“With a budget of only RMB 350,000 and a venue of 80 m², is it possible to open a restaurant with style?”
This tavern located on the corner of a secondary urban road gave the answer in 60 days: not only did it break even in the first month of opening,
it also recovered its investment in the second month and began to make stable profits.
1. Site selection: turning “disadvantages” into traffic
- Facing the street but not the main road – the flow of people is not dense, and the rent is only 40% of the core business district;
- Floor height of 2.8 m, beams, and exposed pipes – traditional restaurants would consider this “depressing”, but it has become the retro industrial gene in the design;
- Limited area (80 m²) – 30 dining seats + 6 bar seats are planned, with an area of 2.3 m² per seat and a turnover rate target of 2.5 times/day.
Positioning keywords: half-day coffee, evening drink, late-night canteen.
2. Design: Create layers with “movable + stackable”
- Bar counter: stain-resistant old wood + second-hand marble surface, curved semi-enclosed, with a 650 mm swing-out window on one side.
- Seat: Used second-hand bentwood chair (Thonet No.14).
- Floor-to-ceiling windows: Old steel windows are equipped with folding hardware so they can be fully opened for outdoor use during lunch break.
- Lighting: Quartz sand molded chandelier + 3W goose egg wall lamp (self-made resin shell).
- Decoration: wine bottles on top display + vintage picture frames + dried flowers.
Design ideas
1) “Horizontal belts” and “vertical islands”
2) Curved moving lines
3) Soften the acoustics
3. Construction: completed in 25 days
Dismantling & concealing pipelines 3d;
carpentry & bar frame 6d;
exterior window renovation 4d;
paint & coating 5d;
soft furnishing display 3d;
trial operation and debugging 4d.
Secret: 70% module prefabrication + day and night interlaced work.
4. Operations: Growth formula with a 2-month payback period
- Total investment: RMB 350,000
- Average daily turnover (first month): 7,200 RMB
- Gross profit margin: 68%
- Average customer spending: 120 RMB
- Table turnover rate: 2.5
- Payback period: 60 days
Profit Points：
1) Time-slot reuse
2) Social atmosphere
3) Low fixed costs
5. 4 inspirations for small-scale catering
1) Budget priority: Atmosphere > Equipment > Decoration
2) Recycling old things can bring stories
3) Movement comes first, style comes later
4) “Changeable furniture” is more valuable than fixed furniture
Conclusion
25 days for construction, 2 months for payback, 350,000 yuan for annual profit
- the value of space design has never just been about looking good, but about making the business really run.
