So back in November whilst in Malta for a break and the IPT/EPT there was a pop up stand at the casino from a guy who had about 5 venues in Malta called Dr Juice and he was mobbed with poker players taking his juices, porridge and healthy salads and as I bust everything on day 1 I spent some time in his other venues and contacted him on my return to the UK as I knew he offered an international franchise but as I didnt particularly like his branding and felt the price was a bit high I decided to do a load of research myself rather than spend £40k euro on the franchise rights and then £10k every store that opens.
The research I did was into brands such as Crussh, Leon, Abokado, Psycle and Juice Garden and then when in Sheffield for the GPS stumbled on a little place called Nourish where 3 guys had set up and have now opened there 2nd place in Leeds with them all offering a healthy option breakfast and lunch either food to go venue or eat in with a wide range of juices that supplement the menu.
I realized that positioned right and in the correct locations there was an opportunity to invest in what through my research is a growth market over the next years and with many spin off's that my business plan allows me to do hopefully we will be able to meet our ambitious expansion plans which see us with 5-6 venues in similarly affluent towns or cities to where we launch our first venue in June. There probably isnt a middle ground with this and it may well be a boom or bust scenario with us firmly set up for either eventuality and it wont break us if it did go tits in 2 years time but it will bloody well hurt but there is a massive upside if we get it right which makes it exciting enough to take this punt.
So in December I started working with a branding company and we came up with 4-5 different brands and as our expansion plans see us as a multiple outlet business we have tried to think of this as a "Brand" from day1 which is often hard as you are not trading but hopefully will set us in good stead and in January we decided after being given the proofs of the brands and floating them around people who's judgement we respect and 95% of them came back unguided with the same brand being one they felt comfortable with and one they felt was already familiar to them which was "Juice Kitchen"
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So having researched the local area the best place to launch this for a number of reasons that I will keep to myself for now was Chelmsford but this is the closest City which obviously I can get to in commutable distance so it was a case of finding a premises but we really wanted a high street location but again that comes at a premium price and with all the current development going on in the city rents are absolutely extortionate with 20 doors down from me Pret currently paying £130'000 per annum for a premises that is about half as big as mine.
I spent 6 weeks doing various research on the numbers that the big chains do and the smaller guys to see if I felt I could make it work and also look at staff etc and there is definitely £££ in this city with my average day being 9am-9.30 head count of all 15 bits of competition, 9.30-11.30 sat in a nearby competitor seeing how any people they serve in that 2 hour window and equating an average spend, 11.30-12 another head count in 15 venues, 12-2pm sit in probably my closest competitor in terms of concept and look at the numbers of people they serve and then a final 2.30 head count.
Early in January I viewed for a second time this venue with my designer who has recently designed a bar and grill in the town so has dealt with the planners and has a good idea as to what it will cost me to get the doors open (I had an idea but wanted to know what he thought about cost, concept etc) and having seen it again I made an offer to the landlord who we had met that day in passing whilst looking in the basement. I actually think it was partly this meeting that sealed the premises for me as later that day having sent them a bank statement to prove my covenance and some exerts of my business plan I had an offer accepted and we are now just a few weeks away from being ready on the lease just waiting on planning when we will start the build.
This is the venue with Jamie's Italian right next door at the very top of the High St
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Here it is inside literally still like a C & G with no desks, staff although the safe is still there so I'm hoping I find some loot!
Where it cuts off the second clip takes over and will be the area for the kitchen and customer toilets when you see the plan
So as well as this space upstairs we also have 600sq ft in the basement which will basically be used for kitchen prep, storage and there are staff toilets and a small staff area too with the basement not requiring too much work.
The layout lends itself to the design we have anyway due to the size etc so this is the proposed layout
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and this gives an idea as to the general mood of the place we will be creating being the mood board we came up with recently
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This is an exert from my plan which just gives you an idea as to what we will be doing and some of the associated spin offs that will launch once the shop has started trading in June.
"Juice Kitchen was born from a personal frustration at the lack of healthy eating food to go venues and the Chelmsford premises aims to be the first of a planned roll out of further sites having built an eye catching brand offering a Healthy “Go To” alternative to conventional fast food outlets in our targeted towns and cities.
Juice Kitchen will serve 100% freshly extracted fruit and vegetable based juices, smoothies and delicious healthy, nutritious food from breakfasts, wholesome wraps, soups, salad boxes at an affordable price all made fresh that day in our premises with all the nutritional & macro information transparent.
There are also a number of other associated spin offs that can be built into the business once we are trading to further increase the turnover further including Meal Prep for individual clients, Delivery Service to local businesses, Attending local fetes and festivals, Outside catering service to businesses for meetings, Snack Box subscription, Healthy Honesty Box in local businesses with the whole business having a community aspect to it via working with people less fortunate that others through a “Pay it Forward” loyalty card scheme which will be launched within the first 6 months of trading".
It's probably the most exciting yet scary thing I have done in my life as I am basically "ALL IN" in cash terms on this coupled with the fact I am just taking a survival budget salary for the first 18 months it's a massive investment with the build and equipment being £60k to doors open and is the main reason you wont see me this week at DTD or around the tour stops I used to frequent much (except maybe Southend GPS in March) as eg this week spending £1k plus ex's in Nottingham is the equivalent of a commercial blender for our superfood smoothies (bet none of you thought you would ever hear me saying that!)
Obviously it wont be me cooking the food and I will be working with a manager with me being a trainee manager I suppose to learn but work it 24/7 for hopefully the time when we choose which avenue to expand with and as it's a healthy kitchen I am working with IRaise (Harvey) and Zerofive (Sean) on the nutritional side who will work adhoc alongside myself and the Head Chef in the creation of Nutritious, Healthy and Tasty dishes on a seasonal menu.
We are lucky we have the run in to opening as it gives us time to get things right and drip feed the marketing out there so feel free to like the page on FB (its Juice Kitchen) as the more likes the better even if you are spread around the UK (this is actually better) and I will post more as we go through the process to opening etc
GL to all Blondes at DTD this weekend and I hope to catch up with some in a few weeks at Southend.
Obv if anyone has any questions or suggestions then feel free to post.
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