We’ve been working with many first timer shop owners, and thought we’d start a mini series of articles that help address our most frequently asked questions. Today we’ll be starting with the landlord pack.
Also known as a brand deck or a business plan, this pack is a must do exercise for a first time shop owner. It is a prerequisite for most landlords, as it shows that you are serious and passionate about your plan. It also better illustrates your intentions for their site, and what to expect from you and your business.
When a landlord looks for a new tenant, there are many factors they will consider. For some landlords, they will only look at the figures; how much rent will they get; how financially secure is the new tenant? But there are many out there who support independent businesses, and will appeal to the business they’d be most proud to ‘host’ in their location.
This article is here to help you best compete for these spaces, by demonstrating what you should be conveying to a landlord, and how to appeal to them on different levels.
We’ve created a deck for an imaginary Cafe called Hem - if you’d like a copy of it as a good reference point for your own deck, and a link to some of the online tools we used to create it, enter your email below:
What should my deck include?
Who are you? - If you had 30 seconds to describe your business to an investor, how would you get it across? It’s easy to write pages of information describing your business, but the challenge is compressing it into an easy bite size nugget of information.
Your inspiration - Did you love a cafe you visited in Berlin? Do you only want to use fair trade suppliers in Kenya? What is important to you, and how will your customer respond to it?
What are you selling? - What makes your products unique? Are you selling high end grocery goods? Show a list of the suppliers and why you picked them. Think about including a menu in your proposal.
Experience - A landlord wants to know who they might be doing business with for the next 3 to 15 years. Are you experienced, are you passionate, are you willing to learn? Or are you teaming up with any chefs or suppliers who are advising you? Show a landlord that even if you don’t have the experience now that you are willing to roll your sleeves up and learn.
Fixtures and fittings - This is a chance to show the landlord how you intend to decorate or develop your shop, and what type of mood you will bring to the space. It’s best to show a moodboard of certain fixtures, corners of a room, etc. rather than an image of an entire restaurant you wish to emulate. You are creating something unique, not plagiarising.
Impressions - Similar to the above page, it’s also good to show an overall montage to your idea. What are the first impressions you want your customers to have? How do you intend to present your food? How will your staff interact with customers?
Proposal - To really give you an edge with a landlord, try to treat this presentation like a CV. Every cover letter should be unique to the job, the same can apply to the space. If you can incorporate the quirky space, the history of the street, anything that shows that this unit is important to you and not just another site you are pitching for.
Many first timers will adapt their business idea to the space they find - and we do encourage you to be flexible, because sometimes a location can inspire you to take on changes for the better.
Second site and beyond
The above layout is aimed towards those who are starting their first business. If you already have an existing site, and are looking to take on new one, then here are some key points to include in your pack, that are not in the example pack above:
Existing sites - location, visuals and a short description of the other sites you have, and how they differ if in any way.
Financials - if your first site is a success, let your prospective landlord know with some top line financials. Turnover, gross margin and EBITDA are the most important data points. In many cases a landlord will ask for your end of year accounts before progressing, be prepared for this by making sure you have up to date figures.
Social, Reviews & PR - what do customers and critics say about you and your shop? Share the good stuff. Also, Instagram and other social media platforms can show a level of success, be sure to include these metrics if they are strong.
Funding - are you backed by investors or a great chairman / board?
Your employees - do you have a great team that are ready to take on a new site? Show them off!
One caveat with this deck is that it was conceived and put together by someone with no formal design experience. We used a range of online tools that can really help the inexperienced deck maker look like a ‘pro’. If you want our list along with an editable version of this deck, enter your email below and we’ll send you a copy: