How much could (do) you live on?

You're retiring at 45?

 

Yea we have met
@tuesday_wildchild ...

 

Dying to know how it's going. Best of luck.
Sounds like the kind of place that usually shuts from Oct to May? But am sure you know..

 

sounds like a hoop that needs jumping through....if it's currently vacant and they can get some rent in from someone willing to invest to improve the amenity, and it isn't dependant on you attracting investors, I can't see it being a problem...just be honest

 

There was a big one on the old A4 near Newbury ...was it the Tower cafe still there but not running

And a good one just south of Berwick on Tweed about a mile on the old A1 .All the old Pollock drivers used that one ...BIG and cheap .

 

If you have to tender, you're going to need to be a lot more professional. As @Pickles said, do all of your research on other nearby and similar outlets as the tender will probably want to to a business plan to support the rent that you are offering to pay. If it's anything like council tenders I have to do, they will want policies for everything (discrimination, grievance, environment, health and safety etc.), if you do need these I can e-mail you all of them. It's probably worth getting a quote for Employer's and Public Liability insurance to put in your plan as well. Read any council docs carefully, they sometimes favour small companies and minority owned companies. I did one where everyone was a minority if not white British male - as 50% female owned, you would qualify. You need every edge you can get in a tender like this. I think @vanorak's suggestions will be invaluable in terms of presenting a plan involving schools, encouraging cycling and following a sustainable / maybe carbon neutral agenda. All good fun!

 

i have no mortgage or rent, bills and food costs us about £1000 a month then workshop rent and bills is the same again. but if i were free of every tie in my life, i could live on very little.

 

I think people should do the research of the competition not only to be able to satisfy the business plan requirements, but more importantly to satisfy themselves that they can make a living from the business. I've seen some business plans which play lip service to this, bit of a waste of time in my opinion. Get an ordnance survey map and pencil onto this every competing business.

Then three/six months after you've opened go round and do a similar exercise.

Personally I think the finer detail in your plan is important i.e. if this is a cafe style business what do others sell their cakes etc for, don't assume you could sell for more unless their product/service is poor, how much will it cost for the product and hence realistically what is your gross profit margin, make an allowance for wastage. again if it were me I'd do this for every line in the menu. As for home made cakes, if this is what you are going to offer, if you make them yourself do allow for your time, it might be cheaper to get them from someone else's home!

I could witter on about this for ages but you've probably heard enough from me.

 

This is all very valuable advice.

 

Another avenue worth exploring is the real junk food network...it's a fantastic movement that looks set to grow. If you can gain support for your venture, I'd definitely consider intercepted food as a means to tap into the local community. There's a brilliant one in Saltaire, called The Saltaire Canteen...truly excellent food, and a lovely, positive atmosphere....so good in fact that I'm nominating it for the BBC Food and Farming awards this year....

 

We owned & ran a bakery & cafe in Spain for a few years. Set it up from scratch going through planning for change of use on premises, operators licence, food & H&S certification, building alterations, buying commercial kit etc etc. We invested over 50k euro!! Different country but similar principle.
The bottom line was we had a great time. We opened 6 days and of course our hours had to fit the general public. As did the attitude! Coz that's another issue. Most people are great, some are not!
Worked hard, played hard, differentiated ourselves by service & personality. We made a living, but the cash came back ( & then some) when we sold & not before.

I operated on the principle that once all the costs for start-up were covered, we should have enough cash in the bank to survive at least 2 years without making money!

We knew the cost and margin on everything. Literally. For example, even fuel costs for the weekly trip to the cash & carry were factored in to the overall operational costs. It may have only been a cafe, but it was our business & we treated it as such

That takes the pressure off 6 months in when the electric bills come rolling in for 3 phase ovens and extraction kit, the coffee supplier needs paying & the car needs a new gearbox (another story for another time)

 

You can't be expected to do a planning application and then have them go to tender. They need to do the basic planning, then tender, then you do additional changes needed for what you want to do. Don't be scared off by the tender process - that is tie but not money, as I said before I can help with the paperwork.