Pre-Opening Diagnostic · Start here
Restaurant and bar pre-opening review
Open with clarity, not hope. A structured stress test of your plan, before the problems are built in.
€497, plus IVA, one-off. Written report within five working days, and a check-in after you open.
What should you check before opening a restaurant or bar in Spain?
Five things. Whether you can describe the concept in one sentence without three "and"s. Whether the site suits the concept, can legally be the venue you have in mind, and trades out of season as well as in it. Whether you break even on a worst-case forecast, and have the cash to survive a slow start. What the lease, or the traspaso, lets you do, and what it stops you doing. And whether the next 90 days are realistic: licences, recruitment, training, a soft opening, and who is responsible for what.
The Pre-Opening Diagnostic is how I check them with you. It is Atelier Sawyer's one-off review for anyone opening a restaurant, bar, chiringuito, or café in Spain: a second opinion from an operator, while there is still time to change the plan.
Is this for you?
It is built for people who have moved from "maybe" to "when", usually three to eighteen months from opening.
- The site is real: you have found a local, signed for one, or been offered a traspaso. Before you sign or pay is the best time of all.
- The plan is live: money is committed, or about to be.
- The stakes are high: you want a calm, experienced view of what matters most before the doors open.
Still at the napkin-sketch stage? Start with the free pre-opening checklist.
Opening a hospitality business is not only a creative project; it is a capital decision. In my experience, venues rarely fail because the idea is bad. They fail because the plan rests on quiet assumptions that only surface when they are too late, and too expensive, to change. The Diagnostic is built to find them while you can still do something about them.
How it works
We do not hand you a document and wish you luck. We stay with you until the plan meets its first guests.
- The questionnaire: a detailed set of questions about the concept, the site, the numbers, and the plan, in English or Spanish. Honest answers make for a useful session.
- The session: 90 minutes on a video call, in English or Spanish, working through what the questionnaire turned up.
- The report: a concise, written document, not a slide deck, within five working days.
- The debrief: a 30-minute call to walk through the priorities.
- The reality check: a follow-up call four to six weeks after you open, to see how the plan handled its first month of trade.
What we stress-test
- Concept: can you describe the venue in one sentence, and is it genuinely different in your area, for visitors and for locals?
- Site: does the site suit the concept, or are you bending the concept to fit the site? Can the premises get the licence the venue needs? And who walks past in February, not just in August?
- Money: does the plan break even on a worst-case forecast, through a winter as well as a summer, and is there enough cash to survive a slow start?
- The lease and the traspaso: my view as an operator of how the terms affect your ability to trade, grow, or change direction, and whether the traspaso price buys what it claims to. It is not legal advice; that is your abogado's job.
- The first 90 days: is the timeline for licences, recruitment, and training realistic? What is the soft-opening plan? Who is responsible for what?
What you get
A traffic-light report, in English or Spanish, that sets out:
- The diagnosis: one paragraph on the overall health of the project
- The top three risks: what could sink you, and how to reduce each one
- The top three opportunities: where you are strongest, and how to make more of it
- The action plan: what to do in the next seven days, the next 30 days, and after you open
Why work with me
I have spent more than 30 years in restaurants, cafés, bars, pubs, and nightclubs, in London and on the Costa del Sol. I have opened seven venues of my own and several more for the people I worked for, so I know where openings go wrong because I have watched it happen, sometimes to me. In Benalmádena, I opened El Punto Gastro Café in 2021, with Covid restrictions still in place and a deliberately small offer, and it paid its way from the first day. And I know what a lease can do: a clause I signed at 26 eventually cost me three pubs.
What it costs
€497, plus IVA, one-off. That covers the questionnaire, the session, the written report, the debrief, and the check-in after you open. No monthly commitment.
It is a small fraction of what you are about to spend on the fit-out alone, and it is the cheapest point at which to find a mistake.
If you go on to start Plan within 30 days, the €497 comes off your first month.
Prices are shown without IVA, which is added at 21%, whether you buy as a business or, before you have set one up, as an individual. Keep the invoice: IVA paid before you start trading can usually be deducted once you do.
The Diagnostic is not right for everyone
- If you are already trading, you need the Hospitality Health Check instead.
- If you want a partner from the first idea to opening night, Plan does that, month by month.
- If you want someone to approve a decision you have already made, I am the wrong person. I will tell you what I see.
Frequently asked questions
What should I check in a lease before I sign it?
Look at what it makes you liable for, not just the rent. In Spain, a business lease is mostly what you agree: the law sets few protections, so the contract matters more. Is there a personal guarantee? How long are you bound for, and can you leave early? Can you assign it, or has the right been excluded? Who pays for works, IBI, and community charges? Does it allow your activity? Then have an abogado read every word.
Is my business plan realistic, or is everyone just being kind?
Test it against a bad month, not a good one. Cut your sales forecast by a third and see whether you still cover rent, wages, and loan payments. Then check the assumptions people skip: covers a day, average spend, how long trade takes to build, how quiet the winter is, and what you will pay yourself. If the plan only works when everything goes right, it does not work yet. The Diagnostic stress-tests it with you.
What goes on a restaurant pre-opening checklist?
In order: the concept and the numbers, then the site and the lease, then licences and registrations, then the team, the systems, and the launch. In Andalucía, the legal minimum includes the town hall's opening paperwork, registering as a food business with the Junta, civil liability insurance, complaint forms on paper and online, allergen information for every dish, and registering each employee with the Seguridad Social before their first shift. The Diagnostic checks your order.
What if my opening date changes?
Openings move; I plan for it. You can move the session free of charge with 48 hours' notice, and the check-in after opening is booked around your actual opening date, whenever that turns out to be. If the delay changes the plan itself, tell me; a slipped opening often means a re-costed first year.
What is the difference between the Diagnostic and Plan?
The Diagnostic is a one-off second opinion on the plan you already have: a session, a written report, a debrief, and a check-in after you open. Plan is a monthly partnership that builds the plan with you, from the first idea to the first service. If you want that help afterwards, start Plan within 30 days and the €497 comes off your first month.
Talk it through
If you are not sure whether the Diagnostic or Plan is the better fit, a free 30-minute chat will tell us both.