Do You Have A Lot On Your Plate?
Here in the UK, we love a viral food sensation – whether that’s Dubai chocolate, hot honey, matcha or anything ‘smashed – while ‘foodies’ are always on the look out for the latest world cuisine to try.
Nearby Tunbridge Wells has recently seen Vietnamese street food arrive with the opening of the chain Pho, while Mexcellent is also fairly new in town, offering ‘authentic Mexican and Latin food’. Due to open soon is Kochi, which focuses on the latest TikTok sensation, Japanese souffle pancakes!
Opening a restaurant is a big decision for any potential business owner but, nowadays, there are a variety of different ways paths to achieving that. One way that a food operator can ‘test the market’ is by partnering with an established business that has a kitchen, such as a pub. Again, in Tunbridge Wells, Roddyburger – which has run from a site in Camden Road for a number of years – started from a pub kitchen.
On the company’s website, owner Richard Oddy explains: “The pandemic and lockdown came out of the blue and I found myself with a job and without access to a good burger. So, after a bit of investigation, I approached a local pub what was closed, rented their kitchen and set about creating the best possible burgers.”
More recently, Korean food has arrived in Tunbridge Wells, thanks to Korean Street Baguette, created in the kitchen of The Prince of Wales Pub in the centre of town. Here people can enjoy delicious Korean dishes, including crispy fried chicken and traditional rice bowls known as bibimbaps. While, also on offer are the company’s original baguettes.
Korean Street Baguette began life selling through apps including Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats and many food businesses start like this from what are sometimes known as ‘ghost kitchens’ (with no physical dining space). Food apps typically ask for a percentage of each sale but, in return, businesses benefit from marketing and deliveries and can, of course, take this into account when setting prices
Alternatively, we’ve seen other food businesses begin trading from vans – with the flexibility to move from regular pitches in towns to providing food options at festivals and fetes. Again, this can be a good way of ‘testing the water’ locally before taking the plunge to launch a physical restaurant (with its associated costs). Other entrepreneurs run restaurant experiences in their own homes – such as Sofia’s Columbian Kitchen in Tunbridge Wells and Crows Nest Supper Club in Crowborough.
Buying into a franchise is another way of launching a food business and it comes with the support and guidance of an established brand. McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, Creams, Kokoro, German Doner Kebab and Costa, for example, are all high street brands run by individual business owners.
The British Franchise Association states: “Starting a business is inherently risky, but franchising significantly reduces these risks. With a success rate of over 95% for new franchisees, compared to just 60% for independent startups, franchising provides a safer route to business ownership.”
Here at Lewis & Co we have worked with a number of food franchisees over the years – helping them to secure their particular franchise and supporting them as they build their business.
Some franchisees take over an existing franchise operation – rather than launching a new site – and, in this case, we can help with some initial due diligence, such as understanding the previous years’ accounts and highlight any discrepancies or aspects that might need questioning.
We also provide our accountancy services to a number of other food-related businesses, including the Earl Grey Tearooms, just along the road from us in Southborough. They offer delicious coffee and hot chocolate, as well as tea and stunning cakes, among other treats. We also work with a number of pubs and restaurants, a local butcher and a fish and chip shop, as well as some street food and outside catering businesses.
If you run a food business of any kind and would like some help with your accounts – because you’ve simply got a lot on your plate – we’d love to hear from you; tel: 01892 513515 or email: info@lewisandco.biz