Business Proposal To Serve Shisha

[thecyrax]

Ok.
So I have this idea to provide hookahs/shisha to a local, small coffee shop (with an outdoor patio) that I am proposing to the owner (which I have a fairly amiable relationship with).

My plan is to:
Purchase 4-5 MYA Acrylics initially. ($200-250)
1 Kilo of shisha (offering 4 flavors of shisha to start out)
and some 3 kings quick light coals

Take note that this is just to get things off the ground.

Now, my assumption is... after a while to get things off the ground we will be able to sell between 40-50 bowls of shisha per week.

Assuming we charged $10 for hookah (which is the norm in houston:between 8-10 at shisha bars)
I could (at the most) buy kilos of al fakher for ~40 and 2 (100 pc) boxes of the coals for around $65 together.

Assuming we sold 50 bowls ($500) that would leave $435 of profit.
This is obviously not taking into account the payment of the employees (usually 3 on staff) and the cost of the license required to serve tobacco.

I'm going to talk to the man tomorrow about it and give him a general idea of what I'm thinking about.
I'm curious as to what the license would cost annually.
Also, are the employees who are under age legally allowed to prepare/sell the shisha?
This is in Texas btw.
The shisha would all be smoked outside on the patio.
Assuming we could sell the 40-50 bowls a week that would leave close to $400 of profit off of the sale of the shisha.
I know a majority of the workers at the store and am good friends with most of them.

I'd obviously try to take a cut of the profits as I would be providing all of the shisha/hookahs.
What do you guys think?
My friend (an employee) thinks he might go for it as he is a very new age/trendy person.

[pboyle]

you'd probably need approval from a health inspector if people are going to be putting their mouths on hoses.
and you might need some sort of fire inspector approval for having hot coals out in the open. It can be a fire hazard, and if proper equipment isn't in place to deal with a fire, you could have a big problem.

Depending on whatever the legal code is for the area, it might not even be allowed. The business might be limited in its use of open flames or things that have the propensity to hold and pass on heat.

[KM_TACTIC]

cyrax,
u just invite people to compete with you lol...
btw its gd if the location is gd... u need to take in consideration of the customer who usually go to the place...
hookah type? lol
if yes then i hope u have god luck in your business.

[mattarios2]

Ok.
So I have this idea to provide hookahs/shisha to a local, small coffee shop (with an outdoor patio) that I am proposing to the owner (which I have a fairly amiable relationship with).

My plan is to:
Purchase 4-5 MYA Acrylics initially. ($200-250)
1 Kilo of shisha (offering 4 flavors of shisha to start out)
and some 3 kings quick light coals

Take note that this is just to get things off the ground.

Now, my assumption is... after a while to get things off the ground we will be able to sell between 40-50 bowls of shisha per week.

Assuming we charged $10 for hookah (which is the norm in houston:between 8-10 at shisha bars)
I could (at the most) buy kilos of al fakher for ~40 and 2 (100 pc) boxes of the coals for around $65 together.

Assuming we sold 50 bowls ($500) that would leave $435 of profit.
This is obviously not taking into account the payment of the employees (usually 3 on staff) and the cost of the license required to serve tobacco.

I'm going to talk to the man tomorrow about it and give him a general idea of what I'm thinking about.
I'm curious as to what the license would cost annually.
Also, are the employees who are under age legally allowed to prepare/sell the shisha?
This is in Texas btw.
The shisha would all be smoked outside on the patio.
Assuming we could sell the 40-50 bowls a week that would leave close to $400 of profit off of the sale of the shisha.
I know a majority of the workers at the store and am good friends with most of them.

I'd obviously try to take a cut of the profits as I would be providing all of the shisha/hookahs.
What do you guys think?
My friend (an employee) thinks he might go for it as he is a very new age/trendy person.

very soon I am going to be working on the same idea here in MA. If I find out any new info ill send it your way even though it may be diff. seeing we are in diff states.

[hookah hippie]

that is a pretty good idea the initial cost will be high ut if it works out you can turn a profit

[thecyrax]

pboyle, I kind of understand what you are saying, but health inspectors come there anyway. I don't exactly understand what they would inspect. I do plan on using mouth pieces.
Also, we would be using quick light coals, hence not needing to put the coals on a stove top.

I found out the owner already has tobacco and liquor licenses (for some unexplained reason) so that hurdle is taken care of.

KM TACTIC, I don't understand how I just invited people to compete with me as I never said what the name of the coffee shop is or its location....
Also, what exactly does "hookah type? lol" mean?

Mattarios2, thanks for that! I'll let you know if I make any headway as well.
I'm putting together the business plan right now and will be showing it to him this weekend.

Hookah hippie, the initial cost is not very high when you think about it.
Plus, at the worst I can sell off the hookahs for a small hit and smoke the shisha myself.
There really isn't much risk for either of us and it also has the potential of generating a good amount of extra income for the both of us.

Thanks for the replies, guys.
I'm still curious as to what the laws are about underage workers preparing/serving the shisha. Anyone have any input?

[Toxik916]

I dont know about texas but in california its illegal for a person under the age of 18 to sell tobacco.

[pboyle]

What I meant was, I'm not sure how health codes work entirely, but I have a feeling that there is a standard for washing any silverware or plateware that could come in contact with a customers mouth. Industrial washers clean dishes at a specific and high temperature. I'm not sure how this affects hoses with hookahs. Merely a precautionary statement on my part.

I always think it's good to look at every angle. Is it not?

[thecyrax]

I understand what you're saying, but with the use of mouthpieces I don't believe it would be an issue.
I appreciate your concern in the matter and I will surely look into it.
I definitely would like to know all possible risks before I go into such a business venture.

Toxik916, is this law for a certain individual? Because I worked at a gas station for a while before I turned 18 and they let me sell cigarettes to people without mentioning anything about such law.
Where exactly would I find out the legality of such a matter?

[Bulldog_916]

No one under 18 can sell tobacco to anyone, it's AT LEAST California law, if not national law. The station may have been flying under the radar, but most places dont allow it. Keep your preparers over 18 just to be safe. Card everyone you sell a hookah to, and their friends. It's not just your ass on the line, it's the business owner's as well. Otherwise, try it out, should be interesting.

[thecyrax]

Ok, thanks for the feedback.
I'll look into it and see what I can find out.

[NickReppinThe909]

cyrax,
u just invite people to compete with you lol...
btw its gd if the location is gd... u need to take in consideration of the customer who usually go to the place...
hookah type? lol
if yes then i hope u have god luck in your business.

^ were you severly drunk when you typed that ?????

on the other hand in CA minors cannot work at a hookah bar and arent even allowed to clean out the arghiles after use so that seems like it will be the biggest issue but it is probably different in TX

[mjdx88]

Sounds good, I was just ditch the QLs if your at the coffee shop use some cocos. They will last longer and it gives you some time for set up while they are lighting.

[thecyrax]

We will most likely switch over to naturals later on in the process if everything pans out. I'm just proposing using QL's while getting things off the ground from an ease of use standpoint. Also, we wouldn't have to have as many "servers" going on the patio constantly as the workers will mostly be busy inside making coffee.