I've bought a pub/restaurant
Been a whirlwind year but late last year I agreed to buy a business, a pub/restaurant. Well a 49.9% share in one with a silent partner the old owner having the other half until I can afford to buy that off him too. Basically taken the equity from my house and my life's savings and put it all into the business, along with a mammoth loan. The business was losing money, but I went through the accounts with a fine comb and I believe I can make it work. This arose as an opportunity late last year and I put together a business proposal and then got the loans agreed and went into it swiftly. Moved my family into the Manager's Flat above the building on Dec 22nd last year, three days before Christmas. But this year's been crazy, I basically spent January renegotiating contracts etc, while Feb we were out of the country in Canada visiting my in-laws for a trip we'd booked before this happened. While I went on paternity leave from my wife's due date in May (though my daughter was only born 1 June). Rather crazy trying to manage the business operationally, manage the accounts and payroll etc (which I'm doing by myself), my plans for business development etc while juggling a young family.
Part of my plan was to rent out our house which would cover the mortgage payments and hopefully make a bit extra for us while we live in the Manager's Flat for the first few years, but we've not found the time yet to finish moving our belongings out of our old house and into the flat. Probably made a mistake thinking we'd do that ourselves too in my car, when I can only move so much in one go, rather than hiring a removals van and getting it done professionally. It's weird living above a pub, can get a bit noisy at times and being permanently on site it can be hard to switch off, but that can be a good thing too. Certainly provides extra security, one problem we've got is local chavs hanging outside on our outdoor booths smoking pot, so I keep shouting at them from my window to leave the premises if I see them. The flat is a nice feature of the premises for us, we moved out of a three bedroom house (which was 2 double bedrooms, ours plus a guest room with the third being a "box room" above the stairs which we used as a nursery). Our flat has four double bedrooms and a massive kitchen, much bigger floorspace than our house. Plus a smaller studio flat across the stairs which we can use as a guest flat.
The business was losing money, it would have ran out of money in February had I not injected extra cash (the equity from my property which I re-borrowed from the bank) but cash flow losses were halted in April and from May to July we've made some money, which we hadn't last year. Sales were less than I'd hoped for since we took over, but I've been able to cut costs significantly more than I'd planned for. A bit stressed now for the upcoming winter, the business is very seasonal, we do much better over the summer than the winter (although Christmas/New Years makes December an OK month, January is in the industry purely evil). We are on the waterfront and with a big outdoors area, when the sun shines we do well, when it doesn't then it can be very quiet. Problem is in England, let alone northern England, there is no guarantee to get sunshine. I've had printed thousands of "buy one get one free" leaflets to post through neighbouring houses/flats and to take to nearby businesses to try and drum up more business.
The loan I agreed to buy the equity of the business has a period of a delay before I need to start making repayments, til next summer. That has allowed me to build up a war chest in the account but now I need to try and do everything possible to avoid losing over the winter as I need to be able to actually start making payments next year. Making something rather than losing at the best time of year is progress but much more to do yet with the worst time of year to come now.
One thing to be thankful for is that my wife has been a rock. She has returned to work for a few hours a week within just three months of giving birth to run a couple of day shifts so I get some time with the kids and to do my paperwork upstairs - and get a second pair of eyes I know I can 100% trust downstairs to spot things I miss.
Definitely the biggest gamble of my life doing this. There is so much potential here, at any one time neither the restaurant nor the bar is full and we could cater for so many more people. Overheads are relatively low too for the industry as it's a freehold so I can buy from any supplier and I have three I play off against each other to get the best price I can. Plus the building is owned outright so no rent to pay. The people who do come in give good feedback and we still get so many people walking in for the first time saying "I didn't know you were here".
Originally Posted by Ominous Gamer
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it sounds very exciting as well as terrifying. 
