A friend has asked me to help the out looking to open some type of coffee shop venture. Where's the first place to star? has anyone on here tried this before?

Any help would be much appreciated!

thanks

First of all - find a business idea that hasn't already been flogged to within an inch of it's life & Starbucked the rest of the way... :rolleyes:

Unless you have somewhere specific in mind & a good unique selling point, in which case ignore the realis... er... cynic. :D

No point going on at me - asking for advice not my idea.

Anyway why would I put the actual details of the idea down on a forum?

Originally posted by mjlacey21
A friend has asked me to help the out looking to open some type of coffee shop venture. Where's the first place to star? has anyone on here tried this before?

Any help would be much appreciated!

thanks



errr, business plan to get finance from a bank. they're more likely to lend if you have good evidence that your coffee shop will make money. Can you show the bank that there is a need for your coffee shop? if not they won't lend to you.

if you've got loads of dosh and don't need finance, don't bother and travel the world instead.

however, if your friend needs to ask these quetions, surely s/he should ask himself a question!!!!!!

i'll advise for an 18% stake

Ahh but some of us are sat at a computer all day and some aren't

Sorry should have been more specific - business plan - pretty obvous - was looking for ideas of where to look for small business advice not someone to talk through steps

Any good business concept, whatever market, industry or idea needs to have a business plan in place. The business plan will be your roadmap to success. I have posted a step by step instruction on writing a business plan on the forum before.
I've reproduced it for your convenience.

The basic parts of a business plan:

Executive Summary
A good executive summary should demonstrate:
- A business concept that makes sense
- A clear plan for success
- A capable management team
- A clear, specific and definable market
- Significant competitive advantages
- A solid and credible summary of the financial projections
- A excellent chance for investors/lenders to receive a healthy return

Table of Contents
- Very few investors will read your plan from front to back – instead they will normally jump around looking for the details they need to make an informed investment decision
- Organize the table of contents to make it easy as possible for readers to find their way around your plan
- The table of contents should list all the major sections within your business plan, and also be broken down into discrete sub-sections

Company Description
This section of your business plan should outline your company’s basic background information and business concept
It should cover:
- Legal description
- History of the company
- Current status
- Future goals
- Key management

Vision and Mission Statements
- Your vision statement defines your long term dream it should not be achievable i.e. should be always just beyond your reach, but what you constantly strive to attain.
- Your Mission statement is what you intend to become or accomplish – it should be challenging but achievable
- A well-written mission statement demonstrates that you understand your business, have defined your unique focus and can articulate your objectives concisely to yourself and others
- A mission statement isn’t just for the readers of your business plan. Instead it should be viewed as the guiding principle for your entire business
- A good mission statement is compelling, passionate and energizing

Industry Analysis (inc. Competition)
- What is the size of your industry by both revenue and number of firms
- Discuss the characteristics of this industry such as growth trends, units sold, or employment
- What are the barriers of entry for your industry?
- Provide a general explanation of the distribution system for products and services in your industry
- Is your industry highly regulated?
- What role does technology play in the growth and future of your industry?

Competition
- The competitive analysis section of your business plan is an objective overview and comparison between your company and your competitors
- Identify your direct and indirect competitors – outline their strengths and weaknesses from an unbiased perspective
- Many first time business plan writers don’t realize that investors want to see that other businesses are profitable and successful in your chosen market
- No company operates in a vacuum – don’t assume you have no competition e.g. EMI has Sony, Tesco has Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, and Waitrose

Product / Service Description
- The product/service section is one of the most important parts of your business plan – it’s your chance to clearly explain your products/services, identify their features and benefits and discuss what needs or problems they address in the market
- Product: what it is, what it does: design, cost, quality, capabilities, technological life-span and patent protection
- Service (s): what they are, how they work, what need they address in the marketplace

A marketing plan for your product / service
- The marketing section should demonstrate that you clearly understand who your customers are and how your products/services directly meet the needs of the market
- Market size, trends and potential – don’t assume that everyone is a buyer
- Demographics
- Pricing, strategy and positioning
- Advertising
- Public relations and promotions

Appendices
- Include here material which is not central to the business plan but which provides evidence in support of your business case e.g. descriptive analyses of market trends, statistics etc.

Hope this helps.
Jon

Originally posted by mjlacey21
Ahh but some of us are sat at a computer all day and some aren't

Sorry should have been more specific - business plan - pretty obvous - was looking for ideas of where to look for small business advice not someone to talk through steps

has market reseach been done or are you looking for some advice on how to do that?...or are you not gonna bother?

Originally posted by mjlacey21
Sorry should have been more specific - business plan - pretty obvous - was looking for ideas of where to look for small business advice not someone to talk through steps

Business Link. Where abouts will the business be (i.e. which town)?

Originally posted by mjlacey21

Sorry should have been more specific - business plan - pretty obvous - was looking for ideas of where to look for small business advice not someone to talk through steps

you're not asking for ideas of where to look for business advice, you're looking for business advice, see:

Originally posted by mjlacey21
No point going on at me - asking for advice not my idea.


and the advice we're giving is to write a business plan

Click on the Banner Ad at the top for SENTA - they are very good at providing advice and guidance for start up companies. I think it's free - or at least it used to be

Originally posted by MrH
Click on the Banner Ad at the top for SENTA - they are very good at providing advice and guidance for start up companies. I think it's free - or at least it used to be

They've also got a thread under the employment section. Hopefully you're friend is not disabled because I found them extremely unhelpful and am still waiting for one of their Directors to post a response several months on.

I also endorse fully all of the advice on having a good business plan. As a result of having submitted a carefully considered and well structured plan with equally well thought out responses to their application, DWP approved funding for all of the technical kit I need to communicate as effectively as possible.