Advice on buying/leasing a business

[DSM]

My friend and I are planning on opening our own cafe bar.

I honestly don't know where to start. I assume we need to make a business plan, but don't know how, or ecen what exactly it is.

Should we see a financial advisor? Or a solicitor? Or go to a bank for a business loan? Should we find a property first? Do we need capital, and if so, how much?

Obviously just looking for a little initial guidance here, so any advice would be brilliant.

Bump for the daytime...

Your local/regional council may have an office dedicated to new business start-ups. If so, they can be incredibly helpful people, so I'd have a look in your phone book.

I've found something that I think might be helpful, thank you.

Still would love to hear any advice, at all. It's a pretty big venture and any advice at all would help me feel a little more confident!

Well, I'd think your first priority would be finding out the laws that surround your proposed business - there's training to be undertaken if you're opening licensed premises, for example. Then you need to ascertain that there is a demand for your business, and find the right place to set it up. Then you need to find out about start-up costs and draw up a budget...

Have all the required training - been in the trade for 10 years. Have a pretty decent idea on size, location etc.. But the 'budget' part is our problem.

We know how much money we'll need, but we don't have it, and don't know about loans etc, can you get business loans without equity?

In the current climate it is difficult to get business loans unless you are able to provide at least 20% of the capital required yourself, no matter how compelling your business plan. If you don't have that money yourself, you will need to get it from friend and family. If you can't, it is unlikely a bank will loan you the money you need.

It is also likely that the bank will want security. That normally involves them being able to take your house if you don't meet the repayments. If the value of your house after deducting any mortgage is less than the loan you are looking for you are less likely to get money from the bank. However, there are some government schemes that may help if you find yourself in this situation. Basically you pay a little bit more for the loan in return for which the government guarantees the loan.

There are plenty of good books about writing business plans. I quite like "The Successful Business Plan" by Paul Barrow and Rhonda Abrams but there are plenty of other choices.