Tea Room?

TeaRoom · Mar 25, 2005

Hello I am trying to find a website or a forum for people who are wanting to own a catering business and found this one for small business's so am hoping somebody out there will be able to help me!

My family and I are looking into buying a tea room in the UK. This will be our first business so we need a lot of advice! If there is anybody out there who owns a tea room or similar (cafe, coffee shop etc) then I would love to hear from you! Or is there anybody who could point me in the right direction as far as websites and forums are concerned!

Thank you for any help that I receive

Alpha · Mar 25, 2005

You could try any of these for your search

http://www.companysales.net/

http://www.business-sale.com/

http://www.avondale-group.co.uk/services.php

http://uk.businessesforsale.com/

I haven't used any of them personally so cannot give any recommendations.

There may be one or two in there that you would have to pay for.

Other than that you could try looking at local estate angents that deal in commercial properties.

Good luck in your search.

If I can help further please don't hesitate to ask.

TeaRoom · Mar 25, 2005

Hi thank you for the links I will have a look at them/ Have you owned a Tea Room?

Alpha · Mar 25, 2005

No I havent . Owning a tearoom isnt a business area that I would be interested in

But I can help people get started in one.

TeaRoom · Mar 25, 2005

Oh right

We are getting mixed reactions off people, some saying it wont bring in money as people are not interested in tea rooms anymore, and want the american-style coffee bars, or cafes, so we dont know what to think now. We would love to do it, as it is something that we have wanted to do for a while

Alpha · Mar 25, 2005

I think you will find that they are still popular in the right locations.

You have to really look at the demographics and profiles of the customers.

Seaside and inland historic towns are more likely to have popular tea rooms. They are more likely to be frequented when it is not the only business on the premises eg gift shops, garden nurseries etc.

If you look at what the general populace frequents however, you would be better of going for something that is in the franchise line eg. Starbucks, Costa Coffee etc.

You will get a good idea of how popular the individual tea room is by looking at its turnover and profitability (Obviously the better ones will cost more to buy)

TeaRoom · Mar 26, 2005

Hello,
We are looking for one by the seaside, we have seen one in East Yorkshire which has four bedroom accommodation as well, good price (£2k) but I expect it will have been sold by the time we could sort things out! (Have to get a loan first!)

Alpha · Mar 26, 2005

Well £2k means that it wouldnt be touched but I presume you actually mean a price substantially different to that

Providing that it is not currently under offer you should be able to at least start the ball rolling towards making an offer

Have you got all the particulars about the business, if so there are probably a few people on here that could help you to source finance for it (Paul Shepard is one who comes to mind and I'm sure there are others)

You would of course need several years accounts and I would get an accountant to analyse these for you (It is another cost but is worth it in the long run)

TeaRoom · Mar 26, 2005

oops I meant £200k!

SillyJokes · Mar 26, 2005

As with any other venture you will need to establish that you have a market as simply thinking it would be nice to run a tea room is not enough research to plan investing £200K on.

You could try adding something extra on - what about becoming the UK's first Internet Tea Room - the place for Silver Surfers to hang out?

I don't know what your overall goal is as a business but you really need to be confident that you can get enough people through your doors in the face of competition like Starbucks and supermarket cafes in order to prevent a storm in a tea cup turning your dream into a nightmare.

TeaRoom · Mar 27, 2005

We would be taking over an established tea room so obviously we would look at their accounts etc to make sure they have a lot of custom.

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