opening a cafe/sandwich shop!!!!!!

slac

Hi to all.

This is my first ever post on Boards and i'm looking for some advice.

I working in a job that I'm gradually growing to hate day by day and I looking for a complete change of career.
Ive been running with a few different ideas but always come back to opening cafe/sandwich shop.
I aim to provide a different service from all the rest of the places around ireland and would prefer to deal mainly as a takeaway but would also cater for eat-in's.

My plan is to serve the best quality food i can source (and source it as local as possible meat, veg, etc) and sell it at a reasonable price.

Profit will be made through having a small profit margin per item but having high turnover.

Advice???

jetsonx

Slac, If I got a Euro for every time I heard an aspiring entrepreneur say they will serve a better quality product , with a smaller profit margin but they will make up for it with a higher turnover - I would be very very rich.

This thread could go on for weeks with different people dispensing different advice.

If you really want your idea to work. Go work in a cafe for just a couple of months or even get experience in 2 or 3 different cafes. When you find out the inner workings of a cafe and learn the kinda stuff that you will never find on the internet . Then you will be justified in saying I really can bring a better product to the market than this and make it long-term profitable.

YellowSheep

OP. That's the best advise you can get on your post.
Regards Oliver

slac

I have worked in a cafe and in two pub's whose main trade during the day was in food.
Whats wrong with a different view on trading?


whats driven me to this idea of better quality food/ lower prices is through my own market research...

We called into a small cafe, nothing fancy about it, had a bacon & egg, a sausage sandwich and a child's sausage sandwich a cup of tea & coffee (instant) and can of 7-up. cost me 20 euro on the button. sausages were cheap from a frozen bag.

My wife went to a fancy coffee shop the other day. ordered a BLT and cup of tea for take away 7.95 for BLT and 2.95 for tea. she said she wanted the bacon warm, when she opened the sandwich the bread was soggy and the lettuce black, turned out the bacon was pre-cooked and the cafe made the sandwich and then heated the whole thing in the microwave!!!!

kkelliher

slac wrote: »

but having high turnover.

This is where your main challange will be as getting a high turnover needs a high footfall which generally gets high rent, high rates etc etc

slac

kkelliher wrote: »

This is where your main challange will be as getting a high turnover needs a high footfall which generally gets high rent, high rates etc etc

I've the location sourced with massive footfall and a high demand for food as there is very little to offer in the area.

mikemac1

Will you serve smoothies?

Very popular, you just need the cups and ingredients and then sell for around 4 euro each

Surely you can make profit from them

slac

mikemac1 wrote: »

Will you serve smoothies?

Very popular, you just need the cups and ingredients and then sell for around 4 euro each

Surely you can make profit from them

I'm planning on covering all bases, I'd like to offer people nearly any possible choice of food and drink.
The problem i'd like to address is that no matter where you go for a sandwich in Ireland you always have the same choice, looks the same tastes the same and is always over charged.

I'm not expecting to become a millionaire out of this venture, all I'm after is a nice income, give a few people jobs & work close to home. (as I currently work away from home)

PhilMcGee

How much money are you planning to put up yourself.
How much do you need of the bank.
Will you be getting other investors involved.
Do you need staff or are you enough.
How much do you expect to make.
Crunch these and all of the other numbers first. And then worry about everything else.

ArthurG

slac wrote: »

Profit will be made through having a small profit margin per item but having high turnover.

That's how the Aldis of the world operate.

What is a small profit margin? 10%?

If each punter paid 10€ that means just 1€ net per customer. Minus fixed and variable costs, your going to need to serve hundreds a day to get anywhere. I get you don't want to be a millionaire, but your numbers have to work.

Have you prepared a business case that you can share?

Markcheese

I'm planning on covering all bases, I'd like to offer people nearly any possible choice of food and drink.
Add that to your low profit,high turnover model....
I don't mean to rain on your parade but could be a problem ...
The more bases you cover the more space,staff and equipment you'll need...also more stock to hold and way more waste and more importantly slower customer throughput which wrecks your high turnover model .....
Look at subway , high customer throughput because they sell only really sell one product ... But loads of variation in that ....! In out and gone ....

anbrutog

Read the E-Myth by Michael Gerber before you attempt anything.

Bandara

I'm going to be the big negative voice but I fear that your living a bit of a pipe dream, don't take this as an attack but its a counter balance to all the people who pat you on the back and say thats a super idea without qualification

"selling best quality food", "small profit margin per item", "different to everywhere else", "source local", "covering all bases, I'd like to offer people nearly any possible choice of food and drink"

Im sorry but these are all soundbites/romantic notions from people who dont know or understand the industry, to keep it short; if you make less than an average 45% margin on every item your going out of business, its that simple.


"My wife went to a fancy coffee shop the other day. ordered a BLT and cup of tea for take away 7.95 for BLT and 2.95 for tea. she said she wanted the bacon warm, when she opened the sandwich the bread was soggy and the lettuce black, turned out the bacon was pre-cooked and the cafe made the sandwich and then heated the whole thing in the microwave"

This is simply a bad place of business, with few standard, its not indictitave of the industry, your wife should have simply handed it back and asked for it to be freshly made or not at all.


the location you have sourced with a massive footfall and high demand etc, why is/has there not been anyone else opening there ? There isn't any hidden gems that no one has noticed out there, why is the unit empty? Does it have full planning permission for food use.


You are aware the bank will give you no funding whatsoever, or if your lucky maybe 20%.

Do you have 50-60k to fit it out, minimum. And cashflow to keep it alive in the first 2 months when no one knows about you.

Cafe/Sandwich shop sell Coffees and sandwichs and cakes, thats their identity, they do not and cannot have a high turnover model and keep that identity, your not going to have enough tables for starters, and you can't sell a cup of tea to Bridie and then turf her out after shes yapping to her neighbour Mary for 50 minutes, on a four man table.

Don't try to reinvent the wheel, keep it simple, with best in class practices and modern open thinking. There is money to be made but not if you go this crazy 'keep everyone happy' route.

Where abouts in the country are you? If possible you should come to Dublin and I can recommend a few places for you to visit and get some ideas. There are some superb places out there that you could essentially replicate with a few touches of your own.

Good luck with it.