Hi. I am a business coach and mentor and have started and run many businesses. I would like to understand a bit more about your business aims and goals as well as your investment etc to be able to offer any advice. Regards. Rick

Hi. I am a business coach and mentor. I have started and owned many businesses including property related and online sales. Your question is not clear to me and I would like to know more about your business model, aims and goals. What is the funding for and where is the return? Regards. Rick

Hi. I am a business coach and mentor and a property investor in the UK. As I am sure you know there are a lot of people who have invested abroad in the last decade or so who have had their fingers well and truly burned. I would say to you; proceed with extreme caution. There are a lot of genuine good investments out there which were very poor investments for the current or previous owner. Watch out for properties that still have un-satisfied charges, get your solicitor/legal person to do searches to ensure these are not present. I have clients now who were promised rental incomes from holiday lets, in golf resort locations and sea side resorts, and have had only a handful of bookings. Agents disappear, and building faults don't get fixed. These are real issues and can be avoided very easily by doing your homework and do not buy with your heart, use your head and buy as a business investment with all of the due diligence that goes with that. Stability is a tough one to predict. Now is a great time to bag a bargain as long as you do your homework. I presume you are a cash buyer. Finance may be a problem in many areas due to the current situation with so many of these "investment properties". The areas where lending is possible and the ease of availability is probably a good indication of the quality of the potential investment. Remember that many of the properties that are for sale could have been on the market for years, and for a good reason. Do your homework, buy well and enjoy your investment. Regards. Rick

Hi. This is always an interesting question. What are the opportunities that are possible in Romania? I presume the cost of investment is relatively low compared to the UK. What returns do you see there being for investors and in what types of business. Regards. Rick

Hi. I am a business coach and mentor and have started a number of successful businesses. There is no reason why you can't have two different businesses in the same location. There are two questions I would ask: Will the two businesses work to complement each other? Are there aspects of either business that will adversely affect the other? E.g. The smell of nail products/cleaners in the same area as fresh food products. Could there be questions of hygiene, depending on how the space is separated? I hope this helps give you food for thought. Regards Rick

Hi. I am a business coach and mentor and I also own a building business doing renovations and conversions. My question to you is; What is he actually doing that benefits the business or project and what is the value of that? I would then ask; If you were to bring in outside help to do what he is doing, what would be the cost? Having said that I don't understand why, if you are partners, this hasn't been discussed and agreed before hand. I have seen a number of good businesses get into trouble due to lack of communication between partners. The best advice I would give at this stage, bearing in mind I don't know any more than is in your question, is for you both to sit down together over a coffee and discuss the situation and come to an agreement that is win/win for you both. Feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss getting further help. Regards. Rick 07415984455. I'm back at work on Tuesday if you wish to call then.

Hi. I am a business coach and mentor with experience in many businesses. I make a point of studying different businesses, always looking for an opportunity and wishing to understand the viability af any model. You may find that funding is difficult to find in the form of grants etc because you are basically going to be a sole trader. As you grow your business you will find that there are grants for employers that take on apprentices, which you may well be eligible to do. Currently there is a grant towards training of £1500 and this is to help cover your costs for training that person. As regards the business, there is a good margin to be made here and one big tip is to research your machine thoroughly as servicing can be expensive and is essential. Also breakdown and waiting ages for spare parts will cost you a lot of money in actual bills and lost business. Critical is quality of coffee and image, just look at Costa. Love it or hate it, their model works. I think that the potential for this business is great if you get a good pitch with a high foot fall through out the day. At peak times you will have to be fast to get through the numbers. It will be worth doing a study of similar businesses and note how many drinks they sell each, say 10 mins, and note the business through the day. After the study, do some sums and try to calculate the numbers. It is also worth asking the vendors direct questions as you won't affect their business unless you are next door. With the numbers you should look at lease deals for the machines, including the ones with repair/replacement on breakdown options. You don't want any down time! I hope this helps. Good luck with your venture. Regards. Rick