Most of the capital needed to open a café or restaurant in Vietnam goes into the lease deposit and the fit-out, not the equipment. And there is one line foreign owners leave out of the budget more often than any other.
Where the money goes
| Item | Note |
|---|---|
| Lease deposit | Commonly 3–6 months paid up front |
| Fit-out and construction | The largest share. Fire-safety requirements must be designed in |
| Fire-safety systems | Mandatory. Retrofitting after the interior is finished costs several times more |
| Kitchen and front-of-house equipment | An active second-hand market can cut this substantially |
| POS, printer, internet | Check e-invoice compatibility before buying |
| Licences and signage | Varies by business type |
| Opening stock | Two to three weeks' worth |
| Operating reserve | The line most often left out — see below |
Three things specific to foreign owners
- Check fire-safety feasibility before signing the lease. Buildings down an alley or over several floors can be difficult. Finding out after you sign means your deposit is tied up.
- Settle the ownership structure. A foreign individual registering a household business is restricted, and putting the business in someone else's name offers little protection in a dispute — see the licensing checklist.
- Update your wage assumptions. The minimum wage rose on 1 January 2026 — Region I is 5,310,000 VND a month, 25,500 VND an hour. Business plans written earlier are often below that.
What actually drives payback
Not the number of seats — the number of times each seat turns over. An empty seat still consumes rent and electricity. And build your revenue plan on what remains after tax and wages, not on gross sales; gross figures make almost any plan look workable.
Ordersys tracks cost of goods per menu item and revenue by hour, so you know which items actually make money in your first months rather than your first year.
Other news
Opening a restaurant in Vietnam: the licences, in the right order
Six steps in the order that works. Fire safety has to be designed in, and the ownership structure is the biggest risk foreigners underestimate.
E-invoice requirements in Vietnam: who is in scope and what to prepare
Two different regimes, one threshold counted across every sales channel, and why a platform paying your tax does not mean it issues your invoices.
Hiring staff in Vietnam: contracts, insurance and the 2026 minimum wage
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Choosing a POS system in Vietnam: five questions before you sign
Five questions that decide whether a POS works here, and why switching the whole system to English is a mistake.
Managing a restaurant in Vietnam when you are not there
Five numbers each morning, and the one principle that beats every permission setting.
