Before Opening

The deal’s done, you’ve got the keys – now the real pressure begins. Your aim is to get trading as soon as possible and see some money travelling in the other direction. By now a lot of important decisions will have been made – who’s going to supply the coffee, which cash and carry you’re going to use, who’s going to fit out the shop and so on. Don’t worry though, there’s still plenty to do!

Creating Interest

People are always interested to know what kind of new venture is going to be opening on their patch. The day you get the keys, go into the shop and blank out the windows with Windolene or something similar leaving enough space for a poster advertising that a quality sandwich-coffee bar will be opening shortly. At this stage don’t tie yourself down to a date. Even if you take over an existing business you may well have to close it down for a while to re-decorate or upgrade fittings or equipment.

Maintaining Momentum

The people who are going to fit out your shop or deliver equipment to you don’t have the same financial imperative as you. A couple of days here or there won’t make any difference to them – but it might to you. You must stay on top of things. Even if everything goes like clockwork (which it won’t) this will be hard work.

Unless you have superhuman powers you will not be able to keep all the information you need to process in your head. You must have a do list, a timetable, a flow chart or some kind of combination of all of them – whatever works for you. You should also have with you at all times a list of the key people involved from the bank to the plumber plus their phone numbers. The whole business of communication has been made much easier with the advent of mobile phones – essential.

Even when one particular job has started you must not assume that it will be completed in the shortest possible time. Tradespeople are usually juggling a number of jobs at any one time. That’s their problem. Yours is being able to open at the earliest opportunity. So whether it’s installing kitchen units or delivery dates for fridges you have to be at people constantly, checking that things are going according to plan, nipping problems in the bud, pressing for completion or delivery dates and generally keeping the momentum going.

Staff Training Days

You will need to spend time training staff in virtual trading conditions before you open. Try to make this as real as possible. Invite friends or family to be ‘customers’. Obviously the idea is to prepare for the real thing.

Publicity Surrounding The Opening

Local Advertising

The best form of advertising is a talkative happy customer. However, you want to help your cause in the early stages by raising awareness as much as possible.

One of the advantages of a sandwich-coffee bar is that your potential market comes from a fairly small hinterland. Accordingly you don’t need to spread your advertising net too wide. Once you know to within a few days when you will open, you should distribute advertising literature to every place which might be a potential source of business within a radius of half a mile or so. It might be a good idea to include a simple map with ‘We are here’ emblazoned on it. When I say distribute I mean getting out on foot and pushing things through letter-boxes or under the doors of:

• Nearby shops – including other take-aways (some of the staff at the pizza place next door to us come to us for sandwiches).
• Offices – almost certainly the best bet for business.
• Colleges, government departments, halls of residence, courts, police stations, etc Try to see if you can get advertisements placed on a notice board or in staff rest areas. These places may well have their own subsidised food, but don’t be put off by some sniffy receptionist who tells you this. The fact is people like a change. And even if they only come to you once a week – that’s an extra 52 sandwiches and drinks each year – per head. If you have a menu it should, of course, be ready by this time. Your advertising literature should include a menu and a small flier giving the actual opening date and details of any opening special offers.