The biggest advice that I would give is to: "Do your due diligence!!!" and write out a good plan. I am in the quick service food industry. When I first started, I wrote a decent plan. However, several issues caught us by surprise.
Business Plan Advice:
1) CMA ~ Competitive market analysis. If you want to start a coffee shop, Do you have an exclusive location? Is your coffee the best in the world (not just becuase your mom says so)? How many cars drive by your spot every day?
2) Competence ~ Do you have the competence and experience to enter that type of business?
3) Capacity ~ Do you have the financial strength to survive a downturn or if things don't go your way? Do you have the mental capacity to fix all of the problems that everyone will come to you with?
4) Product: Getting back to the product must be excellent. For food, it has to be piping hot, served fresh, and proprietary.
Regulations Advice:
They say that once you have a budget for your business, DOUBLE IT. This is so true becuase many people don't know the business regulations required to get up and running. For example:
- A basic coffee shop in Nevada will cost you $25,000 to $45,000 in permitting fees before you even break ground.
- For restaurants, all equipment has to be NSF, UL, or Ansi certified, which can quadruple the equipment cost.
- Construction buildout times can be over 12 months. Landlords will charge you based on your rent y date. That means if you tell them three months to open, you will pay rent for 9 months (called dark rent).
