01 The business everyone thinks they understand
02 What this guide covers — and what it leaves out
03 Where each number comes from — and how far you can trust it
04 Lisbon, Porto, Braga and Coimbra: the map that decides half the business
05 A sector that keeps closing even though it's everywhere
06 Three ways to set up a café: café-pastelaria, specialty and take-away
07 A market billing more while cafés close
08 A country that drinks a huge amount of coffee — and won't let the bica rise
09 This is self-employment, not a passive investment
10 Which model to choose: a three-question tree
11 The table comparing the three models side by side
12 ★ The renda rises with tourism; the bica doesn't follow
13 Building from scratch or buying a trespasse: two different openings
14 The model café's business plan on one page
15 The average ticket is the sum of three moments of the day
16 The six numbers you must keep in your head
17 CAPEX: what the equipment really costs
18 The line-by-line P&L of the model café
19 Where the margin comes from (NOT the bica)
20 Break-even: 122 customers/day
21 Decision simulator: does your café make money?
22 The cushion and the first 12 months
23 The premises' planning fitness: this is where the project dies
24 Trespasse vs direito ao arrendamento vs building from scratch
25 Rendas by city and by neighbourhood: scale is everything
26 The arrendamento comercial contract: NRAU, caução and rent review
27 The case that sums it all up: a renda that kills
28 The esplanada: the second rent, and why Porto is different
29 Works, licença de utilização and SCIE: the cost not in the shop window
30 Checklist before signing the arrendamento
31 Alojamento Local: why your renda depends on tourism
32 Opening is a form: the mera comunicação prévia
33 The registo de atividade: Finanças and Segurança Social in one go
34 Horário de funcionamento and noise: free by default, except the nightlife zones
35 Legal form: ENI, Unipessoal por Quotas or Lda
36 Contribuições: the manager at 34.75% versus the ENI at 21.4%
37 ★ Coffee VAT: 13% on what you eat, 23% on almost everything you drink cold
38 IRC at 19%, derrama municipal and the fees that don't show in the plan
39 Formalities step by step: from the NIF to the open till
40 Opening isn't asking permission: it's notifying that you already comply
41 Mandatory HACCP: not the pretty manual, the daily record
42 ★ The myth-buster: training is mandatory, but there are no '14 hours' that count
43 The 14 allergens: mandatory too on the bolo in the display case
44 What you bake yourself: when the allergen is enough and when the full label kicks in
45 The trio the sector neglects: the machine, the water and the ice
46 The system's teeth: the coima, the encerramento and the criminal route
47 The balcão: the heart of the café
48 Layout, salão and capacity
49 The coffee machine: real catalogue prices
50 The rest of the equipment: display case, forno and refrigeration
51 ★ The comodato: the 'grátis' machine that isn't free
52 Buy, comodato or leasing: the threshold
53 Choosing the roaster: who calls the shots and what tie-in there is
54 The coffee: price and quality
55 The pastel de nata: made in-house or bought in?
56 Other suppliers: milk, and the cerveja contract
57 The initial shopping list
58 Designing the menu: the three moments of the day
59 ★ The price of the bica: a frozen preço social
60 Margin by product: where you win and where you lose
61 The products that lift the ticket
62 Lifting the ticket without touching the social price
63 The almoço menu: the prato do dia
64 ★ The lanche and the esplanada: where the real margin is
65 The CCT da restauração: the collective agreement that sets wages
66 ★ The real cost of a worker: the gross figure deceives twice
67 The contracts: sem termo, a termo, muito curta duração
68 Working hours, schedules and premiums: what the CCT forces you to pay extra
69 Recruiting in 2026: the mão-de-obra crisis
70 The trabalho não declarado that closes the café
71 Organising the shifts: covering three peaks with the tightest staff
72 Local marketing: the neighbourhood, not the campaign
73 Social media and reviews: Google rules, Instagram supports
74 Building loyalty: the business of repeat visits
75 The competition: a saturated market, not an empty one
76 The mistakes that close cafés: real cases
77 Management mistakes: the café that dies not from the renda but from neglect
78 The first year, month by month
79 ★ When to walk away: the honest NO-GO
80 Checklist: 6 months before opening
81 Checklist: 3 months before opening
82 Checklist: the month of opening
83 Checklist: week 1
84 Template: your plan in numbers
85 Template: the timeline of formalities
86 Industry voices: what those already inside say
87 ★ Industry voices: the quotes, with attribution
88 Appendix A: sources, traceability and declared gaps
A Legal notice and edition
