New business idea

--amadeus--

tomcollins97 wrote: »

What I am thinking about is a bit of a different concept - it would be a self sevice shop with everything laid out in a self service area where you make up your own sambo/salad the way you want - rather than having it made for you. As many indredients as you want to use all for a standard price. I think it would be quite different to what is there already.

What so you think?

Honestly?

I'm not sold on the idea. Different reasons for the owner and for the customers.

For the owner you have a number of potential problems. 1st you have a set price but there is a reason ready made sambos are full of lettuce - it's cheap! Customers will load up with the most expensive ingredients and you could well find that you are either selling at a loss (the price of the sambo not covering the price of the ingredients) or you are putting the prices so high as to be uncompetitive. Second issue is hygiene - there is a reason food prep staff wear hats & gloves. What is to stop some random punter sneezing all over your food? The potential for contamination is huge and you will be responsible for that. Third is the notorious health and safety aspect. If you have a crowd of people jostling and making food at a counter then some will get spilt - a couple of tomato slices on a tiled floor is a slip hazard so you'll need rock solid insurance because someone will take a tumble!

And as a customer I don't get it - if I wanted to make a sambo for myself I'd do it at home where the ingredients are exactly what I want and are cheaper. If I go to a sambo shop I want it made for me (I hate the idea of self service - the new Tesco checkouts really bug me, smacks of cost cutting and profiteering). And I would worry about hygine as mentioned above. Lastly as a veggie I wouldn't eat if there was the chance of cross contamination with meat and veg, in a self service place all the food will end up dropped and mixed (so you'll get shreds of ham in the sweetcorn and bits of chicken in the cheese). Actually on that point people with allergies may be affected to - lactic intolerance but cheese dropped through the tuna or whatever.

That's just a personal thought though. I am assuming this is a franchise idea from what you have said above. Is it working elsewhere? How comparable are the locations where it is working?

And if you do go down the franchise route cost it carefully - how much will the franchise cost versus what will you get. Apart from blue-chip food franchises (mcD, burger king) the actual benefits can be pretty slim.

Berty

Speak to BB Coffee. Their corporate headquarters are in Limerick and they have a unit next to the Marriott which is waiting to be housed by a franchisee.

Careful though. It is a new concept which has not been done before. I was involved in the concept of the store personally. It would be good for Limerick but it will involve massive investment.

Its a great location but a risky one in the climate.

lfc1892

I'm delighted that someone has spotted the elephant in Limerick. We have all these chain sandwich shops that taste the same everywhere and charge a huge amount for mostly lettuce and the price of coffee is un freaking believable.

thankfully Starbucks haven't arrived in Limerick yet too.

Now all that said. Somewhere with good quality, reasonably priced coffee and sandwiches priced according to their standard is desperately needed in this city. And once we've sorted this out, can we get a decent mens shoe shop in Limerick?

In Irish mens shoes you have two choices, casual / tackie or Formal. There is nothing inbetween such as hi fashion casual / formal.

tomcollins97

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Honestly?

That's just a personal thought though. I am assuming this is a franchise idea from what you have said above. Is it working elsewhere? How comparable are the locations where it is working?

And if you do go down the franchise route cost it carefully - how much will the franchise cost versus what will you get. Apart from blue-chip food franchises (mcD, burger king) the actual benefits can be pretty slim.

Its working in Dublin! I know - location is very differenct but it is a great concept. Workes on a servey system & even at peak customers are in & out in 10 mins!

Berty

I think you will have issues with the local HSE EHO and also more importantly for you problems with portion control.

Itsdacraic

lfc1892 wrote: »

In Irish mens shoes you have two choices, casual / tackie or Formal. There is nothing inbetween such as hi fashion casual / formal.

Hmmm these shoe sandwiches you speak of sound interesting. Would they be made using the heel of the bread or just a standard batch loaf(er)?

lfc1892

yeah, sorry, slightly off the point there but it does tie in.

I miss the greasy spoons you find in London where you can get a full Irish with a big mug of coffee for under a fiver. I recommend the Belsize Cafe on Belsize road in Kilburn if you are looking for good value. There seriously is nothing like this over here.

--amadeus--

tomcollins97 wrote: »

it is a great concept

That's where we differ - I'm not convinced it is a great concept. But I don't have all the info, haven't seen the place in Dublin or have all teh financial details. You have so if you think it'll work then go for it.

But don't put more money into it than you can afford to lose - food service outlets (of all kinds) are the business sector that are statistically the most likely to fail in thier first 3 years. Research, research, research and go in with your eyes open.

And good luck.

ninty9er

It's a crap concept. Why would people pay you to make their own sandwiches when they can do the same at home and cheaper.

I know If you had for example a ham and coleslaw samdwich for €2 I'd be all over it, but I can already get that for €2.80, so why would "under a fiver" appeal for a sandwich, soup and coffee if I can fill up a thermos, bring coffee and make the sandwich at home for €10 a week.

Don't forget that unlimited amounts of coffee and tea are free of charge in most large offices, cappucino and latte included in some in the client service area.

Asking people to self serve is cheap, but it's even worse value for money than a €4 sandwich.

Poxyshamrock

lfc1892 wrote: »

thankfully Starbucks haven't arrived in Limerick yet too.

Curse you, CURSE YOU!

Limerick Dude

Starbucks is the best!

Vanilla Latte's in there are the sex!

RINO87

lfc1892 wrote: »

I'm delighted that someone has spotted the elephant in Limerick. We have all these chain sandwich shops that taste the same everywhere and charge a huge amount for mostly lettuce and the price of coffee is un freaking believable.

thankfully Starbucks haven't arrived in Limerick yet too.

Now all that said. Somewhere with good quality, reasonably priced coffee and sandwiches priced according to their standard is desperately needed in this city.

as was said, the sandwich shop on thomas street fits this description. I find the place to be really nice and decent value for money.

self service can work, look at the all you can eat buffet in pizza hut, granted the pizzas they serve at the buffet are crap, but the place is always full at lunch time, people love the whole "all you can eat" thing, when in the end all they can eat is usually what they would have been served normally anyway, and i'm sure its a handy way to flog off stock thats not selling well or close to use by date.

rok

Itsdacraic wrote: »

Hmmm these shoe sandwiches you speak of sound interesting. Would they be made using the heel of the bread or just a standard batch loaf(er)?

ha ha lol, that shoe sandwiches idea sounds like a runner to me ... sorry very bad attempt

TestTransmission

I wouldnt pay for a sandwich that i have to make in a shop!why dont i just make one at home and use that?


whats to stop some scummers coming in and ruining every single piece of food available for the sandwiches?they would have a field day.
Im sorry but i think its a silly idea

electron

just thought i'd put down what i would expect from a good sambo shop.

1. a VARIETY of fillings. good quality fresh fillings. ready-cut.
2. a good toaster (so the cheese actually melts)
3. mayonnaise allowed in toasted sandwiches (i know it's probably illegal but still :P)
4. well organized and neat!!!! both price- and fillingswise. not sterile, either, though. i'd recommend aiming for something like subway. their concept works.

as for soups, i would love to see clear soups (with meat!) available...

oh and if you can provide cheap drinks (like you said you might), it's a great bonus because people can afford to stay and sit in, rather than feel they have to grab their sandwich and rush home / back to work. makes for a much nicer experience

Berty

electron wrote: »

just thought i'd put down what i would expect from a good sambo shop.

1. a VARIETY of fillings. good quality fresh fillings. ready-cut.
2. a good toaster (so the cheese actually melts)
3. mayonnaise allowed in toasted sandwiches (i know it's probably illegal but still :P)
4. well organized and neat!!!! both price- and fillingswise. not sterile, either, though. i'd recommend aiming for something like subway. their concept works.

as for soups, i would love to see clear soups (with meat!) available...

oh and if you can provide cheap drinks (like you said you might), it's a great bonus because people can afford to stay and sit in, rather than feel they have to grab their sandwich and rush home / back to work. makes for a much nicer experience

Good quality fillings - agree with you there and a good choice of breads.

A good toaster. A regular toaster will use a lot of power and you will have to ask the staff to toast it for you because regular joe bloggs for safety reasons cannot touch it.

There is a piece of equipment that will ensure cheese melts and toasts faster than a silly wall mounter toaster or pannini machine. You would have to PM me to find out what it is. Post will be deleted if I mention it.(Touting)

Mayonaisse will never be allowed in a heated sandwhich or anything Mayo based. You can buy, bring it home and heat it but the shop will NEVER heat it for you because you can buy it hot and leave it go cold and then eat it which could make you sick.

badboyblast

lfc1892 wrote: »

yeah, sorry, slightly off the point there but it does tie in.

I miss the greasy spoons you find in London where you can get a full Irish with a big mug of coffee for under a fiver. I recommend the Belsize Cafe on Belsize road in Kilburn if you are looking for good value. There seriously is nothing like this over here.

John Steet Deli, Red Rose Cafe, Katies that used to around the corner from the bank......all greasy spoons as far as I know.

electron

saw texaco selling coffee for 1 euro today. a campaign until the end of january.

trentf

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Driving around is teh best way - if you do it at lunchtime then you'll see how busy they are.

I used to work out there and off the top of my head:

- Rios Fish & Chips
- The fast food beside Rios
- The cafe in the Superquinn S/C
- SuperQuinn itself
- The Kilmurry
- Finnegans
- Spar or whatever (down by the Pagoda, do sambos & stuff)
- A couple of places in UL
- The South Court (serve a lot of soup and sandwiches at lunchtime)
- The Hurlers (again soup & sandwiches)
- The Enterprise centre has a cafe for workers in there

Shannon Development run the park, they should be able to tell you who is inside the bounds but remember that workers out there drive to work so they'll often jump in the car to go somewhere to eat at lunch time rather than walk so you need to look at the surrounding areas. Also many (most?) of the companies out there are big enough to have staff canteens.

Too many places in castletroy i mean i don't want to discourage you or anything but chinese and spar just opened up here now and they sell sandwiches etc

tomcollins97

Thanks for all the feedback - it has given me a lot to think about.

Itsdacraic

tomcollins97 wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback - it has given me a lot to think about.

Don't forget the soup!