May 30th, 2013

Will Priestly shares tips on opening a new cafe

Will Priestly says that when he decided to open a cafe he chose the location carefully and decided to move from  Melbourne where he was living, back to his home town of Hobart, Tasmania, because he had a limited budget and wanted to be somewhere where he knew people who could help and support him, and that it was a place where he knew that he could stand out and make an impression.

After four days pounding the pavement and scoping out the locale, he made an offer for a run down second hand shop opposite the main hospital in Hobart.

Priestly says that his first step was to visit the council and warns anyone considering opening a cafe to have patience; that, in hindsight, it would have been much easier to buy an already existing food premises, but that that limits your choice of location.

He explains that there are numerous application processes to go through and that he needed an architect to draw up plans and a building surveyor to check them off.

Priestly gives an idea of what permits are required and the length of wait:

• Change of use permit (42 days)
• Trade waste permit (24 days)
• Building permit (14 days)
• Plumbing permit (14 days)

While the initial plans were awaiting approval Priestly says that he worked through an endless list of tasks including obtaining an ABN, choosing a name, getting a bank loan and relocating back to Tasmania.

Priestly says that it was great to project manage it himself and to put everything down on paper, and that he learned a lot.  He recommends that everyone in the industry should do this, adding that it may change your mind on your business prospects.

Source:

http://www.beanscenemag.com.au/articles/view/lessons-on-opening-a-new-cafe-from-will-priestley-pilgrim-coffee