Today I want to talk about what you need to do when you’ve found your ideal pub or bar.
At this point you’ve viewed the property decided you like it and you think you can afford it.
The next stage that you’re probably going to have to take is proving your idea. First thing is you are going to have to find somebody who can help you with a business plan, it might be you’ve had a business before and you’re quite happy doing business plans and cash flow forecasts, if not you need to go and find someone to help.
One way to find that help is to go out wherever you’re living, wherever your area is and find some networking events. They’re great places to find business advisers and accountants who will sit down and who usually will be quite willingly give you probably half hour of their time just to give you an idea about where you should be going.
You might even find someone you want to work with to write those cash flow forecasts and your business plan.
The next stage you need to be thinking about is finding a solicitor who specialises in commercial property. Someone who will understand leases or freehold contracts, so make sure that you know exactly what you are committing to.
It might be also that you’ve got to sell where you currently are to fund the new venue, if so you need to be going through the process just like selling any other house.
Only then do you need to be thinking about the licenses you will need. You will need a personal license, so you need to go and look at getting that, it’s an alcohol personal license, part that is you will need the basic standard DBS check. It just checks your criminal background, if you’ve got nothing to hide then there’s nothing to worry about.
You also need to be talking to your local council to make sure that they know what your licence and what your restrictions are. They need to be aware you are going to be taking over and they will take you through the process. They would rather talk to you at the beginning of the process rather than at the end and find out you’ve done it wrong. If you’ve done it wrong, it can mean you have to close the business until you get your license sorted out.
You can’t get started because you need personal license, you need your DBS check, and the council need to be told of a change of licensing. You also need to find your accountant, get registered with HMRC and all that side of things. Your accountant will take you through that, he/she also should advise you on your tax structure, whether you’ve going to go in a sole trader a partnership or a limited company. Again they’re the experts in that side of it, speak to them.
Gather your experts together and then it should go smoothly.
Coming soon: What will happen the day of takeover.