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Attention Coffee shop owners


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Hi,

 

I could really do with some advice. I would like to start up a coffee shop and would like to know approximate costs of creating a cafe from an empty shell, the size is appox 800sq ft. I would also like to know of costs of electric and gas pa and any other costs that I would need to know about. Also, if anyone could recommend good suppliers of food, coffee and equipement.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated:huh:

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This is very hard to answer as it depends on so many things. How do you want it fitted out, the type of food you want to serve, will you be making it on the premises, if so you will need to factor in the cost of a kitchen. The quality of coffee you want to serve, this will depend a lot on the area that you are based in and how much people are prepared to spend and what any competitors are selling.

 

You will need to take in to account business rates, water rates, gas, electricity, insurance, building maintenence. You will need to do a lot of research but jumping into opening such a business, catering establishments are very difficult to set up and make successful.

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You need to learn how to make a good coffee. Its a skill, it doesn't just depend on what beans you buy. A barista course would be a good idea.

 

Is it a good time to start a 'luxuries' business? We're feeling the pinch at the moment so we have banned our Venti Mochas from Starbucks which we absolutely adore but at £3 a go its just something we have to live without.

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Your best bet is to get somebody in to give you a qoute on fitting out the premises with a commercial kitchen.

 

There are lots of companies that lease espresso machines, one that I have used in the past is Pure Beans. As for the type of coffee it will come down to tasting as many as you possibly can, deciding on the ones that you like and what GP you will make on each cup.

 

As for the food it will come down to the same thing. You will also need Health and Hygiene certificates along with Health and Saftey. It is a lot of very hard work to succeed with coffee shops or any catering establishment as the market is saturated with them. I hope you are successful but please be aware of your market and the high failure rate in catering establishments.

 

Good Luck

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Hi, I have a sandwich shop that is really successful but I've been in catering since I was 14 which is a long time and I went to catering college for 2 years. If you watch kitchen nightmares on tv it is always the same old story someone decides to go into catering and has never done it before, they think because they can cook at home they'll be alright on a large scale and it is a totally different ball game. If you've worked for someone else before then fine give it a go, but if not try it before you commit to thousands of pounds because it isn't cheap to set one up. The main consideration must be LOCATION and I can't stress that enough, you have got to have as they call in the trade plenty of footfall . As the previous person said you will need your hygiene certificate and will need to notify enviromental health that you are opening up as they will want to check your premises, they will also give you a record book to keep in which you have to log fridge temps, cleaning proceedures etc. You will also need to get planning permission for change of use if you are not buying an existing catering outlet. hope this helps , best of luck with your new venture

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Hi, I have a coffee shop in Ossett near Wakefield and am doing quite well after one year, but have learned a lot through mistakes.

 

Some pointers. Coffee, sandwiches, cakes, soup, hot food, all go well together, but do research on your location and whether there really is a big enough market. My customers tell me my place has the best coffee in town and is more upmarket, so this is my niche. I do some other food, and great cakes, but a competitor has two chefs, and another place does sandwiches for £1 so there's more profit in sticking with what you're good at.

 

The product, the venue and the customer service are tops. Can't make it work with any of those missing. If you are doing lots of take out then venue is less important. I ran my place with efficient but not bubbly staff for a few months - I didn't realise the impact until I took over. Being friendly and remembering names is worth a fortune.

 

Ikea is good for fitting out, even down to cuttlery. Checkout furnitureatwork for the tables, and nisbetts.co.uk seem to do everything for catering, I'm sure there are many.

 

I use Coopers coffee, its a good product and barista training is free, but beware, it is easy to ruin a good cup of coffee from bean to cup.

 

Hopwells are baed in Sheffield and Nottingham, I use them. Ok.

 

Costs - list everything first in your plan. Business rates are important, and remember there are a myriad of licence fees - a music licence, a table licence, fees for the bins, business insurance. Utilities, shop around and get short contracts, things change quickly and you can always renegotiate. Negotiate on everything. Minimum orders are a killer, I was throwing £200 a month wastage on sandwiches to start - a lot of sandwich fillers can be made cheaply by yourself.

 

The cost of money is important. I took and expensive commercial loan and its the toughest cost, you need to be certain that its going to pay off if you commit to long term finance.

 

Staffing is the biggest cost, and I'm working on my own most of the time to get a good profit in the early days.

 

Bottom line there's a massive difference between working in your own business and running it from a distance, you'll want to choose which to do at the outset.

 

All the best

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Thankyou so much for all your responses and recommendation of suppliers. I am busy trying to create a business plan, so if people could let me know any costs of running a cafe, approx size and average earnings per week, that would be absolutely fantastic :)

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Hi there Joanne.

 

Just to say- I am starting up a small cake/brownie business, and can supply you with some baked delights! I currently supply The Bohemian on Chesterfield Road with vegan cakes, but I am not at all limited to vegan things. I can happily send you some samples.

 

Here are some photos of some things I have baked, both vegan and non-vegan: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44443&id=545070263&l=1c20ef9a25

 

Where are you looking at setting up?

 

All the best - maybe we can work on this.

 

Liz Pyman

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