# (Business) Planning Woes



## ObsidianSage (Jan 30, 2012)

Hi everyone

I've been planning my coffee shop for what seems like forever now. The main things stopping me were/are:

1. I was still in full time employment and not able to commit time/energy

2. Lack of suitable premises

3. Financials always look dodgy

1. Is sorted, I quit the full time job to force myself to consider this properly.

2. Its a matter of time/vision I guess

3. Is the killer. However, good the premises look (and better generally means higher rent), my first set of numbers always fall short of what I need to live on. This sometime rights itself by year 3 and sometimes by year 5, but I would generally be screwed by year 3 if things didn't work out. It doesn't help that my wife will not be working in the cafe, so I always have to 'give away' one wage. I then go through several variations which involve talking up the customer numbers, then bringing them back down again and finally realising that the actual numbers could actually work out worse than my 1st estimate.

I could go on, but you get the picture. How does my experience compare with that of other in this forum?


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

That's a familiar tale Dan, but at least you're looking at the numbers up-front (which a lot of people just don't do)

Re: 2

Do you have a few sets of eyes looking and also evaluating the current options?

Are you looking at footfall or current-state aesthetics?

Re: 3

Have you spoken to any landlords about shorter leases or rent-free periods?

Have you got a copy of your current business plan that I could review?


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

I have all this to come.....


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## shrink (Nov 12, 2012)

And me too in a few years most likely.


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## ObsidianSage (Jan 30, 2012)

Hi Glenn

I have a few people looking for me, but I have to say that the market has been pretty static around here for the past 3 months at least.

I'm attempting to balance footfall/location with enough square footage to allow sit down customers and for food to be prepared on the premises. Astethics matter as far as condition is concerned because I don't have a massive fit out budget.

To answer your second point, I have found that premises around here (West Kent and East Sussex) are generally going for around there asking rent and offering a shorter lease term will usually mean you lose out to somebody else who will go the distance. I was I asked for a 6 month rent deposit the other day and offered a one month rent free period in return as opposed to the three I asked for.

To expand on what I said earlier about only taking home one wage. I still think I'm pretty screwed. I imagine many start ups are going to be a young entrepreneur living at home with parents so, minimal living costs, a husband and wife team both working in a cafe or, it could be that only 1 is working in the cafe whilst other retains a reasonably paid job to help support things in the early years. Unfortunately none of the above apply to my situation.

My business plan hasn't changed much since you looked at it last year, except for tweaking to various locations.

Dan

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

garydyke1 said:


> I have all this to come.....


Hey Gary are you looking to set up something locally? Where are you planning to set up?


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## radish (Nov 20, 2011)

A short lease can have disadvantages as well - you could lose a site that you've invested money and time in - maybe try to negotiate for a shorter break option - unlikely to happen but worth a try?


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

urbanbumpkin said:


> Hey Gary are you looking to set up something locally? Where are you planning to set up?


Brum city centre is 1 option, John Bright street area


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Excellent mate. I think it has to be City Centre or Moseley / Harborne, otherwise I think you'd struggle to get the right type of footfall.


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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

I wonder what additional footfall is going through the John Bright Street area at the moment due to the entrance to New St Station pointing in that direction.


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