The library · 76 guides · updated oct 2026
F&B guides with real numbers
Start with your concept's complete guide, then go deep. Everything here comes from two decades of opening, running, and selling food businesses, and it's all free.
Start with your concept
How Much Does a Food Truck Cost to Start? (2026)
The real cost to start a food truck in 2026, line by line, plus the cash you need up front and the traps that
Complete guideHow Much Does It Cost to Open a Bakery? (2026)
Opening a bakery costs $498,000 plus $13,500 a month in fixed costs at zero sales. Here is the full breakdown.
Complete guideHow Much Does It Cost to Open a Bar? (2026)
Real 2026 bar opening costs line by line: $946,000 total, the x1.4 cash rule, break-even math, and where to tr
Complete guideHow Much Does It Cost to Open a Boba Tea Shop in 2026?
The real line-by-line cost to open a boba shop in 2026: $374,000 total, $523,500 cash to sign a lease, and the
Complete guideHow Much Does It Cost to Open a Coffee Shop in 2026?
The real 2026 cost to open a coffee shop: $457,000 all-in, $640,000 cash before you sign, and the daily break-
Complete guideHow Much Does It Cost to Open a Restaurant in 2026?
The real line-by-line cost to open a restaurant in 2026, plus the cash you need before you sign and the break-
Complete guideHow Much Does It Cost to Open an Ice Cream Shop? (2026)
Opening an ice cream shop costs $404,500 in 2026 ($303,500-$505,500 range). Wilson K Lee, who built 720 Sweets
Complete guideCloud Kitchen Cost in 2026: The Full Breakdown
See the real 2026 cloud kitchen cost, $208,000 line-by-line, the cash you need before signing, and break-even
Restaurant
Start here: the complete restaurant guide
Best Hourly Hiring Software for Multi-Location Restaurants (2026)
Ten hourly hiring platforms for restaurant groups with two or more locations, ranked by an operator who ran se
10 Best HR and Payroll Software for Restaurant Groups (2026)
Ten HR and payroll platforms for restaurant groups, ranked by how much of the hiring-to-payroll stack each cov
Best Payroll Software for Restaurant Franchises (2026)
Twelve payroll platforms for restaurant franchises, judged on what franchise payroll actually breaks on: multi
Why Chick-fil-A Out-Earns the Average Restaurant 10 Times Over
Chick-fil-A earns $7M to $10M per store while the average restaurant does $700K to $1M. The people-first strat
How This Donut Food Business Sells Out Every Single Drop
How Makayla and her wife built Frankie D's Donuts from a home kitchen experiment to a sell-out business with n
How to Write a Restaurant Press Release: 7 Key Parts
Learn the 7-part press release formula Wilson K Lee used to earn tens of thousands of dollars in free media co
How Juke Fried Chicken Built a Multi-Revenue Restaurant
How Vancouver's Juke Fried Chicken combined upscale technique, gluten-free fried chicken, and a cocktail loung
Map Every Touchpoint, Build 1,000 Loyal Restaurant Fans
Learn how to identify every customer touchpoint across your restaurant journey, fix the pain points, and inten
Postmates for Restaurants: Big Network, Small Market Share
Postmates lists 500,000 restaurants, the biggest of any app, but only holds 7% market share. Here's how to act
A Month of Restaurant Social Media Content in One Day
Wilson K Lee's 3-step system for batch-creating 30 days of restaurant social media content in a single shoot d
8 Food Trends Restaurant Owners Should Watch (Yelp Data)
Wilson K Lee breaks down 8 food trends backed by Yelp data, from quesabirria to boba, that restaurant operator
How Chefs Can Start a Successful Restaurant
A working chef's honest take on opening a restaurant: a short menu, developing your team, and turning a tiny k
How Lan Built an Award-Winning Restaurant With No Experience
Lan opened Bánh Mì Tré Bon with zero restaurant experience and a $600,000 investment. Here's the exact philoso
How Restaurants Can Survive and Thrive During COVID-19
Four strategies restaurants used to survive COVID-19: diversifying revenue, rebuilding menus for delivery, ado
How to Create a Restaurant Culture That Attracts Top Talent
How to build a restaurant culture that attracts good staff, cuts turnover, and keeps customers coming back.
How Much Should You Invest to Start Your Restaurant?
Use the two-thirds rule to calculate the right initial investment for your restaurant based on projected annua
Restaurant Financial Plan: High, Average and Low Scenarios
How to turn your restaurant projections into one financial plan, using high, average and low scenarios with a
How to Increase Food Delivery Sales at Your Restaurant
How to increase food delivery sales: treat apps as marketing, negotiate fees, and turn orders into dine-in reg
5 Customer Avatar Pitfalls to Avoid in Your Restaurant
Avoid these 5 deadly mistakes when creating your restaurant customer avatar. Wilson K Lee shares real lessons
Common Scams New Restaurant Owners Fall For
Four costly traps for new restaurant owners, from social media agency contracts to false promises of fame and
Low Labor Restaurant Concepts: Fast vs QSR Compared
Fast concept and QSR are the lowest labor restaurant concepts. See real costs, staffing needs, and revenue to
5 Deadly Mistakes Every New Food Business Owner Makes
60% of restaurants fail in year one. Wilson K Lee breaks down the 5 deadly mistakes killing food businesses in
How to Calculate Variable Costs and COGS for Your Food Business
Learn exactly how to calculate variable costs and COGS for your food business in 5 steps, set the right price,
How to Define Your Restaurant's Core Values
Clear core values make you a faster decision-maker, a stronger leader, and a less stressed operator. Here's ex
7 Instagram Tools Every Restaurant Owner Should Be Using
Wilson K Lee breaks down the 7 Instagram tools his team uses to grow restaurant marketing, save time, and brin
7 Money-Making Mindsets Every Restaurant Owner Needs
The 7 mindsets shared by hundreds of successful restaurant owners, from dropping perfectionism to owning your
How Restaurants Save 20 to 30% on Delivery App Commissions
UberEats and DoorDash take 20 to 30% off your top line. Here's exactly how to build your own delivery system a
How to Calculate Restaurant Labour Cost Per Meal (Formula)
Learn how to calculate labour cost per meal by dividing kitchen labour cost by meals produced, and how to use
How to Buy a Restaurant With No Money: 4 Funding Paths
No cash to buy a restaurant? Use friends and family, bank loans, a partner, or angel investors. Real pros, con
How to Start a Profitable Restaurant: The Full Timeline
A phase-by-phase timeline for building a profitable restaurant, from mindset and concept to team, loyal fans,
Start a Restaurant or Food Business: Free Course Guide
85+ videos of paid restaurant and food business course content, free. What is inside and how to use it to buil
Buying a Restaurant With No Experience: 6 Steps
Buying a restaurant with no experience? Wilson K Lee shares the six checks to run before you sign anything.
How to Start a Virtual Restaurant From Home in 2026
You can't run a virtual restaurant off your home stove; here's the licensed-kitchen path to launch one and add
How to Write a Restaurant Business Plan: Every Element You Need
A step-by-step guide to writing a restaurant business plan that raises funds, attracts partners, and gives you
4 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Food Business
The 4 costliest mistakes food business beginners make, from the wrong mindset to ignoring key numbers. Avoid t
Most Profitable Food Business Ideas for 2026
The most profitable food businesses are bubble tea, ice cream, ramen, pasta, and pizza, all running 20% to 35%
5 Psychological Tricks McDonald's Uses on Restaurant Customers
McDonald's added $28 million with one question. Here are the 5 psychological marketing tactics they use and ho
5 Reasons Restaurants Fail in Their First Year
More than 60% of restaurants fail in year one. Here are the five real reasons, and the steps that keep your sh
5 Ways to Reduce Restaurant Labour Costs
Five practical strategies restaurant owners use to cut labour costs, protect profit margins, and keep their be
4 Restaurant Business Models: Which Should You Open?
Compare all four restaurant business models by investment, labor, stress, and revenue potential so you can cho
Restaurant Variable Costs vs Fixed Costs: A Guide
The difference between variable and fixed costs in a restaurant, with benchmarks for food, labor and rent to b
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The calculator runs your cost to open, the ×1.4 reserve, and break-even for your concept and city.
Run your numbersCoffee shop
Start here: the complete coffee shop guide
How Grounds & Hounds Built a $1.2M Coffee Brand
Wilson K Lee breaks down how Grounds & Hounds went from $100K to $1.2M in revenue selling coffee online by bui
8 Steps to Building a Profitable Coffee Shop Business
Wilson K Lee breaks down the 8 essential steps to start and run a profitable coffee shop, from knowing your cu
How to Calculate Food Cost Percentage for a Cafe
How to calculate food cost percentage, the difference between ideal and actual, and how to use both to protect
How to Open a Coffee Shop: Concept to Opening Day
Wilson K Lee breaks down every step to open a coffee shop, from finding your why and choosing a concept to bud
How to Write a Coffee Shop Business Plan (Step-by-Step)
A step-by-step guide to writing a coffee shop business plan: concept, team, location, menu and financials, fro
5 Reasons Coffee Shops Fail in Their First Year
75% of coffee shops fail in year one. Here are the five real reasons why, and exactly what you can do to make
5 Unique Coffee Shop Concepts That Actually Work
Five unusual coffee shop concepts from Asia and beyond, why each one works, and how to apply the ideas to your
Cloud kitchen
Start here: the complete cloud kitchen guide
Cloud Kitchen vs Restaurant: Which Should You Open in 2026?
A cloud kitchen costs $208,000 to open in 2026, a full restaurant $969,000. The honest side-by-side, and the d
How a New Cloud Kitchen Got 100+ Orders in Its First Month
A real operator story: how Glen Murray launched a ghost kitchen from home in the Philippines, hit 100+ orders
Most Popular Food Delivery Items for Cloud Kitchens
The food delivery items trending on GrubHub and DoorDash, with practical advice for restaurant and cloud kitch
6 Cloud Kitchen Business Models Every F&B Operator Should Know
A plain-English breakdown of the six cloud kitchen business models, from independent single-brand to hub-and-s
How to Start a Cloud Kitchen (Ghost Kitchen): A Starter Guide
Learn how to start a cloud kitchen from scratch: define your customer, pick a proven concept, build a delivery
How to Start a Cloud Kitchen: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to launch a cloud kitchen properly: choosing a concept, building a delivery menu, picking a location, and
Boba / bubble tea
Start here: the complete boba / bubble tea guide
Why Busy Bubble Tea Shops Still Close: The Rent Math
A busy line does not mean a healthy shop. The real numbers behind boba shop failures, and whether franchise fe
How to Open a Boba Shop in 2026: The 9-Step Blueprint
Learn how to open a boba shop in 2026 with this 9-step blueprint covering community, vertical focus, location
How to Start a Boba Shop: A Step-by-Step Guide
A step-by-step guide to starting a boba shop: customer, location, menu, equipment, and systems, from an operat
How to Start a Boba Booth at Farmers Markets and Events
A step-by-step guide to launching a bubble tea booth at farmers markets and events, covering licensing, brandi
Food truck
Start here: the complete food truck guide
How to Run a Profitable Food Truck: A Sushi Chef's Lessons
A sushi chef runs a thriving food truck on a small menu, premium ingredients sourced daily, and deep community
Food Truck vs Restaurant: Which Should You Open in 2026?
A food truck costs $155,000 to start in 2026. A restaurant costs $969,000. The real difference is the life you
Food Truck vs Pop-Up Tent: What to Know Before You Buy
Start with a tent or jump straight to a truck? What to test first, the equipment traps to avoid, and what oper
9 Steps to a Profitable Food Truck Business in 2026
A nine-step framework for launching a profitable food truck in 2026: audience, viral menu, location, costs, an
How to Start a Food Truck Business: A Step-by-Step Starter Guide
What it takes to start a food truck: picking a concept, choosing pitches, designing the menu, startup costs, p
More concepts
Bakery · 3 guides
Ice cream shop · 2 guides
Running your restaurant · 1 guide
general · 1 guide