I am looking to approach a Business property owner that owns a property that he shut down over a year ago. It was a gourmet grocery store/deli Reasoning for closing was business was outsourced by competition down the road.

I am considering opening the place as a Resturant with more on the lines of comfort foods and deserts, on the fast food side.

With Friday and Saturday nights having some kind of entertainment venues with dinner. I am in need of ideas of what would be a fair deal for the both of us involved. Such as percentage of gross?

Alittle background from myself, no investors yet with NO capital.Which also means I have no money for RENT and all expenses upfront.

The building is very new and has all the equiptment all still intact and in great shape, that would get me going, with some tlc and removal of alot of outdated foods and general cleaning. Thinking it is about 31,000. sq ft in total.

As for investors, what would be a fair offer to them for loaning the monies, of course depending on how much they are investing.
I am in the process of getting my business plan built BUT feel very overwhelmed on where to begin.

I appreciate all the help I can get......

Thanks a Million

Debbie
My investment monies would pay for food, advertising, utilities, and so on.

Debbie...

First you have to decide if you are looking for investors or lenders. You mention loaning you money and then use the term investing. You'll have to decide which you want, lenders or investors and more importantly, which you can get. Historically, banks (lenders) hate loaning for restaurants and without either having a co-signer or a substantial investment on your part and sterling credit a bank probably won't touch it...especially in the current economic environment. The current economic environment is something you should evaluate in depth before you take this leap. Not only will the economy make finding capital difficult, it also means that as people are faced with hirer credit card interest rates, higher gas prices, re-setting ARMS etc. there will be fewer discretionary dollars for people to dine out.

You might want to go into the other restaurants in your local area and just strike up a conversation with the owner/manager and just casually ask him/her if their business is being affected by the economy.

Assuming all is well and you decide to move forward figure out your capital situation. Lenders these are businesses or people that will lend you money and charge interest. Their return comes from the interest you pay as you pay off the loan. Banks I covered above, but there are also private lenders. I suspect most will want some sort of collateral for a loan. Generally, they want real estate...unless it's family or friends...they may give you a "signature" loan.

Investors is where it gets tricky. You have to think of investors as partners, which they in fact are. They will put up the money in turn for a share of the business. They will receive their return from distribution of profits and through any appreciation (capital gain) should you sell it down the road. Investors can be either "passive" or "active". A passive investor usually doesn't work day to day in the business. An active investor may work in the business and have a say in the day to day running of it. In either case, you have a responsibility to your investors to run the business responsibly, and keep them informed of any material events in the business. This can be done through a "board meeting" held once a month, quarter or annually...whatever is agreed on.

When you've figured out these issues you can go to the SBA website where there is a very good outline for developing your businessplan. It's a very thorough outline and you may not need all of it...you can just use those sections applicable to your situation.
Good luck..
Denny

Thanks so much.........I truly appreciate your insight, and yes I will take your advice and ask area restuarants where they are sitting as well. I dont have credit, so I will have to approach family friends option for start up. So much to think about, but willing to give it a go...

Thanks Again

Debbie

Debbie Boswell