STARTING A SHOP-cheap w/ no loans

[jmhunter]

I have talked with numerous roasters who will consult and provide you with equipment, with an exclusive contract here in the bay area.

 

[boba]

We are a few weeks away from opening our shop. Let me tell you I couldn't see where I needed all that money either. Once the city made me upgrade half of the building and added up all of the little things I forgot, I made it to the $70,000 mark. I did alot of research. The architect alone and the construction fees all came in higher than the estimates due to resubmittals and changes. We had to get more money this week because we were just shy of enough to open and still needed capital. Lucky for me I am a stay at home mom and can work the shop by myself until I drum up enough business to hire people without draining the last of the money. I have low rent and I have a whole basement where we are located so my children can come to work with me. I also have two kids that can help me run it during lunch,Lord willing we get slammed!!! We cut it too close. I suggest you go to your local SBA office and listen to them. we didn't listen to the woman that we saw because she had a nasty attitude but she knew what she was talking about and she knew we were in over our heads. Well, we are going to be open soon but the stress has been just crazy. Good luck and do more research.

 

[Chris Kay]

Good attitude.
Great service.
Great product
And alot of hard work will see you through.

Good luck.

Do the above 4 and youre half way there. Cut corners on any one of those without alot of capital invested and youll go down the gurgler.

Just give it your best shot and treat each person like a person and not a number and they will be back.

Also never forget to keep improving yourself. The moment you think you know it all is the moment youll go backwards. Just keep educating yourself and if you have a spare buck re invest it into the business. Especially where you believe your business needs to be improved most.

Dont be too cute!
Just stick to the basics.

 

[Coffee Guy]

I'd have to agree with everydaygourmet's comments back on 12/4/04. Althought you may be handy with doing a lot of the building yourself, and get as much from vendors as you possibly can, the fact still remains there are a lot of other things that will affect your bottom line prior to opening. Of course you can go cheap on a lot of things, and bargin and barter until the cows come home, but keep in mind that if your place doesn't look inviting enough for the customer to visit what's the point. I have run across many a would-be owner with dreams of opening a place but not willing to look for the help needed in the proper areas, and found themselves failing a few months after opening and looking to sell only to find that they had nothing of value to sell. It's great to save money, but be smart about it. Additionally, everyones situation is different in the beginning. Some may need more help than others to get started, and some may not require much help at all. I always suggest that you do as much research as possible and contact friends, family, co workers or as many people as possible and ask them a lot of questions as though they were customers. Ask them what would make them come to your business, and more importantly why would they come back. As a business owner you don't have all of the answers, but others not involved in the business can give you another perspective. Which in turn can help you make some important decisions on how you want to start up. Find your happy medium when considering your budgets, and try as best you can to stay as close to your target budget as possible. Just a few thoughts 8)

 

[COFFEEISGOOD]

You may want to take a small business class offered by your local community college. It can be really informative and will also give you some good networking opportunities in your area. Here is a list of most of what you should consider for your pro forma - cost of goods, advertising and promo, rent and maintainence, salaries, management, legal, audit fees, utilities, telephone, licences, insurance, bank charges, office expenses, accounting fees, security system, repayment of loans, and misc. Hope that helps..... :wink:

 

[Twitch]

Hello, I love this thread and this board.

I'm looking into opening a drive through in the Sacramento area, and I'm coming up with a need of approx 60k just to open one of those. (I still have some unknowns at this point in regards to getting the thing plumbed or using tanks. That can make or break me on the above price)

Maybe things are just more expensive here in N. Cal than other places. Not sure.

Biggest expense will be the building. Approx. 23k for a manufactured one (complete interior and exterior) If I can find a good contractor and planner, maybe I can go cheaper. Not sure at this point.

Anyway, just my .02.

Great boards...

 

[Coffee Guy]

Hey Twitch:

Sacramento, hey that's my old stomping ground. When I grew up there we used to call it "Sack of Tomatoes" :grin: Anyway, every time I'm down there I've often wondered why the drive thru boom hasn't hit yet. Especially with all of the available lots I see. I'd like to help you make your dream come true. Send me a pm and let's discuss some things. I'll will be back down there around August for a family reunion, and we might be able to hook up then if we haven't gotten something going before then.