I’ve been running a small cafe with my parents in a small suburban town for 11 months. We are not profitable and I urged my parents to throw in the towel and shut down before we dig ourselves in a deeper hole. Although we’re net negative for 2024 by -$30,000, they want to keep going. My dad said he would rather drain his retirement account than see the business fail. Our main product consists of drinks and the average ticket size is $10. Our average gross sales is $300 a day. We are not on track to reach 100k in sales for our first year of operating. We are competing against corporations in our town and new cafes are popping up every 4 months. Just this year alone, 4 new cafes opened up. Mom and pop shops here are shutting down as well.

Our biggest monthly expense (aside from rent) is payroll which is about $2,200. I hired 2 part-time employees to help me out since my parents won’t. My parents do not know how to make drinks or do the register. They just help open the store and close. Otherwise they chill in the back. I’ve tried training them but they don’t seem to retain any information. Mostly because they don’t seem to care.

I expressed my concerns to them and I basically told them I NEED to find a real job. I only pay myself $150 a week so I can cover bills, but even that is not enough. I’m beginning to drown in my own debts and I’m not sure how much longer I can go. My credit card debt is about to reach $4,000. They told me if I want out then I can leave, just find a manager to replace me. The problem is, a manager in my area makes an average of $17/hr. I know they don’t have the money to pay someone in this position.

What advice can I give them? I want to leave this business but knowing them, I’d have to hire a manager to take my place.