Advice on discussing/working out a lease

[crazyshady]

I am scheduled for a business meeting to discuss a possible place to park my snack van. One problem is that i don't have the certifcates for the van passed yet since i've had to refurbish it completely and am still waiting on a few things being finished but really they don't take long, i've hired in professionals to do all the work so it's done properly. Once these few bits and bobs are done i can send it into Environmental Health for them to look at.

I'm gonna take my business plan and know about all aspects of it, i know some people think snack vans are pretty basic things but i want to try and impress them. Then there is the talk about money, this is my first time doing this kind of thing so i've no idea what to offer or what i say i can afford. Everything i have done on the van has been out of my own pocket, no loans or nothing so again whatever i do pay is coming out of my pocket and my pockets aren't deep. It's not a case of i know what i can afford but i can't really afford to pay it, it's a case of i don't even know what to offer. It's gonna be in a car park, shopping centre nearby, not huge by any means but it's a decent size and there is a subway and shops etc near. To me this is a big chance to finally get started since the Council screwed me around earlier this year. I don't wanna dive in and pay too much and at the same time i don't wanna end up skint from it. I know they lease shops out inside the centre but i don't know how all that works, is it monthly or quarterly or do you pay it as you go along, will this even work the same way? What do you guys think? Any advice on what to say?

 

[KateCB]

'They' will probably have rates available, which MAY be negotiable, and they will tell you what they want, rather than you making an offer - that said, they may cut you some slack being a 'new business' but don't bank on it!

You will need some money as they may want rent in advance,(most do) and to be honest if you have spent everything you have on the van, how did you think you were going to afford to rent space?

Our local 'burger van' pays a licence to the Council to trade, which is an annual fee, his public and employers liability insurance, plus of course insurance for the van/stock itself and then the rent 3 months in advance.

Councils may vary about what they want/will accept, so its a case of going in with no expectations, seeing what they want and then going away again to consider your options I'm afraid!

 

[crazyshady]

I have no intentions of dealing with any council again and if this works out for me i wont even need need to contact the council for anything again since this will be me parking on someone elses land, not the council's. They did ask on the phone what i would be willing to pay, they run the shopping centre and it's in their car park i want to park. I just said i wasn't really sure as this is my first time in business and they asked me to go talk to them about it.

I suppose i can only see what they say to me, hopefully they will suggest a price to me and i can then go away and think about it. I paid a full years insurance on my van already, the only thing i would need is liability insurance but there is no point in getting that until i find a place to set up. And i didn't say i had spent everything on the van, i just don't want to spend an awful lot on the rent charges. IMO more than £100 a week is a lot. I don't even know if i would make enough to cover that and cover the costs of the stock and whatever the liability insurance works out at. I don't know what kind of figure they have in their minds and really i don't think they should treat me the same way they do for people that run shops because i don't have to pay for all the things they do and they use. I'm not using electricity or water the cost of having CCTV set up or a security guard. All i'm doing is parking for 7 hours a day then leaving, i don't require anything else from them apart from their permission. I don't think they should charge me what they charge shop owners which must be in excess of £100 per week.