Was wondering if anyone on this board started their first pizza place with absolutely ZERO debt, i.e. 100 percent self funded, no loans from family, friends, bank, credit card, line of credit on your house, nothing.
Those of you who did could you give a ballpark figure of what it cost you to open?
I would like to hear any stories, advice or ideas from these folks.
crickets chirping
Well lets see here, I kinda did in a way.
My first business was no a true pizza place it was an italian restaurant. Which was 50k and i got a loan for it. Sold it 3 years later for 120k.
Then opened up my first true pizza place with cash. Does that count? To bad i was young and stupid and i am still paying off the loan from the 1st place cause i was stupid and did not pay it off when i sold it, instead i opend up a pizza place with the money, which failed 1.5 years later
What a moron
thank god my 2nd and 3rd pizza places have been doing really really well. Which i have small loans on
Yes I did, and my second one too. About 150K all in. The second one was a lot less than the first since it was small slice operation and did not require hoods, walk-in, prep facilities etc as it operated as a satelite of the first one. My first was about 110K, the second was 40K. Both came with most needed equipment in place.
The 110K for the first one broke down about as follows:
Equipment in place: 35K
POS: 15K
Additional equipment small wares etc: 10K
Inititial marketing: 10K
Wages before opening: 5K
Operating losses before break-even 35K
I dont understand the 50k until break even???
I opened both my new stores with 1 dollar in the company account the day we opened and have not ever added money
We had 7 day terms on the food account and was able to pay for the 1st order with the 1st weeks sales
Purchased the Local Pizza Place in my town for 50K cash, I’m so glad I don’t have any loans, Just purchased a Delivery vehicle with company funds. All Product is paid for when it hits the door either by cash or company check.
Really Joker? I’m in my 10th month of operations right now with a full service, full menu “casual” dining place selling pizza to steaks. We’ve put in nearly 80K in the last 10 months…are just now seeing the light on the balance sheets. I applaud anyone that says they can do it without dumping cash-flow in for several months in the early days.
We opened our first place with about 30K no debt. Bought a complete Little Caesar’s package (store which had gone out of business) which included all equipment and smallwares (except ovens) for about $3500. We opened in a closed Domino’s which had a walk-in and a vent hood. First year lost about $1200, second year had a profit. We are carry-out and delivery only.
here!!!, I worked in a pizzeria and bought equipment piece by piece keeping them in my garage until I had everything,
signed my lease and worked day and night on my build out, everything in my shop was used, worked my way up from NOTHING. I never went on vacation and didnt spend much money on myself and today its DEBT free and pays the bills…
yes really. We have done really well with them
I did it as well. I bought out two Little Caesars shops for $500, and picked the stuff up in a rented truck. The lease and deposit cost about $5000, and the build out was about $3000. The place was shabby from day one, but with 30 day billing we were making money. I did most of the work myself, and the hoodvent laws are not nearly as strict as they are in the US. I had a full bar as well, and I cringe when I see people in the US trying to add beer and liquor. It cost me nothing extra to get that from the health department.
Given, I had no money for nice furnishings at all, I begged an electrical company for the old used drums they had, and tipped them on a side and used them as tables. People thought I paid a ton for the cool unusual tables.
From day 1 I bombarded the press with press releases, and that free PR is what saved my ass. My first delivery vehicles were used scooters with a dishwasher rack bolted to the seat and a bunji cord to hold a warm bag in. I got those on credit as well, and paid them off a month later.
My first POS was POSPizza, and cost me $50 for the hardware. It was totally from the junk bin at a local used PC shop. My printer cost $2, and was ‘broken’. It sounded right, but wouldn’t take paper, so I was about to take a screwdriver to it when I noticed a pen stuck in the paper feed slot. I pulled that out and it worked great for 2 years. In retrospect, the cost of ink was actually more than buying a cheap laser printer, but the initial cost was nearly nothing. I finally had to invest some cash when they upgraded the program and my crappy CRT touch panel monitors (a later addition at $50 each) wouldn’t work with win2k, which was necessary for the upgrade.
It can be done. An ex employee of mine opened a place in Minnesota for $30,000, leasing the hoods, ovens, and make line. I helped him paint (all the while working for the Domino’s he managed across the street). It just takes some creativity.
(Note on edit above. I forgot the POS when I first put this post up. I know that according to our tax return for that year we were 110K into the project so I just slugged the balance into operating losses. That loss should have been 35K not 50K as a result)
It is all well and good to say you were able to open with profit from day one… but then I am not willing to say that working for FREE does not count as a loss! Our manager made about 35K that first year. If I had worked that year for free in his place I guess we could have done it without losses as well.
Our store was a failed PJ’s. It went out of business about 8-9 months after it opened and the equipment/buildout was essentially brand new. A screaming deal at 35K. Other purchased items were freezers, new sign, dough trays etc.
Yes. zero debt. All Cash and it has saved me thousands of dollars. Also, it forced me to NOT spend on things unnecessarily. I had a finite amount of cash and that was it. And I had to have some funds in the til for working capital. Also, negotiat HARD with landlords now. I pay a fair amount of rent, but the LL virtually built out the store for me. He paid for electrical, mechanical, plumbing and ceiling. I paid for flooring, equipment and product. 3 months free rent. NO CAM charges!! Don’t hesitate to walk away from a LL. This is the first time that I can remember that WE are on the right side of negotiating with a LL. Due to having cash in hand I paid $12,000 for double stack MM PS360 widebody…all I can tell you is NEGOTIATE, NEGOTIATE, NEGOTIATE!!!
Pay your drivers well…they are the face of your business…I am an ex Domino’s guy now an independant. I will never send 11% of my gross to anyone but myself…
12k? for mm Ps360. Seems high to me. But maybe not, guess it depends on where you are
For 20k i bought a Double stack MM PS360Q from 2001, a walk-in cooler 8x12, 96" make line, 3 compartment sink, hand washing sink, Nice wide dough tables, a huge dominos cinci-safe, Heated warming rack, 3 door reachin and a bunch of random small wares.