Firstly have you got enough experience to run any one of the passion based businesses? Secondly, does it have any similar examples that work?


For all I know, it could be a hand car wash and pasty cafe, or archery and antiques shop, but can you distance yourself away from it enough to see a general appeal?

Just checking you aren't falling into the "buy a pub" trap, as things are different on each side of the bar.

If there are contingency plans, it wouldn't be too bad, ie. no one likes pasties, so a chain of "Suddy Ginsters" theme bars wouldn't take off, but you'd still get by on the car washing side.

Think of it like Timpsons, they only do keys and shoe repairs as each side isn't big enough to support itself, and they don't need a lot of room, so two average halves make an average whole.

If they are complimentary, they could add together to give you an edge.
If they all depend on each other, then you have multiple ways for your empire to crash down before you even get to have a BBC show where you pretend to be short staffed.

Its a combination of Liquor store/Poker room.

All it needs is a catchy slogan..

A business does not have to be unique to be a success, in fact you are better off copying someone else's business model that is a success already.

This happened to me in 1991. Write it all down quickly then spend the next few evenings refining it as the extra details come to you. When the vision is complete and polished and rotating slowly in front of you glowing in all its shiny loveliness, throw lots of big rocks at it and see if it cracks. Dreams are one thing, making a living from them is quite another. Don't let starry-eyedness blank out thorny questions like 'What if I get no customers for six months?' Because at the end of the day, money and profit are what matters.

Hope it stands the test!

Without wishing to give away exactly what I'm thinking it's a cafe cum deli with a shop attached, the cafe/deli taking inspiration from the products that the shop will sell and the whole history and lifestyle behind that.

What I can see being the major issue is potential customers not understanding the concept, to them it may be just another cafe and just another 'shop', combining them will either alienate them altogether or be a stroke of genius.

I suppose it could be compared to a garden centre, plenty of people go there for just a quick bite to eat at lunchtime as much as plenty of them go there go there to buy a bag of compost, however the best ones IME manage to create a link between the two without directly forcing the issue.

Having just read that back it sounds a bit flaky, I'm just awake after a rough nightshift so I shall blame the explanation on that!

Similar kind of idea opened up in my home town 2 maybe 3 years ago and they seem to have gone from strength to strength. But they have a good location in a market town in the south.

http://www.rowansdeli.co.uk/

Regardless of having the perfect product, perfect plan, sufficient business acumen, sufficient finance and correctly skilled staff, if it's in the wrong place, it's sunk.

The trick is not to look for a location where there is a gap (because if there's a gap, there's probably a good reason), it's to identify the opportunity that is yet to exist; new developments, new parts of the countryside about to open, up and coming areas etc, etc. good luck!

Last time I was in Carluccios in T Wells it had all the hallmarks of a deli with a cafe / restaurant attached.

Is that the sort of thing you had in mind?

i've had an ongoing idea for some time that i keep considering.

my issue with starting a business is that i'm a firm believer in making your assets work; and that for me would mean, if it's a shop, it's open as much as possible...if it's an expensive manufacturing machine, get the volumes through it.

my idea sounds similar to yours - and i think, in the right location, it'd work. it wouldn't make a fortune i doubt, but it'd give a lifestyle that may please you.

i guess the point i'm trying to make is, start ups are f*cking hard work, you need to consider the spectre of low margin / high volume to get the cogs of your operation starting, and are you happy with that demand on your life?