[harrietrosie13]

Hi

this is an idea I've had for a while but I never looked into actually doing it. I've noticed that there's so many dfferent types of cafes like italian and chinese etc, but the only British ones are greasy spoon cafes which have an unhealthy and sometimes a working class reputation.

I'd love to create an elegant, fashionable cafe which sells British food. there would be main meals for breakfast and lunch, like English breakfasts, pies, pasties etc, and there would also be lighter things which people traditionally eat for 'tea time', like cucumber sandwiches, crumpets and lots of home made british cakes like victoria sponge, scones, shortbread etc. there would also be lower fat options which I thin would be a unique selling point of the cafe, alogn with it being traditionally British.

There would be tables for people to sit and eat but there would also be a glass counter where we take the orders, showing the smaller bites and the cakes so people can take them away to eat. It would be decorated in a vintage British way with tings like bunting a teapots and flowers in old milk jugs, this kind of style is really in fashion at the moment so I think it would work.

If you've read this much then I'd really like to know your opinion on whether you think this idea would work, and also if you have any advice on starting a cafe, and links to websites or advice from your own experience.

Thanks, please let me know what you think

[No Future]

It just sounds like a normal cafe/cake shop to me?

[Vixen47]

One of the biggest things you need to consider is location. Look at kebab shops - there's almost always one near a pub lol.

Just under 10 years ago my dad opened a restaurant (his partner was doing a lot of **** in the business so my dad left it and has come very far since) and the location of it was brilliant. He opened it in quite an upper class area of London where there was no competition from another Indian restaurants. His partner put ridiculous prices for the food and people would pay for them because it was in that area!

[petal1991]

(Original post by No Future)
It just sounds like a normal cafe/cake shop to me?

This. It sounds like it could be a cute cafe but you're talking like its a brand new idea thats never been done before, but it just sounds like any other cafe in nice areas. Thats not to say it won't work though, but you might want to work on your 'unique selling point'.

[Bobifier]

Instead of TSR you could just go to any British town or city and ask all the eateries there how they set up a cafe identical in style to the one you talk of.

[xmarilynx]

I know people would love that here. You should take your idea abroad OP

[melodic-verse]

http://www.stokes-coffee.co.uk/pages...idge-cafe.html

You should check this out, its an absolutely lovely place in Lincoln that embodies the feel of high noon tea/ britishness

So a few things:

Quality- essential- once your products are known for its quality you can start selling it onwards. This cafe place sells their coffee to other business which gets advised by competitors. Its branding in the best way possible
Location
Identity

The start up costs might be scary though!

[jamstead]

It is not about the idea. It is about the execution of the idea.

It doesn't need to be vastly different to the competition. People often try and think too hard and try to make things 'revolutionary'. Make it different, brand it well and then all it needs to be is damn good at what it does.

Image matters. Design matters in every sense. For starters, the visual identity of the coffee shop in the link above is poor. For a new business to spring up in what is a saturated market, a good image matters. If you can create that, then it will make the idea even more viable.

Would be good to hear if you have had any further ideas since first posting this.

[Clip]

(Original post by harrietrosie13)
Hi

this is an idea I've had for a while but I never looked into actually doing it. I've noticed that there's so many dfferent types of cafes like italian and chinese etc, but the only British ones are greasy spoon cafes which have an unhealthy and sometimes a working class reputation.

I'd love to create an elegant, fashionable cafe which sells British food. there would be main meals for breakfast and lunch, like English breakfasts, pies, pasties etc, and there would also be lighter things which people traditionally eat for 'tea time', like cucumber sandwiches, crumpets and lots of home made british cakes like victoria sponge, scones, shortbread etc. there would also be lower fat options which I thin would be a unique selling point of the cafe, alogn with it being traditionally British.

Hi.

I think you need to think really, really carefully about your model.

The only thing that matters in this type of business is money. Nothing else. Unless there is some 1 in 10,000,000 type of mass-media exposure, there is no sustainability - this type of catering is all about the here and now, and how much money you can generate right this second.

The type of cafe you are talking about is not that rare if you look in the right places. And those locations are generally those that will support them. It's an incredibly free market and a pure Darwinism. If there aren't any of your elegant cafes around, it's possible that no-one has thought of it - but it's much more likely that the area might not support it, and you need to be outstandingly cautious.

You don't need ten or twenty or even fifty clients with a bit of money. You need a customer base of hundred and thousands. The kind of places you find the cafes which you describe are localities such as Muswell Hill, Hampstead and Highgate in North London. The Northcote Road in the Nappy Valley and Notting Hill. These places have very high concentrations of Yummy Mummies with obscene amounts of money to spend. In return, you need to be near other things that they want to do, and your service needs to be fast. They might spend two hours in your shop, but they'll want their skinny Latte in less than two minutes.

And speaking of those locations - Muswell Hill is well known for having an absolute oversupply of trendy cafes. They all think they have it nailed with their cool food and healthy options. But they come and go like the wind. The market is saturated and not everyone wants to eat in these kind of places. Just because you want to eat there, doesn't mean that people with money (to spend) do. In Muswell Hill, there is one so-called greasy spoon cafe that has been there for generations, is always full and the proprietors do very well for themselves. On the other hand, I would hazard that dozens of owners of "elegant, fashionable cafes" have gone bankrupt in exactly the same area. It's all about balancing and getting those people in, selling them what they want to eat/drink and trying to not piss them off.

If you gear your place to 30 year old women with Tom Ford Whitneys and £1000 pushchairs and sell scones and healthy options, you had better have a huge supply of them in the area, because you won't get many other people. Two electricians might want Shepard's Pie or Egg and chips, and there are many more of them passing by - and who is to say that a scone is "better" than a bacon roll?

Bottom line - it's not a romantic industry, it's cut throat. If you have a fantastic plan and you know the industry - then by all means go for it, but I would suggest that you work in a few such places first, and you travel the country for several months looking at the kind of places you want to copy - because you won't get a second chance once your money (or your investor's money) is on the line.

Last word: Unless you have the market sewn up, exclusivity isn't a good thing. A builder's money is every bit as good as a rich housewife's.

[biffyclyro27]

I'm sure it would do well, but it doesn't sound like anything that hasn't been done before. Maybe you have only seen greasy spoon type cafes, but I've been to a fair few similar to what you describe.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't still pursue it though...

[lolipanda]

a little tip, get some antiques/victorian tea sets to decorate it with to make it a bit unique! it sounds lovely and id really like to go there.

[TheHansa]

The problem lies in the fact that British food isn't elegant and Brits prefer beer to coffee.

If you live in a middle class area full of old people it could work though, but people don't eat out to lose weight and cucumber sandwiches are bland and boring just like crumpets in fact.