Bit of advice

puddie77

My wife has decided she would like to open her own little cafe she has got a premises in mind but its only 5mtrs by 7mtrs in size with a tiny wash room and toilet to the rear, she has been in negotiations for the last few weeks with the auctioneer and he says the best they can do is 600€'s a month for rent, the problem is that at the moment its a corner shop but planning has been granted for the cafe, the owner wants us to carry out all works our selves also. All positive and negative advice appreciated as id like to show her what people with experience think. Thanks

Lucky Dub

In todays market I'm sure the landlord can do better...........
Haggel haggle Haggle........

puddie77

puddie77 wrote: »

My wife has decided she would like to open her own little cafe she has got a premises in mind but its only 5mtrs by 7mtrs in size with a tiny wash room and toilet to the rear, she has been in negotiations for the last few weeks with the auctioneer and he says the best they can do is 600€'s a month for rent, the problem is that at the moment its a corner shop but planning has been granted for the cafe, the owner wants us to carry out all works our selves also. All positive and negative advice appreciated as id like to show her what people with experience think. Thanks

I think the landlord is laughing in this situation. Presumably the place is empty at the moment so he is getting nothing. Not only is getting a new tenant in, but the tenant is doing up the place for free!
What you need to remember is its a buyers market at the moment not a sellers. Don't be afraid to negotiate as hard as you possibly can.

I would say, we will pay half the approved renovations costs. In this climate it is a very good offer. If he says no, then just tell him ok, forget it. Give it time, he most likely will come back to you unless he is broke.
She is not pressed for time is she? Best for her to take her time in this climate, find the right place, but just as important is that its the right cost and startup cost. From my experience what you set aside for startup costs usually doubles so you need to be careful with that.
She may have her heart set on the place, but it may not be the right business decision....not a good start to be renting off an unreasonable landlord, he may be unreasonable again in the future

EDIT: i would be running the numbers on a place so small. You mightnt physically be able to fit enough customers in to pay the bills. At the very least the service would need to be amazing to turn around the tables quick enough and get people in and out

puddie77

thanks a lot really appreciate the points in that reply.

rmacd

Like previous post, this is a buyers market and there are a huge number of cafes ceasing to trade currently due to difficult trading conditions. Its important to check in your preferred locality to see what other suitable premises around. In my area I know of two coffee shops, fully fitted and ready to trade, which have closed in the last month. And that is in an area with a high footfall, so my second bit of advice is to do the sums and add in a hefty contingency for the unexpected. The size of the premises you have in mind seems very small to extract a decent return - have you run over the figurers with an accountant or number cruncher? Best of luck with it - anyone who can survive in business in the current environment will be well placed once the upturn comes.

antoinolachtnai

If you are doing work on the place, you certainly need some sort of hard lease on the premises. Otherwise you could lose all your good work in developing the place.

A lot depends on where the place is and if you know anything about running a cafe.

Remember, the economy is contracting, so it is extremely difficult to start a new service industry business. You basically have to take the customers away from someone else.

I would be careful not underestimate the amount of money you will need to get this thing up and going. Also do not underestimate the amount of expertise you will need to develop.