Starting a pizza business

brendan86

Heh,

Ive been considering starting my own pizza business for quite some time now and ive been doing a bit of research lately. I live in a town with a population of around 3000-5000 (Im not sure on these figures need check it out) but the town is growing. Currently there is 1 chipper and 1 chinese and 2 restaurants so I always thought it would be a good investment.

I am only 19 nearly 20 at the moment but I still think it would be possible as I currently have 2 houses and if I sold them it would go a long way into the business or even if I remortgage. I would just like to own my own business young.

I was checking out the price of equipment and for a good pizza machine itself about 20k, after that I dont think there should be much cost apart from buying the building or leasing one.

I just dont know the best way about researching all of this before leaping in, Does anyone know if there is much profit to be made in this business?? I dont have any experience with pizza's but I was thinking of maybe getting a job in the likes of Domino's for a few months if I did decide to go ahead with this idea.

Any advice/information would be greatly appreciated.

breN

SouperComputer

Why not buy a franchise of your favourite pizza vendor. This way a lot of the formative work has been done for you.

KTRIC

SouperComputer wrote:

Why not buy a franchise of your favourite pizza vendor. This way a lot of the formative work has been done for you.

And it'll be a brand people will recognise, rather than some obscure one.

Kinetic^

Brendan, a new franchise has just arrived over here in the last 12 months called "Papa Johns". It's really big in the U.S. Afaik Supermacs have the licence for it over here so you may want to contact them about setting up a branch in your town.

I've tasted over there and it was lovely. I've tasted it here and it was lovely. You've got one customer already!!!!!!

brendan86

SouperComputer wrote:

Why not buy a franchise of your favourite pizza vendor. This way a lot of the formative work has been done for you.

what is a franchise I dont get what you mean could you explain a bit on this please.

aidan_walsh

brendan86 wrote:

what is a franchise I dont get what you mean could you explain a bit on this please.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchising
http://www.irishfranchiseassociation.com/

Kinetic^

Google search "papa johns" or "supermacs" in Ireland, they should have a link on their site for a franchise. Just email them then and ask for some info on it.

Basically you take on a name of a company, say McDonalds. A few of them work differently. Either you pay them an annual service fee, % of your sales or purchases your goods from them - sometimes all 3.

It gives you a head start as people already recognise your product.

SouperComputer

brendan86 wrote:

what is a franchise I dont get what you mean could you explain a bit on this please.

A franchise is simply enough, a business in a box. The branding, proceedures, standards decor and whatnot have already been sorted for you.

PapaJohns could be a good way to go.

Before you do anything, you need a business plan and do some market research. Maybe work in the chipper or chinese and see how much business they do? Also talk to local enterprise boards, is there a larger catchment area that you could deliver to?

brendan86

Thats a great help, Its just my town is small and is in Co. Monaghan, I will do research anyway before I jump into it, I just want to make sure its the right decision and there is enough profit in it.

Thanks a million for all advice/comments great help so far

drdre

My family is in the restaurant and takeaway business.it doesnt just cost 20k for the oven.you will need way more then an oven e.g. fryers,grill,stock,chef,advertising,rent,wages,drivers wages and alot more.and you are not even sure if it will work as you need proper way of business for example consistency. My uncle has a italian restaurant in portloaise but had to hire a 5 star chef at over 1k a week:eek: to have the best food so you will be busy.
But that said theres alot of margin in italian takeaways,but the main thing is building the name.

delly

Funnily enough I had my first Papa Johns last week. 'twas tasty food and would defo give 4 star and Apache a run for there money although Dominoes would be my fav beforehand.

Wobs

I don't think a franchise would set up in your town. The population is too small. I was looking into this before you would need to have a population of about 15k to make one viable.I know Dominos will not set up in an area unless the population will reach 50k within 5 years. Check out the cso for up to date census figures which will give you a better idea of the current population of your town and surrounding area.

BreadBoard

Tallaght is pizza capital of the world

Eoin

brendan86 wrote:

I dont have any experience with pizza's but I was thinking of maybe getting a job in the likes of Domino's for a few months if I did decide to go ahead with this idea.

I think that's a very good idea; managing a pizza place is probably quite hands on at times. Here's another company looking for franchises: http://www.godfatherspizza.ie/franchise.html

However, as has been pointed out, a small town may not be too appealing for them. Godfathers have opened up in Charlesland / Greystones, but including the surrounding towns, there's probably up to 20K people.

Mr. Presentable

I used to manage a pizza franchise. The margins are quite tight, mostly due to staffing costs. When you work in one of these you sign a contract to say you won't work elsewhere in the industry for a minimum of 12 months.

I think the pizza thing is at or near saturation point, you might be better looking at Bagels, or an O'Briens franchise. Just my 2c

brendan86

Thats a great help lads thanks for the information.

I think it might be better trying to get a partner in this therefore I dont take as much of a gamble with my money, But noone will prop take me serious with my age. I think franchise is a very good idea and I never thought of that. But if I was to franchise I think the likes of Monaghan town would be a better place to invest, I just need to research how many places does pizza's.

Do I not have to pay like a certain amount of money for the name e.g. Domino's/Papa Johns just to put there name above the door?? Because I always thought for the name "Mc Donalds" alone you have to pay 1 million.

Would there be grants for this sort of thing?

BreadBoard

I think the pizza thing is at or near saturation point, you might be better looking at Bagels, or an O'Briens franchise. Just my 2c

Yeah definitely. Good advice.

Eoin

brendan86 wrote:

Thats a great help lads thanks for the information.

I think it might be better trying to get a partner in this therefore I dont take as much of a gamble with my money, But noone will prop take me serious with my age. I think franchise is a very good idea and I never thought of that. But if I was to franchise I think the likes of Monaghan town would be a better place to invest, I just need to research how many places does pizza's.

Do I not have to pay like a certain amount of money for the name e.g. Domino's/Papa Johns just to put there name above the door?? Because I always thought for the name "Mc Donalds" alone you have to pay 1 million.

Would there be grants for this sort of thing?

It depends on the company. Some places are apparently very helpful in getting you started, as you are really just managing one of their branches. McDonalds could be very different though. I think the book "Fast Food Nation" went into some detail on this, and it really didn't sound like a good deal for many of the people.

Not to pour cold water on your ideas, but 19 seems very young to have much experience in the work place, let alone in management (though fair play to have 2 houses before you're 20 :eek:). Does your background fit in with what you want to do?

brendan86

Well from a young age ive always wanted to start my own business, Its just finding the right business to invest in. I just thought since there was no pizza hut in my town it might be a good idea but now im not too sure, The likes of a o'briens is a good idea but you need a very big town to start one of them, Its something my parents always talked about for when they retire.

These houses have given me the start I need, If I was to sell them it would go very far to starting my own business. Maybe I should talk to my father about this as he might be wiser than me and maybe start a family business (Only problem about that is, One thing could lead to another then we could fall out)

Maybe I should wait a few years, But no harm in researching now. Thanks lads

brendaN

Jules402

I looked into opening a restaurant and there is a lot of research you need to do and a lot of expenses to consider. I am in England but I expect you still have planning permission etc to consider. Here you need an A3 licence in order to cook and sell food. If you are buying a premises without A3 usage then you must apply for this-it can take up to 6-8 weeks.

There is a huge market for Italian food such as pizza so I would consider it but you must research your area first where you plan to locate. I would say 3-5000 is not a lot.

Start-up costs are expensive too. If you buy a franchise you are looking at a minimum of £60,000 to use the name, and their help setting you up. Otherwise you have rent deposits, solicitors fees before opening up and then construction costs to build the kitchen, buying kitchen equipment, building toilet facilities and making sure everything fits health and safety requirements. Kitchen equipment can be very expensive and so can paying contractors to build everything, do the plumbing, electricity etc.

You also need to consider operating costs like staff wages (which can amount to a lot a month/year), utilities, rent, marketing expenses, insurance and so on.

You say you have two houses, are they in your name or your parents? If you have assets then it will be a lot easier to raise finance but for a first time opening a business you will always have problems convincing landlord etc that you are capable of managing. You must have a business plan before you consider making an offer anywhere-this is for your own piece of mind. It's godd to know that your figures work and you will at least break-even the first year if you don't make a profit.

Gurgle

brendan86 wrote:

Well from a young age ive always wanted to start my own business, Its just finding the right business to invest in. I just thought since there was no pizza hut in my town it might be a good idea but now im not too sure

The first thing you need to do is a business plan. Its useful as a list of factors to consider (i.e. costs) for setting up and running the shop.

You can download templates from the Business customer section of many banks' websites.

Add up the total investment you need, what you have yourself, what grants you might get and what you need to borrow. Work out the repayments (at 7% over 6 years), the setup costs and the overheads - staff, rent, power, insurance, flyers etc.

You will eventually come up with the number of pizzas you will need to sell in an average week.

Look at that number and your customer base.
How many people will buy your pizzas and how often?

Then you will be in a position to decide if you can sell that many pizzas in your town.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.