Cafe Divine Case Study

Introduction

Burnt Orange partnered with Cafe Divine in April 2011. The business was young; first opening it’s doors in February 2011.

Cafe Divine is owned by Sue Steele and Teresa Devine. They worked together in a nursery before deciding to open Cafe Divine in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent.

Client Services: Bookkeeping, Payroll, Self assessment returns, Partnership returns, Cash flow analysis, Cost management and Business advisory.

The Idea

Thersa says: Despite the age gap, Sue and I are close friends and we tell each other everything. We confessed to each other one day that we wanted to leave our jobs and, over time, we hatched a plan to open a cafe together. It was Sue’s idea and I knew it would work brilliantly. We compliment each other with a combination of experience and energy, and we both love food and catering. Despite the fact that we had absolutely no experience, we couldn’t wait to get started.

What Happened Next?

We contacted our local Business Link office and went on free courses to learn about bookkeeping, forcasting, marketing adn PR. We’d budgeted to spend £15,000 (from savings) on start-up costs, and found some lovely premises. We spent about £3,000 on refitting and making it appealing, and another £5,000 on equipment, budgeting around £3,000 for the first few months food and the rest on rent and an emergency fund. When we opened, we expected a trickle of people. Instead, we were rushed off our feet. There’s nothing similar nearby, so we didn’t have to do much promotion. We had a launch party, but we’re on a main thoroughfare and people just popped in. We never hurry anybody, there are sofas, magazines, everyone gets a warm welcome – and our food is delicious!

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Cafe Divine - Woman and Home

“We’re such good friends, we cant believe there’s a 20-year age gap”

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It’s never to late to… become a biz whiz!

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Where Are We Now?

We’ve taken on three more staff and we have an accountant, who tells us we’re doing brilliantly and making profit of £1,000 per month, which we’re ploughing back into the business. At the moment, we’re covering our costs, and hope to be able to take a salary soon.

The Future

We’d like to expand into bigger premises. We’ve had lots of requests to open in the evenings, and we’d also like some outside space.

Biggest Challenge

Not anticipating how busy we’d be.

Greatest Achievement

People thanking us for opening the cafe. They bring us presents and cards. We feel so appreciated and loved.

Boost Your Earnings

Be generous, give freebies. We often pop a free scone next to a cup of tea for our regulars, and we always do refills – it will revisit you tenfold.

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What it’s like to work with us?

Talk to any of our clients and they’ll tell you the same thing. We are dedicated professionals who pride ourselves on being open, responsive and transparent.

If you sign to us, you’ll find us great enthusiasts for your business and its continued growth and prosperity, even in these difficult times.

But make no mistake. We are a hard-headed Stoke on Trent accountant company who understand the challenges you face, and recognize there are no guarantees of success. Nevertheless we see the opportunities.

If you feel that your Business would benefit from Accounting and Business Advisory please contact us. We are a local company based in Stoke, Stoke on Trent.

Contact Details.

If you have any enquiries, please complete our online form located on our contact us page and we will try and respond within 24 hours. If you enquiry is urgent please call us on: 01782 660 875 or alternatively on: 07974 154 692.

Prefer to email us? u2us@burntorangeaccounting.co.uk