Make Sure you are Insured

Insurance is vital from a financial viewpoint. There are also legal requirements for employer's and public liability insurance. If you sell products, product liability insurance will protect you if someone injured by a defect in your product successfully sues you.

Are you Covered?

Many people find it hard to imagine that work they have done will result in a claim for hundreds of thousands of pounds. However, most people only contribute a link in a chain, so effects of a mistake can be out of all proportion to their individual contribution. If you offer services or advice you must get adequate professional indemnity insurance. Indemnity cover is needed for years after work has been done, because it has to cover when claim is made. Failure to do this will leave you open to claims that may make you bankrupt!

Terms and Conditions

If you don't spell out in black and white your terms and conditions of trade (T&Cs) you are giving you customers licence to pay you when they feel like it. And if they go into liquidation before paying you, you may not be able to reclaim your goods if you do not have a Retention of Title clause in your Terms & Condition’s. Draft some suitable Terms & Condition’s for your business and ask a solicitor to check them. You must ensure your customer agrees to them, and ideally, signs them when placing an order.

Data Protection

If you keep any information about individuals you may need to notify Data Protection Commissioner. It is not expensive (approximately £35 per year) and very simple to do. However, it is a criminal offence to break law on data protection. If you are caught, you face a fine of £5,000 plus costs in a Magistrate's Court, or an unlimited fine in High Court. Contact your local government who will be able to guide you in right direction to obtaining relevant information.

Read Small Print

Read all loan and overdraft agreements carefully to ensure you understand what you are letting yourself in for. Be very wary of signing personal guarantees. Banks often seek to over secure' their lending. Once you have signed any paperwork you will be legally bound to any terms and conditions that are set out in small print, no matter how unreasonable they may be. It is imperative that you read all small print before signing anything.

Property Pitfalls

Be careful when signing lease agreements, especially for property. Even if you move and sell lease on, you could find yourself liable if next person defaults. Check whether you will be liable to repair and improve property under terms of your lease.

Avoiding legal pitfalls will help ensure that smooth running of your business and will also prevent you from receiving any unwelcome fines.

With a preliminary menu in hand, a prospective operator can target a location that will be convenient and appropriate for their desired clientele. Once a site or facility is selected, sales volumes can be projected based on number of seats, menu pricing and competitive business analysis. With projected sales volumes, how much an operator can spend to acquire, remodel or build a facility is determined. Leases and/or purchase agreements can now be negotiated.

With a clear menu, competitive analysis, sales forecast and development budget, financing can realistically be sought. A business plan can be derived which, if taken to potential investors will demonstrate what type of return they can anticipate on their investment.

Any restaurant business plan must begin with a menu. A proposed menu provides basics for many questions that must be answered during restaurant development process. It creates an image of restaurant, identifies targeted clientele, and defines proposed restaurant's competition. A preliminary menu allows a sound basis for business budgeting, tests potential profitability, and dictates development dollars required for a facility. Most importantly, beginning business planning process with a menu maintains focus of ownership on importance of food and impact it has on success of restaurant.

Written by Monte Zwang of Steele Development Corporation, a consulting firm specializing in business development and financial strategies. You can reach Steele Development by calling 206.878.9666 or online at www.Steeledevelopment.com.