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Cafes in Sydney

Top Three Reasons to Buy a Café in Sydney

Thinking of buying a café in Sydney, but need a confidence boost? We’ll list the top reasons why you’re making a sound decision.

Having a great café nearby is a factor that many Aussies consider when determining the liveability of an area. Luckily, Sydney is one of the best cities in Australia to find a café, with approximately 7,000 independent cafés established across the city.

While this means intense competition, it also means cafés are a huge part of Australian culture, which is good news for entrepreneurs who want to buy an existing café in Sydney!

Before we list the top reasons to buy a café in this bustling city, let’s answer an important question:

Is owning a café in Sydney profitable?

Owning a café in Sydney can be profitable, with a 65-70% gross profit margin. However, your net profit is often 10% of your sales. If your café earns $400k a year, that leaves $40,000 in your pocket. While this may not be convincing, it’s possible to beat industry benchmarks by effectively:

  • Controlling your cost of sales, rent and wages
  • Improving your efficiency
  • Adapting your product mix

Now, let’s get into the top reasons why buying an existing café in Sydney can be a smart decision for entrepreneurs.

Existing cashflow and equipment

An obvious reason to buy an existing café is that you’ll be able to start immediately. You’ll be purchasing a turnkey business that has an established location, customer base, equipment, and cashflow. Instead of spending a considerable amount of time building the business from scratch, you can focus on improving it.

Of course, it is your responsibility to conduct appropriate due diligence and ensure that these elements are up to standard.

Opportunity to improve efficiency

Improving efficiency may not seem like an obvious reason to purchase an existing café. But if you’re deliberate about making your café profitable, then improving efficiency is a great opportunity to boost profitability and run a successful café.

There are a range of improvement areas you can start thinking about:

  • Reducing human error by integrating your POS and payment systems
  • Upskilling your team and providing them with opportunities to promote retention
  • Ensuring you have skilled baristas
  • Using purchasing software to keep track of your stock
  • Strong and effective communication
  • Knowing your products
  • Upgrading your systems

Contributing to your local community

An exciting part of owning a café is that you have the autonomy to curate your brand and its values. Apart from serving great food and drink, you can also choose to make a real difference in people’s lives.

Many cafés in Australia build their brand foundation on kindness, contribution, and support, providing a safe and comfortable space for customers. There are multiple ways you can do this:

  • Offering free books (or a swap-a-book scheme)
  • Hosting events that celebrate different cultures
  • Feeding those in need on certain days
  • Running a clothes or food drive
  • Contributing to charities
  • Offering free meals to certain demographics on different days

How BusinessesForSale.com can support you

If you’ve come this far, then buying an existing café is something you’re probably set on doing. But how much does it cost to buy a café in Sydney?

Although this will depend on the location, size and assets of the café, you can expect to pay anywhere between $50,000 - $500,000 for an established café in Sydney. This a broad price range, so take some time exploring cafés for sale in Sydney on our site.

Remember that conducting thorough due diligence on the café is crucial to determine if the seller is being authentic about their financial, legal and commercial claims. If you’d like more advice on the buying process, you can read our helpful article on how to buy a coffee shop in Australia.

We also have a great article on attributes of a successful café owner, which you may find useful.

We wish you all the best on your new journey to business ownership!



Megan Kelly

About the author

Megan is Head of Content Marketing at BusinessesForSale.com. She is a B2B Content Strategist and Copywriter. She has produced multiple articles that rank on the first page of Google SERPS, and loves creating people-first content.

@Be_theBoss