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So You Want To Own A Coffee Shop?

For many of us, it is a long-time dream to own our own business. Working for yourself, enabling others by giving them employment, building something tangible and profitable – these are all good reasons for turing to your inner entrepreneur and drawing up a business plan. For those go-getters who love the buzz of people, the idea of owning a coffee shop might be very appealing. Café culture is more popular than ever and with our on-the-go lifestyle more people are drinking coffee than ever before. Although coffee giants like Starbucks owns most of the market share, there is a growing demand for unique, independent cafes. The market is continually growing. In 2012, there were over 5500 independent coffee shops listed in the UK. If there was ever a good time to open your own coffee shop, now is that time.

Do your research

As with starting any business, it is paramount that you do proper research before hurtling head-fi
rst into the idea of opening your coffee shop. You can read many books on the topic, but nothing beats learning from other peoples’ experience. Set up meetings with coffee shop ownerswho have already gone through the process, and ask their advice and guidance. More often than not, people will appreciate your honesty and enthusiasm and will be glad to share their knowledge.

As a coffee shop owner, you will need to know every angle of running the business, from what it feels like to take customers’ order to making the coffee to controlling stock levels. It would be beneficial to you and your business if you spend some time working the floor in a coffee shop to get a feel of what it is like behind the scenes. Working in a coffee shop for at least two years before venturing into the owner side of it will not only give you a wide open perspective of what is involved in the day-to-day dealings, it will also help you to better manage your staff once you own your
own place.

Location, location, location

One of the very first things you should consider when planning your new business is where it will be located. For a coffee shop, you want a lot of feet passing through, so a busy street or a location close to a train or bus stop will be ideal. Naturally, this prime property will cost more than one in suburbia, so do careful financial comparisons before comitting to a location. Another good idea is to see where the most coffee shops are already. Rather than avoid the competition, realise that different customers want different things, and you will attract your own coffee tribe over time. On startups.co.uk they write that consumers prefer a convenient location over stand-out coffee, something that is evident if you look at Holloway Road in North London which has 24 different coffee shops just in one street.

The grand design

While you are deciding on a locaton, checking out
the legalities of your desired area and speaking to the landlord, you should also be drawing up the plans of what you imagine your dream coffee shop to look like inside. The space that you rent in the end will have a great impact on your coffee shop’s design. Perhaps you were dreaming of big leather sofas and open spaces, but the location that works best for you only allows a few straight-up chairs and a counter area. Speak to professionals who have designed coffee shops before, as they will have trade secrets like how angling your coffee grinder at a certain angle to the counter will maximize the flow of customers into and out of your shop. Also ask professional assistance when choosing equipment such as coffee grinders, display cases or even your funiture, or do extensive research online. Everything from overhead lighting to res
taurant tables can be bought online, often at cheaper than at the shops.

Reality check

The most important question you have to ask yourself when heading into this endeavour is: “Do I really want to do this?” If you have a love for the industry, for people, for business and an honest desire to own your own coffee shop, nothing will keep you away from success. And hard work plus persistence will bring you closer to it faster. You also should be willing to commit to the coffee shop for a while – think at least ten years. If this sounds like something for you, now is the time for you to join the providers of caffience shots for the masses!

About the Author: Marilu Snyders has had a long affair with caffiene. It has supported her through studies, through cold nights and reunions with old friends. As a writer, she still spends a lot of time hanging out in coffee shops and leaching wifi, with a coffee always closeby.

Five Mistakes To Avoid When Selling Your Small Business

Considering the years of hard work and sacrifice building a successful business requires, entrepreneurs deserve to maximize their profits from selling their company when the time comes. Unfortunately, many small business owners trying sell their business make a number of mistakes that can cause them to receive significantly less than what their business is worth when completing the sale.

Selling your small business doesn’t have to become an uncertain affair filled with potentially perilous missteps. By understanding where problems usually arise, you can become better prepared to handle the hurdles of selling your business, and receive maximum value for what you’ve worked so hard to achieve. With that in mind, here are five common mistakes made by entrepreneurs when selling their small business.

Not Planning Ahead

Failing to plan in advance can cause many entrepreneurs to miss the perfect opportunity to sell their business. It takes between two and four years on average to sell a small business, making long-term planning a key to any successful sale. By keeping up to date records, a thorough business history, and current sales portfolio on hand at all times, you can better prepared yourself to seize any opportunity that may present itself.

When you’re ready to sell and when you should sell don’t always coincide, so stay prepared to escalate any potential conversations about selling your business should the perfect buyer walk through your door.

Finding the Wrong Person to Represent Your Business

The importance of finding the right consultant, broker, or company to help sell your business is a crucial component of success. Too often business owners settle for the first group or individual they meet with in an effort to get their business listed quickly and the sales process rolling. However, just as the right realtor can help you maximize the value of your home, choosing the right fit to help sell your business can save you time and money in the long run.

Take the time to select the right broker for you, even if it means interviewing more than a few potential choices. Start by asking the right questions, – such as are they familiar with your industry, how much experience do they possess selling comparably sized businesses, and how long have been working in your market – setting realistic goals, and reviewing what former clients had to say. A little diligence at the beginning of the process will save you many headaches at the end.

Failing to Promote or Market

Hiring a broker to handle the sale doesn’t mean you can stop promoting or marketing your business. No one knows your business better than you, which makes you the perfect promoter to market your company to potential buyers. Even as your broker diligently works to find the right buyer for your business, you can still help to generate leads by promoting the sale of your business to interested parties.

If you’re having trouble generating leads on your own, consider turning to your sales staff for suggestions. Whether front of the house staff or account managers, the people most likely to encounter interested parties in your business are those individuals who interact with the public. Staff have a vested interest in making sure the right fit takes over a business, so don’t underestimate the value of their input.

Asking for Too Much or Too Little

While asking for more than your business is worth can leave you without any prospects, selling too low can leave you at a disadvantage negotiating a final price.

Trying to get top dollar for a business that under generates revenue will only scare away potential leads that may otherwise seriously consider making you an offer. Before deciding on an initial asking price, you need to consider a number of factors, including your marketplace, the current economy, the price of similar businesses, and your industry.

Setting too low an asking price can send several messages to any potential buyers. Has the owner become burned out and just looking to unload; do they suffer from an illness and feel forced to sell; is there something wrong with the business that’s not being disclosed. Each of these reasons could lead to you receiving a low-ball bid for your business or potentially scare away a potential buyer.

Selling to the Wrong Person

While receiving a lump sum, cash payment would be the ideal way to sell your business, not every buyer has the capital on hand to make such a clean purchase. Even though you may feel tempted to take the first offer you receive, especially if it meets or exceeds your asking price, you need to consider whether this is actually your best offer.

Selling your business for top dollar is great, but not if it requires you to enter a long-term contract that provides very little money upfront. Most businesses see at least a temporary drop in sales following new ownership, and whether sales come back up can greatly depend on the business acumen and leadership of those now in charge. Any deal that depends on the business continuing to succeed once your gone in order for you to receive what’s owed requires serious consideration.

About the Author: John Nickelbottom is a freelance writer.

Office Acquisition – The importance of having an agent on board

People tend to consider the role of an estate agent to be somewhat limited in its scope. Many would leave contacting an agent until quite late in the process of acquiring new business premises and wait until they had a clear idea and plan of what they wanted before getting one on board.

What those people don’t realise is that estate agents have a much broader range of skills than just providing a list of properties on their books and arranging viewings. They have connections across the property market and can help from the moment of considering a move to new premises right the way through to taking possession of the keys.

Determining your requirements

With a great deal of experience of dealing with dozens or even hundreds of clients throughout the course of their work, business estate agents have an excellent grip on the kinds of premises that will work for a business and how those needs can be required. Getting in touch with an estate agent as soon as you’re thinking about acquiring an office means they can ask the right kinds of questions and get companies looking at the sorts of properties that would be suitable for your needs sooner than if left to one’s own devices.

Meeting with an agent can help a company seeking an office to think through a number of things. The needs of the business, the likely use of the premises and available finances will help to set the scene for the types of offices that could be within reach and those that can be ruled out from the outset. Considering things such as ownership or lease, tenure and future expansion plans for the company can also assist with future-proofing plans for office space.

Finding the right property

With the company’s requirements and parameters in hand, an estate agent such as Occupa can then go about finding properties that fit the bill. The search conducted by the agent will take into account a number of things such as required space, cost, location and terms of the purchase or lease. By sifting out the properties that don’t meet the company’s vital requirements, the remaining list is a viable set of possibilities that the time-pressed company decision makers can consider.

The estate agent’s role is to do the searching for the company

Choosing a specialist corporate estate agent can also allow businesses to access a range of other supporting services. From seeking finance to purchase properties outright through to office removal firms, agents working in the field will be able to put businesses in contact with the right people to make the process as easy as possible.

Sealing the deal

Once the property has been selected, estate agents can guide the company through making the offer for purchase or lease. Negotiations will be carried out through the agent, so the fuller idea they have of the company’s requirements, limitations and points of flexibility, the better job they can do on the business’s behalf.

The agent can get you to the point where the deal is sealed

When the company’s offer for the office has been accepted, the role of finalising arrangements and agreement can be passed to solicitors. However, everything before that point is something in which the estate agent can have a key role in securing and agreeing.

Conclusion

Rather than just acting as a list service for office properties, estate agents have a valuable role to play in the acquisition of offices right from the first thoughts about taking on new premises. Involve specialist business estate agents at the earliest opportunity to ensure that the best advantage is taken of their unique abilities and inside knowledge on the workings of the corporate property market.

Image Credits: mushon and SalFalko

4 Online Business Ideas for the Artist

4 Online Business Ideas for the Artist

There are several ways that you can utilize the Internet to help you sell your artwork. In fact, some of these options will enable you to take your designs and have them turned into a wide variety of different products, including temporary tattoos and iPhone cases. Because of this, it is important for all artists to embrace the Internet as a sales tool if they want to make enough money to quit their day job.

It is also a good idea to diversify your sales efforts by getting your artwork listed on a wide variety of websites. The following are some ways for an artist to increase their sales by use of the internet.

1. Temporary Tattoo Retailer

Getting custom pieces of art converted into a temporary tattoo has become a very popular option for people who want to change their look for a night out on the town. Creative and unique designs, such as a fake tattoo sleeve or a necklace, are great ways to get your art work noticed. Due to this, it is definitely a good idea to consider connecting with an online temporary tattoo retailer to have some of your art converted into this format.

Additionally, you could get some of these tattoos made for yourself, and they could become inexpensive giveaway pieces at art fairs to generate more interest in the rest of your work.

2. Print on Demand Sites

Consumers love having multiple options, and utilizing a print on demand site such as Zazzle or CafePress will give them the opportunity to put your artwork on a diverse selection of different items, including postcards, iPhone cases, t-shirts and calendars. Therefore, it is a good idea for artists to list their pieces on these sites in order to increase awareness and capture various demographic groups. As an added bonus, you do not need to take care of any of the customer interaction with these sites, so you can simply sit back and make some extra money.

3. Open an Online Store

Every artist should have a website that enables consumers and art lovers to peruse their latest offerings. However, it is also important to include a shopping cart feature so that people can make a purchase instantly from the site without having to take any additional steps. Keep in mind that encouraging impulse purchases in this manner is one of the best ways to increase your profit margin.

4. Etsy and eBay

Etsy is well-known to art lovers because all of the items available have been created by hand. Additionally, many consumers prefer to get artwork via eBay because they have the perception that they will get cheaper price via the popular online auction site. Because of this, it makes sense to open a store on both of these websites.

As you can see, there are many different ways to take advantage of the Internet in order to spread awareness of your work. Keep in mind that it is also worthwhile to operate a Facebook page or another social media page for your artwork to help keep all of your fans up to date about your latest projects.

Lisa Coleman shares some successful ways that an artist can utilize their talent online to help support their artistic career. From selling your paintings to designing a fake tattoo sleeve, artists are finding the Internet a great way to promote and support their creativity and work.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/duhdenise/4995660536/

Four Ways To Spend Much Less On Your Small Business

An essential part of running a small business is constantly finding new ways to reduce costs, keeping spending to a minimum. Initially, you may be thinking that by spending less you will have to make sacrifices, damaging your business in the process. However, reducing spending does not always have to equate to a loss. Ultimately, removing unnecessary expenses in your small business will increase your budget, freeing up money that you can invest in other parts of your business.

Online Marketing

More often than not, marketing costs take up a huge amount of budget, particularly for small businesses that invest in offline methods such as direct mail. However, by simply switching or concentrating more on online marketing, you could save yourself a great deal of money, while targeting a much larger market. There are various ways you can market your business online, all of which are often low-cost and very effective. Essentially, you will be paying less for a more
successful method. You can start by creating a profile for your business on one of the many social media platforms. It is free and a great way of connecting to your customers while building up a strong following. Another idea to market your small business online is to start a blog that contains content related to your products or services.

Go Green, Go Paperless

Without realising it, a lot of money can be wasted away on paper through the sheer cost of ink, supplies and postage; not to mention the endless waste of paper. By eliminating the use of paper or even just minimising you can significantly reduce spending. Going digital is said to save a great deal of money, but not only that, it also creates a more organised working environment and is a lot more secure than having a paper trail. You can make the transition by opting for digital invoices, filing information on the computer and completely replace snail mail with email. As well as cutting spending you are
also helping the environment, which is always a positive thing.

Telephone and Web Conferencing

As a small business, spending large amounts of money on conferences, presentations and meetings really will make a significant dent in your budget, as there are a great deal of expenses involved, including travel and food. To reduce the costs, opting for a teleconference or web conference service is a great idea as you will spend a lot less for a good service than you ever would with face-to-face costs. Additionally, using such a service will allow you to connect to colleagues and clients globally.

IT Managed Service

As hiring an IT guy is a luxury to many small business, using managed services is proven to be a wise decision; you have access to IT expertise at a fraction of costs.

Managing Your Team

As your business develops so will your team, but it is essential that you manage this process carefully if you want to save money. Within a small business you need to ensure that you are regularly assessing your team’s productivity, making sure that most of your employees’ time is spent on value creating activities. Also, there are way
s that you can get the job done without having to hire an extra employee, including using interns and freelancers.