Best relocation strategy for branded business

[Perks30]

Hi Everybody,

 

I have a local cafe business which I am looking to relocate to a better, more prominent area of my town.

 

At present, I have been trading for less that 1 year yet the business has seen significant growth and customer footfall is increasing despite it’s current location within the town’s local market (which has seen better days!)

 

Recently, a rare opportunity to rent a shop on the main busy high street has presented itself and I am very eager to move my operation to this new premises. The shop is smaller than my existing premises, however I would be looking towards providing ‘food to go’ rather than offering a seated menu.

 

Furthermore, I would be keen to carry on renting my existing kitchen facilities to produce the ‘food to go’ for the new shop, with the existing cafe operation being reverted back to how it was before I took over – moving my branding etc to the new shop.

 

I have a 2 months waiting period before the occupiers of the new premises move out.

 

What would be the best strategy to help me pull this off successfully?

 

All advice and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated

[ericsbrother]

what are the terms of the existing on new leases? Do they allow you to pull out if things dont work out as you expect them to do?

What did the cafe you currently run do before you took over and are the kitchen facilities separate from the rest of the cafe?

How do you intend to manage the both premises, are you intending to have cash handling at both places and if so have you got a system in mind to ensure that all the money goes in the till and likewise stock control

What you want to do sound excellent in principle but unless you can trust your employees to the Nth degree you are going to have to have procedures for every little detail of the business from portion size to emptying the bins at the end of the day. employees will rarely have the enthusiasm and commitment to a new enterprise that the owner has so dont expect them to be willing to show their initative, put in extra hours etc without some reason to do so.

Basically you need to break down every task to its most simple component and see what problems you can envisage and how to solve them like what to do if a customer says they have been short changed? Will you be able to check the till at that moment to see if that is actually true? I might be saying things you already deal with so I apologise if I am teaching granny to suck eggs but if you have to be at 2 places at once the problems are multiplied compared to a single site.

 

However, if the rent on the new place is right then I see the 2 enterprises catering for different customers so can see it working well for you as long as you can keep on top of things. Staff training is the thing that will allow you to get up to speed so think about what you need before you open the doors as you dont get a second chance to leave a good first impression (as these management consultants say at vast expense)

[Perks30]

Hi, thanks for the reply!

 

You hit on some good point which I'll definitely take on board. In answer to your questions:

 

I am currently in negotiations with the Landlord(s) estate agent about lease terms for the new premises. They are happy to give me a break clause in my first year of trading, so that gives me a safety net. I have also recently requested for a fre rental period to be considered, as the Landlord currently wants 3 months rent up front which is capital I would have preferred to spend on refitting the premises.

 

The cafe I currently run was, and always has been prior to my arrival, a 'greasy spoon'. The kitchen facilities are very spacious and already lend themselves well to multiple operations.

 

My plan would be employ a chef for the existing kitchen and front of house staff for the new premises, leaving me to float between to two as they are no more than 150 yards apart.

 

It will be a struggle at first to pay two lots of rent, however, the existing cafe makes enough on hot beverages a week to cover itself so any surplus act as a contingency fund if needed.

[ericsbrother]

Sounds good so I hope that it goes ahead.

Again, just to emphasise the importance of making sure you are in control of the businesses rather than them determining what you do and keeping on top of money and stock control.

Once the second shop is established you could consider marketing it with local businesses and have a loyalty scheme to get people to return with their colleagues. Again, you need to make it work in a way that cannot be abused easily. A rubber stamp using green ink on a loyalty card is probably the easiest, loyalty card can be your business card with the incentive on the back, available from companies like V*stapr*nt for a reasonable cost. If there is a local printers/photo shop then get them to do your cards and negoatiate a deal based around future custom in both directions.

Thirty years ago I ran a business that had 4 of my 5 full time employees stealing from the business and the part-timers were demotivated as I spent all of my time fire fighting so to speak. It nearly broke me but after putting new controls into place and learning to be less sympathetic to mistakes it returned to making a decent profit that allowed proper reinvestment and renewed growth. When things go badly it rubs off and when things go well others know it without needing to be told and success breeds success.

[ericsbrother]

Oh, dont forget social media like facebook, make it work for you rather than just being a place where people make idle chat.