When we first decided to open a café in Naples, we were not very experienced.
We had never built anything like this before, and based on what we thought we knew, we estimated the total cost would be around $700,000.

That number felt reasonable.

But the reality turned out to be very different.

By the time we opened our doors, the project cost was around $1.5 million — more than double our original estimate.

Some people may say this is unprofessional or a bad approach.
Maybe they are right.
Maybe they aren't.
I don’t fully know yet. The future will tell.

But what I do know is this:

Most projects I’ve built in my life ended up costing 2–3X more than the initial estimate — and many of them became successful.

I believe this café followed the same pattern.

Let me explain why.

1. Why Costs Exploded — And Why It Happened Early

As we developed the concept, refined the design, selected the equipment, furniture, fixtures, and aesthetic details, we repeatedly chose the higher-quality option.

Not because we were trying to be extravagant.
But because we were trying to build something excellent.

Every time we faced a decision between:

• “This is OK,”
  and
• “This is Great,”

We chose GREAT.

And whatever is great always costs more.
Most of the time, a lot more.

This philosophy affected nearly every part of the budget.

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2. Our Lack of Experience — And Why It Cost Us

We were building our first café.
We were learning everything from scratch.

Because of that:

• we overpaid in many areas
• we lost time
• we made mistakes in sequencing
• we faced permit issues
• we ran into delays with inspections
• we had multiple contractor problems
• we had to change contractors mid-project

And the biggest factor:

Our general contractor — a close friend of mine — had never built a café before.

He is honest and hardworking… but this was his first hospitality build.
A lot of time was lost figuring things out for the first time.

This also contributed significantly to the cost.

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3. Some of the Cost Was Simply Overpayment

We didn’t always know market prices.
We didn’t always negotiate.
We trusted vendors too easily sometimes.

Looking back, it’s obvious: a more experienced team would have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But experience only comes from doing.
And this was our learning ground for the future.

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4. The True Total: ~$1.5 Million

After permits, architecture, design, full demolition, full rebuild, equipment, millwork, branding, furniture, technology, training, and pre-opening… the final number landed around $1.5M.

It’s a big number.
Much bigger than we expected.
Much bigger than most cafés cost.

But this location became something special — and it set a standard for everything we will build next.

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5. Could We Have Opened It for Less? Absolutely.

With everything I know today, I believe we could realistically open this exact location for around $1M.

In fact, I believe we could have saved up to $500,000 with:

• better planning
  clearer sequencing
• better contractor selection
• fewer change orders
• fewer design revisions
• less overpaying
• avoiding redoing certain elements two or three times
  
  

But this was the price of learning.
The price of excellence.
The price of building something meaningful without cutting corners.

And I don’t regret it, it was worth it.

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6. Why I’m Sharing This

Because this blog is meant to be transparent.
Not polished.
Not curated.
Not a PR piece.

This is the real story behind building Three Sixteen.

If you are an entrepreneur, a future operator, an investor, or someone dreaming of starting your own café, I want you to see:

• the real numbers
• the real challenges
• the real cost
• the real consequences of inexperience
• and the real rewards of building something with intention

Most people only see the final product.
They don’t see the messy, expensive, complicated journey behind the scenes.

This post is about that scene.

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