Starting up a business

Bromarc

Hello,

I wondered if anyone could lend me some advice with regards to starting out in business.
My friend and I want to open a very small cafe that sells fast food in London, it will be somewhere that sells a unique type of food that no where else does in the capital or England.....so I have faith in the product its just the business side of things I need help with.

We would require a loan from the bank to get this started and of course will need a business plan, can anyone direct in the right direction in how to do this?

I look forward to your replies.

Many Thanks
Bromarc

LilMissEmmylou

no offence but if its something u cant buy in London or the whole of England... then is there really a market for it? You dont just set up a business on the basis of "i have faith in the product" you need to do market research. Go to the area you would like to set it up in and talk to people, see if THEY would like to go a cafe like the one you want to set up etc etc, costs, what kind of names they think would be good for a business like yours (i.e. give examples and see which one people like best as a business name can draw attention).

I am also pretty sure you would need some of ur own capital as well as a bank loan as i doubt a bank would give u a 100% loan to start a business.

google "how to write a business plan" it should give you some rough structures of what you need to include. Be ready for it to be a loooooooong paper though.

vaio

You’ve probably picked the worse time ever to start a niche business.

Market: Obviously general but the principles still apply….. if there are two caf!s on a street with 100 hungry punters per hour walking past. 90 of those want bacon & egg and 10 want vegan salad. If you start another b&e caf! you will get 30 punters in through the door, if you start a vegan caf! you will get 10. If the split is 96/4 then the numbers are worse. So think very hard about going for the “unique type of food that no where else does in the capital or England” as there is probably a very good reason why.

Finance: Loans are available but hard to get and expensive, you will have to provide security (normally your house) so it’s a big (and serious) gamble. “Special” loans/grants are available for certain “special” categories of people which might be worth investigating but even if you qualify they are unlikely to provided all you need so you still end up betting your house.

General: The amount of paperwork, rules & regs and just general red tape you will have to deal with is mind bending particularly if you drift over the “5 employees” level.

Having said all that, running a business can be really rewarding (and not just in money terms) if it works

Space_donkey

If its unique I expect you will do well. what is it though you have got me curious?