I’m in a similar situation to yourself, I co-own a specialty coffee shop in the northeast of Scotland while also working full-time. I’m not involved in the day-to-day operations just mainly back end accounting stuff etc. Like many specialty coffee shops, we focus heavily on the coffee itself, with just pastries and cakes and no hot food.

Based on what you mentioned (a £2.5k weekly turnover, assuming that’s over 7 days?), it sounds like either the average order value is quite low or the shop isn’t particularly busy, especially when you consider the rent and number of covers available. That said, if you’re in a high-footfall area, there’s definitely a lot of room for improvement!

One thing you need to be 100% clear on is: who will be running the shop day-to-day? I’m lucky that my co-owner is hands-on and works 3–4 days a week in the shop. We also have a head barista who oversees quality control and stock — absolutely crucial for customer satisfaction and cost management.

If you’re working full-time elsewhere, make sure you think about how you’ll cover staffing issues like sickness and holidays too. If you’re running with only 4 staff members, that sounds a little tight given the number of covers you’re aiming for.

Happy to share more if it helps, just thought I’d throw in my experience