Timing is crucial

Good timing is vital because it helps to keep the costs down.

OK I’m laying it on a bit thick, but only a bit. And the dairy unit is only one example of the kind of thing that could delay the commencement of trading; there are lots more.

So. whilst you can plan things in a reasonably leisurely way in the early stages, once you agree a deal and dates become set in stone everything changes. Whether it’s suppliers of fridges or coffee-making machines, electricians, signwriters or plumbers it’s vital to get clear assurances on likely time scales. ‘When can you start?’, ‘How long will it take?’ and ‘When can you deliver it?’ will become your personal mantras.

Once you’ve gone beyond the point of no return your overarching objective must be to keep to an absolute minimum the time between the day you get the keys and the day you start trading.

Shopfitters versus individual tradespeople

Clearly this is an important decision which must be taken early on. If you decide to use a firm of shopfitters there are obvious advantages:

• They will co-ordinate the various trades, particularly electrician, plumber, carpenter and decorator. You will only have to talk to one or two people from one organisation, not lots of individual workers.
• You will (or certainly should) have a written agreement which will tie them down to a particular completion date, ideally with penalties for failure to complete on time. Having said that, there will be some get-out clauses to cover them in the event of unforeseeable problems once they start pulling up floorboards.
• Assuming you select the right company for your particular needs, you will get the benefit of their experience of fitting out similar units in the past. They will probably come up with good ideas on layout, the most durable materials for food prep surfaces and so on.

However, using shopfitters will not be right for everyone. It’s an expensive option.

It really depends on your circumstances. If you are planning a sizeable operation and you have enough money at your disposal then using shopfitters makes sense. The bigger chains wouldn’t consider anything else – but they will have worked out a deal with one particular company whereby in exchange for a lot of work (carried out in the shortest possible time), the price will be kept low.

This illustrates one of the problems of the small business which I have alluded to before. A lot of companies and organisations prefer dealing with larger customers. Small business owners, sadly, often find that they simply don’t have much clout.

One compromise would be to co-ordinate everything yourself at the outset but plan to use shopfitters to revamp the place three years down the line on the assumption that things are going well. By that stage your bank will be happy to provide the necessary finance.

Whatever you decide, you should obtain quotes from at least two firms and make sure that they are used to carrying out contracts for operations of your size.

If you take over an existing business and you don’t intend to do much beyond redecorating the unit and making slight alterations to the layout then, of course, shopfitters won’t be necessary.

If you decide not to use shopfitters there are a number of key points to bear in mind:

• Get the ball rolling sooner rather than later. Whether it’s a quote from the decorators, the floorlayers or the electricians, start things moving as quickly as possible. This way you will create a bit of room for manoeuvre later on if and when problems arise. You should ideally have reached the stage of accepting quotations for the major works approximately eight to ten weeks before your planned opening.
• Be organised and always think a bit ahead. You should always be aware of what’s coming up. And don’t keep it all in your head. Have a do list, a timetable or a flow chart – whatever works for you – and update it on a daily (hourly in the last few days) basis.
• Get quotes – including the terms of any guarantees – in writing wherever possible. It doesn’t mean that everything is sure to be problem-free but what you’ve agreed to is there in black and white – and you have a much greater prospect of some meaningful comeback in the event of later disputes.
• Be very wary of using friends or friends of friends. I know it’s often financially tempting to do this but it’s fraught with difficulty. You’ll inevitably have a less professional approach with them and may well feel awkward about insisting on having things in writing. They might treat your project as one which they can fit round their main job. If things go wrong you’ll find it harder to complain and you might jeopardise your friendship.
• Co-ordinate the tasks carefully. Don’t have the decorators booked for a time when the joiners will be using an electric saw and creating lots of dust. This really can be a challenge and there will probably be times when you’ll wish you had used shopfitters.
• Be prepared to take a hard line if necessary. Let’s say the electrician confirms he will be at the shop all day Thursday to finish the re-wiring. Then he phones on Wednesday to say he can’t make Thursday after all because of some other job which has gone on longer than expected. You know the decorator is planning to start on Friday and it doesn’t suit you to have the electrician working that day.

• Try to defer payment of your start-up costs. One of the frightening aspects of this stage is the number of substantial bills you incur. And the total always seems to come to more than you originally estimated. Obviously your finance should be in place by this stage, but the longer it is until you draw down some or all of the funds the longer it will be until you incur liability for significant amounts of interest. Or if you’re paying some of the bills out of savings the longer you will go on earning interest. And the greater the chances that you will be generating some reasonable income when the time comes to meet the payments. Nothing I say here should be interpreted as advice to not pay bills until the very last minute. However, if you speak to companies early on you might well find they are prepared to accept a slightly later than usual payment date.
• Set up a filing system that works for you. You just can’t imagine the frustration which is caused by being unable to lay your hands on an important quotation, specification or other vital document when you really need it. It’s best to have everything in duplicate. If you have a PC with a scanner and the right software you can attend to copying at home (assuming you don’t have a photocopier). Have a list with the names and phone numbers of everybody involved in the project with day and, if possible, evening phone numbers. Have a copy of this list and your mobile phone with you at all times.

Whether you use shopfitters or not, remember that if you need to apply to your local authority for planning permission to change the use of the premises and/or permission to move sinks around, knock down internal walls or create doorways, any such applications will take a considerable time to be decided, even assuming there are no hitches. This can mean delays before some of the work can be started. It all has to be factored into the equation. The time scales will vary from place to place – it is impossible to be categorical. Check with the planning and building control departments at your local council offices – or your architect.

Involving the environmental health officer

I mentioned in Chapter Two the desirability of consulting your local EHO prior to concluding a deal. It also makes sense to involve them when you have started, or are just about to start, fitting out the shop. You should have detailed plans for them to look at. Go over these to check for any pitfalls.

Here’s a true life example of the benefits of doing this:

When we were fitting out our first shop I invited our EHO to visit. He pointed out that where we intended to put one set of electrical sockets was too close to one of the sinks. We had already carried out some of the work but it was still quite a straightforward matter to alter our plans and move the sockets. If we had waited until the first inspection after we had started trading then we would have been involved in a lot of work which would have caused considerable disruption and greatly hampered our ability to trade. It would have also used up money which we could have ill-afforded.

Buying equipment

If you take over a business as a going concern it may be well endowed with good quality modern equipment. In this case you will be spared one major job associated with setting up a brand new sandwich-coffee bar.

However, catering equipment does have a limited lifespan because of the constant and hard wear to which it is subjected six or seven days a week. Some of the items you acquire from the previous owner will soon be coming up for replacement.

If you are starting from scratch you will have to buy everything from freezers to knives. In some ways this is advantageous:

• you get to choose things which you prefer as opposed to things which somebody else took a notion to a few years previously and which might now look dated. Nowadays items such as serve-overs and dairy units come in many designs. Since such things will have a prominent place at the heart of your shop it’s good to have something you like and feel comfortable with – and which will impress the customers.
• in the case of the larger items you get guarantees so that for a year at least you know that if something breaks down somebody else will sort it out.

As a general rule always buy new equipment – and keep the manuals and all of the guarantee documentation together in a readily accessible place. Apart from the points mentioned previously, you don’t know if second-hand equipment has been well looked after. Will it let you down after a month or two? Bear in mind also that you probably won’t get any worthwhile guarantee.

On the other hand, there is a market for second-hand fridges, coffee-making machines, dairy units, etc. You might be lucky and get good ones in which case you will certainly save money. If you do go for second-hand, try to buy from a reputable dealer – preferably someone with whom you, or someone you trust, has had previous dealings.

Let’s consider various points about some of the main pieces of equipment you will need.

Serve-over, dairy unit, fridge, freezer

These four constitute the basic minimum requirement for the storage of food products and the display of sandwiches and salads. You might also have a display fridge for drinks and a display freezer for ice cream. Ideally you should choose a shop unit which allows for the installation of more such equipment in the future when you’ve become so popular that you need more space to store and display your increasing selection of wares.

Serve-over. This really is central to the operation. Sometimes referred to as a delicatessen unit, it displays the meats, cheeses, mayonnaises, salads, olives, houmous, etc. which will be used to make up your sandwiches. Customers are naturally drawn to it. They usually stand there while they talk to you or your staff and give their order.

It follows that it must be kept sparkling clean at all times. In addition the food displayed should always be in first class condition and order. Don’t display bowls of tuna mayonnaise with just a little bit left and smears of dried out stuff encrusted round the edge. Even when it’s busy you should try to get into the habit of neatening up bowls of mayonnaise or trays of meat once you have taken what you need for a particular sandwich.

A word of advice which could save you money and hassle: I don’t know what it is about serve-overs but customers often see them as counters which they can lean on. I really don’t understand this since they’re the wrong shape and the wrong height. The danger is that they might crack the glass. Serve-overs invariably have large sections of curved glass and if they do crack it causes real problems.

This happened to us once. We had to clear out all the food because of the risk that particles of glass might have got into the food. We then had to order a replacement glass from Italy. It took five or six weeks to arrive during which time we had to rig up a sheet of polythene – you can imagine how good that looked.

Take great care when cleaning the glass. It is often the case that the glass can be opened out to allow access for cleaning. However, in this position it is very vulnerable. It’s best either to find a way of cleaning it without doing this or ensuring that every member of staff understands the importance of handling it delicately.

Dairy Unit/Open-Fronted Refrigerated Display Unit. This is the other unit which customers are drawn to. It displays the pre-prepared sandwiches and might also be where you display a range of other things as well: salads, drinks, yoghurts, sushi. In summer you might also keep chocolate bars, fruit and cakes here.

In the past such units were very plain and all looked roughly the same. Things are very different now. I first realised this in the early-nineties when my wife and I visited London and looked at one of the early Pret a Manger units. Walking in there was a bit like entering the galley on the Starship Enterprise. It was all stainless steel and bright with subtle lighting.

Whether we like it or not, image is very important nowadays. When selecting your dairy unit go for quality, but choose one that looks good as well.

For our second shop we chose a serve-over and a dairy unit which featured matching royal blue strips along the front as well as a blue grill over the condenser. It doesn’t make them any more efficient but they do look smart.

Fridges and freezers. The important point here is not to be tempted to skimp by buying domestic equipment. You will probably be horrified at how much more expensive the commercial fridges and freezers are – but they’re worth it. You are paying for materials and build quality which make them able to withstand the rigours of commercial life. Quite apart from anything else a commercial fridge is opened and closed far more frequently than a domestic one.

Take the chest freezer in our shop. We get deliveries of frozen baguettes two or three times a week. They come in boxes of 24 – just imagine how heavy they are. They are dumped without ceremony into the freezer. In addition we regularly buy fairly large tubs of ice-cream for milk-shakes. A domestic freezer just wouldn’t stand up to this treatment for long without giving problems.

It’s the same with fridges. We do in fact use a domestic fridge in the shop kitchen in our house. The pressure is not so intense but we often find that the little fittings holding the shelves in place break because they are just not designed to support the weight of large quantities of food.

You may want to have an upright display fridge purely for holding drinks: cans, bottles and cartons. These are particularly good in the summer. They have a door (glass-fronted) so that the drinks are kept as cool as possible. Before you invest a lot of money, check with some of the large companies to see if there are any deals on offer.

When we started out Snapple had a major campaign in Britain. The deal was that they would give you a free display fridge (admittedly with a large Snapple sign on both sides) if you agreed to stock 60% of the available space with their products. That was seven years ago. We haven’t heard from them for years but we still have the fridge.

You will also find that some companies will sell you fridges advertising their products at very favourable prices.

Practical Points

• Always clean the condensers regularly. An old toothbrush is ideal. There are also sprays which eliminate the collected dust. Condensers are a bit like radiators in car engines. They suck in air but in the process they suck in a lot of dust which collects on them. If you do not clear this regularly – once a month is usually about right, but more often if necessary – then the condenser unit simply breaks down. This means you lose the use of a vital piece of equipment and also that you incur a cost running into several hundred pounds to replace the damaged unit.
• Find out where the condenser is before you have a unit installed. This is particularly important in the case of the serve-over and the dairy unit since they are difficult to move once installed. The condenser in our first unit was hard up against a wall. I only realised the significance of this when I first tried to clean it. Fortunately there was a small gap between the wall and the condenser. In order to clean it I had to writhe about on the floor like a pot holder in a tight spot to get close enough to clean it. I reckon the supplier should have alerted me to this. But he didn’t. Be warned.
• Before you confirm an order for any of the larger units, check that it will definitely go through the door to your shop. We had one unit which we only just managed to get into the shop after taking the front door off its hinges. This kind of thing creates a lot of stress – something you can well do without when you are trying to get your new business underway!

Coffee-making machine

In days gone by this would have been a very minor part of the equation.

For the most basic ‘bean to cup’ machine (not plumbed in) capable of delivering good quality, individually prepared cups of espresso, cappuccino and cafe latte you will pay over £1,000. At the other end of the scale you could pay well over £20,000 for a top-of-the-range automatic machine.

Automatic machines are hugely appealing because they are simple to operate. Authentic coffee-making machines such as you see in Italy look and sound great but staff will have to be trained to get the best out of them. There is a considerable degree of skill required to turn out consistently excellent coffee.

Do remember that any such machine must be thoroughly cleaned on a daily basis in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. If you don’t do this then oily residues build up in the pipes and the coffee you serve will have a bitter taste.

When making a purchase make sure that the supplier will be willing and able to send someone to demonstrate its correct use to you and your staff after it has been installed.

Contact grill

A contact grill is basically two heated plates which go together a bit like the two sides of a brief-case. You raise the top half with a heat resistant handle, put the sandwich on the bottom half and then lower the top half which rests on the sandwich – you don’t need to push it down hard. We usually turn ours on in the morning and leave it on until after the lunch time rush. This way you don’t need to waste time waiting for it to heat up.

For quite a lot of people the difference between a cheese and tomato sandwich and a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich is akin to that between a Ford Escort and a Rolls Royce. You might be surprised at the number of sandwich combinations which are amenable to being toasted. The things to avoid are the ones which include mayonnaise because it is just too liquid and drips everywhere. The contact grill can also be used for wraps.

These grills are sometimes referred to as ‘Panini’ grills after the name of a particular manufacturer. It is possible to buy pre-prepared and/or frozen sandwiches specifically designed for use in a Panini-style grill. It’s a very compact item yet it adds considerably to the variety you can offer customers.

As with the coffee machine it is important to clean it regularly. You do this by scraping off the various bits of carbonised bread which accumulate in the course of the day – you will be provided with a scraper for this purpose.

Boiler

Nothing whatever to do with central heating, a boiler provides you with constant boiling water. Some coffee machines will provide this facility. Either way the unit should be plumbed in. Apart from making tea it’s a handy source of hot water for cleaning the floor at the end of the day.

Soup kettle

Soup is a perennial favourite. Demand can drop off quite a bit during the summer but given the kinds of summers we normally experience in this country people still seem to feel the need for something hot.

Go for good build quality – i.e. the more expensive ones. They look better and they last longer.

I have to confess that when we needed a new soup kettle a couple of years ago we went for a cheap one (£199). Superficially it looked OK but it was fiddly to use, and just after the guarantee expired the element burnt out. You live and learn (but the lessons just go on and on).

Lighting

Don’t get hanging strip lights. If you take over an existing business which has them, get rid of them. They might be all right for providing light in an office or warehouse but they are far too basic and dated for a modern sandwich-coffee bar with any pretensions to style.

The imaginative use of light can add considerably to the atmosphere in the public area: side lights, chandeliers, uplighters, downlighters, picture lights etc. They also have practical uses. They can light up specific items such as the menu and thus make it easier to read regardless of the state of the weather outside. By shining a spot on a particular display you will draw attention to it and perhaps enhance sales.

It is different in the back area, in particular the food prep area. You must provide a well lit working environment – it’s a health and safety issue. You simply cannot have people slicing up cucumber at speed in a dimly lit place. Spotlights are best.

One word of advice: replace dud bulbs as soon as possible. Nothing looks worse than a chandelier with twelve bulbs, five of which are out.

Juicer/blender

With most pieces of equipment it is best to buy industrial quality goods, not domestic. However, in the case of juicers and blenders, if you go for the top-of-the-range domestic models, the quality is such that they can withstand a lot of wear. The other point is that the commercial models are much more expensive. You could probably buy four or five domestic ones for the price of a single good commercial model.

Obviously if you find that you are doing numerous fresh orange juices and smoothies and the equipment is breaking down under the strain then you will have to consider the industrial variety.

Bake-off oven

I have mentioned bake-off ovens in Chapter 5.1 am in no doubt that they can be a real asset to a sandwich-coffee bar. They are easy to use, provide scope for introducing new lines such as savoury snacks (individual quiches, pizzas, pasties and so on) and you can now lease them on very easy terms.

Walkie-talkies

If there is any significant separation between the serving area and the food prep area then there is an argument for walkie-talkie head-sets. This would be particularly so if the food prep area happened to be on the floor below. There’s no doubt some people would think they looked pretty cool. And yelling at the top of your voice to the person in the back isn’t likely to enhance the image of competent professionalism you want to create.

Fly-killer

These are small electrical wall units with the glacial light blue tubes. They have trays to catch all the corpses of various species which should be cleared out on a regular basis. A fly-killer should be positioned not too close to a door since wind renders it less effective. In addition it should not be placed near food preparation areas for obvious reasons.

Practical points for all equipment

• Keep all guarantees and manuals together in one place. If you have an office area in your house this would be best – things just seem to go missing in the shop.
• When it comes to buying equipment – get good quality things but don’t get carried away and end up buying things you really don’t need. With the more marginal items, start trading and see if you really need them.

Before we started I decided that I wanted to sell good quality hot chocolate. The man who was supplying a lot of our equipment showed me a brochure for a particular hot chocolate-making machine. He assured me the results would be excellent. The cost? In 1995, a mere £800! The incredible part is that we really did seriously consider buying it.

• Equipment is expensive. At the outset you seem to have a lot of money because you’ve got a loan from the bank. However, having to buy a new piece of equipment after a year’s trading can be a real pain. So look after what you’ve got. You should, of course, maintain equipment in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

Apart from this, the single most important thing is to make sure that your staff know how to operate all the equipment properly. This means that you have to make sure you understand how to operate things properly yourself. This is particularly important when you get a new piece of equipment or take on a new member of staff.