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Could you open your own cafe?

Introduction

When it comes to career-change fantasies, opening a chi-chi cafe often teeters at the top of the wish-list. Probably because both office slaves and enda-the-maternity-leave mums spend lots of hours and money seeking inspiration at the end of the coffee cup.

But is opening a cafe all drizzle and no lemon cake? Here’s the story, (and some great advice) from a woman who did. Lulu Gwynne, 30, is the owner of the delicious and ultra stylish, Betty Blythe Cafe which opened on Valentines Day 2008, in leafy West London.

Are you a people person?

After a lifetime spent serving customers in other people cafés and restaurants (and completing a Marketing degree), Lulu already knew the answer to this question, but do you? Are you reasonable, pleasant, calm, and positive? Can you maintain a breezy demeanour in the face of the most insufferable customers? It may seem like easy money but if you cannot smile sweetly (whilst mopping on your hands and knees) when a yummy mummy spills her Darjeeling all over your beech floor, you’re in the wrong profession. Lulu sums up her job in a nutshell, “It’s like being at an a very intense all-day social event. Dealing with your customers is something that you will either love or hate, but you’ll still have to do it, either way”.

Be passionate

Cafés are intensely, time consuming. Breakfast, lunch and tea are the busiest times, which means forfeiting yours - and the hours rarely fit in with your own kid's school run. There’s also all the work behind the scenes, if you open at 8am then you’ll probably be there at least half an hour before, setting everything up, plus there's the germ-killing clean, calling your suppliers, and cashing-up at the end of a very long day.

Do your research

We’ve all walked past a romantic boarded up shop and imagined moving in and creating a chic and delightful overnight success, but there may be a reason why it’s boarded up. Things to look at when you’re searching for your dream location are: What’s the footfall (number of people passing by) and are they going to want the kind of business you are planning. It’s important before you leap to spend a lot of time in your prospective location, hang out at different times of the day to get a feel for what when you might get the most business. Take a good long look at your competition and talk to the locals; in business, you really can never do enough homework.

Be realistic and get planning

Unless you're blessed with personal wealth - raising finance is the obvious first step. To even register on your bank manager/potential investor's radar you'll need a water-tight business plan - and that means doing your homework. Things to think about are: number of customers you'll get through the door each day, their spend per head, seasonal fluctuations (for instance, all your yummy mummies will vanish as soon when school breaks up); what are your opening hours and how many staff can you afford to take on (you won't get very far if you work yourself into the ground in the first four weeks). Finally, don’t forget to pay yourself a real wage, this will bump up your costs but apart from being more realistic, you've got to live on something.

More pages

Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Get advice from the experts

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