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.