HELLO

[helena]

Hi everybody i'm new to the site, me and my partner have never ran a business before and could do with some general advice in do's and dont's.
we seen this cafe for rent in Birmingham nr to city centre and went to see the owner, the kitchen is fully fitted and seems good to go, however we think a deep clean is needed,to degrease the kitchen., do you think it is neccessary to degrease the kitchen? or is this expense that is just not needed right now.
we are really struggling to find a name.
can we use a name that is no longer trading, and where can we check that they are no longer trading.
hopefully we are going to be opening the takeaway cafe soon,there is quite alot to do before we open so i still have a bit of time.

any advice welcome

[Sarah H]

Hello Helena and welcome to the forum. They are very helpful on here and I am sure you will get you questions answered soon. Most people in the trade use the site during the week, which is probably due to being very busy at the weekends.

I wish you well with your new business.

[Carol Price]

Hello Helena

Firstly I would say it is always best to start of with a kitchen as clean as possible and keep tp those standards. Being new you are more likely to get inspected, if only to check everything is up to standard.

If cost is an issue I would try cleaning it yourself. A friend of mine bought a cheap steam cleaner and some food safe degreaser and did there own stainless steel cladding and extract canopy. It ended up looking like new but was a lot of hard work.

Hope all goes well for you and you start trading soon.

[Mac]

Hi Helena and welcome to the forum,

UKCF is a very good place to ask your questions, although I cannot offer any specifics personaly there are plenty of experienced members in the catering field on here who will be able to. Good move working the forums - any new venture is allways about research, research and more research! No doubt some good contacts in the trade can be made along the way too.

Best of luck in the new venture,

Mac

[Stu]

Welcome to the UKCF Helena.

Good advice to do a thorough clean of the kitchen if you take it on. You never know what bacteria has been growing in old grease and small hard to clean areas.

I would advise checking with companies house and do a name search. You can find the main site by typing Companies House into Google. There is a section for looking up names to see if they are registered and also contact numbers. If you are not going to trade as a Ltd company you can keep any name you like. An example for Fred Blogs would be to trade with a name of 'The Old Teapot Cafe'. He would then need to inform the tax office that he is trading under - Fred Blogs T/A The Old Teapot Cafe. I would go the Ltd route if possible to safeguard yourself in case of problem/bad debt.

Have you got any ideas on what you will be selling yet?

It would be god to hear more about your venture and the reasons why the previous owners stopped trading.

[helena]

does anybody know where we stand legally or moraly, to be asking the owner for two or three weeks rent free.as we do want the kitchen but as been advised by your goodselfs we need some time to clean it.

[Mac]

does anybody know where we stand legally or moraly, to be asking the owner for two or three weeks rent free.as we do want the kitchen but as been advised by your goodselfs we need some time to clean it.

If a good clean out is required I wouldn't be asking the owner for two or three weeks I would be telling them you require a month.

[Ron Davies]

does anybody know where we stand legally or moraly, to be asking the owner for two or three weeks rent free.as we do want the kitchen but as been advised by your goodselfs we need some time to clean it.

I agree with Mac on this one and feel they should have already had it in a spotless condition before leasing it out. If it was all ready to go they could justify asking for money from day one. You have to take into acount that not only do you have to get it cleaned, but your not getting paid by them to do it. If you hand the property back in the future you can bet the cost of cleaning/making good repairs will come out of your deposit. Don't forget to have any faults rectified before signing and any damage logged for the same reason.

If they don't want to give you a lease free period then say you will move in after it is cleaned and fit for purpose. It's a renters market out there at the moment and there are plenty of vacant properties around. They need you and should work with you to get this sorted.

You could always contact your local HSE or Council rep to come to the property and give some advice. I have aways found the open approach best and at least you would find out if there are any nasty surprises before signing a lease.

Regards

[BaltiBoy]

Welcome to the forum Helena and good luck at work.

[sheffy]

Welcome to the forum. sounds like some great advice above.

[helena]

can anyone help!!! our cafe is reallly tiny and we can only fit a breakfast bar, we are desperate for a name for our cafe and could do with some suggestion, we will be selling the traditional English breakfast, Bacon butties etc and have been thinking of countless names but just cant seem to find one that feels right, we want to move away from the greasy spoon image cafe and want to decorate the interior with, contemporary colours and leather bar stools, flat screen tv, and internet access, hope this helps. and thank you all, for your help and advice, the propertior has now given me two weeks rent free. better than nothing hey!

[PortCafe]

Gegraphically, where is it ?

[helena]

were based in Aston, Birmingham, West Midlands its actuall inbetween an industrial estate, and there is also a few whole sales suppliers, near by

[helena]

HELP! i need a name for my cafe, asap i've had a few suggestions such has. Crackling and buttercup. what do you think of these, or has anyone got an idea on where to go or how to come up with a name preferabbly not a christain name e.g Bevs cafe, Annes cafe

[Stu]

Maybe a few more details would help Helena.

What type of area are you in, have you got a theme like modern or traditional, what is the main food types you intend to sell and waht type of customers are you trying to bring in on a regular basis?