SB: Small Business Start Up Discussion

cobbingstones

How much would you charge for delivery? With petrol prices being so high, could you still make a decent profit?

Lokolo

A driver would be able to do around 2-3 deliveries an hour depending on the area. Say £1 for petrol. Means 3 orders an hour would cost £9 for a driver (minimum wage + £3 petrol)

That means you'd need to charge £3 a delivery BEFORE making profit. For someone that wants a Happy Meal, I doubt they would want to pay an extra £3 for delivery.

Why do you think Pizza Takeaway is so expensive?

Savvy_Sue

jacksterr wrote: »

I would be looking to run this business idea part time in the evenings and hiring a delivery driver on a part time basis.

This, I think, is your biggest problem.

If you were planning to offer this service yourself, then it would be up to you to decide what to pay yourself. On a quiet night, you could shrug and hope tomorrow would be better. On a busy night, you'd be run off your feet.

But if you're paying someone else, how would you arrange things? Are you planning to pay this person per delivery? Fair enough, but I suspect you'll need to pay a retainer to have them on standby. So on a quiet night, you're still paying money out.

Also on a busy night, will people be willing to wait? How will you predict what the waiting time is? Even if your delivery person lives less than 5 minutes away, you don't know what the wait will be in McD or KFC, and you have to predict how long it will take them to get to the customer.

If I've got crabby children to feed and I couldn't get to the takeaway myself (which frankly is the only reason I'd want to use this service!), I'd want to know, pretty much for sure, how soon I'd be able to feed the crabby ...

alesb

HI,
I have recently started a small business manufacturing and selling canvas prints. I have been on incapacity benefits (signed off from work for stress and depression) for nigh on 4 years and would like some help as to what I must do and will I be able to get some kind of allowance as the company cannot afford to pay a wage at the moment. The company is barely surviving but sales are on the increase. I have tried to find out where I could get a loan or grant through the government but it seems that if I am under 25 they will fall over backwards for you, unfortunately I am not a snotty nosed kid just out of school with no job, I worked in the construction industry for over 40 years and when I was signed off with stress and depression I lost everything and ended up living in a tent for 9 months.

Apologies if this is the wrong thread to post in, move if needed.

azadali77

Hi al
I'm thinking about setting up an online business and a question about terms and conditions. Would I have to get a solicitor to write one up for me

Savvy_Sue

azadali77 wrote: »

I'm thinking about setting up an online business and a question about terms and conditions. Would I have to get a solicitor to write one up for me

I think the short answer is that you get what you pay for. So if you want to be able to 'rely' on your t&c, you'd be well advised to pay someone the going rate to draw them up. I use 'rely' in the sense that they do what they need to do, legally, and that you can sue whoever drew them up if it turns out they don't do what they need to do, legally.

You cannot 'rely' on advice from an internet forum, because you haven't paid for it, and you don't know whether any of us are legally qualified to give it. (I'm not.)

Are you selling goods? If so, distance selling regulations will apply, and a half-decent solicitor will make sure that YOUR t&c take them into account.

ioksane

Hi all

For those of you with an office and staff, water coolers or boilers might be something to consider. You can get a decent monthly package from these guys that comes with refills too.

water coolers - Angel Springs

Just think it's something you guys may have missed?

bigheadxx

See this link for lots of small business templates:

http://www.thatinternetthing.co.uk/small-business.php

This is also a good basic plan for small catering businesses:

Business Plan

nattieb

Hi everyone,

I am looking for some advice please!! My partner and I are trying to start a new gym in our area, we have found the perfect premises, business plan is complete, money has been spent on plans, website, business cards etc, people are interested in joining already, quotes are in from equipment companies to buliders to solicitors, interest has been found from a major suppliment company who is supporting and is willing to help with promotion.
We have been to the bank for a £25,000 business loan, they have said that the business plan is sound and combined with the fact that we have some money to put towards the business ourselves and have worked had with research and promotion they can see that the business can make a profit!
However because I have personal credit with them already, their policy is not to lend more than £25000 in total, unsecured. We do not own a property to secure it to and my partner has a bad credit rating so we cannot borrow through him, my credit rating is fine.

Does anyone have any ideas for raising finance for a start up business?

Thanks

TheBusinessFixer

Hi nattieb

The first thing I would advise is to try some other banks, hopefully they will loan you the money. If unsuccessful with the banks, do you have friends or family who may be interested in investing/loaning you the money.

Many people start businesses using a combination of bank loans, overdrafts, credit cards, savings and money from friends and family.

Another options is peer to peer lending, recently a number of websites have started, which increased the options for loans. Such websites include funding circle, zopa and ratesetter, the first of which is aimed specifically at Businesses.

Good Luck

Paul