Opening A Business

[Tom27]

I'm currently in the process of opening up a Cafe in Middlesbrough.
I do have a personal advisor, however I only get the chance to see him once per week for 1 hour.
Everything from Menu's, costings, advertisement & legal things are completed. However I'm struggling to find a list of bills which I may be un-aware of which I will be needing to pay.
(I am still in the process of looking for a property)

So far I have a list of:
Rent, Council Tax, Gas, Electricity, Phone-bill, Tax on earnings, national insurance, and website fees.

Can you think of anything else which will and/or may need to be paid for?

 

[Ardbeg]

Insurance on the premises (when you find one).
Alarm system. (often a waste of time but usually required before you get your insurance)
You only pay tax on earnings if it's a profit and it's only required when you do your annual returns or whatever your company status requires.
Vat. You must always get this right. You obviously know you reclaim vat on your purchases and pay it on your sales.
Staff.
Opening stock.
Till.
Credit Card terminal. (look around for best deals and negotiate like fk before you sign. Often provided by your bank but there are alternatives)
The card terminal needs a phone line or can, if you get the right setup, use broadband via wifi or Lan.
Telephone.
Tables and chairs, cutlery etc.

You probably have all these covered but it doesn't harm to repeat :!

 

[Tom27]

Insurance - Added to the list
Alarm System - Should come with the property in the area in in (not that its a bad thing xD)
Vat/Opening Stock/Till Cash Flow/Land-Line/Tables & Chairs etc are all sorted.

Credit Card Terminal: Do you have any suggestions on companies to use for these terminals?

No worries with repeating things, everything is always best to be covered twice

Bad news with 2 properties at the moment.
I did have my eye on 1 and was due to arrange a viewing, then last minute somebody jumped in and snatched the property out of my hands.
I've contacted another estate agency today regarding another property, and they only take "established businesses" which was abit of a push back.
It seems like the only thing in my way at the moment is finding a property ;/

 

[vitaminwater]

I'll take the wild red boar with some of your finest bichon chestnuts

 

[FUTURA]

employee liability insurance for when you have staff. Advertising (maybe, especially locals/google). trademark registration, if you want to protect a logo/name. Water perhaps? Accountant fees.

To be honest you should go to an accountant to get a proper budget/forecast made and then maintain a balance sheet P+L and cash-flow throughout...I work in private equity and have to do due diligence on a number of SME's that aren't succeeding, but the only reason is they aren't organised enough...organisation and hard work = success every time. Good luck mate.

 

[Tom27]

I do have a personal adviser who has completed me a "rough" cash-flow shall I say; this will be made 100% accurate once I secure a property and get my bills sorted out etc.
I have just been and viewed two properties today, although only 1 was planned...
The shop i went to view was number "55", the landlord & the estate agent guy both turned up which I found extremely weird.
They managed to show us around the property within 5 minutes, and giving us very little chance for asking questions.
They were more interested to show us there "already set up & running" cafe which is currently up for sale (which I can't afford to buy property).
So they take us in, and when I ask things like "How much is the rent?", "How much is the rates?" and general property questions they just seemed to ignore everything I was throwing at them.
All I managed to get was "This property is currently up for sale, but we will work out a monthly cost for you" and "How much money do you have?"

The only thing they seemed interested in was my own money.
Which is why I found this EXTREMELY fishy.

Any thoughts/views on this?

 

[Karl]

You'll have business rates to pay, what you pay will be based on square footage. (If the ratable value is below £6500 you can get a 100% rebate though) You might want to bear this in mind as this can work out to be quite a significant additional cost.

 

[FUTURA]

Lol don't let them force you into something you don't want. Just categorically say you don't want the cafe and ask how much the rent is for the place you want. If they shirk the question just repeat it. A meeting is useless unless you get all the details you need before you leave.

 

[Tom27]

You'll have business rates to pay, what you pay will be based on square footage. (If the ratable value is below £6500 you can get a 100% rebate though) You might want to bear this in mind as this can work out to be quite a significant additional cost.

Rates in the property I viewed were roughly £4000.
Im unaware that I was able to claim back the rate money? or is that just the 20% tax?

Lol don't let them force you into something you don't want. Just categorically say you don't want the cafe and ask how much the rent is for the place you want. If they shirk the question just repeat it. A meeting is useless unless you get all the details you need before you leave.

I've now decided to leave the property I viewed now.
I called up the estate agent and asked how much the owner wanted, and I was told "£12,000 rent, plus £8000 to use his equipment, and he wants £15,000 upfront before I go into the property, and the other £5,000 in monthly installments."


God knows how the owner has came to the conclusion that somebody is going to pay £8,000 extra per year just to use his equipment, when I can fully fit a whole new kitchen for around £5,000.
I'm now back to searching for property yet again... Boring stuff ;/

 

[Martyn]

water , waste , rubbish collection?