom, and knowledge of many successful coffee shop owners to help you increase your chances of success and profits. We support business owners who want to start a coffee business by providing them with valuable information on starting their coffee business successfully.