Opening a Cafe

redfoo1980

Hi everyone, thinking of opening a Cafe (in Munster, yet to be confirmed exactly where) and would really appreciate any advice please. 
Such as:
- How much to expect to pay for rent
- How much to expect to pay wages
- Good fit out company/advice on Cafe fit out
- Best place to get Equipment

Any other information and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

TheChizler

Nobody could give an approximate figure on rent without knowing the location and size of the premises. Really the only person who could give you a somewhat accurate figure would be a rental agent. Again wages depend on the number of staff which is related to the location and size of the premises.

I kind of half did this before; found Done Deal good for some things, and Cork Bar and Catering up by Musgrave's near Cork Airport were decent and experienced.

Make sure you get on with the HSE inspector from the start and get them to call in and give advice before you install something the wrong way and have to change it.

Johnson_76

Ive got some stuff from an old cafe, steel tables , garnish fridge grinder etc I live in Munster. Anyway best of luck I tried it and failed HSE were a headache

jimmii

This thread is perfect for anyone looking to open a coffee shop it covers everything from the OP posting right at the beginning of thinking about doing it all the way through to it opening.

Bandara

redfoo1980 wrote: »

Hi everyone, thinking of opening a Cafe (in Munster, yet to be confirmed exactly where) and would really appreciate any advice please. 
Such as:
- How much to expect to pay for rent
- How much to expect to pay wages
- Good fit out company/advice on Cafe fit out
- Best place to get Equipment

Any other information and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

I'm going to get hammered for being negative and peeing on your positive energy etc etc

But I'm very serious here. I am a big exponent of there is no such thing as a stupid question. However in saying that there is such a thing as blindly going where you shouldn't go.

Opening a cafe / restaurant / food business is possibly the most difficult business to open, to keep open and to make money at.

The question you are asking are really scary, if you don't have the knowledge to answer these yourself you really should not pursue this. It will not end well for you.

Friends and family will tell you to 'go for it', 'sure your a brilliant cook', 'I'd buy them cakes if you sold them', 'your great with people' etc etc. Its all bullsh1t.

You not going to last, your going to spend tens of thousands on a fit out, pay staff their wages every week regardless of the fact your losing money, not have the skills required to get yourself out of a hole, and eventually cut staff and work 100 hours a week to try to keep the place afloat which is the dead knell.

Please do take this as a personal attack on you intentions or hard work. I'm just telling you in my own humble opinion whats going to happen.

The fact your opening a "Cafe", "Somewhere in Munster", "How much to pay for Rent" show you have no vision of what you want to achieve, no end goal, no plan.

In the industry we have a term called "redundancy money". It means someone who has some money, has a romantic notion of a cafe, thinks its easy, and decides to open one.

The country is littered with ones that have gone out of business. Don't be another one. On this thread alone two people have commented about the HSE being a nightmare etc. The HSE are very very easy to deal with, I deal with them in multiple locations. We don't have any issue with them, from the design, layout, HACCP, or standards point of view, only when you are inexperienced and usually not good enough do they come into you. HSE visit me once a year for 30 minutes and thats it.

Free free to tell me I'm just being negative. I'm not, I'm just trying to help you.

redfoo1980

Dear Bandara,

Thanks for your feedback. I have purposefully left it vague as I don't want to specify where exactly I am looking to do this and what exactly I plan to do (There are two locations that I am looking at). I know that might seem contradictory as I was looking for advice but I was just looking for some general information/advice/guidelines.
I appreciate you taking the time to give your opinion but I also think it's unfair to say that 'The fact your opening a "Cafe", "Somewhere in Munster", "How much to pay for Rent" show you have no vision of what you want to achieve, no end goal, no plan'  based on a couple of lines that I wrote looking for advice. 
I signed up to this forum as a starting point to get some ideas of where to start if at all. It's not something that I am taking lightly.
Again, I do appreciate you taking the time to give me your opinion and feedback. I need to hear all sides and your points are valid but perhaps maybe there are nicer ways to get the same point across without seeming really angry and harsh.
Wishing you every success with your Business.

Thank you

Bandara

redfoo1980 wrote: »

Dear Bandara,

Thanks for your feedback. I have purposefully left it vague as I don't want to specify where exactly I am looking to do this and what exactly I plan to do (There are two locations that I am looking at). I know that might seem contradictory as I was looking for advice but I was just looking for some general information/advice/guidelines.
I appreciate you taking the time to give your opinion but I also think it's unfair to say that 'The fact your opening a "Cafe", "Somewhere in Munster", "How much to pay for Rent" show you have no vision of what you want to achieve, no end goal, no plan'  based on a couple of lines that I wrote looking for advice. 
I signed up to this forum as a starting point to get some ideas of where to start if at all. It's not something that I am taking lightly.
Again, I do appreciate you taking the time to give me your opinion and feedback. I need to hear all sides and your points are valid but perhaps maybe there are nicer ways to get the same point across without seeming really angry and harsh.
Wishing you every success with your Business.

Thank you

I'm not angry or harsh in the slightest. I never am tbh, I'm a very positive person.

If you want and specific focused advice I'm more than happy to help, I have considerable expertise in this area.

Good luck with it.

carrieb

I don't think Bandara was being harsh to be fair. You didn't specify that you were looking at locations or anything. It did read like someone who had done zero research and was essentially asking "how long is a piece of string". I understand now that you didn't/don't want to divulge specifics but it wasn't clear in your first post. FWIW.

I work in an industry that deals with many cafes/restaurants/bars etc and it really is a lot tougher then people think to make money.

I really hope it works out for you - I would love to do similar in the future.

Have you done a Starting Your Own Business course? I have heard great things about them. Maybe worth joining your local Network branch also.

eviltimeban

Perhaps the OP should look into starting off slowly, maybe doing a pop up business at first in the area, get some experience, get your name known? And then build on that, perhaps attend some trade shows.

You'll need to come up with a USP - unique selling point. Why should I go to your cafe?

Johnson_76

Bandara wrote: »

I'm going to get hammered for being negative and peeing on your positive energy etc etc

But I'm very serious here. I am a big exponent of there is no such thing as a stupid question. However in saying that there is such a thing as blindly going where you shouldn't go.

Opening a cafe / restaurant / food business is possibly the most difficult business to open, to keep open and to make money at.

The question you are asking are really scary, if you don't have the knowledge to answer these yourself you really should not pursue this. It will not end well for you.

Friends and family will tell you to 'go for it', 'sure your a brilliant cook', 'I'd buy them cakes if you sold them', 'your great with people' etc etc. Its all bullsh1t.

You not going to last, your going to spend tens of thousands on a fit out, pay staff their wages every week regardless of the fact your losing money, not have the skills required to get yourself out of a hole, and eventually cut staff and work 100 hours a week to try to keep the place afloat which is the dead knell.

Please do take this as a personal attack on you intentions or hard work. I'm just telling you in my own humble opinion whats going to happen.

The fact your opening a "Cafe", "Somewhere in Munster", "How much to pay for Rent" show you have no vision of what you want to achieve, no end goal, no plan.

In the industry we have a term called "redundancy money". It means someone who has some money, has a romantic notion of a cafe, thinks its easy, and decides to open one.

The country is littered with ones that have gone out of business. Don't be another one. On this thread alone two people have commented about the HSE being a nightmare etc. The HSE are very very easy to deal with, I deal with them in multiple locations. We don't have any issue with them, from the design, layout, HACCP, or standards point of view, only when you are inexperienced and usually not good enough do they come into you. HSE visit me once a year for 30 minutes and thats it.

Free free to tell me I'm just being negative. I'm not, I'm just trying to help you.

Amen to that, I nearly ended up in a home after 14 months. Great experience though..

redfoo1980

Thanks Bandara and everyone else for your help and advice, I do appreciate it.

Bandara thank you for the offer, I might take you up on that soon

redfoo1980

Thanks Bandara and everyone else for your help and advice, I do appreciate it.

Bandara thank you for the offer, I might take you up on that soon

doolox

my folks ran a b and b for 15 years and the biggest outlay was energy.

Not only for cooking but also space heating and keeping the bloody place warm and well ventilated at the same time.

Another hassle you will find is dealing with complaints from neighbouring shops and houses if cooking smells are not kept under strict control.

Also stock control and preventing stuff being handed out at reduced or no price to friends and "mates" of yourself or your employees. Unless you are very lucky to get a trustworthy partner of some sort you will have to be available and on site for all the opening hours and more of the cafe.

As a business owner some people will think you are "rich" and will want to take advantage of your business and you will find friends and relatives trying to get things free or reduced price....don't entertain it for a instant especially in a small town where word gets around and all your regular customers come to expect the same deal.....work is work entertainment and leisure are separate things.

Also the steep cost of insurance forces you to sell big volumes and work long hours to cover the annual costs. Holidays become an almost unbearable cost being double the amount of most employed people because as a self employed person you get no entitlement and have to allow for and budget for this item in your original plan, often foregone by people starting out but hoping to make up later.

redfoo1980

Thank you so much  doolox for your reply. Lots to consider for sure. Def need to be tough