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Mobile Coffee Business Set up - Sound advice needed

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  • 06-07-2014 9:55pm
    #1
    bunty2008
    Registered Users Posts: 38 ✭


    Hi,

    I'm looking for some sound advice.

    I am hoping to set up a new Mobile Coffee Unit, but I'm not sure where to start.

    My key question relates to sites. How likely am I to be allowed to set up anywhere? I'm really looking to find a regular patch thats got great footfall,where I can make a living Monday to Friday. I'll consider events as a top-up, but I have a young family which is why I'm looking for a bit more brand n' butter type vending.

    So, where can actually sell? Even better, has anyone any specific location suggestions?

    Also, if I decided to go down the Farmers Market route, how do I get a "patch?" Is there a list if markets with openings?

    Any advice would be hugely welcome. I've been researching for days and the only similar posts I can find date back years!

    Bunty


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    #2
    mneylon
    Registered Users Posts: 7,739 ✭✭✭mneylon


    I don't think you'd be allowed to setup wherever you want ..
    You probably would need a trading license and as you'd be selling products for human consumption you'd probably need to check this:
    http://www.fsai.ie/food_businesses/starting_business.html

    Blog | Tweets



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    #3
    Gloomtastic!
    Registered Users Posts: 8,485 ✭✭✭Gloomtastic!


    Check out childrens' sports training facilities - GAA, rugby, football and hockey clubs. You have parents hanging around that will definitely buy from you. Speak to someone in charge at the club and see if you can set up.


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    #4
    250LUSSOLAD
    Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭250LUSSOLAD


    bunty2008 wrote: »
    Hi,

    I'm looking for some sound advice.

    I am hoping to set up a new Mobile Coffee Unit, but I'm not sure where to start.

    My key question relates to sites. How likely am I to be allowed to set up anywhere? I'm really looking to find a regular patch thats got great footfall,where I can make a living Monday to Friday. I'll consider events as a top-up, but I have a young family which is why I'm looking for a bit more brand n' butter type vending.

    So, where can actually sell? Even better, has anyone any specific location suggestions?

    Also, if I decided to go down the Farmers Market route, how do I get a "patch?" Is there a list if markets with openings?

    Any advice would be hugely welcome. I've been researching for days and the only similar posts I can find date back years!

    Bunty
    Hey I have a set of a few coffee books which helped me earn hundreds of thousands of euro over the years, have me up on adverts if u wanna take a look


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    #5
    pedronomix
    Closed Accounts Posts: 997 ✭✭✭pedronomix


    250LUSSOLAD wrote: »
    Hey I have a set of a few coffee books which helped me earn hundreds of thousands of euro over the years, have me up on adverts if u wanna take a look


    coffee books? WTF?


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    #6
    250LUSSOLAD
    Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭250LUSSOLAD


    pedronomix wrote: »
    coffee books? WTF?

    Yeah they show you how to make your Buisness sucsessfull and how the big boys do it. How to operate coffee machines and to make the best quality drinks. An amaxing read for anyone starting out or looking to expand in the coffee buisness


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    #7
    daviecronin
    Registered Users Posts: 447 ✭✭daviecronin


    bunty2008 wrote: »
    Hi,

    I'm looking for some sound advice.

    I am hoping to set up a new Mobile Coffee Unit, but I'm not sure where to start.

    My key question relates to sites. How likely am I to be allowed to set up anywhere? I'm really looking to find a regular patch thats got great footfall,where I can make a living Monday to Friday. I'll consider events as a top-up, but I have a young family which is why I'm looking for a bit more brand n' butter type vending.

    So, where can actually sell? Even better, has anyone any specific location suggestions?

    Also, if I decided to go down the Farmers Market route, how do I get a "patch?" Is there a list if markets with openings?

    Any advice would be hugely welcome. I've been researching for days and the only similar posts I can find date back years!

    Bunty

    Hi Bunty, I really like your idea! It would definitely be a good idea to find a nice regular spot during the week days! You can get all sorts of fancy mobile catering stuff! Some are like bicycles and some are mini vans! They have loads up on done deal and the likes. There was one in my local train station once for a while and he seemed to be doing some great trade as we had no shop! Its a great idea for a small investment! But yes you would need to have your hse forms up to date! Im currently trying to track them down too what I need etc for my new idea! But it sounds good and I wish you the best of luck with it in the future! :)


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    #8
    protelos
    Registered Users Posts: 51 ✭✭protelos


    Hi Bunty (great name),

    My two cents! Go for it boi!!! Fortune favours the brave.

    I presume you are in Dublin so I guess it will be pretty easy to choose a location. I am not from Dublin so my experience of mornings is limited. I know the IFSC has one but f*#k it, I am sure another one could easy be sustained. I would maybe try and look outside the city centre locations and maybe do a different spot every day etc. One would get sick of cavier every day if you get me!!

    Uni’s are still an amazing forgotten market. For instance in my home town, Limerick, you have thousands of ppl rolling in two/three entrances. The absolute beauty of the mobile unit is you can be at the gates of UCD from 7.30 to 9.30 then cruise to something else for lunch.

    In addition as the costs are lower you can target smaller events GAA etc. The standard of coffee at GAA is a solid 0.01 out of 10. Even if there are 500 ppl there could be a great little earner. Events like GAA will be less focused on your licence so would similar events mentioned would be great.

    I ran a mobile unit for a number of years and the licensing is still rather grey. I found that asking for forgiveness is sometimes better that asking for permission. You will get a licence for events no bother but for day to day, to be honest in the council I was dealing with they had no provision for such activates.

    You will need a neck like Frankie Dettori’s genitalia for casual trading as there is an old guard (coffee may be different) that are very weary of new companies. Mind you they will get a shock in a number of years if the US is anything to go by. You will also be exposed in casual trading as basically you shop is open to everyone. Just be confident!

    Second the coffee book’s although resigned to the history books now the book from the family that started Coffee Republic is excellent, a real from the ground up read.

    DO IT!! And best of luck!


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