Electric
Honorary Master
All we need is a trendy bar, that would be so unique.
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Opening a trendy bar/ cafe
- Thread starter sai13n
- Start date
This
Bismuth
Expert Member
I do not have any experience in this line, but am pretty sure it ain't as easy as the "reality" shows of this sort make it look.
Without industry experience of some sort, I doubt you would survive for very long. A few years ago I looked into opening a small BnB house in a fairly average area, think my costing eventually hit 2-3mil (incl. property purchase), I canned that idea when I realised I would never be able to raise that sort of capital. And it is a 24/7 lifestyle, like your "trendy" bar would be.
B
Without industry experience of some sort, I doubt you would survive for very long. A few years ago I looked into opening a small BnB house in a fairly average area, think my costing eventually hit 2-3mil (incl. property purchase), I canned that idea when I realised I would never be able to raise that sort of capital. And it is a 24/7 lifestyle, like your "trendy" bar would be.
B
^^vampire^^
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Kiss your social life goodbye, you will be working from 10am - 2am everyday and that one day a week you get off (if you give yourself one day off) will be spent buying goods for the next week. My GFs mom used to manage a restaurant - the only time we saw her back then was when we went to the restaurant, otherwise she was too busy. My GFs dad had a few restaurants back in the day and he did really well but he was hard working. One thing he said to me was don't open a restaurant (or similar) unless you can do every single staff members job competently (preferably very well). If one of your guys isn't there you need to pick up the slack as well as manage etc. This could be from them pulling a sicky, actually being sick (could be days/weeks at a time) or them leaving. Some of these guys even don't come to work unless you pay them more sometimes and do this kind of stuff 5 mins before they should be at work that day.
If you're serious about doing it then go shadow people in the industry for a few weeks/months. It will be invaluable. If you're thinking it would be a nice idea and that you will be sitting back and raking in the money while the staff do all the work - think again. Also, margins are extremely tight with competition such as spur etc etc. Don't think for a second spur is ripping you off when you can go buy a 200g steak, potatoes for chips and some lettuce for garnish at R30.00 rather than their R90.00. When you factor in electricity, water, salaries, rent, maintenance etc etc etc it'll probably be costing you R100.00 cost price for that meal, if not more. Also be prepared to run at a loss for a year or 2 while you (if you) gain popularity amongst the people who live near by.
Can be lucrative but be prepared to work a lot harder than you ever have before. Also make sure after all costs are paid you have a huge buffer to keep you going before you break even.
If you're serious about doing it then go shadow people in the industry for a few weeks/months. It will be invaluable. If you're thinking it would be a nice idea and that you will be sitting back and raking in the money while the staff do all the work - think again. Also, margins are extremely tight with competition such as spur etc etc. Don't think for a second spur is ripping you off when you can go buy a 200g steak, potatoes for chips and some lettuce for garnish at R30.00 rather than their R90.00. When you factor in electricity, water, salaries, rent, maintenance etc etc etc it'll probably be costing you R100.00 cost price for that meal, if not more. Also be prepared to run at a loss for a year or 2 while you (if you) gain popularity amongst the people who live near by.
Can be lucrative but be prepared to work a lot harder than you ever have before. Also make sure after all costs are paid you have a huge buffer to keep you going before you break even.
Stokstert
Executive Member
Sorry can't help you, if I had the knowledge I would do it myself or ask the OP a lot of money for the business plan. 
Polymathic
Honorary Master
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watch every episode of Kitchen Nightmares OP
MickeyD
RIP
I can confirm this. When my dad passed away my wife and I took over the running of his pub. 7 days a week, 8am to closing time. Luckily he had an established, older group of regulars that stayed on. Business was good but the lifestyle is very, very different to anything you have experienced.
When I decided to retire last year I also disposed of the pub as I needed a total change. Stress on two fronts was killing me.
Do I miss the extra income? Not really as it was not worth my wife and I being buried young.
Hahaha this.
minty203
Active Member
Consider contacting one of these franchises. Perhaps they will give you a break down of what you need, and at what costs. Like if they say it cost 5mil, what will you be getting for this 5mil. Tell hem also when you meet with them that you are considering going it on your own.
I say perhaps, because many business sellers will require you to show you have the funds to buy the business before divulging figures.
Or look for businesses for sale in this industry. Perhaps the owner can give you a list of what he has for sale and his valuation of what he has with individual items costs. But same as above, they may be reluctant to give you the info if they think you are not serious and dont have the funds. Here too, be honest and tell them you are new to the industry, and are considering a few options and would like to know about the industry.
If you have the funds available, all this shouldnt be a problem. If its just a random idea you have to open a cafe type place, and your funds arent ready, it will be more difficult.
And while we are on this, consider buying a going concern, over starting from scratch. As a going concern, everything is in place already. Licences, legal stuffs, premises, equipment, staff, etc. You start generating income from day one. Sure you may pay a goodwill, but do the sums and decide if the goodwill asked is worth the effort and risk you will save if you have to start from scratch.
If i were you, I'd go to these type of joints and ask to speak to a manager and ask him for an hour of his time. Be honest about what you want to do, and ask for ideas of costs involved. You would want to go prepared with your blank income statement, blank list of capital expenditure items. So when he talks, you can make notes.
Out of ten guys you ask, one will be prepared to speak to you.
People usually think that business people are overly secretive about their business. But once you grow older, you realise that there is a place for everyone in the market.
We run a bnb, and a friend bought a small townhouse complex, and was considering the hospitality industry. He came to the place, i showed him around, explained how it worked, costs involved. In the end he decided the time and effort wasnt worth it for him, and he decided to just rent out the houses as normal.
So ya, starting here is a good idea for finding info. Google and check out entrepreneur websites as well.
And good luck.
I say perhaps, because many business sellers will require you to show you have the funds to buy the business before divulging figures.
Or look for businesses for sale in this industry. Perhaps the owner can give you a list of what he has for sale and his valuation of what he has with individual items costs. But same as above, they may be reluctant to give you the info if they think you are not serious and dont have the funds. Here too, be honest and tell them you are new to the industry, and are considering a few options and would like to know about the industry.
If you have the funds available, all this shouldnt be a problem. If its just a random idea you have to open a cafe type place, and your funds arent ready, it will be more difficult.
And while we are on this, consider buying a going concern, over starting from scratch. As a going concern, everything is in place already. Licences, legal stuffs, premises, equipment, staff, etc. You start generating income from day one. Sure you may pay a goodwill, but do the sums and decide if the goodwill asked is worth the effort and risk you will save if you have to start from scratch.
If i were you, I'd go to these type of joints and ask to speak to a manager and ask him for an hour of his time. Be honest about what you want to do, and ask for ideas of costs involved. You would want to go prepared with your blank income statement, blank list of capital expenditure items. So when he talks, you can make notes.
Out of ten guys you ask, one will be prepared to speak to you.
People usually think that business people are overly secretive about their business. But once you grow older, you realise that there is a place for everyone in the market.
We run a bnb, and a friend bought a small townhouse complex, and was considering the hospitality industry. He came to the place, i showed him around, explained how it worked, costs involved. In the end he decided the time and effort wasnt worth it for him, and he decided to just rent out the houses as normal.
So ya, starting here is a good idea for finding info. Google and check out entrepreneur websites as well.
And good luck.
Bismuth
Expert Member
Some good advice here, do all your research, have the funds available, be 100% sure you are ready for the commitment, and it should go well.
minty203, will definitely send you PM if I decide to have another look at the BnB option, and come and have a chat re. your setup. Not sure if I still have my original business plan and costing estimates (which will need to be redone anyway). I still have my eye on the same property, now occupied, but if it ever goes on the market again, might look into it again.
B
Just be careful of buying a current franchise: A lot of them have clauses in the franchisee agreement whereby you need to conduct a refurbishment and re-branding exercise, at the franchisee's cost, at regular intervals, i.e. every 5 years or so. A lot of the cheap looking franchises are okes trying to get out of this cost and once you buy-in you will be lumped with anything upwards of R500K extra cost up front.