Leaving a good paying job for opening a coffee shop

[Goingindrain]

There's a shop which is empty at my local high street and there are 3 restaurants and shops like Greggs, cake shop and dominos but no coffee shop where people can have a sit down grab a coffee and cake.
I am a working mum of 2 little kids - 1 and 4 years old. I earn more than 70k and have a good pension. I have been working for over 15 years and have opportunities to go up in the career ladder.
I feel like my priorities have changed so much after having kids.
Problem is I am not a baker myself so I will have to employ people. My work gives me flexibility but I want to run a business. I am into Tech so no experience of this.
Should I still consider it or scrap?

Nice idea. Sounds like a pipe dream.

You earn well now. To match that sort of income you'd need to turnover (very roughly) about 450-500k pa gross. You'd expect to clear 15% for you as a hands on owner.
this is super vague sum wise (!) but on that turnover it would feel that you could draw out more but once VAT / employee costs (which cost the business roughly 35% more than the hourly rate you actually pay, rent/rates, utilities etc then cost of stock, that's usually a target amount.
No paid holiday/ sick is the biggie.
Just writing as someone who ran own businesses for 40 years including retail stores.

I work in events, and can say that the food vendors I partner with work crazier hours than me. They’re never “switched off”. With two small kids, I’d say no. I have one, who my mum minds when I’m on a job. My food friends have no work / life balance.

Before you even consider this get a Saturday job in a local coffee shop. Not only will give some relevant experience and training it’ll also give you a taste of what it’s like working extra hours because there’s no way it’ll fit into typical 9-5 office hours.

I am mid 30s so not a mid life crisis hopefully. It's a pipe dream, that's true.

Id work out costs, business rates, utilities, insurance, wages, cost of consumables. Then work out your profits margin per cup of coffee and see how many you'd need to sell just to cover costs. I think it might be shocking but that's just a guess.

Getting a Saturday job in a cafe is a great idea - it will give you an idea of what the work is like, and you can talk to the owner/manager about what it entails.

I think it would be incredibly difficult to make money from a cafe - high overheads, and you need to buy in cakes etc.

You would be working mornings, so wouldn't be able to drop the kids to school, wouldn't be able to pick them up either, as you'd be serving the afterschool customers - and then there's weekend openings too.

You have a good job, you should consider cutting your hours if you want to spend more time with your kids.

I love a good local coffee shop!!

But sadly the independent ones on our high street close regularly. Someone new takes it on, kits out the premises, looks gorgeous inside. A year later it’s closed and someone else is taking it on.

The Nero, Starbucks etc keep going though.

Have you ever worked in a coffee shop?

YABU on the basis of giving up on a good paying job.
YANBU on the basis of wanting to try something different and cut loose from office life.

Running your own business is extremely hard in this country, though. Taxes all over the place. HMRC effectively owns you.

It's really up to you. Whatever path you choose, I wish you all the best.

What's your current job? Is there a way you can set up a business that takes advantage of your skills and experience?

Running coffee shop is a total slog - long, long hours, lots of things go wrong, tiny margins. If you want to do retail, a clothes shop is a better bet - I know a few people who own clothes shops in small towns and they make a killing - you have to choose your stock quite carefully but if you hit the right style and price point for the area you can rake it in.

I'd say that given you state your children as the reason for wanting to do this, definitely not.

You'll have less time for them.
You'll have less money for them.

What exactly are you thinking are going to be the positives?

Two of the three shops on your high street you named sell coffee and cake…. And during a time when people have less and less money for luxuries people are more likely to spend 80p at Greggs than £5 at the artisanal coffee shop (for the most part).

Are you in a wealthy area? Or a commuter town where nobody is buying coffee on weekdays? Or is there a tourist attraction nearby? Why would your shop be full enough every day to pay for a baker, FOH staff, cleaner, insurance, bills etc?

The only coffee shops by me that are successful also sell actual cooked meals (breakfast, brunch, lunch) so they need a chef too. Would you want to do that?

This is a mad dream but suggests you want to think about your life going forward

Can you reduce your hours - 4 or 4.5 days - would that help? Or plan a crazy big holiday before the kids start school?

or just get an hour a week to chat to mates or do something creative ?

Service businesses like this require a lot of time and effort. Probably a lot more hours than you are currently working.
You either manage it or pay a manager, good managers of service businesses are very hard to find.
I am not sure you habe thought through the hours you will need to be working.
Also the business plan to make it work.
I would love to do this also and also work i tech but havent left for similar reasons.
Also someone is paying my pension and taking the risk while I am employed. I get paid holiday, and my work is soemwhat flexible. I think I would be worse off doing this by quite a lot so havent gone for it.

I think the reality would be a lot harsher than how running a coffee shop is portrayed in ‘chick lit’ books (I read too many in the past). What about investigating opening up a weekend mobile cake and coffee stall, maybe something with a vintage feel to give it character. You don’t need to make the cakes, have them supplied. Some research could tell you how viable that is but they seem pretty popular. It would be a lot less risk as you’ll still have your job. Hard work but if it’s successful you could make it full time. Obviously you’d have to check out site fees etc but could be a winner.

Greggs sell great coffee, you can’t compete with them

Agree especially at their price point.

Same kind of street in our town. 3 different coffee shops in 5 years. Last one even had free rent for a year from the landlord just in the hope they could establish a business, gone in 18 months. All lovely, all busy. Same with those gift type shops, lovely bits and bobs last no time sadly.

Around once a month one of my DC do a sporting event which takes the whole weekend. 75% of the time there is nowhere to get a hot drink/snack/food. When there is a mobile coffee shop onsite they're inundated (there's around 500 parents there). I've often thought about getting van, converting it and making a killing!

OP, I'm never one to burst someone's bubble. Hope and ambition are important for the soul. But I don't think you're in the right place with 2 small kids. Hospitality hours across the board are insane and being your own boss means that everything is your responsibility. From the shop flooding to the front window getting smashed to the coffee machine exploding. Not to mention health and safety including customer allergies. Employing a baker would cost a fortune and you'd have to offer paid holidays, NI contributions, sickness etc. It's very hard (think nervous breakdown level) to find reliable staff these days anyway. If you weren't in such a good corporate role, didn't have 2 small kids and perhaps had even a little relevant experience then maybe.

I would love to do this but… you have young children and will need to employ someone to make the cakes. If you have a fair amount saved up and can take a hit if the coffee shop is a success, then go for it. A word of warning though, we have a really successful bakers/coffee shop in our village, their baker left a few weeks ago and they have been unable to find another one. The place has almost been empty for the last 2 weeks and the serving staff have been warned they may be unemployed soon.

I appreciate all the honest responses. I am a bit of dreamer and sometimes too optimistic. It's a shame that it's so hard to run small business.

Each to their own etc but I dont know why people see this as a ‘dream”. Awkward customers, suppliers letting you down, H&S regs…. And there’s absolutely no USP to set you apart.

There are other more efficient ways to become bankrupt.

Have you tried gambling?

Handing out £50 notes to strangers on a street corner?

Clicking those links on dodgy emails that ask for your bank details?