Opening a Small Café or Shop in Korea: Renting Commercial Equipment

Opening a small café, restaurant, or shop in Korea usually means a long list of equipment before your first customer walks in. An espresso machine, refrigeration, a water purifier, maybe an air purifier for the seating area. Buying everything new can eat a big share of your startup budget. Renting commercial equipment instead spreads that cost into monthly fees, which is why many small business owners in Korea (locals and foreigners alike) start with rentals. Here's how it works and what to check first.

Why many new owners rent instead of buy

Fitting out even a small café means paying for a lot of equipment before you earn your first sale, and much of it (espresso machines, ice makers, commercial refrigerators) is expensive to repair when something breaks. Renting shifts that from one big purchase to a predictable monthly fee.

• Lower upfront cost: monthly fees instead of buying everything outright, which leaves more of your startup budget for interior work, ingredients, and the slow first months.
• Maintenance included in many plans: regular service visits or repairs are often part of the contract, though what's covered varies by provider and plan, so check during consultation.
• Easier exit. If you move, expand, or close, the rental company collects the equipment; you're not stuck trying to resell used machines. Ending a contract early can still involve a penalty, though. More on that below.

For a deeper look at the numbers, see our renting vs buying guide. The logic is similar for a shop, just with bigger machines.

The equipment small cafés and shops rent most

These are the categories most small food-and-beverage businesses start with:

• Commercial coffee machine (업소용 커피머신): espresso machines and high-volume bean-to-cup models in business tiers; our coffee machine rental guide covers the home-vs-business tiers in detail.
• Commercial refrigerator & freezer (업소용 냉장고): display fridges for drinks and cakes, prep tables, and freezers, sized to your menu rather than your kitchen at home.
• Water purifier (정수기): many cafés rent a high-capacity purifier for drinks and customer water; see the water purifier guide for how plans differ.
• Air purifier: a seating area benefits from one during Korea's high fine-dust seasons in spring and winter.

You can browse the business-tier lineup on the SETKORA business category page.

Business registration (사업자등록): the general picture

To operate a shop or café in Korea you generally need a business registration (사업자등록), and rental providers typically offer their business-tier plans to registered businesses. That much is standard. The details, however, depend on your situation: which visa or residence status allows you to run a business, what documents are required, and whether extra permits apply to food service.

Those rules change and vary case by case, so treat this guide as general orientation, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your specific situation with a tax office (세무서), a licensed tax accountant (세무사), or a support center for foreign residents before you sign a commercial lease or a rental contract.

The good news: once your registration is in place, applying for equipment rental is usually the easy part, and the process for foreign business owners is close to the one described in our foreigner rental guide.

How business rental differs from renting for your home

Renting for a shop works much like renting for your home, with a few differences worth knowing before you compare plans.

• Business-tier machines: commercial models are built for volume (an espresso machine pulling shots all day, a fridge opened constantly), and monthly fees are set by capacity and grade rather than one flat rate, so compare within the business tier.
• Contract length (약정) (terms vary by provider and machine; a longer term usually lowers the monthly fee, but weigh that against how certain your business plans are, since ending early can mean a penalty based on the remaining term) ask about this in consultation.
• Card discounts: some plans qualify for partner credit-card discounts when the card's monthly spending condition is met; see the card discount guide for how the conditions work.
• Korean-language contracts: contracts and installation scheduling happen in Korean; SETKORA supports the application in 13 languages and helps you through the Korean-language contract and installation steps.

How to apply through SETKORA as a foreign business owner

SETKORA is a rental brokerage platform. You compare and apply in your language, and the rental contract itself is signed directly with the manufacturer or rental company. There is typically no large upfront deposit in this rental structure, which matters when startup cash is tight.

Here's the short version of the process:

• Browse the business equipment category, or use the 30-second Finder if you're not sure what capacity you need.
• Compare monthly price, card-discount price, and contract length in your language.
• Apply with the short form: SETKORA relays your request to the provider, who contacts you to confirm details, delivery, and installation.

For foreign applicants, a common eligibility condition is having about a year or more of remaining stay in Korea, with the specifics confirmed in the free consultation. Have your business registration details ready for the consultation if you already have them. It speeds things up.

Frequently asked questions

SETKORA is a rental brokerage (통신판매중개자), not the contracting party. Prices assume a contract term and, where noted, card-spending conditions; final terms are confirmed during consultation.