Updated: 4 days ago
Starting Your Own Bubble Tea Brand Part 5 | How Many Cups a Day to Break Even? Check Capacity First
In this standard-shop example, about 100 cups a day cover shop expenses and depreciation. Including NT$35,000 a month for the owner's work raises the target to about 133 cups a day. After calculating the target, check whether busy-period capacity and actual customer demand can support it.
Selling more cups requires customers, repeat business, and enough capacity. Higher order value requires quality, distinctive products, and a brand customers value. A larger shop, faster equipment, or a higher price still needs corresponding demand.
Parts 1 and 2 covered floor area, equipment, and work allocation. Part 3 explained how branding can support higher prices and more sales; Part 4 compared automation costs. This article uses the same operating logic to calculate daily targets. All amounts are in New Taiwan dollars (NT$), and the numbers are planning examples.
What does a cup leave to pay the shop's monthly expenses?
Suppose the average amount collected is NT$65 per cup. Ingredients cost about NT$18, the cup and sealing film NT$4, and other sales-dependent expenses NT$2. Direct per-cup expenses total NT$24.
NT$65 minus NT$24 leaves NT$41. This is the contribution per cup available for rent, staff, utilities, and other shop expenses. Those expenses must be covered before the business can produce an operating surplus.
Contribution per cup is not net profit
Leaving NT$41 from a cup does not mean the owner earns NT$41 on every sale. The shop also has monthly expenses, equipment depreciation, and the owner's work to consider.
Variable costs are expenses that rise with sales volume. In this example they total NT$24 per cup. This classification describes how spending changes; it is not the same as all cost of sales or all operating expenses.
Contribution here is actual receipts minus variable per-cup expenses for planning purposes. It is not a direct calculation of financial-statement gross profit. Accounting classifications depend on how the shop records its expenses.
Use actual receipts rather than menu prices alone
Offers, discounts, and sales channels can change receipts or expenses. If a platform fee has already been deducted from the amount received, do not deduct it again in per-cup costs. Use a consistent calculation to avoid double counting.
Products have different prices and ingredient costs too. Start with the expected mix of main products, then update the averages using the actual sales mix after opening.
What must the month cover? Make owner compensation explicit
Continue the standard-shop example from Part 2. Suppose rent, paid staffing, utilities, systems, and other shop cash expenses total NT$98,000 a month. Equipment depreciation adds NT$8,000.
If the owner works in the shop, this comparison also allows NT$35,000 a month for that work. Even when it is not yet formally paid, considering it helps assess whether the business rewards the owner's time.
At 26 operating days a month and NT$41 contribution per cup, there are three different break-even targets.
Items to cover | Monthly contribution required | Average cups per day |
Shop cash expenses | NT$98,000 | About 92 |
Shop expenses plus depreciation | NT$106,000 | About 100 |
Including owner compensation | NT$141,000 | About 133 |
Calculate monthly contribution required divided by NT$41 and then by 26 days, rounding up to a whole cup. The owner-inclusive target is NT$141,000 ÷ NT$41 ÷ 26 days, or about 133 cups a day.
Why can 100 cups break even without providing the owner's income?
At 100 cups a day over 26 days, NT$41 per cup provides NT$106,600 of monthly contribution. Deducting NT$106,000 of shop expenses and depreciation leaves just NT$600, before the NT$35,000 allowance for the owner's work.
Covering the shop and rewarding the owner's labour are therefore different targets. The first row helps assess near-term cash coverage; the third gives a fuller view of operating performance.
Do not count living withdrawals and owner compensation twice in the same profit target. Cash planning uses actual withdrawals, while an operating comparison uses a stated allowance for the owner's work.
How does sales volume change the result?
Keep NT$41 contribution per cup, 26 operating days, and NT$141,000 monthly expenses including owner compensation. Different sales levels give the following results.
Average cups per day | Monthly revenue | Pre-tax balance after the example costs |
120 | NT$202,800 | −NT$13,080 |
160 | NT$270,400 | NT$29,560 |
200 | NT$338,000 | NT$72,200 |
Part 3 uses the same main assumptions to produce the standard shop's NT$72,200 result at 200 cups a day. Keeping the figures consistent lets readers compare across the series.
The table includes example owner compensation and depreciation. It is a planning estimate of the pre-tax operating balance. Add taxes, interest, and any other expenses that apply; this balance is not automatically the final cash available to withdraw.
Higher prices and more cups can both improve performance
Consistent quality, distinctive drinks, and a recognised brand can support higher prices. Repeat visits, marketing, and group orders can also fill quieter periods with more sales.
Part 3's branded shop collects an average NT$78 per cup with NT$28 of direct expenses, leaving NT$50 contribution. Although marketing, staffing, and depreciation are higher, its example monthly expenses including owner compensation total NT$160,000. Its break-even target is about 124 cups a day.
Compared with the standard shop's 133 cups, this shows how price and per-cup costs affect the target. At 200 cups a day, the branded shop's example pre-tax balance is NT$100,000. At 220 cups, with expenses unchanged, it becomes NT$126,000.
This is a potential benefit of quality and branding, but customer recognition must be established first. The same equipment and workstations may still have the same capacity ceiling. Extra demand also needs sufficient busy-period production.
Two cups in an order do not increase the contribution per cup
One NT$65 drink becomes a two-drink order worth NT$130, increasing order value. But each cup still collects NT$65 and costs NT$24 directly, so contribution remains NT$41 per cup.
Buying more cups increases volume and may reduce ordering time per cup. Raising the price per cup is a different improvement. Track cups per order alongside order value to understand which change is happening.
How much extra volume does a discount require?
Suppose a NT$5 discount lowers average receipts from NT$65 to NT$60, while direct per-cup expenses remain NT$24. Contribution falls from NT$41 to NT$36.
To cover the same NT$141,000 over 26 operating days, the target rises from about 133 to 151 cups a day. The shop needs roughly 18 additional cups a day to meet the same target.
Promotion may support trial purchases and repeat visits, but check whether extra orders make up for the discount. Busy-period capacity matters too: lower prices and longer waits do not necessarily leave the business with more money.
Can the shop deliver the target during busy periods?
Suppose the daily goal is 180 cups, with 90 ordered during two busy hours. Those hours require an average 45 cups an hour.
Part 1's one-person workflow theoretically makes about 30 cups an hour, or about 60 across two hours, leaving around 30 waiting. Part 2's two-station workflow at a stable 60 cups an hour has a better chance of handling the demand, while still needing room for replenishment and unusual orders.
Part 4's automation may improve the slower workstation. However, insufficient ice, tea, toppings, sealing, washing, or handover can still limit the complete line.
An opening target needs three answers
Is there demand? Can the location, products, repeat visits, and promotion generate enough orders?
Can the shop deliver? Test the actual menu at peak demand and check staffing, equipment, and supplies.
What remains after sales? Update the target using actual receipts, per-cup expenses, and monthly costs.
The cup target has operating meaning when these conditions work together. Dividing rent by the drink price, or treating theoretical production as sales, is not enough to assess whether the shop can continue operating.
Update the plan each week with three sets of records
First review receipts and direct expenses per cup to see whether discounts, sales mix, or waste change contribution. Then review daily cups and peak completed orders to assess demand and capacity. Finally review monthly expenses and available cash to check working capital.
Recalculate when ingredients become more expensive, staffing increases, or equipment is added. Targets should follow the shop's real conditions rather than stay fixed at the pre-opening estimate.
These five articles connect shop format, budget, quality, branding, automation, and sales targets. Choose a suitable operation, make the products and workflow reliable, then use records to assess monthly performance. This provides clearer direction than pursuing high daily cup counts alone.
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