Any carrot cake?weeksy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 2:57 pm Cafe i say. But one that does snobbish stuff, eggs benedict, quiche, vegan cake, gluten free cake etc etc... Not a sausage egg and beans cafe. You want a spot for the mummies to turn up and relax as well as free wi-fi for working from home people.
Throw in some Artisan Bread and posh snacks and you'll be all good.
Ideas for a small business?
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
There are loads of those near me, I don't think any one of them (perhaps with one exception) has been in business more than a year. The same premises keep relaunching the same concept under different ownership/branding.weeksy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 2:57 pm Cafe i say. But one that does snobbish stuff, eggs benedict, quiche, vegan cake, gluten free cake etc etc... Not a sausage egg and beans cafe. You want a spot for the mummies to turn up and relax as well as free wi-fi for working from home people.
Throw in some Artisan Bread and posh snacks and you'll be all good.
It's enough to make me think they're all scams/tax dodges/money laundering.
Or just a terrible idea
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
i.e. 'things that can't be done online'.
But the flip side side is that it's difficult to grow the business. eg A dog only needs a trim every few weeks
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
We have a mobile dog primper locally...they come to you. Seems to do good business.
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- Potter
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
It's hard to think of a business where you can set up and have people come to you and spend their money.
There are always loads of posts on the village FB chat asking for plumbers/electricians/etc, but it's a pain in the arse doing trade work for people, the money is good but I'm not really bothered about the money anymore, I just want something interesting and pain free to do.
There are always loads of posts on the village FB chat asking for plumbers/electricians/etc, but it's a pain in the arse doing trade work for people, the money is good but I'm not really bothered about the money anymore, I just want something interesting and pain free to do.
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
Currently, you're starting from an empty building and trying to fill it.
Start from the other end, with a few questions along the lines of:
- do you need extra money?
- does it need to earn enough profit to make it worthwhile? Or just cover costs?
- how much time and money are you willing to put in before it even covers running costs, let alone profit?
- what would you be happy doing? Is this something you can monetise?
You talked about employing family. That makes it, for you, a long-term investment. You can't get bored, or fed up with annoying customers, and just shut it down.
But you know all this.
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
I live in a supposedly affluent town. But there are several shop units empty. We have several charity shops - one even has an out of town 'superstore'!
Discount shop means low margins, small profits.
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
Some friends bought a small deli - over the years this had morphed into their dream, a big deli / cafe / brasserie where the chef could showcase some great recipes.
Didn't really work out - biggest problems ...
- staff. Over and above a normal shop you need loads of them to do all the extras - cook, wait, clean, man tills. You need masses of them if you want to stay open 8+ hours a day and 7 days a week, with all the extra work that comes with employing and managing lots of people. Hard to pay the good ones who will maintain standards enough to retain them or to provide adequate cover when you yourself want some time off, or even a holiday.
- customers. Say they want quality but aren't always prepared to pay for it. Will readily defect in droves if a new, cheaper place opens down the street.
- turnover. Massive peaks and troughs of when the place is busy and empty. Everybody comes at the same time wanting coffee, sandwiches, pizzas etc.
In the end it was too much hassle, and got bored of banging out (nice) food at a fast-food-joint pace. They converted back to a (much larger) deli. Fewer staff, fewer peaks and troughs of when its busy and empty, overall less mess and wastage and hassle
Didn't really work out - biggest problems ...
- staff. Over and above a normal shop you need loads of them to do all the extras - cook, wait, clean, man tills. You need masses of them if you want to stay open 8+ hours a day and 7 days a week, with all the extra work that comes with employing and managing lots of people. Hard to pay the good ones who will maintain standards enough to retain them or to provide adequate cover when you yourself want some time off, or even a holiday.
- customers. Say they want quality but aren't always prepared to pay for it. Will readily defect in droves if a new, cheaper place opens down the street.
- turnover. Massive peaks and troughs of when the place is busy and empty. Everybody comes at the same time wanting coffee, sandwiches, pizzas etc.
In the end it was too much hassle, and got bored of banging out (nice) food at a fast-food-joint pace. They converted back to a (much larger) deli. Fewer staff, fewer peaks and troughs of when its busy and empty, overall less mess and wastage and hassle
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
General Fixit business.?Potter wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 3:45 pm It's hard to think of a business where you can set up and have people come to you and spend their money.
There are always loads of posts on the village FB chat asking for plumbers/electricians/etc, but it's a pain in the arse doing trade work for people, the money is good but I'm not really bothered about the money anymore, I just want something interesting and pain free to do.
Washing machines, lawnmowers, bicycles etc?
They bring it, you mend it.
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
Similar to Deftrap's tale. The juice bar I mentioned earlier was a refurbished but completely bare unit. Fit out costs...£100k iirc. The main 'thing' was juices, ginger shots, detox, etc etc but they served good coffee (never heard of it before, Chimney Fire), teas and food. They had outside tables in summer and was in a pretty prime location...you pretty much had to pass it on the way from the car park to everything else.
Business was peaky (so there were often delays), getting good staff was an issue, 'home made' cakes and pastries were bought in (they were made in someone's home) and I assume the commercial coffee m/c was leased. The juicers were expensive American jobs and kept breaking with long waits for spares, so back-up m/c's were required. Business picked up when Costa closed for a period (water leak into electricals) but they struggled with demand. Every day the place had to be cleaned inc equipment, kitchen and bogs so it wasn't just 8am to 5pm.
It lasted 18 months.
Business was peaky (so there were often delays), getting good staff was an issue, 'home made' cakes and pastries were bought in (they were made in someone's home) and I assume the commercial coffee m/c was leased. The juicers were expensive American jobs and kept breaking with long waits for spares, so back-up m/c's were required. Business picked up when Costa closed for a period (water leak into electricals) but they struggled with demand. Every day the place had to be cleaned inc equipment, kitchen and bogs so it wasn't just 8am to 5pm.
It lasted 18 months.
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
The average life span of a food service business was about 18 months some time ago. Lots of established ones that last for years, but even more that go tits-up in moths
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- Horse
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
Idea for a small business: start with a big one?
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
There's a real ale pub-type place near me that doubles as a flower shop during the day. Totally different to a cafe granted, but it's a clever way of increasing the usage of a unit. Another place near me is a cafe that doubles as a cycling shop.
Just adding that idea into the mix.
Just adding that idea into the mix.
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
I guess it would really depend on who is in the area and what else is on offer.
It's not something I know anything about but I suspect unless you go for something you have experience in or know a lot about / are passionate about, it would be easy to get burnt.
edit - similar to what G-dog said: I recall a new, trendy barber shop by day, bar by night doing well
It's not something I know anything about but I suspect unless you go for something you have experience in or know a lot about / are passionate about, it would be easy to get burnt.
edit - similar to what G-dog said: I recall a new, trendy barber shop by day, bar by night doing well
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
We've had 2 of those, coffee, cake and bike servicing. I think the first one (Pedal and Spoke?) closed (it was in quite a big unit on the High St that used to be a white goods shop). One of the guys set up in a smaller place off the High St (no coffee ) and did OK so moved a few doors down into a bigger place (that used to be a clothes alteration and bespoke clothes shop - proms dresses, wedding dresses etc*) and opened the café operation again. Closed up and does bike servicing at home now I believe.
It's pretty brutal out there.
* Tale of woe. They got one of the TV business 'gurus' involved (Mary Portas) who persuaded them to expand. They did....and went bust.
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Re: Ideas for a small business?
I wouldn't bother, it'll just give you hassle and stress.
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