Hi!

I have seen a lot of recommendations of Urs Meisterhans from Sinitus and Thomas Wegmuller and Martin Cavegn. I think they provide advice on investment and tax planning in Switzerland.

So if you know need independent advice check out Urs Meisterhans or the others.

Stefan Melzer

Is this an advertisement with a company you are linked with?

Welcome to the forum

Exactly. And someone else joined the forum at the same time as you, but this time posting a question about Urs Meisterhans. If it's you or one of your colleagues, it's a very blatant form of spamming and does you or your company no credit at all. Allegedly

If someone needs to do such an ad for his company, it's definitely something not to worry to much about it or waste some second thoughts.

At least it's a sign, that EF is obviously a good market place

Especially for cheese

Perhaps you can send a link to these recommendations. Were they also on the forum or in the company newsletter?

How about a mobile coffee van?
Something similar to this:-

http://cafe2u.com/uk/franchise-oppor...FXAMtAodF3ZN1Q

Hi there,

i see that there are a lot of people guessing in this post. 50'000 is enough. I started a business with 40'000 of my own cash and a 30'000 loan from the beer brewery. My business turns over enough to pay myself, my wife a full time manager, 2 x 50% part timers and a few staff paid on an hourly basis. Dont approach banks, they will very rarely give money for gastronomie projects, but breweries will.

The biggest problem that i see here, is that your friend does not speak german, so will be unable to attend the required course in order to open a gastronomie business. She needs a license. I cant say 100% that this license is required in every Kanton, but certainly in the majority.

TonyBhoy, thanks for real input. I guess the brewery loan is also tied to beer sales. What is the interest rate like typically?

Does the brewery supply beer tanks, pumps, chillers? Do you rent these from the brewery?

The interest rate with carlsberg is 5%APR, i think heineken is a little higher at around 7% if i remember right. The loan isnt tied to beer sales, but you must sign a 5 year contract to sell exclusively their products

The brewery will install everything you need to get your beers pouring, but the equipment will always belong to them. Has its benefits though, they will always be there to repair the equipment when required.

It's not required in Zurich, apparently:
http://www.wirtekurs.ch/kantonaleregelungen.html

But I would really, highly, absolutely urge anyone (who wants to open an outfit selling food or drinks) to take the course.

We have enough "Grüselbeizen" (dives?) in Zurich already....

Totally agree, the course is not difficult to absolve, but highly informative. Whether its required in zurich or not, when the health inspector comes along, the person running the shop must show that they are applying the hygeine laws in switzerland. If not, then they will be fined and closed down very quickly.

No!! How could you think such a thing?!?

Unfortunately with 50K....you will not be able to start this kind of business....
One of my friends needed 600K to start his own business in the culinary field...
Switzerland is very expansive.

Deals can always be had here and there but finding a place is not the biggest hurdle you will come across as I found out this morning...

I have just been offered a small restaurant/pizzeria which subject to contract I said yes on, however I have just found out that I may need a diploma (which takes a year to get) to run it or go into business with a Swiss person...

I want to convert this restaurant into a tea room so there is less work involved but for the life of me I cannot find any legal requirement documentation that states what type of diploma I need and if running a tea room needs one

If anyone knows where I could find this information I would be grateful..(English if possible)

If I need to study then there is a good deal up for grabs, if your Greek friend can get a diploma quickly can she cook Scones?

so you're telling us that you found premises before you found out what you needed to get to actually open and run a business. Walk away, you're not ready

I was offered a dood deal, in my book a deal is a deal, following on from that deal I did find out yesterday that I do not need to go into business with a Swiss or go back to school, I can just hire a person with the correct documentation and they get to hang theirs on the wall.

I invested in a tea room many years ago and it still produces a yield of over 25%+ PA, every tea room I see here in Switzerland seem to be doing well so I will take the gamble, I doubt I will work in it myself but my wife is very keen.

Bring scones to Switzerland with Gruyere cream topped with locally produced jams seems like a workable basis of a good business, being situated in the middle of a fair sized town on a main road makes it an attractive location for local and tourist traffic...

In today's dire economic climate I would rather take a gamble and lose money than give it to the banks to get peanuts, I am a compulsive investor, if a deal doesn't work I work to fix it..If it still doesn't work I write it off safe in the knowledge that it got the best shot I could give.

You need to look at GastroVaud site and get in touch with them. They have all the details of what you need. If I were there I'd do it with you.

you need a "patente" there are several ones depending on the size of the business, food you serve etc etc. time depends on which one you get you are right in having someone work for you with this patente and that is just fine. But if they leave you cannot continue to run it without the patente.

Be very careful with food businesses here. your cost are so much higher than anywhere else in the world but if you have success you can make lots of money

Well tell your friend that they were ripped off. The OP has given a coffee shop as an example, for 600'000 they could buy a coffee shop. 50'000 is more than enough if the right premesis is found. Check out my website below, done it all for a grand total of 70'000.-

Yes, it sounds very much like an unsolicited ad :-( in this generally so friendly forum.