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Bread run good or bad idea?

rockstar086

Hi

I am thinking of buying a bread run for €10K, guy earns anything from €850-700 Gross weekly. I've no experience in this area, just wondering if anybody has done this before and give me the advantages/disadvanatges on this.

Thanks Guys

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Nody

I'd say you're being set up for a fall; why would anyone sell something for 10k that they can make back in 13 weeks.

Shelflife

Run away as was said above why would anyone sell such a profitable run for that amount.

You will also have to buy a van, tax and insure it and run it for 6 days a week.

there is also the matter of returns from the shops and who takes the hit for them.

Last but not least, there is no guarantee that the shops will buy the bread from you.

Delancey

I knew someone whose father had a bread round and made an absolute fortune from it. This was years ago however and I wonder to what extent bread rounds nowadays have been hit by the ever growing chains like Tesco ?

rockstar086

Thanks for all your reply's.

The 10K its more of less a deposit for the bread, thats what I'm being told then I would have a contract with the depot. The customers then are my shops, My main one would be a large Dunnes Stores, and others like SuperValue, centra then other small shops. they are gaurenteed, somebody else can't come in and take those(thats somebody from the same company). The returns then are tricky, guy said he switches around the bread in smaller shops to larger Dunnes onces in a day left on the shelve. But I would get charged for returns, so its something I'd have to watch out for. Then everybody eats bread, there is always going to be a demand for it.
Guy said hes sick of the run now, hes been doing it for 2 years, early morning starts at 4am- 11.30.
I'm really confused now!!

wmpdd3

Its true that you cant have you store taken away from you but if you balls up delivering to a store, they can refuse you entry, I have seen this happen. Where the breadman was leaving out of date stuff on the shelf or packing the wrong item in the wrong space and cutomers were getting overcharged. The supermarket manager rang the bread maker and said its either the breadman goes or the product goes. I think, go in to a supermarket one morning at 8:30 and talk to the bread guys, most are only to happy to tell you what a hard job it is.

Also search for 'Dunnes and merchandisers' on boards too to get an idea what you'd be dealing with!

ScouseMouse

They cannot take the shops away from you?

My bread man told me otherwise. Be advised that the retail trade in ireland is on its knees at present. Shops are closing and sales dropping rapidly.

I also agree with the other poster that it does not make sense. You are being set up for a fall.

mikemac1

Hotels are a large part of business. As night porter I used to meet the breadman every morning

Maybe not this specific run OP but important customers for many breadman

Full hotel of two hundred residents but could be bigger or far smaller, bar open all day and if you've been to a wedding reception afters you'll see hundreds of small sandwiches.

Plus baguettes, it's not just bread.

That's huge business but many hotels are in trouble

Something to think about if you're offered a run with a contract for a hotel. The hotel may be closed in a few months, do some research

Shelflife

One other thing , if you are sick or want a day off you will have to pay someone to cover for you.
Another bread man may not be allowed to go into "your" shops with the same bread but the shop can decide not to stock your brand instead of another brand.

Mrs OBumble

I'm moving this to the entrepreneurship and business management forum, 'cos it's about self employment rather than employment ... hope that's OK, OP, but I think these lads will be better placed to advise you on how to weigh up the benefits of a "franchise" like this.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

What the Gross Earnings for a sole trader are mean very little, the operating costs (Price of Product, Van, insurance, etc) might mean that the net earnings are almost nothing. At 850 gross sales the net may (we dont have enough info here to tell) only work out at 250 - 300, therefore you are buying a job not a business and probably working for minimum wage.

Also what are you really buying? It's not like customers are locked into contracts to only buy that brand, if a competitor comes in with a lower price they will jump ship immediately. You don't need this persons permission to approach them to sell bread, it's not like he has ownership rights to the industry.

ScouseMouse

mikemac1 wrote: »

Hotels are a large part of business. As night porter I used to meet the breadman every morning

Maybe not this specific run OP but important customers

My other bread man told me the hotel staff are now being sent to aldi for the cheap bread. My breadman actually sees him coming back with it.

ScouseMouse

Hey rockstar.

Sent you a pm.

Take a look.

I have just had confirmation that bakeries can and are taking rounds off lads. Several have been taken in the last four months.

I feel you are being taken for a ride.

Bandara

that a very low gross earning for a bread round

Sounds like its a dog, is the company Pat the Baker or Irish pride?

afaik Dunnes central distribution plans include bread so you'll lose that customer, Centra/Supervalu also are rolling out full Central distribution, BWG (Spar&Mace) have started discussions to go this way.

Its quite possible you'll have no shops to deliver to in a year or two.

But mainly, earning 750 - 800 gross is brutal, your costs on fuel alone will be the guts of €150 a week I'd imagine

JD Dublin

I have done accounts for 4 bread vanmen over the years ( I'm an accountant ). It's a tough business, as alluded to by a poster already you are at the mercy of all and sundry, and you can lose a customer if you have a row with staff in the customers shop.

The 4am starts are no joke - there is no life outside of this business because of the start. Having said that, if you have a young family you will be back for them after school, but you will be going to bed at the same time as the kids too - 8 or 9 o'clock.

As for profitability, the margin used to be 20% - in other words if you sell 1000 Euros of bread, you keep 200 Euros to pay all your expenses. If your pal has Gross Profit of 800 per week, thats not bad, 40000 per year, but remember you will have to pay all expenses out of that - mainly motor.

Lastly a lot of the shops are using you as an agent i.e. you get 15 cents per loaf delivered to say Centra shops, but the upside of that is you don't have to collect money, you don't have to worry about returns, so it's not the worst. The youngest bread vanman I have is getting more and more of the agency work, he likes the fact that he's in and out with no risk of bad debts, returns etc etc.

Atomicjuicer

Man, the amount of bile, misery and pessimism on boards knows no bounds.

I'm always careful to warn anyone I introduce to boards of this fact.

You don't need to take the comments on boards with a pinch of salt - they're none to sweet to begin with!

Sunnyisland

Atomic Juicer wrote: »

Man, the amount of bile, misery and pessimism on boards knows no bounds.

I'm always careful to warn anyone I introduce to boards of this fact.

You don't need to take the comments on boards with a pinch of salt - they're none to sweet to begin with!

People here are giving there opinions which were asked for

And imo some of the opinions here are quite correct,You can take them or leave them.

JD Dublin

Atomicjuicer wrote: »

Man, the amount of bile, misery and pessimism on boards knows no bounds.

I'm always careful to warn anyone I introduce to boards of this fact.

You don't need to take the comments on boards with a pinch of salt - they're none to sweet to begin with!

Look, these are not my opinions per se, they are my experiences in helping bread vanmen run a business. They are mainly facts.

I've never driven a van for a living, but I know a few who do ( and specifically bread vans ) so that is why I am in a position to comment to help the OP.

Where I have no experience in what posters are asking about, I keep schtum. If some of the facts that come out are negative, well isn't it better to know these inconvenient facts now before making your decision?

newcavanman

I was a breadman for 15 years. i left for something similar, only because i was seperated and working 6 days a week played help with seeing my daughter . There are several pros and cons to the bread business. in the 80s when i got involved it was very desirable, because while all about you were closing down or being made redundant, people still had to eat, so bread and milk rounds became very valuable . You work for yourself, so its up to you how well you do at it, the harder you work, then usually the better you will do .
There are several deciding factors to this particular run . The company you are an agent for can be crucial, certain brands, ie JMOB and Brennans do better in dublin than Pat the Baker or Irish Pride . In my day, brand was crucial, but lately price has become huge, particularly in supermarkets . As another poster said, Dunnes and Tesco will probably go central distribution, so you will likely loose that eventually, however i very much doubt Supervalu will, and the rest, ie the smaller calls definitly wont . In the business im in now, we dont supply anything bigger than SV and i can tell you there is tons of business out there, you just need to be keen on your prices. Its likely that the margins that this guy is telling you about are optimistic, to put it mildly .
Returns, the bugbear of the bread business . I can tell you now that no matter what anyone says, you will be paying for them . It doesnt matter whether they are central billing, like Centra, Spar, Dunnes or Supervalu , you will be paying . And you wont be able to out bread with a days shelflife into Dunnes, ull put some, but they arnt fools, they are watching for it as well .
In my experience it will take you 12-18 months to get to understand the business . Any fool can drive out at 4am with 100 boards of bread in his van, but he has to make sure he has 4 boards, say, for the last 2 shops at 11.30am but not finish with 6 boards still left in the van.
Finally, there is nothing like the smell in a bakery at 4am on a fresh spring morning, the sun about to rise. Its almost the most beautiful time of day and if it doesnt make you feel alive, nothing will .
If i can tell you anything else PM me
cheers

maxer68

Basically you are looking at buying a small business and will be owner / manager.

If you are single and relatively debt free the 800 gross - probably 450-500 net income per week may be sustainable in the short term.

Where it could do well is if there are opportunities to upsell, add extra products / add extra customers.

Have a good drive around the area, see what shops are out there - see what they are pushing (always doing deals or do they have a selection of premium brands available)

Upselling - possibly tie in with local cake / desert maker (longer life). See what other products the bakery produces and see if introductory offers can be provided. This could mean adding restaurant / coffee shops to your list of clients.

Donegal dude

Hi folks, I have being reading these and I don't know what to do there is a bread run for sale of a fella and the bread is Irish pride the run is in Donegal he says he can gross 800-900 a week I spoke to a friend of mine he said its a bad idea that I'd be lucky to take home 370 euro a week has anyone here bought a bread run I've already got a full time job but I hate it and for years I wanted to work for myself I'd be grateful for any replys and advice cheers.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Donegal dude wrote: »

Hi folks, I have being reading these and I don't know what to do there is a bread run for sale of a fella and the bread is Irish pride the run is in Donegal he says he can gross 800-900 a week I spoke to a friend of mine he said its a bad idea that I'd be lucky to take home 370 euro a week has anyone here bought a bread run I've already got a full time job but I hate it and for years I wanted to work for myself I'd be grateful for any replys and advice cheers.

Gross is fairly irrelevant, what does he net take home after all expenses and how many hours does it take. Then what are the risk factors.

deckycoop

any update on the bread run.. did u take it on as im looking into the same ting

andii666

rockstar086 wrote: »

Hi

I am thinking of buying a bread run for €10K, guy earns anything from €850-700 Gross weekly. I've no experience in this area, just wondering if anybody has done this before and give me the advantages/disadvanatges on this.

Thanks Guys

Did you go ahead with the bread run. If so how did it go. Just interested as am looking into this myself.

Axwell

The OP hasnt been online since 2012..so I wouldnt expect an answer anytime soon.