hanks. Switched on the commercial ice-making machine (about the size of a washing-machine) yesterday as the weather was gorgeous. It makes 16 cubes (using a filtered water supply) at a time before starting another batch. When it's finished one batch the ice drops into the hard plastic container with a bang that startled two customers- Ha Ha. Next up is the Italian ice cream but in my tests the chiller cabinets allow it to defrost slowly so we will rely on photos of the 4 choices and keep the tubs in the main freezer - not ideal but we may have to buy a another freezer if the stuff sells well.

Interesting. Going off on a very slight tangent I was highly surprised when I was in China last and it was freezing to see kids buying ice-cream from the local village shop. Maybe this dedication to steaming hots in winter is melting a bit in China.

Locations differ so I can only tell you my opinion on English breakfasts. Where we are it would be a non-starter for two reasons: the other food businesses open earlier and close earlier;the great British (fry-up breakfas) would not be the first choice because Chinese people want food on the move at breakfast time. Getting decent bacon is difficult - my own favourite is Danish Smoked Back for taste). We may ask one of my wife's brothers who is a pig farmer to help us out here. We have 50 items on the menu which I think is plenty. Best sellers are the two bread products, 3 types of pizza, fresh yogurt with or without a topping, fresh orange juice and the hot milk drinks.

Yes I have my doubts that it would fail anywhere in China. You'd need the influx of Western tourist which Thailand has. Pity, I do like the idea. Thanks.

If you are considering starting a business I would make one strong recommendation- use ABC costing. Activity-Based-Costing means you know how much it costs just to open the doors for one-hour - staff, utilities etc. Couple this with collecting data from recording when people come in and set your opening hours and staffing levels accordingly. The software we bought for POS (point of sale transactions) also tracks usage of consumables and flags -up when we need to order. Each day we manually check the fresh consumable stuff and a trip to the wholesale fruit and veg market is is done as required. Be aware of the competition and provide something different or better - fresh, organic stuff, friendly service, English corner, live music. Customers often thank us when they have leave so I'm sure this is a new phenomenon. Ha Ha.

I think what would happen is if I decided that we could fund a few years in China without any extra income. If that's in Xian I may be able to work it with a relative that we use his premises (free of charge) to test if such a business would be feasible. I'll certainly look at that ABC thank you.

We signed-up with an internet company who take 1%. People buy online at a slight discount and then the private transaction number is sent by text message. This is matched-up in the shop. The internet company transfers the cash straight to our bank. It has exceeded my expectations. My wife reads the comments people make. People have to buy stuff and have an account to post a comment so we believe that the comments are genuine. We take seriously any negative comments but satisfaction levels are high - so far.

I wouldn't say that this is an easy sector to be in as there are many food and drink joints around here.

I don't think my greasy-spoon would justify such sophistication. You certainly seem to be doing things well and thoroughly though.