Business model

for redevelopment of

derelict commercial properties

in the UK

By Angelina Souren

Copyright 2012 Angelina Souren

Smashwords Edition

ISBN: 978-1-4761-9340-3

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This e-report is licensed for your personal use only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would

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Table of Contents

1.0 Summary

2.0 Background

3.0 Concept

4.0 Analyses

- 4.1 Fast food in general

- 4.2 Ice cream

- 4.3 Tex-Mex

- 4.4 Falafel

- 4.5 Fish & chips

5.0 Marketing strategy

6.0 Staffing

7.0 Implementation

8.0 Financials

9.0 Key factors for success

About this report

About the author

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1.0 Summary

This (updated) report contains a business model for the redevelopment of suitable empty commercial properties in the

UK into micro-malls with a fast-food restaurant on the ground floor. A micro-mall is also called a multivendor retail

space. The concept I present in this report happens to latch on to various market developments, including the demand

for healthier and more varied fast foods in the UK.

The fast-food restaurant does not resemble a McDonalds or KFC. In addition to the usual sit-down opportunity and

take-away, it provides delivery services. It also has a minimart, which sells products offered by retailers on the other

floor(s) of the building and items like high-tech design umbrellas, tortilla chips, luxury chocolates, art reproductions, and

certain convenience items, such as teas and coffees.

The enterprise will actively build and maintain strong community ties. The restaurant has a weekly schedule that includes

free face-painting and balloon-sculpting. There may also be an ambulant family or children’s photographer on the site.

There is a photocopy machine for customer use, and a community table. There may be a large TV screen, perhaps in a

hallway, and of course there will be wireless internet.

Once a year, there will be a 3D street art event, starting during the opening week of the enterprise. There may be live

music at special occasions. Customers will be able to make donations toward, for example, food giveaways and in that

case, a counter will display the current total on the web site and in the restaurant.

Although the restaurant will operate under its own brand (“Angelina’s Cantinas”, in this report), its food offer is “multi-

brand”. Multi-branding may become the future of the quick-service food industry, and is expected to “wow” customers.

Offering several types of food eliminates the power of the so-called veto vote (“I don’t want fish & chips!” “I won’t go if

they don’t have vegetarian food.”), hence attract groups of people with differing tastes. Consumers prefer multi-brand

restaurants six to one over single-brand restaurants, says fast-food operator Yum! Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell,

Long John Silver's). Online, consumers in the UK also occasionally express the wish for multi-brand fast-food

restaurants.

The fast-food restaurant will have at least the following food types:

• Luxury ice cream (Italian);

• Falafel;

• Tex-Mex;

• Fish & chips.

In the winter, it will offer hot soups and hot chocolates to help balance the dip in the ice cream trade. Ideally, there is a

vendor window from which you can sell ice cream to pedestrians. This can also be envisaged for fish & chips, as is

sometimes done in the Netherlands.

To be suitable for this purpose, the building must have an outdoor space that can be used for a terrace and two main

entrances for people coming from different directions. Footfall, vehicle traffic and visibility must all be good. The

building’s higher floor(s) can be converted into retail space, accessible through a highly visible staircase or escalator as

well as by elevator. A top floor could become housing for the manager, harbor meeting rooms or house an art gallery.

Any offices are likely to be on the ground floor.

The new enterprise could be a co-operative (a third-sector undertaking). As there is no separate legislation for co-

operatives in the UK yet, it would have an existing legal form, such as a private company limited by shares.

It is likely possible to achieve start-up with a staff of 12 full-time equivalents (fte). The employees will receive at least the

so-called living wage.

The building will likely have to be renovated first. How long this takes and how much it will cost depends on the

specifics of the building. This report contains rough calculations for a 3-floor building occupying 500 square meters that

has fire damage, as well as a damaged roof and damaged doors and windows. The renovation of the ground floor must

be finished first, so that preparations can start in the fast-food restaurant as soon as possible.

In the month before opening, there will be at least four test panel sessions of about two hours each in which twenty

volunteers from the public participate; this may include potential job candidates. These sessions will test different food

varieties as well as pricing structure, and other operational factors.

Initially, staff will receive its training in the week(s) before opening. This training will include certified food hygiene

training for those employees who don’t have the certification yet, as well as health and safety matters. That week will also

result in the testing, adaptation and establishment of Standard Operating Procedures, to be included in manuals for each

section of the enterprise.

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2.0 Background

I am currently based in Portsmouth, and couldn’t help noticing various empty yet beautiful or highly characteristic

buildings in town. This raised my curiosity, and I started looking into some of these buildings. Also, as I am not British,

but have lived and worked in several countries around the globe, I miss some of my favorite foods in the UK.

Just for fun, and because I had some spare time, I developed ideas for how some of the vacant buildings could be

revived. I carried out footfall counts in several locations, explored their surroundings, looked into various demographics,

traffic counts, and at the competition in the vicinity of some of the buildings that drew my attention. While doing all this,

I noticed that new food-related businesses such as coffee shops and notably branches of fast-food chains, but also

express supermarkets, have been popping up like mushrooms after a rain shower lately.

Photo: Recently started express supermarket, a few feet from a new Greggs and an older Subway

Southsea, Portsmouth, June 2012

In spite of that, the UK currently has many empty commercial properties. Town center vacancy rates have doubled over

2010 and 2011. In February 2012, the percentage of empty shops hit the highest level ever recorded – 14.6% – and

stayed at that level throughout March, April and May. On 5 September 2012, Tiffany Holland reported in RetailWeek

that vacancy rates “remain stubbornly high”. In November 2012, the percentage was still 14.3.

At the same time, also as many as fifty pubs close each week. Most are demolished or converted into housing, but others

remain empty for years.

It is easy to blame the economy for the empty commercial buildings, but the real reason is more complicated and in some

cases includes the acquisition of properties for tax reasons (depreciation). Apart from simply being a waste of resources,

abandoned buildings also form a real problem, however. They are often broken into, and as a result, some sustain fire

damage due to arson as a result. They therefore tend to have a detrimental effect on the prices of the surrounding real

estate as well.

Some of these empty buildings provide excellent opportunities for starting a new type of enterprise that does not appear

to exist in the UK yet. They can be converted into micro-malls (multi-vendor retail spaces) that have a new type of fast-

food restaurant on the ground floor and take a different entertainment approach. No salsa lessons. No poetry readings.

Those are already happening around the corner.

When I started conducting the market research, I was gladdened but also saddened by the observation that the markets

largely support my ideas. I was gladdened as the current times clearly still abound with opportunities. I was saddened as I

wonder whether anyone will have the guts and vision to start something new in the UK instead of continuing to copy

what everyone else is already doing. The latter seems so much easier, and seems to carry so much less risk. That

assessment is not entirely accurate, however.

Most of the new fast-food and other facilities currently appearing on the scene merely offer more of the same. The

express supermarkets are all the same too. The number of empty seats in some of the new tea and coffee establishments

makes obvious that the establishments may not be in business very long. There can be a bigger risk in continuing to do

what everybody else is already doing, in adopting what may be a proven concept, but one that holds no future.

A quick survey of online reviews for some of the new establishments gives some insight into what the public wants and

what it dislikes. These places are “all doing a similar menu”. The quotation is from an online review for one particular

establishment. The reviewer suggested that it didn’t really matter which establishment a particular (complaining)

customer went to. If the customer did not like the attitude of the staff or the long waiting time, he or she could very

easily go to one of the other places in the same street. Nothing about these places is refreshingly new, some cut costs and

corners in ways they shouldn’t, and there either is no entertainment at all or it, too, is merely more of the same.

These businesses are obviously not innovative. Innovating means taking a chance and starting a new type of business,

doing something different than what everyone else is doing. An innovative business provides a unique value that

customers can’t get elsewhere. That makes you a winner. It requires you to be a trend-setter, a pioneer.

Indeed, “A new approach is needed to attract the public and meet its changing tastes and demands”, wrote Mary Portas

in “The Portas Review | An independent review into the future of our high streets” in 2011.

While some types of retail business and traditional sit-down restaurants are suffering in the UK’s current economy, other

sectors are booming. Examples of the latter are the already mentioned fast-food and modern convenience stores, such as

Tesco Express and Sainsbury Local. Old-fashioned convenience stores are not doing very well, by contrast, in spite of

the fact that the UK’s convenience sector is growing faster than the overall grocery market. This too reflects the British

public’s strong craving for new approaches, good service, and good value for money.

Also, takeaway food is more popular than ever. “There’s a curious obsession with takeaways in the UK and despite a

precarious economic situation, they are as popular as always.” observed the Daily Mail on 15 December 2011. The Daily

Mail was not the only party reporting that bit of news.

Part of the reason for the popularity of fast-food must be that customers in the UK often complain about the slow speed

of payment in traditional restaurants. Counter service – as offered by fast-food restaurants and takeaways – is much

faster than service at traditional sit-down restaurants. It allows annual turnovers that are 3 to 5 times higher, indicated

Peter Smale, who was the marketing director 1976 – 1983 of former fast-food chain Wimpy, in “The men who made us

fat” broadcasted by the BBC in 2012. “Every 15 seconds you can cut in bringing food to the customer adds 1% growth

to the company,” added Mike Donahue, former Vice President and head of communications at McDonalds, and

currently owner of a fast-food restaurant.

In The Portas Review of December 2011 (already mentioned), Mary Portas had quite a bit to say about what the

customers want. Download that review and read it, if you haven’t already. The British Property Federation submitted a

response to the Portas Review, and pointed out the advantages of single ownership of out-of-town retail formats. It

allows the owner to create an identity (brand) and manage in a way that reinforces the brand. This, too, matches the

concept presented in this report perfectly.

The public is bored and wants innovative approaches and is looking for an alternative to the pub, Greggs, McDonalds,

and Ye Olde Tea Shoppe. It wants good food and a high level of attention to detail. It wants to feel that owners and staff

care more about them than about turnover and profits. As soon as a full-service restaurant becomes too focused on

getting as many customers inside at any given time – for instance by seating strangers at the same small table to the

detriment of customer enjoyment – those customers will complain about it online. If you want to seat strangers at the

same table to boost your turnover so that you do not have to turn customers away and lose some turnover, you may not

have a problem in the US at all, but in Britain, you have to offer the customers something to make up for this

inconvenience.

Also, “shabby chic” does not equal “shabby and cheap”. Chairs and sofas that appear to have come straight from the

dumpster in front of your late great-grandmother’s house do not look chic. They are not attractive, not stylish. They look

cheap, dreary, and boring. They radiate the opposite of a great level of care and attention.

Caring, says marketing guru Seth Godin, is a competitive advantage, and one that takes effort, not money.

That caring matters is also confirmed by data from Experian, showing that footfall conversion is almost 5% lower in

stores that urgently need a refit compared with stores that are in good shape.

The British public clearly wants more, these days. The British are tired, bored and depressed. Many want a cheerful and

up-to-date environment, perhaps with a touch of London, Rome, Paris, or the States. They also want to socialize and be

entertained in new ways.

Another interesting development in line with this business model is that many retail shops are adding the sales of coffee

and other beverages to increase dwell time for their shops. When they do that, they do have to worry about their own

visibility, however, explained John Ryan in RetailWeek on 5 September, 2011. John Ryan had quite a bit more to say, and

it’s interesting within the context of the report that you are reading. The model I present in this report takes the reverse

approach, actually. The fast-food restaurant with its minimart – instead of a simple coffee shop – will create the footfall

and dwell time for the retailers on the other floor(s).

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3.0 Concept

Empty commercial buildings often have a lot of character, which gives them a unique marketability that new buildings

almost always lack. That character can often be used excellently. It is possible to convert certain empty pubs and hotels as

well as certain office buildings into micro-malls with a strong identity and provide some of the entertainment value and

level of care the public is looking for these days.

As I mentioned before, the type of micro-mall I propose has a fast-food restaurant on the ground floor. It is positioned

between a traditional fast-food restaurant and a sit-down restaurant, and sells the following types of food:

• Luxury ice cream (Italian gelato, milk-based as well as water/fruit-based);

• Falafel;

• Tex-Mex;

• Fish & chips.

It sells no alcohol, but the minimart and a wine shop or specialty beer shop on the other floor may sell bottles for

customers to purchase and take home. In the winter, the restaurants serves hot soups and hot chocolates – underserved

markets – to help counter the dip in the ice cream trade. The restaurant also offers take-away and delivery. Additional

foods can be American hotdogs and German Bockwurst, which would fit within the fish & chips segment. It would also

be a good idea to experiment with okonomiyaki, which is traditional easy-to-prepare Japanese street food (sometimes

called “Japanese pizza”). Okonomiyaki could even take up a section of its own in the fast-food restaurant.

Obviously, not all derelict former pubs, hotels and other types of commercial building can be redeveloped into micro-

malls. Footfall must be reasonable (300 or more per hour, with higher peaks) and (nearby) vehicle traffic must be high.

There must be a good-sized outside space that will get enough sunshine and can be used as a European-style terrace in

good weather, the parasols contributing to visibility, the cheerful but subdued chatter and clatter helping to attract

customers.

Besides the requirements of character and location, such an empty commercial building must have a ground floor with

good access – from at least two sides – and one or two higher floors that can be redeveloped for commercial use. The

building may also have a top floor that could be used as living quarters for the manager or a side wing that can house

offices as well as a small apartment. (Having a manager living in the building can be a positive factor when looking for

financing.) The building may have sustained fire damage and could require a thorough overhaul. This must be carried out

without the type of cost-cutting that leads to too much shabbiness or results in a too obviously cheap bare-bones look or

that requires maintenance costs that can be avoided or even leads to the development of problems, such as mold growth

on walls.

The building must be located in an area with a minimum of 50,000 households. While it cannot be listed, it must have

character and stand out. There may be a council requirement to maintain the outside appearance, but that shouldn´t be a

problem, and would likely merely enhance its appeal. Such a building´s high visibility may be emphasized by the fact that

it has been a landmark in the social landscape for decades or even centuries. A twin set of buildings with an open space

between them or a building with a court yard that is open on one side can also be a good candidate.

Photo: Terrace attracting passers-by chatting with a customer, on the left

Portsmouth, August 2012

Redeveloping an abandoned building into a micro-mall will not only boost the value of the upgraded property and create

jobs, but will also increase the value of surrounding buildings and increase the footfall for any shops in the vicinity. In

addition, it may lower the burden on local fire brigades and law enforcement. To be truly successful, such a micro-mall

has to contribute to the local community, and actively develop ties with its surroundings, however. It has to “give back”,

as it is called in the States.

Summary of requirements:

• Character;

• High visibility, ideally also figuratively speaking;

• Moderate to good footfall;

• Moderate to good vehicle traffic;

• Main entrances from at least two directions;

• Large outside space that can be used as a terrace and get sunshine;

• Not listed;

• Two to three floors;

• Sufficient nearby parking;

• At least 50,000 households surrounding the building;

• Demographics showing strong representation of persons under 35;

• Demographics lacking overrepresentation of pensioners;

• Ideally, also some office buildings nearby or even next-door;

• Lack of competition in immediate surroundings;

• An owner who is 100% behind the idea;

• Absence of strongly different or clashing vision of local council.

Photo: The Contented Pig, a former pub in Portsmouth, which has been empty for years and has a

centuries-long history of hospitality, shown here at a rare moment without any cars or pedestrians passing

Portsmouth, May 2012

Brand

The concept’s brand encompasses the ideas of indulgence, abundance, generosity, fun, and adventure, but is also ethical,

social, local, down to earth and practical.

Micro-mall as an attraction

The micro-mall itself will serve as minor attraction. Curiosity alone will drive some of the customers into the venue, as

they know in advance that they will not have to spend a large amount of time inside if they find they don’t want to, once

inside. In contrast with large shopping centers, which take up much more time for even a cursory exploration, customers

can quickly pop in and out of a micro-mall, without having to wind their way through long corridors lined with shops,

possibly getting lost once or twice. That lowers the threshold for impulse visits. The ambiance must be a welcoming one,

but also one in which customers can feel free to browse, without being crowded by staff.

Angelina’s Cantina as name for the fast-food brand

“Cantina” matches the combinations of food types that I selected and happens to go well with my given name. It

conveys a sense of abundance and generosity, and of a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere. It also has a tinge of the local

– as a cantina is a local establishment – and, at the same time, of the adventurous because it is a foreign word. This fits

with the fact that you are offering foods that are relatively new to the UK as alongside the traditionally British fish &

chips. I prefer the word “cantina” over for example “kitchen”, as the latter does not provide that feeling of adventure

and culture.

The word “cantina” contains a vague link to the Tex-Mex element, but is not specific enough to limit the scope of the

restaurant.

I looked into the meaning of the word “cantina” and found that it can be an establishment that predominantly serves

alcoholic drinks, but that depends on which country a cantina is located in. (Angelina’s Cantina will not serve any alcohol

in the UK.) A cantina can also be a men-only venue. In Mexico, however, a cantina can be a place where people gather to

play dominoes, cards or other table games. In Spain, “cantina” can refer to any establishment that serves food and drinks

and is located at or near a workplace.

There is also the obvious link to the English word “canteen”, indicating a food service location within an institution in

which there is little or no waiting staff table service. The latter connotation could lower the threshold, even though the

British are turning away from their real canteens, at work, and prefer to go out for food during their breaks. London has

a Canteen restaurant brand at five locations; they serve traditional British fare.

Customer base and demographics

The take-away offer will notably attract customers from the immediate surroundings of the micro-mall. The take-away

service will also benefit from footfall (people who pass on their way home or to a friend´s or relative´s home, work or a

hobby activity and grab a snack on the way) and passing vehicle traffic. The delivery service will appeal to people from

within the entire radius in which the restaurant decides to deliver. Delivery attracts larger orders than takeaway and eat-in.

In addition, the restaurant and take-away will also draw customers from a much wider area. Those customers will come

to the restaurant specifically for the types of food it provides as well as its entertainment value and, initially, just to see

the micro-mall and its 3D art.

In Portsmouth, which I use here as an excellent and convenient example, the fast-food sections would be aimed at two

types of customers:

• A trendy crowd consisting of for example students, faculty, and professionals aged 15 to 90, with the emphasis

on people between 15 and 35 (and their children);

• A more traditional public in which parents or grandparents may opt for the fish & chips while the youngsters

would rather have a taco or burrito or go for healthy vegetarian.

I estimate that typical customers will have incomes of up to 40,000 pounds per year. Apparently, that is around 90% of

the British population.

The ice cream parlor will also draw two types of customers:

• People who come in specifically for the ice cream;

• Customers who have sat down to enjoy their fast food, find their eyes wandering off to the scrumptious ice

creams and decide to go for dessert or who order fast food as take-away and add ice cream, similarly to the way ice cream

is often added to pizza delivery orders these days.

The demographics of Portsmouth match the concept particularly well. The population density of Portsmouth is high

relative to the rest of the UK; this is related to the housing mix which is different from that in the rest of the UK. It is

caused by the physical constraints of the city, which is located on an island.

One consequence of those physical constraints is that they put limits on a local branch’s growth. After a certain point,

growth in Portsmouth might stop and would have to come from establishing micro-malls in other towns, in order to

service Fareham and Gosport, for example. However, this also works the other way around. The mobility and

possibilities of the inhabitants of Portsmouth are limited by the same constraints, making this micro-mall with its unique

fast-food offer hard to ignore in Portsmouth.

Portsmouth has a larger proportion of young people than the rest of the UK. It is also the city with the highest number

of immigrants in the UK, particularly the most skilled ones (BBC South Today, 11 April 2008). The June 2010 census

data emphasized that Portsmouth has a higher number of people aged 20-29 relative to other age groups in the

Portsmouth population, as well as in comparison with England and Wales, overall. Portsmouth has a lower number of

people aged 0-15, but also fewer people aged between 35-84 in comparison with the rest of England and Wales.

Other British towns have different characteristics that may require a suitable building to be larger. Those characteristics

will also help determine the retail mix and the choice for meeting rooms, art gallery or other uses of the higher floor(s).

Layout ground floor

As already mentioned, the fast-food restaurant is not a traditional sit-down restaurant, but resembles the kind of facilities

found in some museums and supermarkets in Europe, and particularly at airports. To some degree, the concept

presented here resembles the food court idea. The level of convenience is high and the service fast and efficient. The

look is clean, bright and welcoming. Customers can pop in and out if they want to, but if a customer wants to sit at a

table for hours, staff will not bother the person.

Picture a rectangular area with the food counters to the right. At the back, a doorway leads to office space. At the front is

a vending window from which ice cream and other food items can be sold to people passing on the sidewalk. There is

also a vending window that opens onto the terrace. This also allows you to serve passing customers, and customers on

the terrace with limited staff and without the need for cleaning inside the restaurant in the event of a sudden staff

shortage or on Sundays. It adds flexibility.

To the left is a minimart, with a separate checkout (“till”). Customers who come in and grab only a drink can pay for it at

the minimart. Avoid long lines, at all times. I have walked out of fast-food restaurants too many times at the sight of the

lines in front of the counter when all I wanted was a small tub of ice cream or some French fries to deal with a case of

the munchies. I can’t be the only one in the world who does that, so that’s lost turnover.

Payment takes place at the quick-service counters when the customers place their food orders.

There is no separate take-away counter, as it tends to feel slightly discriminatory (“cheap”). Not having a separate counter

and offering the same service also justifies keeping all prices the same.

The eating area has individual tables and chairs. There is also a long “community table” at which customers can sit down

with strangers, and pass each other condiments. It is aimed at encouraging communication, and to encourage turnover

(fewer empty chairs when it’s busy).

This table may have more comfortable chairs. It may have flowers of flowering plants to make it more inviting. (Make

sure the design of the vases is such that they only fall over with great difficulty.) It will certainly have a wide variety of

newspapers into which you can slip discount coupons every morning (not just the Daily Mail, but not just the

Independent either). There will also be a variety of magazines that can add a light educational touch, which adds another

community aspect. All this is to compensate for the fact that people will sit down at this table with strangers, an idea that

can make Britons highly uncomfortable. Customers who do not want to talk and would rather avoid eye contact can grab

a magazine or newspaper and hide behind it.

The food counters are the following:

• A falafel bar where falafel (which is vegetarian by definition) is sold in pitta breads – two or three choices

(white, whole-meal and wheat-free and/or gluten-free) – and where the customers add their own sauces (at least three

available), vegetables and pickles, and can top up their pittas as often as they like (except with falafel);

• A Tex-Mex counter that serves Texan-Mexican food like tacos and burritos, and salads;

• A fish & chips counter, which will also sell the hot soups in the winter, and/or products like hot dogs;

• An Italian luxury ice cream counter which will sell hot chocolates in the winter;

• Display cabinets with luxury cold espresso macchiatos, lattes and the like, orange juice, apple juice, cola, ginger

beer, and water, which customers can select and take to the checkout counters. Having them out in the open encourages

turnover and speeds up the counter interactions over customers having to inquire which drinks are available.

• Consider finding a way to introduce the good old American habit of free coffee refills for your mug. It won’t

cost too much, but will add to the sense of abundance, generosity and hospitality. It makes your customers feel good.

There will be some poster boards on the walls with attractive photos of menu items or offers in the sitting area. It is

much cheaper to print such posters, and you would have much more control over the design (easy to adapt, update and

print). Any artworks on the walls must be available in the minimart.

Seating

To give you an idea of what kind of seating you can expect to deal with, average seating worldwide at McDonalds is 50,

but differs greatly between branches. The startup budgets included in this report are based on 60 seats (indoors).

Minimart

The eating areas are flanked by a minimart shopping area behind a stainless-steel railing in front of low shelves and a

turnstile. The railing and turnstile prevent that customers wander into this area with their food, potentially making a mess

that requires cleanup. The minimart is located to the left in this example. It attracts customers who suddenly remember

that they still need a gift for a friend’s birthday, require an umbrella when they notice it’s started to rain outside,

remember they wanted to shop for a new umbrella but somehow never get around to it, or are simply tempted by what

they see while ordering or eating their food.

The minimart will display items like art posters, exclusive reproductions, jars of olives, bags of tortilla chips (also available

at the food checkout), jars with dips for the tortilla chips, possibly a taco kit (which would also be for sale at the food

counter), gift vouchers (also at the food counters), Belgian chocolates (for example of the brand Jacques, which includes

Cote d'Or), Vosges chocolates, and handy design items, like umbrellas. The umbrellas will be modern, wind-proof

designs such as the SENZ umbrella developed at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and the windproof

umbrella as offered by the Guardian. They will not fall apart during the first bout of bad weather they encounter.

Note that this minimart also has to function as a traffic driver for the retailers on the other floor(s), and must contain

items selected from their merchandise, such as jewelry or men’s ties.

Facilities for customers

Your customers want wireless internet. Not having wireless internet will stop some people from frequenting your

establishment. One customer working in a corner for four hours is not such a problem, but one not being able to tell his

contacts about you or even complaining to his friends about your lack of this service would be a problem.

You need to have a ramp that provides access for handicapped people, and the bathroom doors must be wide enough.

Check the regulations, also locally.

As mentioned, the community table will have newspapers, possibly flowers (or flowering plants) certainly magazines,

with discount coupons, and questionnaires whenever you have a questionnaire.

It could also be a good idea to have one large TV screen somewhere on the ground floor. It could show news, TED

Talks and local TV.

Other floor(s)

An open staircase or escalator and a lift provide access to the higher floor(s). The first higher floor has to be highly

visible for anyone who comes inside for food, whether to take away or eat in. This is a matter for the interior

designer/architect.

On the other floor(s), you will offer retail space to other merchants, which you will select, and which will pay you rent.

Those shops can sell items such as men’s ties, umbrellas, perfumes, jewelry, specialty beers and wines, scarves, perky t-

shirts and sweaters, souvenirs, potpourri and incense, art posters and similar products. There may be small clothing

boutiques.

The idea here too is to tempt those customers who remember they still need a gift for someone or just want a bit of

distraction. It will be a bit more difficult to attract customers from outside who do not purchase any fast food, as there

will not be any accidental footfall on those other floors. There will, however, be some cross-fertilization (word of mouth)

from the fast-food customers who will help spread the word, in addition to other kinds of marketing. There will also

have to be signage outside (on the building).

This is why there also must be an art gallery or meeting rooms on the other floor(s). An option can be to house an art

gallery on the higher floor, but the art may have to contain a strong entertainment factor, i.e. it may have to be video art

or performance art, or contain a hands-on element, offering the visitors an experience that goes beyond merely watching

artworks on a wall. It could have a high-tech angle, for instance link up with the high-tech umbrellas offered in the

minimart. You could even reserve one floor or room for 3-D floor art.

Delivery

The delivery department will have its own staff. Delivery will be housed in an office at the back, out of sight; staff will

collect orders from the kitchens.

Delivery hours could be 5 PM to 9 PM. Initially, four part-time employees should suffice to cover your delivery services.

They can also cover breaks and assist whenever the counters and tills are busy and delivery is quiet. Piaggio vans would

be a great marketing tool, and are likely safer than mopeds. However, they can get stuck in traffic when mopeds can

squeeze past.

Most takeaways cover a distance of five to ten miles for free. Look at the geographical and demographic layout of the

region you want to operate in, and at what your competition is doing, and then make a decision for your takeaway

delivery charges. Ask your customers whether they feel the charges are reasonable.

Opening hours

The choice of opening hours is related to the characteristics of the surroundings, but of course also to staffing. You

could choose to sell from only the vending windows on Sundays. You could also consider opening one vending window

between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning. The retailers on the higher floor(s) may have to fit their opening hours within the

restaurant’s opening times.

Customer surveys

Conduct a survey among your customers once or twice per year to collect valuable feedback on opening hours, and any

other matters you would like some input on. Customers like having a say if you listen to them, and make it worth their

while, for instance by giving them a free taco for every completed questionnaire they hand in at the counter or submit

online. It is very important to let your customers know what you did with their feedback. Publish the survey results and

decisions you made on the basis of the survey on posters that you put on the walls of your restaurant, and also on your

web site.

Community ties and entertainment

Establish your enterprise with the firm belief that positive interactions between a commercial undertaking and the

residents living in its vicinity benefit the community as well as the enterprise. It will add a local character to the

restaurant, distinguishing it very clearly from a Greggs or McDonalds, besides the fact that those chains do not offer

delivery. Be open about what you do, also when something goes wrong. The best PR for when something goes wrong is

almost always instant openness.

Here are some ideas for how you can add entertainment value and foster a sense of care and community spirit.

• LOCAL STREET ART: Do not leave your security shutters a dreary grey or look demure and boring, but invite

local (street) artists to come up with designs. Let the winning artist implement the winning design. You can arrange this

via Facebook, sites like AboutMyArea, Twitter and other online channels, and also via local art galleries or your local

university’s art department.

• 3D STREET ART: Have someone like Julian Beever come over and create an artwork on the terrace. This 3D

art is wonderful to see and will certainly draw publicity. People will video this and post those videos on YouTube. It

could also really jumpstart your turnover. Julian Beever’s works take up to four days to complete, so this would be great

to have during the first week of opening.

• FOOD FOR PEOPLE: Customers can make a donation when they order their food, whether take-away, eat-in

or delivery. The web site as well as the venue will have a donatometer, which indicates the total donated amount at that

point. You could organize an event during which everyone who comes in can have a free burrito, taco or falafel, or you

could take food to a care home or women’s shelter as soon as this donated amount reaches a certain value. You could

also have homeless people come in for a free meal at certain times – like a Subway branch in Newark, New Jersey is

doing – or something similar. People can also walk in merely to make a donation; they do not have to purchase any food.

• LOCAL BAKING: Consider other activities, such as a cookie-baking or brownie-making competition, that suit

the local residents. Again, when in doubt, include a question in your survey. Maybe the local Cubs or Boy Scouts want to

be allowed to sell cookies at your restaurants twice a year.

• PHOTOCOPIER: Have a large coin-operated photocopier for the public.

• FUN FOR KIDS AND PARENTS: Offer face-painting and balloon-sculpting at certain fixed times during the

week. If there is insufficient space indoors and the weather is good, this may have to be restricted to the outside terrace

and the summer period. Have these persons checked out, to cover the children’s safety. Make sure it does not interfere

with other customers’ enjoyment.

• PHOTOGRAPHY: Consider having an ambulant photographer on the site for families or children, as a service

that customers would pay for. He or she does not pay you for the privilege and you won’t pay him or her either, but do

select him or her, and have the person checked out. This could be done in conjunction with a professional photography

service on the first floor, if that is suitable for your location.

• RECORDED MUSIC: Have good music and create a schedule, and for instance let customers know that

certain hours will have jazz, others hip hop or trip hop, reggae, new releases, Spanish, Polish. Offer links to where the

tracks can be purchased on the web site.

• LIVE MUSIC: While you could consider offering live local music during times of low sales, do keep in mind

that many establishments already do this too and you will run the risk of being just another “me too”. If you do go into

live music, make sure it matches your brand, bears your signature. You could also have an attraction like a Dutch

“draaiorgel” (large street organ) on occasion. Live music might also be a very good way to attract customers during the

startup week, but it will have to match your style.

• TEST/TASTER SESSIONS: Have regular taster/test panel sessions, starting one month before opening. Invite

people, and get their votes on products, pricing and food variations (recipes).

~~~~~

4.0 Analyses

4.1 Analysis fast food in general

Jim Riley, co-founder of tutor2u, was a director at Thomson Travel Group Plc and a Corporate Finance and Strategy

specialist at PwC. He is graduate Economist, a Fellow of the ICAEW and has an MBA (with Distinction) from Bradford

Management School. In 2010, he wrote a blog post about how the recession is turning the UK into a fast-food nation.

He based it on the 2009 annual survey by the Local Data Company. Researchers employed by this company walk around

in the UK’s largest towns and cities and note which retailers are trading. The fast-food sector increased its presence by

more than 8% in 2008; the number of fast-food restaurants in the UK’s top 10 cities increased by 8.2% to more than

1,450. The survey found that the most successful fast-food brands in 2009 were Domino’s, Eat and Prêt-A-Manger.

Domino’s increased its presence by a whopping 50%, while “healthy” fast-food group Eat boosted its portfolio by 36.4%

and sandwich chain Prêt A Manger by 29.7%. Burger King was the least successful, and had to close 11.8% of its outlets

in the top 10 cities.

This matches what is currently, a few years later, being said about sector trends. Consumers may have less money to

spend, but they do want to treat themselves, and are becoming more health-conscious.

In 2009, the Financial Times quoted Stephen Broome, leisure analyst at PwC, as saying: “People still want their burgers

and chips, but more and more people are understanding the need for a balanced diet and that is stimulating the demand

for healthier fast food.”

According to Keynote, said Riley, the fast-food and takeaway market was worth around 9.3bn pounds in 2007, having

risen by 16% over the previous four years. All the evidence from results reported by the likes of Prêt-A-Manger,

Domino’s and Subway during 2008 and 2009 suggests that the market has increased its growth rate during the recession.

Simple economics may be driving the growing popularity of fast-food; people trim their budgets, eat take-away at home

more often and much less frequently sit down in regular restaurants.

“Recession sees growth in fast-food outlets” agreed the FT in 2009. “At a time when restaurant chains, hit by higher

operating costs and lower spending among diners, are scaling back growth plans, fast food companies, emboldened by

new custom and lower rent, have expanded their presence on high streets.”

On 15 December 2011, the Daily Mail observed that “There’s a curious obsession with takeaways in the UK and despite

a precarious economic situation, they are as popular as always.” The Local Data Company reported an increase of more

than 25% in the fast-food sector and a growth of 25% for take-away.

Toward the end of 2012, Keynote reported that the “economic crisis and consumers’ hectic schedules will continue to

drive demand in the fast-food and home-delivery industry, which is expected to grow by 24.5% between 2012 and 2016”.

Keynote also wrote that the fast-food industry has an image problem, but that the sector is stepping up to the plate.

It is clear that the food you offer must be of high quality, must not contain ingredients like corn syrup, and must neither

have high fructose levels. Keep unhealthy fats to a minimum, and make sure your offer is balanced and also takes

allergies into account. You can find nutritional data on various foods at http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/list

4.2 Analysis ice cream

Who invented ice cream? Some say it was the Chinese, and that Marco Polo took the idea back with him to Italy. Others

say that ice cream may have started in Persia. Possibly the Arabs gave ice cream its biggest push, leading to the ice cream

the way we know it today, based on milk and cream. Ice cream used to require large quantities of ice (frozen water) to

keep the ice cooled. In London, you can still see huge ice house pits that Carlo Gatti built near Kings Cross in the 1850s,

now open to the public at The London Canal Museum. Did you know that many current “innovative” ice cream flavors

were actually already invented a long time ago? If you want to read more about the history of ice cream, this web page on

ice-cream.org is a good place to start.

Photo: Jamie’s selling Italian ice cream from a cart only attracting one lone parent with children

Portsmouth, August 2012

To people from other countries, the UK can appear to have almost no ice cream tradition, as anyone who loves ice

cream often really has a hard time finding it and misses it in the UK. In the US, ice cream is a hugely popular product,

also for dessert, but in the UK, ice cream is still an underdeveloped market in the UK, in my view. I have always loved

ice cream, and never had any problem finding ice cream, whether in tiny villages in Spain or while on fieldwork in

Sweden. One of my academic advisors used to joke that you could judge a country’s degree of civilization by its ice cream

offer. I am not sure that says about the UK. Here in the UK, the supermarket offer is still poor relative to that in the US,

although some change is clearly underway. Still, even the best ice cream available is often a bit dull compared with the ice

cream offer in the US. Instead of real innovation, I predominantly see variations on what it is already out there or

watered-down imitations.

Photo: Limited summer ice cream offer at Marks & Spencer

Portsmouth, June 2012

Also, whereas most Dutch supermarkets place their wrapped ice cream treats in a prominent position near the checkouts,

certainly in summer, the “impulse” offer in British supermarkets is often extremely limited or non-existent.

I believe this is because ice cream still has an image problem in the UK, where ice cream is not seen as a dairy snack or as

a luxurious treat comparable to chocolates or dessert, but as something one gives to children. Perhaps it is caused by the

visual similarity between popsicles and lollipops, but whatever the reason, the British are currently missing out when it

comes to the full spectrum of ice cream.

Ice cream consumption is not encouraged in the UK. You can do a great deal of walking here in search of nothing more

than some good ice cream in a cone and find no place that sells it. Even at Marks & Spencer, a chain with a tradition of

catering to the discerning palate, the ice cream offer in the summer is downright sad.

More seriously, ice cream is sometimes mistreated, which acts as a major deterrent on ice cream sales. In the past,

individual retailers had to qualify first in order to be allowed to sell Häagen-Dazs® ice cream. There was a good reason

for that; the brand wanted to ensure that the ice cream was stored and handled properly. Some supermarkets in the UK

(but not just in the UK) allow their ice cream to be exposed to higher temperatures, and then let it refreeze. This leads to

the formation of ice crystals (frozen water) in the ice cream. It is detrimental to the taste experience. There is hardly

anything more disappointing than bad ice cream. I have had the displeasure of having purchased a Magnum almond in

Portsmouth – for 1 pound 50 – that not only clearly had been allowed to thaw and re-freeze, but the juices of a thawed

syrupy water ice had seeped into it and later refrozen around the Magnum as well.

Ice cream must be kept at the right temperature and certainly never be allowed to thaw while in storage. This is crucial. A

study carried out at the Dairy Science Department of South Dakota State University in 2011, however, indicates that light

and full-fat ice cream can be safely stored at -26.1 °C instead of at the customary -28.9 °C. This results in energy savings.

Ice cream products can largely be divided into two main sectors: “impulse” and “take home”. You will be targeting both

markets, but will have an obvious emphasis on the impulse segment. Impulse products include cones, bars, small tubs

and stick products. You will offer cones and small tubs. Take-home products include large tubs and multi-packs. You will

offer small tubs and large tubs, also as delivery option. Give out free samples to encourage people to buy your ice cream

and let them experience how good it is. One of your employees could walk around the restaurant offering free scoops in

the first month, whenever your ice cream trade volume is a bit low, or at other occasions.

According to Santander’s business information, both ice cream sectors have benefited in recent years from more

households owning freezers and the increased popularity of adult and premium products. Ice cream was once thought of

more as a children's product, agrees Santander, but as explained before, I believe that this is still partly the case in the

UK. Make an effort to present it as a sophisticated dessert or luxurious snack. A positive sign is that ice cream is rapidly

becoming a popular treat throughout the year and no longer limited to the summer, in the UK.

The margins for an ice cream parlor are considerably smaller than those of the fast-food sector. Housing a parlor inside a

restaurant can help keep the ice cream parlor’s operational costs down and result in a slightly higher net margin. Do it

right, however, and you can turn over 350,000 pounds per year in ice cream sales. That’s what Lucy Tobin wrote about in

the Evening Standard in July 2010, regarding a banker who quit his job at Lehman to start making ice cream.

The UK ice cream market has expanded greatly over the past decades and reached a value of 1 billion pounds in 2011,

said Mintel in September 2012. In the past five years, the market for cream, sorbet and frozen yogurt grew by more than

19%, reported Mintel. Sales of sorbets dropped, but frozen yogurt sales increased dramatically. Volume sales, however,

have been declining. That said, ice cream is certainly still seen as an affordable treat, and its sales are expected to increase

and reach 1.13 billion pounds in 2016.

Globally, the UK still takes tenth position with a consumption of 6 liters per person, in spite of the relative lack of

interest in ice cream here. In terms of value, the UK also is in tenth position, with a 17-pound spend per person. It is

purchased by 85% of the population. As many as 49% of the British love buying a tub of old-fashioned ice cream and

35% prefer a cone. 25% buy from ice cream vans.

Between March 2011 and March 2012, consumption of ice cream was 9% lower among one-person households. 27% of

these one-person households reported that “It’s hard to fit ice cream in my freezer”, compared with 21% on average.

This indicates that there is room on the impulse market for ice cream.

One-person households also seem to be more likely to limit their ice cream consumption because of health reasons. This

indicates that opportunities must particularly be found in healthier varieties and in providing good nutritional

information.

It also hints toward one-scoop and two-scoop treats being seen as permissible, as opposed to taking home large tubs

from the supermarket. Ice cream brands have been playing into this by providing small tubs that cost one pound.

As mentioned before, while the ice cream, sorbet and frozen yogurt market has been growing and continues to grow,

Mintel’s estimate is that volume sales declined by 6% over the period 2006-2010 (even though others report that ice

cream is becoming more popular in the UK). Price inflation was a major factor in this value growth and volume decrease.

Rises in the cost of ingredients and packaging, and in fuel and energy costs have put upward pressure on prices, their

effect partly offset by heavy promotional activity, says Mintel.

Santander agrees that the economic downturn hit the catering and hospitality sectors hard, while rising ingredient prices

didn’t help. However, particularly in difficult times, after a while, people develop an urge to cheer themselves up with a

treat. There are signs that people are getting fed up with the idea of the recession and are looking for the bright side of

life again.

It is paramount to get the menu and the prices right, and even more importantly, your ice creams must be delicious and

of very high quality. If you offer an excellent choice of high-end ice creams, with innovative and traditional flavors, at the

right price, people will certainly be flocking into your ice cream parlor. Certainly in Portsmouth, this market is currently

not well served at all. Pricing scoops will be very important. It is can be very hard to raise prices once you’ve started; it is

easier to drop the price.

You may decide to make your own ice cream as that would give you optimal flexibility, and the freedom to experiment

with new flavors. However, making good ice cream is an art that you cannot learn overnight. It demands devotion and

passion. It also requires a substantially higher investment. Purchasing the right ingredients could take up a lot of time as

well. Within the scope of this business model, I recommend that you obtain your ice cream from a good Italian ice

maker.

The ice cream you offer has to be Italian gelato, which tastes richer but is milk-based and actually less fatty than cream-

based ice cream. It is the tastiest, fullest flavored ice cream. Ice cream trends can suddenly change, however, so you must

monitor them. On top of that, consider offering fruit-based, dairy-free sorbetti, which are also known as gelato. This

would certainly appeal to a health-conscious public and to those with dairy-related allergies or sensitivities. A third option

to add could be soft-serve, simply because soft serve ice is very popular. Soft serve contains a lot of air, which allows it to

be pumped through a machine. Such machines are relatively expensive, however; a small one costs about 5,000 pounds.

Think also of frozen yogurt, containing live-culture bacteria. Frozen yogurt is a growing market segment in the UK and

also attracts the more health-conscious customers.

Photo: This empty building has plenty of space for a sunny terrace behind the shrubs as well as

for a parking lot, has footfall on three sides, and entrances on two

Portsmouth, May 2012

Suitable venues for an individual ice cream parlor have outdoor and indoor seating are located in an up-scale commercial

business district including a residential and office mix, have weekend and evening traffic, can also be in a prominent

location in a food court corner or high-traffic corridor, have strong foot traffic, and high visibility. Population is a key

factor. Ideally, the area is somewhat congested.

Having sufficient footfall will benefit your ice cream trade. Having an outside terrace is a must. Terraces are inviting. In

colder weather, a terrace can have heating sources that add character and that will benefit the turnover of your other

sectors. Amsterdam’s Vondelpark has a popular restaurant – ‘t Blauwe Theehuis – with a large terrace and balcony which

have heaters, and keep it popular all-year round. (Seating for 700!). If you are unable to find a building with a suitable

outdoor space, at least make sure you will be able to operate a vending window on the side with the highest footfall.

Closely monitor the relationship between the weather and your ice cream trade volume. If you see a strong correlation

and a downward trend, start offering luxury hot chocolates and a range of hot soups.

“Hot chocolate is a massively under-served market”, said Nick Holzherr on The UK’s Apprentice. He has his own coffee

and hot chocolate business (in addition to a technology business). Brands like Options cover the home market with a

delicious and innovative range of flavors, but there is a lot more possible. Particularly on market days and during events,

ice cream, hot chocolates and hot soups could also be sold from a van to increase your visibility.

Hot soup appears to be a largely overlooked market in the UK as well. In September 2012, Progressive Grocer wrote

that “soup is a reliably hot commodity at retail these days”, not just at supermarkets, but also at delis. “Soup is growing

for the first time in years, due to marketing efforts by the leading manufacturers, new item introductions and pricing

strategies.", reported Massachusetts-based company Big Y. “Soup is now competing with simple meals; it has become a

simple, convenient alternative that extends to different meal occasions," said Jason Homola, director of business

development for soup and simple meals at The Campbell Soup Co. in Camden, N.J.

Soup fans want to enjoy delicious soup, without having to make it themselves. A new trend in soup consumption appears

to be underway, although it is not clear yet where it is headed. You can create our own market niche, by offering it not as

part of a meal, but as a delicacy in its own right. "We expect to see increased segmentation and product specialization,

rather than the traditional canned-commodities approach," confirmed Bookbinder's O'Neil, according to Progressive

Grocer.

4.3 Analysis Tex-Mex

Tex-Mex cuisine may have originated hundreds of years ago, as a result of the influence of immigrants on existing local

cuisine in the US, but Tex-Mex as it is known today is fairly new. The term was first used in writing in the 1940s. Tex-

Mex is believed to be the result of Texan cooks experimenting with Mexican dishes. Chili with beef (chili con carne) is a

Texan tradition, Texas being all about cattle, but the beefless bean dish’s origin may very well be Mexican. Refried beans

originate from the Mexican frijoles refritos. Tacos, tortillas and enchiladas may be Mexican, but chimichangas (deep-fried

burritos) and nachos are likely entirely American inventions, as are fajitas. A big boost for the rise of Tex-Mex to global

popularity came in the 1950s, apparently as the unexpected result of a criticism on American Mexican restaurants in a

cookbook.

Nowadays, popular Tex-Mex restaurants serve food items such as burritos, salads, nachos, tacos, tortillas, enchiladas,

quesadillas and fajitas. One particular type of taco is becoming so popular in the US that it has been dubbed “the taco

that could save the US” and required Taco Bell to hire 15,000 extra employees.

A burrito is a flour tortilla completely wrapped around food. The food is a combination of for example rice, refried

beans or beans, lettuce, salsa, beef, guacamole, cheese, and sour cream. A burro is a large burrito. Burro means donkey; a

burrito’s contents can be seen as goods carried by a donkey.

Nachos are pieces of crispy corn-based tortilla, often covered with cheese.

A taco (shell) is a once-folded wheat or corn tortilla – either soft or crispy – that serves as an edible food container. The

term taco used for a dish refers to the combination of the shell and the food inside the shell.

An enchilada is food rolled into a (corn) tortilla, which is then covered with a chili pepper sauce.

A quesadilla is a once-folded tortilla wrapped around various foods and in particular a great deal of cheese.

A fajita is basically a variation of the burrito, but featuring grilled meat. It has a higher content of meat than a burrito,

and contains for example grilled chicken and grilled vegetables, topped off with salsa and sour cream. Fajita does not

have to be served in a wrap, however – in which case eating fajita requires the use of cutlery – whereas for instance a

burrito is a wrap by definition.

Sour cream, guacamole (avocado-based dip sauce) and salsa are examples of the condiments that complete these dishes.

Shredded cheese is often added richly, which can make these foods high in fat and less healthy than desired.

Tex-Mex is tasty comfort food. It combines all food groups, but tends to be heavy on cheese toppings. Offering extra

cheese as separate option gives your customers more control over how healthy their food is. Sour cream is another add-

on that you should give your customers some control over. Use the healthiest oil for any deep-fried items you want to

offer, or consider baking them instead of frying them, or not offering them at all. You can do very well without having

chimichangas on the menu. Take time to investigate good-tasting fat-free sour cream and cheese, and also limit salt.

Tomato-based dishes served in low-end restaurants in the UK often have a very salty taste; the salt masks the great taste

of good tomatoes, however, and actually makes the food taste bland. Do not follow that lead.

Other common ingredients of Tex-Mex are beans (which are legumes), tomatoes and lettuce, which are all very healthy.

You can make your own tortillas, but that requires the purchase of a tortilla machine. This is not included in the startup

budgets. You can also make your own guacamole. If you don’t, make sure that you invest sufficient time in sourcing

good guacamole. Bad guacamole can be a real disappointment, one that your customers will remember.

Photo: Tortilla chips with chunky tomato sauce and sour cream

For years, Britons have been expressing that they would love to see Taco Bell – one of the States’ major Tex-Mex fast-

food chains – open up franchises in the UK. Facebook groups were later started to this end: “Bring Taco Bell to the

UK”. (This may actually regard Taco Bell’s return to the UK, by the way.) In November 2010, someone commented on

Facebook: “Taco Bell needs to open as many stores in the UK as Costa is currently. One Taco Bell for the entire UK

population is NOT ENOUGH.” Someone else wrote “there is a taco bell in lakeside shopping center essex. i love it be

take me 45 mins to get there”. Taco Bell’s UK web site currently states that the chain has one restaurant in Manchester,

one in the Lakeside Shopping Centre (L3 Food Court) in Essex, indeed, and one in the Eastgate Shopping Center in

Basildon. There appear to be plans to opening Taco Bells at more locations soon.

In the Netherlands, TacoMundo is a successful Tex-Mex chain. TacoMundo started with one shop in Amsterdam. The

chain now has ten branches, three of which offer only take-out and delivery.

Photo: Chicken enchiladas with molten cheese, jalapeño peppers, dollops of sour cream, and iceberg lettuce

4.4 Analysis falafel

Falafel is an old food that originates from the Middle East, where it is eagerly consumed. It is said to have been invented

in Egypt, but nobody appears to know whether that is fact or fiction. Possibly, the Copts (Egypt’s largest Christian

religion) started eating falafel as a replacement for meat during Lent, but it was eaten by Jewish people in Egypt and Syria

as well. Falafel is also consumed during Ramadan, as part of the meal that breaks the fast after sunset. Israel often refers

to falafel as its national food, as falafel is immensely popular there.

Photo: Falafel in Asda’s frozen-food section

Portsmouth, January 2013

Falafel is rapidly becoming a universally appreciated food. Note that there are also new variants, such as falafel made with

jalapeños and served with roasted pepper, tomatoes and spicy yogurt sauce or made with sweet potatoes and served with

cabbage, honey and ginger tahini sauce. Standard falafel is based on ground chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans) that

have not been cooked prior to frying. Egyptian falafel tends to be made from fava beans (also called broad beans).

Falafel has a young and healthy image, which fits the demographic profile of a city like Portsmouth particularly well, but

also provides an excellent answer to overall fast-food trends and consumer demands in Britain.

Falafel is delicious, and is eaten without the use of cutlery (as is most Tex-Mex food). Falafel is a vegetarian product,

consisting of deep-fried balls (or discs) made from a mix based on ground chickpeas, usually served in pitta bread as

edible container, together with lettuce, cucumber, tomato and a variety of (pickled) vegetables, and condiments such as

hummus, baba ganoush and tahini sauce.

Customers can top up their pitta with veggies and sauces as often as they want. Unlike with other fried foods, falafel does

not show even a trace of fats dripping from it or covering it. It has a reputation as a very healthy and vegetarian food,

and looks the part, too. Falafel, with everything that comes with it, constitutes more than just a quick snack and can serve

as a full meal. One falafel sandwich carries around 380 calories. It can serve as lunch, or as a quick evening meal.

Photo: Dry chickpeas (garbanzo beans), vegetables and tomatoes

Falafel can be prepared from a ready mix, but I highly recommend that you make your own falafel, hummus and other

sauces on the premises. It tastes much better. Good hummus is so delicious that it makes people take detours and is

making American farmers switch to chickpeas to keep up with demand, and the same goes for falafel. Good falafel is

magic. “Ah falafel. Food of the gods.” someone posted under a falafel film on YouTube. Falafel is also convenient as it

can easily be frozen and used as required.

Typical ingredients are the following:

Dry chickpeas, soaked for at least 12 hours;

Cloves of garlic;

Baking soda;

Chopped parsley;

Dill;

Fresh lemon juice;

Cumin powder;

Paprika powder;

Flour;

Salt and pepper.

You can experiment by adding onion, fava beans (make sure fava beans are well-cooked), and/or coriander and other

ingredients such as bulgur wheat. As chickpeas do not need to be cooked (in contrast with fava beans), falafel can be

prepared with as little as five minutes of frying time.

Its nutritional content (see http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/4750) includes the following:

Calcium;

Iron;

Magnesium;

Phosphorus;

Potassium;

Zinc;

Manganese;

Copper;

Thiamine;

Vitamin C;

Vitamin B;

Folate;

Beta carotene.

Chickpeas are legumes. Legumes are known for their ability to help remove cholesterol from the body, with the aid of

the soluble fibers legumes contain. Chickpeas are also a source of phyto-estrogens, as are many other foods (and even

beverages such as hops-based beers).

Very few falafel bars offer pickled ginger, but ginger lovers will love you for having it available. You can very easily

pickle your own ginger. All it requires is the following:

Fresh ginger (preferably young);

Vinegar (which can be rice vinegar);

Lime juice (depending on how much vinegar you use);

Sugar;

Salt (which can be sea salt).

Falafel bars are so abundant and successful in the Middle East that even McDonalds tries to grab a slice of the falafel

market. Its McFalafel – slices of falafel served in a wrap with something sitting around it - didn’t do well enough in Israel

and McDonalds discontinued it there in July 2011, after only a few months. McFalafel is still available in Egypt, where it

was introduced more than ten years ago. Nothing, however, beats the fresh-made falafel served in a good falafel bar.

The (gross) margin for falafel bar chain Maoz which started in Amsterdam, the Netherlands is about 75%; in general, the

(gross) fast food margin is 65-73%. The net (profit) fast food margin tends to be around 60%. Maoz has recently

branched out to the US . There are also Maoz branches in London (Soho), Paris and Barcelona.

The Maoz chain’s establishments are not the kind of location where you hang around after having consumed your falafel.

In towns that have no other falafel restaurants, a falafel bar can serve as a destination. In towns like Amsterdam, where

you can eat falafel in many locations throughout the city center, you tend to end up buying it when you pass a favorite

outfit while walking down the street. Falafel as a fast food on its own, however, may do less well away from city centers

than say, a pizza parlor.

While the product may not be known as widely in the UK yet as fish & chips, supermarkets like Waitrose and Asda do

carry falafel, in various forms. Boots has wraps with falafel and sweet potato, but they are not always available. Starbucks

sells it too, as a Falafel Mezze bistro box.

Anyone who loves good falafel and has enjoyed it numerous times knows why most supermarket and coffee shop

varieties are not suitable for acquainting the wider public with this delicious food. Only genuine falafel bars can do that.

Another successful chain is Just Falafel, which started in the United Arab Emirates in 2007. The chain is now present in

more than eight countries, and is expanding rapidly to other countries. At the end of 2011, it announced that it wants to

open more than two hundred stores in the UK in five years. In November 2012, the chain opened its first store in the

UK, in London (Covent Garden). Stores in Exeter and Cambridge are planned for opening in 2013.

Fadi Malas, CEO of Just Falafel, said:

"Just Falafel took the idea of a humble, regionally popular food, developed a number of international flavor varieties

appealing to different palates, and is turning it into a global phenomenon through quality, value and service. Potential

franchise partners have recognized the success of the Just Falafel formula, and we're currently seeing strong demand

from the UK, India, and Canada – all of these markets are key growth destinations between 2012 to 2015."

Photo: Falafel sold at Starbucks as part of a co-called bistro box

Portsmouth, June 2012

Falmouth in Cornwall has had a mobile falafel business since 2007. This is what people are saying about it online:

“I am very jealous - I wish Fal Falafel could be a permanent feature of Penzance. These are not just falafels, these are

perfect falafels - my reason for popping down to Falmouth on Saturday.”

“I love Fal Falafel x”

“The best and healthiest food in town! A cultural service to be enjoyed.”

“The best thing to happen to the centre of Falmouth in years…and it’s unique!”

“Beautiful food, also very healthy and well presented by Fal Falafel.”

4.5 Analysis fish & chips

The combination of fish & chips consists of a generous portion of Belgian-style fries (deep-fried potato sticks, called

chips in Britain and usually “friet” in Belgium, not to be confused with British “wedges”, yet much thicker than French

fries) and deep-fried battered fish, usually cod. Traditionally, fish & chips were wrapped in old newspapers to keep the

costs down, until legislation put a stop to food coming into contact with newspaper ink.

Now an established British tradition, the combination of fish & chips was not a tradition from the beginning. Both foods

appear to have been introduced individually by foreigners in the UK (by French or Belgian nationals and by Jewish

immigrants from Spain and Portugal). The Belgian town of Bruges has the world’s only “chips museum” (Frietmuseum).

Various persons of different nationalities encouraged the consumption of potatoes in Europe over the years, starting in

the 18th century and helped develop all sorts of potato-based foods. This included Frederic II, the Great, King of

Prussia, and Frenchman Antoine Parmentier.

Both the Belgians and the British have a story according to which women in times of severe frosts cut potatoes into fish

shapes, which they then deep-fried. This was used to substitute for fish, which was unavailable as a result of the frost.

The French – immediately to the south of Belgium – also claim to have invented the tasty potato snack, also called

pommes frites, and say that chips were first sold in public on the Pont Neuf in Paris at the end of the 18th century. The

truth about the original invention of chips may remain a mystery forever. At the end of the 18th century, chips were

commonly consumed in Belgium, but still virtually unknown in the Netherlands, the country immediately to the north of

Belgium.

The combination of fish & chips caught on in Britain at some point in the 19th century as a welcome addition to the

working-class diet. Later in the 20th century, it was overtaken by other fast-foods such as pizzas and hamburgers and

Indian and Chinese takeaway, in terms of annual turnover. There are, however, still many more fish & chips shops in the

UK than there are McDonalds.

Fish & chips are commonly consumed with salt and vinegar sprinkled over the chips, but there are regional variations,

and that includes the type of fish. 62% of the fish sold in a chippy (fish & chips shop) is cod, but 25% is haddock. Other

types sold with chips include rock salmon, pollock or coley, plaice, skate, ray and whiting. Fish & chips are often served

with mushy peas.

On his web site, Jamie Oliver wrote: “Good fish & chips are becoming harder to find these days, but there are still some

good boys out there making the real deal.”

Also an interesting read is Santander’s business guide for fish & chips shops While Santander’s analysis may be less

positive for someone trying to start a traditional fish & chips shop with no plans to innovate or adapt to the market, it

fits well within the ideas described in this report. Selling fish & chips helps increase sales in your other food segments,

while those also bear some of the overhead for the fish & chips operation. At locations that have no nearby fish & chips

shop, the fish & chips section might actually do surprisingly well on its own.

Photo: Two young women eating fish & chips on the sidewalk

Portsmouth, May 2012

Consider adding a Dutch-Belgian touch by offering mayo as a sauce, or an American accent by placing hot dogs on your

menu. Rolls and sauerkraut are additional purchases for the latter; the ketchups and sauces already are part of the fish &

chips food inventory. Fish & chips as well as hot dogs are also great items for vending windows.

Photo: Office worker in shirt sleeves eating a hamburger

Portsmouth, May 2012

Photo: Cart selling hotdogs and German bockwurst at a supermarket for a few days

Portsmouth, December 2012

~~~~~

5.0 Marketing strategy

Social media

I recommend that you hire a good social media consultant. You could outsource social media, but that could cut into

your authenticity. Social media trends change fast, but outsourcing your social media, or allowing your staff to handle

social media, can create complicated legal angles. If the employee leaves, is his or her online audience yours or your

employee’s? Discuss all these issues with experts before you get into social media, and attend various training sessions.

That will teach you how to connect with your audience, instead of going into old-fashioned “broadcast mode”. You

should be able to get by with 10 to at most 30 minutes per day on Facebook, Twitter and similar media. There are plenty

of introductory materials out there, but if you want a name to start with, have a look at what Laura Roeder of LKR does.

She is based in Austin, Texas, but is also often in England and has a free newsletter and several free webinars.

Hire a consultant and a designer in the startup phase to set it up for you and get the branding right. You also need to use

the same branding for your printed materials, and inside your Cantina. I have already picked a great color scheme that

matches what people are currently looking for (bold and vibrant colors). It consists of the two colors that TacoMundo

and other chains are using (a very rich golden yellow and a warm orange red) combined with a warm and rich blue that

adds a touch of style. They create a good atmosphere, are slightly classy, but still very relaxed. These colors are

reminiscent of tropical ocean views, Tuscan landscapes, and Florida sunsets.

Publicity

Advertise on local sites such as AboutMyArea and get a review from one of their restaurant visitors if your local site has

them.

QR code

You can have a QR code painted on shutters and doors, or the side walls, linking to the web site. This could be a great

way to connect with passing vehicle traffic. A driver in traffic can quickly aim a mobile phone at the code and use it to

access your web site later.

Flyers and coupons

Hand out flyers and coupons, at local ferries, train stations and bus stations. Offer a free burrito, taco, chips, pitta with

falafel or a free ice cream cone to be used in the first two weeks of business. Anyone who uses the coupon later will still

get a 25% discount, so that they have a good incentive to check out what you’re all about.

Entertainment

You need to have various attractions such as face-painting, balloon-sculpting, and, if possible, live music in the opening

week, all week. Arrange to have some good 3D street art (such as by Julian Beever or Tracy Lee Stum, or get in touch

with these folks, for instance) created on your terrace. This is wonderful to see and it will certainly draw people. People

will also video this and post those videos to YouTube. That can really jumpstart your turnover. Julian Beever’s works

take up to four days to complete, so would be great for opening week.

Street artist competition

Prior to opening, you can have a competition for local (street) artists to come up with a design for the shutters (if they are

fully closed ones, not a mesh). The winner gets to implement and sign his or her design. This too will involve publicity

via various media.

Test panels

The test panel sessions that you run prior to opening will also generate publicity, as will any food giveaways and other

community-related activities.

Community ties

Develop strong community ties (by for instance offering the photocopier) as that will also generate good word-of-mouth

publicity and generate footfall.

Radio stations, etc

Some radio stations are also event sponsors. They may want to sponsor or at least cover the street artists or the 3D art.

That could bring you additional publicity.

~~~~~

6.0 Staffing

First of all, unless you have all the required expertise and experience by having worked in social media, a fish & chips

shop, a falafel bar, a Tex-Mex chain and an ice cream parlor as well, you must hire several people as consultants before

opening and get their expert input on vital matters. Do not reinvent the wheel. Do not make mistakes that can easily be

avoided by listening to others. On the other hand, mistakes can be great teachers for kinesthetic learners. (I am one.)

You should be able to start up with 12 fte staff. All staff will be able to fulfill all functions on the premises (including

tills). Delivery staff will also be able to deliver food to customers; not all other employees will be suitable for stepping

into that role when needed and this is something you need to keep in mind.

Checkouts (tills) will be placed strategically and all food types and products can be handled on all tills. In some hours, you

may be able to operate with limited staff by using one or two vending windows and service the terrace only, and you

could also only offer ice cream at the vending windows (for example on sunny Sundays, or Sundays with events in town).

This would also mean that the restaurant area wouldn’t need cleaning. Having one or two vending windows adds a lot of

flexibility and is likely to boost your turnover.

Minimart

One employee will look after the minimart.

Food sections, and general

Unless you have an unrealistic abundance of staff or free staff, scheduling can be a real bitch. Trust me. I’ve done it.

Your scheduling has to cover your staff’s breaks, their days off, visits to the dentists and all sorts of other things you may

not be aware of yet. You or anyone else who takes on the role of manager will be able to cover some of the breaks, as

well as small-scale absences. In the event of, say, a flu epidemic, you won’t be able to cover, and there will likely be a

heavy demand on delivery, from people who don’t want to cook and don’t want to go get takeaway either. In such an

event, you may have to hire temp agency staff to help out.

Keep in mind that 15 seconds less of waiting time for customers generally means 1% of growth. Adequate staffing is

therefore important. In the beginning, you may be able to operate with 12 fte of staff and a good work schedule, so that

you are not overstaffed during quiet hours and understaffed when it’s busy.

For comparison, a typical Maoz store can operate with only 3 to 4 employees depending on the time of day. The Maoz

stores I know usually only have one or two employees present, but Maoz does not deliver food. Fish & chips shops also

operate with 2 to 4 employees, but don’t deliver either.

In general, a limited-service restaurant like yours should spend between 25% and 35% of its revenues on staffing, and if

possible, less.

Monitor your turnover and profits as well as waiting times closely. Once or twice a year, ask your customers about

waiting times, opening hours, pricing and other factors you have questions about. If your turnover is large enough to

support it and you think that waiting times are limiting your turnover, hire more staff.

Delivery

The delivery department will have four part-time employees. You could offer delivery from 5 PM to 9 PM, initially (but

your enterprise may be in a location with many offices that might want lunchtime deliveries). The delivery employees may

also be able to cover the other staff’s dinner breaks etc.

Wages

All staff should get the so-called living wage. This is still only at the level of the Netherland’s minimum wage, where

almost everything is much cheaper. Too many people’s salaries in Britain do nothing more than keep them in poverty;

this practice has no future in any western country in the 21st century. Outside London, the current living wage is 7

pounds and 45 pence per hour. In principle, the employees will also receive a tax-free vacation bonus at the end of May

and a tax-free Christmas bonus; these can be in the form of supermarket gift cards. These bonuses are not part of the

employment contracts. This ensures some flexibility, as well as a pleasant surprise for the employees in the first year of

operations. (In the Netherlands, all employees receive a vacation bonus consisting of at least (legally required) 8% of a

year’s gross pay, on top of the wages. Income taxes on Dutch vacation bonuses are higher than on regular wages.

Staff will enjoy a discount on all food, drinks and ice cream.

~~~~~

7.0 Implementation

Beginning

If you like the idea presented in this report, and would like to take up this challenge in your town, start going on long

walks. Take photos here and there, observe what is going on, and see if you can spot any suitable empty buildings.

Obviously, the suitable building does not have to be derelict, but empty buildings often are and it can obscure their

potential usefulness.

Check into your council’s planning process. Your council may for instance have an e-mail service that sends you the

minutes of the planning committee meetings. See if you can attend a meeting. It will give you some insight into how

things are done in your town, and an idea of the ins and outs of getting the required permissions.

Once you’ve found suitable buildings, go to the web site of the land registry and obtain records of who owns each

building, for how much it was purchased in what year, and possibly other details, such as existing leases. Find out

whether there are any plans for the building. Check your local planning minutes, and you may find that the owner of a

particular building has submitted plans for converting the building into flats, but has been turned down several times.

Develop your plans, do some calculations, and meet with the owner. If the owner does not treat you with professional

courtesy and for example does not even offer you a view of the building plans either, ask yourself whether this person

would be an asset or a liability within the context of your plans. No matter how suitable a building, an owner who is not

very cooperative can cause your plans to fail later on.

Photo: The former Havana Bar is very suitable but its footfall is relatively low

Portsmouth, June 2012

Funding may come from various sources. You may already have it in place, but it is more likely that you don’t. The

owner of the building may be willing to renovate the building in any case, and take that part of the budget for his or her

account. You may be able to get a grant if you fit a particular grant’s target category (such as a section of the Prince’s

Trust). You could talk with various banks. You could also try to find local partners, and perhaps set up the enterprise as a

community-based cooperative, with local shareholders. Co-operatives UK and the Cabinet Office call a co-operative a

democratically controlled business, and have various information sheets online. Legally, a co-op is a regular enterprise,

but it can differ in how you run it.

You will also have to find an accountant, and various other consultants. You need to talk with your council, and find out

what permits and applications you need, also with regard to renovating and upgrading the building.

This is obviously not an exhaustive list. You will need to talk with all sorts of people, locally and elsewhere, to see what is

required and what is possible.

Renovating the building

You have to make sure that the renovation turns out the way you want it. It is hard to correct mistakes later that could

have been avoided through good supervision. You can do this yourself, or in conjunction with a consultant who

represents you on the site, and can make decisions on your behalf.

Sourcing for your products

You have to develop your sourcing very carefully. You may be able to do that while the building is being renovated.

Consult the owners of successful established businesses who are at such distances that they will feel no competition from

you. Hire consultants during the startup phase if you lack experience and expertise in some of the food areas you cover.

Consider going on a purchasing expedition with someone who does have the experience and expertise.

Some suppliers offer training for new clients. Some suppliers also happily offer the first batch or first order for free. It is

in the suppliers’ interest to help you get started and keep you up and running, and you can work with that.

You have to start experimenting with the falafel and all other foods that you have decided to make on location. Order

ingredients from various suppliers to learn how the differences work out. Go for the best taste experience, but do not be

the sole judge of that and get test panels in.

As emphasized before, you must make your own falafel. It enables you to come up with the best possible quality as well

as cut costs. Falafel can be frozen, kept stored frozen, and thawed prior to use. You will have to order the pitta breads

from a supplier. Again, I suggest that you include your own pickled ginger among your pickled foods. Falafel bars rarely

offer pickled ginger and having pickled ginger enables you to distinguish yourself. If you pickle our own ginger, you will

save on costs, and are able to create exactly what you want. Your customers either love ginger or hate ginger, but those

who hate it can easily avoid it and won’t have a problem with it. Ginger lovers will greatly appreciate having the ginger

option, and may even seek you out for that reason. You may (have to) make your other pickled vegetables as well.

Order the tacos, tortillas and the like from a supplier. Obtain beef, cheese from another one. A third one will be the

source of the vegetables for the falafel bar as well.

You will very likely have to process potatoes and fish on-site, make your own batter. You will have to find sources for

several sauces, including ketchup and mayonnaise.

Pricing

Carefully weigh your desired markup versus desired turnover. Pricing is very important. Find the right spot. Test your

pricing options during the test panel sessions. Menu deals – providing good value – are a must. Below are some data for

comparison.

A portion of fish & chips tends to cost around 4 pounds.

Taco Bell’s products all cost 99p in the UK. McDonalds has many items for 99p as well. You cannot compete with that,

but you can have some items that cost only 99p to cover some of that market segment.

TacoMundo has a wide range of prices, with increments of only 20 eurocents, starting at €2.25, and going up to €6.95

(except multi-product combinations).

Greggs uses various prices as well, starting with drinks at 1 pound 85, and products at 2 pounds 15, 2 pounds 40 and the

like.

Test panels and finding job applicants

The ground floor will be finished first. In the month before opening, run at least four sessions of about 2 hours to which

you invite, say, 20 volunteers from the public, which can include potential job candidates. These sessions will test

different food varieties as well as pricing. They can also give you a chance to observe potential job candidates in a more

or less operational setting in which they will be more relaxed and more genuine than in job interviews.

The idea is to hand everyone 10 or 20 pounds “spending money”, which can be in the form of coupons, and ask them to

go to the counters and buy food. Monitor and evaluate what happens; set this up in detail in advance. Have a list of

questions for them, let them try and vote on recipe variations and the like.

It is also a great way to start creating a buzz, create word of mouth prior to opening.

You can liaise with the Job Centre regarding job applicants and work placements, but also hand out flyers during the test

panel sessions to find good candidates. Better yet, include the question in your session questionnaire. “Would you like to

work here? If so, why and in what capacity?”

Online publicity

Set up at least a Twitter account. A Facebook page used to be a good idea until Facebook started limiting the (unpaid)

reach of Facebook pages in the second half of 2012. You may be better off starting a blog on Wordpress.com in

conjunction with your Twitter account. See also the chapter titled “Marketing Strategy”. Don’t do it on your own, but get

good advice.

Staff training

Train your staff in the week(s) before opening. This training will include obtaining food hygiene certificates for those

who don’t have them yet, and health and safety matters. It will also result in the establishment of preliminary Standard

Operating Procedures, to be included in manuals for each section of the enterprise. The first-level food hygiene courses

can be taken online for as little as about 25 pounds, but it would be better to hire someone from your local college to

conduct a session on-site.

Waste

Millions of tons of food are wasted in the UK every year, representing an almost unimaginably large financial waste. It is

costing us all twelve billion pounds per year (also related to having to transporting the waste). Waste no food. Certainly in

the beginning, when it is hard to know how much product to have ready, and when, you will end up with waste at the

end of the day. Start discounting it at a certain time (words tend to spread about such things) and make sure that any

leftover food gets used in a responsible manner that has no legal implications. You could make it available for free at the

close of business or have one of your local shelters for the homeless collect it. You would still be saving costs, as it would

require just as much processing, but no additional costs. It makes you a more sustainable, more responsible business.

~~~~~

8.0 Financials

You will likely be able to turn over anywhere between 450,000 to 1,200,000 pounds per year. I made operational

calculations for a 650,000 pound turnover and several scenarios (not included in this report). The less money you need to

borrow, the better. If you manage to start with a loan of 600,000 pounds for five years at 8 per cent, you end up paying

12,165.83 per month.

You’ll probably be operating at a small loss in the beginning, and it is important that your funding does include large

enough buffers to get you through any startup hiccups. The details of your operating budget depend on your location,

how you source your supplies, the deals you can make with your suppliers and how good you are at effective cost-cutting

(in a way that does not affect your customers negatively and would hurt your business).

Approximate startup budgets, including a rough estimate of the renovation costs for a three-storey building with a

surface of 500 square meters and an operational buffer, are included on the following few pages. These budgets have a

lot of room in them. They give you an idea of what you can work with, a basis you can develop. Also, keep in mind that

if your building requires a great deal of work, the value of the property will have increased after the renovation. The value

of any surrounding properties will have risen as well.

The electronic publishing format does not allow the inclusion of tables, tabs or multiple spaces, which limits the layout

possibilities, but makes it easier to read on smaller screens. The budgets are based on worst-case scenarios, and contain

substantial posts for unforeseen expenses as well as posts that are very rough estimates. Aim at staying dramatically under

budget, in other words.

Premises - startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

Building report by a two chartered building surveyors: 5,000

Building regulation fees: 1,232

Design fees, planning fees, engineer’s fees and supervision: quotations needed

Roof repairs or replacement: 20,000

Cavity insulation: 2,500

Window replacement (for 20 windows at 400 each): 8,000

Repair/replace gutters and rain pipes: 5,000

Gutting and rewiring: 15,000

Installing central heating: 50,000

Floors: 2,000

Repairs if mould damage in beams, floors etc (dry rot, wet rot): 10,000

Dry rot treatment: 10,000

Replastering: 10,000

Paint outside and inside: 5,000

Check and update gas supply: 1,000

Check and update all plumbing and sewerage: 5,000

Woodworm treatment (pesticide) if required: 7,500

Repair collapsed ceilings, if present: 7,500

Replace doors (20 doors at 700 each): 14,000-

Clean up garden/terrace, repave/repair: 5,000

Create access ramps for handicapped people: 500

Prepare first floor and living quarters: 10,000

Arrange wifi hotspot or similar: 4,000

Install three bathrooms on the two upper floors: 3,000

Total expenditure renovation premises: 201,932

Management - startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

Anti-slip vinyl floor (industrial grade, 20 square meter): 400

Telephones, two: 40

Answering machine: 30

Fax machine: 60

Business phone line connection: 120

Computer: 500

Business software – accounting: 135

Business software – payroll: 120

Printer (laser, black and white): 100

Filing cabinet: 90

Chair – executive: 150

Desk (large): 120

Chairs – basic, two: 70

Shelving (2 meter high, 5 shelves): 300

Safe: 300

Security shutters: 11,400

Cash carrying case with alarm, two: 400

Burglar alarm system: 600

Closed circuit TV system (DIY kit): 350

Four-year-old small van (good condition): 3,600

Consultant ice cream: 5,000

Consultant falafel: 5,000

Consultant Tex-Mex: 5,000

Consultant fish & chips: 5,000

Social media consultant/Designer (branding): 5,000

Accountant and legal: 5,000

Licenses, utility deposit etc: 4,000

Insurance: 4,000

Opening inventory: 16,000

Supplies: 8,000

Operating buffer: 100,000

Total expenditure management: 180,885

Break room - startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

Kettle: 15

Domestic microwave oven: 60

Sink unit (stainless steel): 100

Dining table (4 covers): 100

Dining chairs, four: 200

Toilet (pan and cistern excl. plumbing): 240

Large toilet roll dispenser: 40

Hand basin (wall mounted hand basin):

Slow-release push taps: 90

Soap dispenser: 50

Hot-air hand drier, Dyson air blade: 700

(Fast and hygienic, according to Harvard research; provides substantial savings over a year relative to paper)

Paper towel dispenser: 40

Anti-slip vinyl floor (industrial grade) for 30 square meter (including hallways, toilets): 600

A radio/CD player: 40

Total expenditure break room: 2,335

Delivery - startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

Insulated delivery hot bag, twelve: 480

Motorbike pizza delivery box, four: 300

Web site with order system: 10,000

Telephones, two: 40

Mobile phone packages, two: 400

Answering machine: 30

Fax machine: 60

Business phone line connection: 120

Till (itemized receipts and other features): 250

Credit card swipe machines, two: 300

Bank note checking pens, four: 20

Computer: 500

Laser printer, color: 150

Filing cabinet: 90

Kitchen roll and clear film dispensers: 100

Desk (large): 120

Chairs, basic, two: 70

Shelving (2 meter high, 5 shelves): 150

Insect killer (UV light): 70

Hygienic wall cladding panel (240 x 120cm), ten: 200

Anti-slip vinyl floor (industrial grade) 20 square meter: 400

Closed circuit TV system (DIY kit): 350

100cc motorbike/scooter: 2,600

Three-wheel Piaggio delivery van: 4,000

Shop fittings/fixtures: 10,000

Other expenses: 10,000

Total expenditure delivery: 40,800

Customer facilities - startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

Toilets (pan and cistern excl. plumbing), four: 480

Large toilet roll dispensers, four: 80

Hand basins (wall mounted hand basin), four: 120

Slow-release push taps, four: 180

Soap dispensers, four: 100

Hot air hand drier, Dyson air blade, two: 1400

Anti-slip vinyl floor (industrial grade) for 40 square meter: 800

Total expenditure customer facilities: 3,160

Minimart - startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

General-purpose multi-tier shelving (ten meter): 1,000

Magazine display shelving, two meter: 400

Stainless steel railing per m and one turnstile: 2,000

Checkout counter: 450

Till: 250

Anti-slip vinyl floor (industrial grade), 100 square meter: 2,000

Photocopier (professional quality): 1,000

Closed-circuit TV system (DIY kit): 350

Total expenditure minimart: 7,450

Ice cream section - startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

Stainless preparation table/work surface (1.8 m): 200

Display counter (2 m wide): 350

Ice cream display cabinet: 500

Glass-fronted display refrigerator (single door): 600

Deep freeze: 450

Coffee/cappuccino machine: 1,500

Commercial double stainless-steel sink: 700

Scrap bin (metal box, no lid): 150

Kitchen utensils: 800

Insect killer (UV light): 70

Ten hygienic wall cladding panels (240 x 120cm): 200

Anti-slip vinyl floor (industrial grade) 100 sq m: 2,000

Dining chairs, sixteen: 800

Four dining tables (4 covers each): 400

Basic cutlery, crockery, glassware (20 settings): 200

Glass-fronted display freezer (single door): 1,100

Five catering aprons: 50

Six traditional stainless steel ice cream scoops: 48

Six ice cream spatulas (for filling tubs etc): 60

Two water wells with sections to rinse and store scoops: 70

Two cornet stands: 40

(Cornet stands are often missing in Britain and that increases wait time)

Two cone dispensers: 120

Glass-fronted drinks refrigerator: 450

Kitchen roll and clear film dispensers: 100

Two telephones: 40

Business phone line connection: 120

Till (itemized receipts and other features): 250

Credit card swipe machine: 150

Bank note checker – UV: 5

Desk (large): 120

Chairs – basic, two: 70

PC workstation: 70

Shelving (2 meter high, 5 shelves), 1 meter: 150

Anti-slip linoleum (industrial grade) 100 square meter: 2,000

Burglar alarm system: 600

Security shutters: 1,900

Under-till bank note box: 120

Anti-snatch till screen: 50

External front fascia sign: 400

Free-standing pavement sign/sandwich board: 60

Illustrated and illuminated menu display: 1,000

Premises: 50,000

Shop fittings/fixtures: 10,000

Other expenses: 10,000

Total expenditure ice cream section: 88,063

Tex-Mex section - startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

Vegetable preparation machine – catering: 900

Stainless preparation table (for cutting up vegetables etc) (1.8m): 200

Display counter (2m wide): 350

Scrap bin (metal box, no lid): 150

Glass-fronted drinks refrigerator: 450

Refrigerated storage/preparation counter (1.8m): 1,000

Commercial cooker: 1,000

Large refrigerator for catering/commercial storage: 600

Glass-fronted display refrigerator (single door): 600

Deep freeze: 450

Microwave (combination commercial oven): 900

Coffee/cappuccino machine: 1,500

Electric grill: 250

Water boiler: 200

Commercial double stainless-steel sink: 700

Kitchen utensils, four sets: 800

Insect killer (UV light): 70

Kitchen roll and clear-film dispensers: 100

Ten hygienic wall cladding panels (240 x 120cm): 200

Anti-slip vinyl floor (industrial grade), 100 sq m: 2,000

Dining chairs, twelve: 600

One large dining table (seating 12): 1,000

Basic cutlery, crockery, glassware (twenty settings): 200

Extractor unit for commercial kitchen: 600

Electronic weighing scales, 10 kg: 200

Five catering aprons: 50

Bank note checker – UV: 5

Two telephones: 40

Till (itemized receipts and other features): 250

Credit card swipe machine: 150

Desk, large: 120

Two basic chairs: 70

PC workstation: 70

Shelving (2 meter high, 5 shelves), 1 meter: 150

Anti-slip linoleum (industrial grade) , 100 square meters: 2,000

Burglar alarm system: 600

Security shutters: 1,900

Under-till bank note box: 120

Anti-snatch till screen: 50

External front fascia sign: 400

Free-standing pavement sign/sandwich board: 60

Illustrated and illuminated menu display: 1,000

Premises: 50,000

Shop fittings/fixtures: 10,000

Other expenses: 10,000

Total expenditure Tex-Mex section: 92,055

Falafel section - startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

Clear-film wrapping and sealing machine: 400

Vegetable preparation machine – catering: 900

Stainless preparation table for cutting-up vegetables etc (1.8m): 200

Display counter (2m wide): 350

Refrigerated storage/preparation counter (1.8m): 1,000

Scrap bin (metal box, no lid): 150

Glass-fronted drinks refrigerator: 450

Commercial cooker: 1,000

Large refrigerator for catering/commercial storage: 600

Glass-fronted display refrigerator (single door): 600

Deep freeze: 450

Microwave (combination commercial oven): 900

Coffee/cappuccino machine: 1,500

Electric grill: 250

Water boiler: 200

Commercial food mixer: 750

Commercial double stainless-steel sink: 700

Kitchen utensils, four sets: 800

Insect killer (UV light): 70

Ten hygienic wall cladding panels (240 x 120 cm): 200

Anti-slip vinyl floor (industrial grade), 100, square meter: 2,000

Dining chairs, sixteen: 800

Four dining tables (4 covers each): 400

Basic cutlery, crockery, glassware (twenty settings): 200

Extractor unit for commercial kitchen: 600

Electronic weighing scales, 10 kg: 200

Five catering aprons: 50

Kitchen roll and clear film dispenser: 100

Bank note checker – UV: 5

Two telephones: 40

Business phone line connection: 120

Till (itemized receipts and other features): 250

Credit card swipe machine: 150

Large desk: 120

Two basic chairs: 70

PC workstation: 70

Shelving (2 meter high, 5 shelves), 1 meter: 150

Burglar alarm system: 600

Security shutters: 1,900

Under-till bank note box: 120

Anti-snatch till screen: 50

External front fascia sign: 400

Free standing pavement sign/sandwich board: 60

Illustrated and illuminated menu display: 1,000

Premises: 50,000

Shop fittings/fixtures: 10,000

Other expenses: 10,000

Total expenditure falafel section: 90,925

Fish & chips section - startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

Stainless-steel preparation table (1.8m): 200

Display counter (2m wide): 350

Deep freeze: 450

Microwave (combination commercial oven): 900

Commercial double stainless-steel sink:700

Insect killer (UV light): 70

Ten hygienic wall cladding panels (240 x 120cm): 200

Anti-slip vinyl floor (industrial grade), 100 square meter: 2,000

Dining chairs, sixteen: 800

Four dining tables (4 covers each): 400

Basic cutlery, crockery, glassware (twenty settings): 200

Fish-frying range (3-pan system): 10,000

(a reconditioned fish frying range may cost you 6,000)

Potato peeler: 2,500

Eyeing tank: 700

Chipping machine: 1,700

Four plastic chip tubs: 30

Fish refrigerator: 1,500

Electric batter mixer: 600

Bain Marie, for keeping gravy, peas and sauces warm: 200

Cutting up table (stainless steel): 250

Scrap bin (metal box, no lid): 150

Boiling hob: 230

Glass-fronted drinks refrigerator: 450

Batter tin: 90

Preparation utensils: 600

Oil and fat filter: 2,000

Extractor unit for commercial kitchen: 600

Kitchen roll and clear film dispensers: 100

Electronic weighing scales, 10 kg: 200

Five catering aprons: 50

Bank note checker – UV: 5

Two telephones: 40

Business phone line connection: 120

Till (itemized receipts and other features): 250

Credit card swipe machine: 150

Large desk: 120

Two basic chairs: 70

PC workstation: 70

Shelving (2 meter high, 5 shelves), 1 meter:

Burglar alarm system: 600

Security shutters: 1,900

Under-till bank note box: 120

Anti-snatch till screen: 50

External front fascia sign: 400

Free-standing pavement sign/sandwich board: 60

Illustrated and illuminated menu display: 1,000

Premises: 50,000

Shop fittings/fixtures: 10,000

Other expenses:10,000

Total expenditure fish & chips section: 103,325

Terrace - startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

Four parasols: 240:

Eight tables, octagonal, each with four chairs: 2,400

Total expenditure terrace: 2,640

Maximum total startup costs (estimates in pound sterling)

Premises: 201,932

(These costs can be much less in reality, and may even be close to zero.)

Management: 180,885

Break room: 2,335

Delivery services: 40,800

Customer facilities: 3,160

Minimart: 7,450

Ice cream section: 88,063

Tex-Mex section: 92,055

Falafel section: 90,925

Fish & chips section: 103,325

Terrace: 2640

Total: 813,570

~~~~~

9.0 Key factors for success

1. Quality, quality, quality.

Quality, quality, quality is one of the mantras you must implement by providing the example, by setting the standard. You

will, for instance, demonstrate good manners by replying properly to all job applications. It shows your employees as well

as your potential customers that you care. Applicants and their friends and family are also potential customers and you

must never underestimate the power of a tweet by a disgruntled applicant. Your employees and applicants are an

important source of word-of-mouth publicity. In practice, they are also often the ones who provide online reviews or

comment on other people’s reviews. Treat your applicants the way you would like to be treated if you were in their shoes.

Fairly, and respectfully.

Any cost-cutting you do must never put customer satisfaction at risk. The customers may not be able to define what

exactly they want or be able to define “quality”, but they know exactly when it is lacking or deteriorating. You will never

be able to please everyone, but you must aim at keeping your fans happy and bring you more fans and add to the

atmosphere.

It is fine to save five pounds per binder by putting reports into binders rather than having them bound, but it is wrong to

source cheaper yet inferior ingredients. Cost-cutting can be achieved by for example sourcing your supplies well and

seeking deals with the suppliers. Suppliers benefit from you growing your business and staying in business.

Read some books by Joanna Blythman such as “Shopped”.

2. Involve the customers

Distributed a questionnaire among your staff and customers once or twice a year. Ask about opening hours, speed of

service, the menu, pricing and other matters. Whenever you need to make a decision that could affect customer

experience, you have to involve the customers. You can hand them voting coupons. You can get them in for taster

sessions and let them decide which variety they like best. It strengthens your ties with the surrounding community and

again emphasizes that you care. It makes your customers feel that they matter, and that is important.

Customers want good food, and good service, with a smile. They want to feel welcome, and they want to feel that you

care about what you do and what they think of it. They also like a physical environment that is welcoming, warm and

comfortable, and ideally also entertaining.

3. Keep track of waiting times and keep them short

Longer waiting times mean less growth. Period.

4. Quality of any entertainment you offer

The face-painters and balloon sculptors and other forms of entertainment on the premises must not disappoint. It is

better to spend a little bit more than risk disappointing your customers. They will associate such disappointment with

your establishment, and it is hard to undo such damage. If any of your entertainers work with children, have them

checked out through various channels, not just one.

5. Customer service

This must be excellent. Instead of reasoning with any disgruntled customers, you will listen to them, let them say

everything they want to say, but not in a way that disturbs other customers. Do not disagree with the customer. It is not

about whether the customer is actually right, it is about what the customer FEELS. It is about the customer’s experience.

6. Foreign input

The plan will likely fail without the active involvement of a foreigner. I have lived and worked all over the world, and

have lived in the UK (Hampshire) for eight years now. In my view, some things are absent in the UK because they are

simply not part of the British cultural makeup.

The British, for example, often seem to lack long-term vision and have a tendency to cut corners in a manner that they

possibly think nobody else will notice. Unfortunately, these shortcuts do get noticed and can have a profound effect on

your customers. It is bad for business. Also, a lot of the cost-cutting I see in the UK may cut costs on the very short

term, but often leads to greater spending slightly further down the road and to decreases efficiency. This means that

some activities cost much more time and money than they should, and it can even lead to problems such as mold growth

on walls in the case of the often seen use of cheaper but entirely unsuitable wall paints.

In my experience, it comes from a poverty mindset – Britain is not a wealthy country – and I want you to operate with a

mindset of generosity and abundance, combined with street smarts and intelligence. You do not want your customers to

perceive your establishment as radiating shabbiness and lack of care. You also do not want any routine activity that

should take only five minutes to consume fifteen or fifty minutes – unless the latter yields obvious benefits.

Another apparently British trait is what I perceive as sloppiness and lack of pride in one’s work. When I was a child

growing up in the Netherlands, I learned that one should never buy a car if it said “Made in England” because English

products were known to be shoddy, put together cheaply and carelessly. This is meant as an observation, not a judgment.

It’s like stating that there are many more words for snow in the Eskimo language than there are in English or Spanish.

The reference framework is simply different. Every culture comes with its own strengths, weaknesses and peculiarities,

and whatever a person grows up with and lives with is perceived as normal. If a car said “Made in Germany”, you went

for it. That is what I was taught as a kid, as the Germans are known for their extreme thoroughness.

The Dutch have the tendency to over-regulate, over-negotiate, and over-discuss, but like the Germans, the Dutch are

very efficient and thorough. What the British lack in some areas, they make up for in flexibility and in a characteristic

form of ingenuity which can be a tremendous asset. The Dutch, on the other hand, can be extremely rigid, just to give

you an example of a Dutch weakness. The British can certainly be very stubborn, too, but mainly as a means of pressure

to achieve what they want.

If you want to know a bit more about how even concepts like time and honesty differ across cultures, I recommend

reading the following books:

- Francis Fukuyama – Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity

- Richard D. Lewis – When Cultures Collide: Managing Successfully Across Cultures

- Thomas Friedman – The Lexus and the olive tree

The second book is written by a Briton, Richard Lewis. If you’re British, you may be surprised about some of the things

Lewis has to say about his own country and about how it is perceived by other nations.

7. British input

If you are a foreigner, and are interested in taking this on in the UK, consider hiring a British man as a front. Try to find

one who has worked abroad for several years and knows how to deal with foreigners as well as with British people.

British culture is very different from other western cultures, and it is not a good idea to navigate this minefield on your

own. Britain is the only western society that I am aware of that uses a class system and British culture may have a lot

more in common with Japanese culture than with, say, American culture than you’d expect. At first sight, Britain’s

pervasive inequality may be similar to that of the States, but its background and workings are very different.

Especially if you are a strong, highly independent and confident woman, Britain can be difficult to come to grips with.

The British don’t like seeing confidence in a woman. As Evening Standard columnist Helen Kerwan-Taylor phrased it on

the MSNBC's Today Show when Barack and Michelle Obama were visiting: “The British … like their women to be

subdued and doe-eyed and sort of modest and soft-spoken”. Something similar was said to a very talented and confident

foreign woman who was a candidate on the UK’s version of The Apprentice. It may all have to be seen against the

background of Britain’s class system and Victorian values, both still very much alive today.

I still remember my shock when, shortly after my arrival in this country, an accountant volunteered the information that

it was safe for me, as a woman, to attend Chamber of Commerce meetings. Never before in my life had I encountered

any concern regarding whether a business event was safe to attend. The playful disdain so fondly lavished on women in

Britain can be quite appalling if you are not used to it; its undertone is loud and clear.

Add to that the confusing fact that in Britain, a verbal attack can signify a willingness to negotiate, whereas foreigners are

usually taken aback by such an approach. (Watch some Parliament sessions, and you may start to understand.) On the

other hand, a foreigner’s open and honest attitude is often met with suspicion in the UK (see also Lewis, on insularity)

and friendliness can be seen as a sign of weakness. When you start mastering the British style of communication,

communicating with people in other countries can become more difficult for you, but it helps to be aware of these

processes.

Britain’s north-south divide runs through this, of course. Up north, the situation is different, particularly relative to habits

maintained in the south-east.

Cultural differences are hard to explain and can be difficult to overcome. In reality, it can go somewhat as follows. Some

people like to eat vegetables, others prefer cakes and yet others want to eat bricks and wood. The ones who want veggies

actually say out loud that they like veggies, whereas the ones who want a cake say that they want to eat a turtle and the

ones who want bricks and wood ask for a glass of water. So when the person who likes veggies asks for a glass of water,

he or she will get a plate with a brick and some wood shavings and when you give a cake to the person who likes cakes,

he or she will say "What a lovely turtle!" Fortunately, in this example, everyone uses the same word for vegetables and

that can be the starting point toward bridging the gap.

In his book, Richard Lewis recommends the use of humor, but in order to do that, you have to understand and know

how to apply British humor. Lewis warns that the British can use humor as a weapon, and that they can use it cruelly to

ridicule foreigners. If you apply humor incorrectly, it can backfire. If you fail to understand a Briton’s humorous remarks,

it can cost you his or her respect as it can mark you as “dimwitted”. A lot of British humor is at the expense of someone

else and most of it carries sexual innuendo of a kind that we foreigners often stumble in the dark about or that would get

us sued or fired in other countries. Note also that different rules apply to men and women; women are not necessarily

allowed to make the same type of jokes as men. I have found that jokes that include mild flattery do often work well

(“Thank you for having delivered that sunshine today”). Apologies work well too, regardless as to whether you feel you

have something to apologize about. You may also have to become more playful than you used to be.

I am not trying to put you off, just prepare you. The UK can be great fun for anyone who likes pulling off giant

challenges. The rewards can be just as gigantic, of course, and you may be fortunate enough to discover that Britain is

also good at hiding some of its secret positive sides. So, read Richard Branson’s autobiography and pay attention to what

he writes about British Airways, go see the movie The Queen as well as the one in which Meryl Streep plays Margaret

Thatcher, and read what Richard Lewis has to say about the British and about other cultures in his book. And please be

aware that any BBC programs you watch in your home country may not be representative for what the average Briton

sees on TV.

8. Cleanliness and excellence

Keep everything squeaky clean, including your bathrooms, even though cleanliness is not a typically British trait. Do not

keep things clean because the law requires it, but because otherwise, your customers might have a reason not to return, or

worse, your customers may contract illnesses. Go beyond what is legally required, in everything you do. Strive to excel.

Dare to excel!

9. Good lighting

Hire an expert. Good lighting is an art and a science. Replace broken light bulbs promptly.

10. Avoid old telephone lines

Avoid old telephone lines and do not combine adsl services with old-fashioned telephone lines. Get modern cable

services, even though it may cost you 6,000 pounds or more for digging up pavements and laying cables to have cable

installed. Your customers have to be able to reach you.

#####

About this report

As explained in the beginning, this report is the result of the author’s own observations and insights combined with the

fact that she misses certain foods in the UK.

This report comes without any guarantees, and is offered purely on an “as is” basis. The author accepts no liability for

any decisions you make or actions you take or decide not to, whether on the basis of this report or not. That includes the

decision to buy this report.

The author does apologize to any British persons who have bought this report and feel offended by some of the remarks

about British habits and British society, and hopes that they will contact her and offer her their feedback. It is not the

author’s intent to offend, merely to clarify and prepare. The author learned most of these things the hard way and simply

is trying to pave the way for others and is aware that her personal experiences can have created a biased view of certain

issues.

The author took the photos that are included in this report.

About the author

Angelina Souren is a Dutch geologist and marine biogeochemist who has many other skills. She worked in tourism for

five years prior to her academic education and training as a geologist. She became been self-employed in 1997, and has

worked in many customer-oriented and retail environments as well as in several countries. She served grits and toast for

breakfast and ate hominy in Florida, sold hot sausage rolls and coffee from booths at Amsterdam’s Central Station,

stacked dairy shelves in a supermarket in Anstelveen, and carried out various other activities in food and retail. She also

makes and provides art reproductions as “Touches by Angelina”. When she grew up, several of her relatives ran their

own agricultural enterprises, on both sides of the family. Several other relatives including her father were in retail, all in

their own businesses, and one of her younger relatives happens to be a very successful retailer as well. Her maternal

grandmother was a professional cook for wealthy families, until she married.

If you want to get in touch with Angelina, you can do so via the links on her author page at Smashwords.com among

other things.