Farm shop & Tea Room

TeaRoomVenture

Vectis wrote: »

I think, rather than dwell on cake sizes and whether to serve in cups or mugs, I'd be going back to square one and questioning in more detail why the current owners would be giving up what appears, from all you've said, to be a little gold mine.

Have you taken advice on what's a reasonable amount to pay for the business? Why isn't the current owner getting a manager and extra staff in if they 'want their life back'? It could mean that they want a lump sum and this could perhaps imply that they haven't actually been able to make much money from the business over the years. Have you seen how much they've been able to take out of the business in wages (and dividends if it's a limited company)?

I'm not being negative, but small alarm bells start ringing when what appears to be a successful business is being sold because the owner apparently wants to do something else. Either you'll be paying a lot of money for it (assuming it's profitable) or you'll have to throw an awful lot of money at it. Yes, of course it could work, but I'd be spending more time looking at the figures than thinking about portion sizes etc!

All figures have been studied by a chartered accountant and a banker. We do not take this potential business slightly and we do know what the flaws could be and we are also very aware of the responsibilities it implies. We have done our research very thoroughly and we wouldn't consider it if it wasn't making decent money! So once all this is well thought then I guess it's time to dwell on the cake size 😉 which is the point of this post, get people'S' pov and potential ideas.
Thank you for your input!

maisie_cat

Is it in a walking/cycling area? lots of people like to do a walking or ride with a stop and not everybody wants it to be a pub. An area for muddy boots & bikes maybe.
Good signage, especially if it's easy to pass by, passing traffic won't necessarily turn around if they miss you.

TeaRoomVenture

maisie_cat wrote: »

Is it in a walking/cycling area? lots of people like to do a walking or ride with a stop and not everybody wants it to be a pub. An area for muddy boots & bikes maybe.
Good signage, especially if it's easy to pass by, passing traffic won't necessarily turn around if they miss you.

It is indeed, there's a bike rack but nothing for muddy boots! Good idea for autumn yucky weather 😉 We're also considering an outdoor sink to clean equipment etc.
Thank you for your help!

Savvy_Sue

TeaRoomVenture wrote: »

There isn't any website at the moment but a Facebook page, so this is something we'll have to address rapidly.

Well, depends what you want online. The more you have, the more you have to keep updated (although there are tools to help with it), but a Facebook page may be enough if all you want to do is publicise what's going on.

BTW, I'm not sure if anyone has asked: what experience do you have of retail and / or catering? And of managing retail and / or catering?

Owain_Moneysaver

TeaRoomVenture wrote: »

We don't know yet how will deal with the petting zoo situation, maybe an full enclosure so kids can't touch but watch seems a safer idea sometimes,

Some places have hives with glass sides so people can see the bees making honey.

They then charge silly money for a scoop of ice-cream with a microscopic proportion of home-produced honey. It's "added value".

Less emotive than children seeing live animals before sitting down and eating ... their brothers and sisters. (1)


[1] The animals' brothers and sisters obviously.

TeaRoomVenture

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Well, depends what you want online. The more you have, the more you have to keep updated (although there are tools to help with it), but a Facebook page may be enough if all you want to do is publicise what's going on.

BTW, I'm not sure if anyone has asked: what experience do you have of retail and / or catering? And of managing retail and / or catering?

Thank you for your reply. I think a website is essential, it has to be keep alive just like any social network and yes it takes time, but it is paramount to have this window open!
As for experience, been self employed for more than 10 years now, dealing with public everyday, been a childminder too and husband in the hospitality business so we're fine for that!

TeaRoomVenture

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Some places have hives with glass sides so people can see the bees making honey.

They then charge silly money for a scoop of ice-cream with a microscopic proportion of home-produced honey. It's "added value".

Less emotive than children seeing live animals before sitting down and eating ... their brothers and sisters. (1)



[1] The animals' brothers and sisters obviously.

Interesting idea this beehive! Got to make sure the enclosure is well scealled!
I guess you're a vegetarian?!

Owain_Moneysaver

TeaRoomVenture wrote: »

Interesting idea this beehive! Got to make sure the enclosure is well scealled!
I guess you're a vegetarian?!

Oh no, I'm quite happy seeing chickens, pigs and rabbits then eating roast chicken, sausages and rabbit pie.

Incidentally vegetarians will eat honey but vegans usually won't.

FatVonD

You could have some chickens and make a point of all your cakes being baked with your own eggs, maybe even rescue some battery farm hens and make a selling point that they are living out their retirement with you for some feel good factor.

FatVonD

As well as the walkers and cyclists, if you have lots of parking, is it worth staging some 'meets' there? (I don't mean the fox hunting variety !)

You might not want a lot of motorbikes but, just to illustrate the point, there is a cafe at the foot of Box Hill where all the bikers meet on Sunday mornings. The drive through Crispy Creme in New Malden is a meeting point for classic car enthusiasts one day per month.