Refurbishing your cafe may cost time and money, but it’s an essential part of growing your business and staying ahead of the competition. When was the last time you did a refurbishment? Perhaps you haven’t done one since you opened your business. If so, you may be missing out on a whole host of benefits that go hand in hand with refreshing the look and feel of your business.

So, let's weigh up the positives and negatives

The prospect of closing your cafe for a short period of time might be intimidating, and you might be worried about the potential loss of profit. However, the potential increase in profits in the longer term - if you plan and execute your refurbishment carefully - far outweighs the short term loss.

Closing your business briefly may also give you some breathing space, and there are plenty of things that are better done when you’ve got perspective. Perhaps you want to retrain your staff, refresh the menu or use the opportunity to clean the cafe from top to bottom. Your loyal customers will notice the difference, and your new customers will be left with a great first impression.

Of course, there are also some drawbacks associated with refurbishing. Building work can be quite noisy, and you run the risk of disrupting your neighbours, whether they be residential or commercial. It’s always best to maintain good relationships with the locals, so plan ahead and give them plenty of warning. Make time to have a conversation about any concerns they might have.

The truth is that undertaking a proper refurbishment will be expensive up front. You will have to work with designers and builders, and you may even need to spend time talking to lenders if you’re looking for a loan.

This begs the question: where are you going to find the funds for your cafe refurbishment? Some lenders specialise in funding these kinds of projects. You may want to start by speaking to your accountant or bank and researching your options.

Get in touch if you need help sourcing finance

Valiant can help you with this process. We don’t provide the loans, but rather we connect you to lenders offering loans that meet your specific needs. The Valiant platform compares loans from over 60 lenders across the market and returns only the loans that are suitable for you.

There are plenty of bank and non-bank lenders on the platform with a range of options to choose from. If you’re relatively new to the business, you may not have the trading history required by the major lenders and a non-bank lender may be more appropriate. Give our credit specialists a call on 1300 780 568.

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Nathalie Jones

Nathalie is the Communications Manager at Valiant Finance. She has a double degree in Journalism and Law, and a background in the fintech space, hailing from Asia's largest fintech hub, Stone & Chalk.