Cargo & James Tea

Get in touch with a financial institution to find out about their application process and the work involved in getting business financing.

There are two types of financing that a bank will offer. The first is called a Government Guaranteed Loan. This means that the loan is back by the government, which enables the bank to lend up to 90% of the fixed assets of your business. With this type of loan, the business owner is only required to provide a personal guarantee of 25%. An administrative fee of 2% of the loan is paid to the government either by the individual or can included in the total value of the loan. These loans typically must be paid back anywhere from three to seven years.

The second type of financing is conventional financing. This means that the financial institution will loan up to 75% of fixed assets of your business. In this case, the business owner is required to provide a personal guarantee of 100%.

The banks will ask you to complete a personal statement of affairs, in other words your net worth. In addition to this, you will be required to provide a business plan with projections for the first two years of business. They will also ask for information about the Franchisor, so make sure you’ve done your research. And finally, they may ask for the Lease Arrangement between you and the Franchisor. Note that this may not take place until you have committed to owning a franchise. Alternatively, one can ask friends, family or private investors.

Some useful links include:

Tea Association of Canada
Tea Association of Canada – Canada’s Tea Zone offers useful and up to date information about tea and health in English and French.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Doke Tea
The worlds finest organic white tea.

Lochan Tea
Lochan Tea is a great partner with Cargo & James Tea Inc. Mr. Rajiv Lochan has been a very supporter over the years and Cargo & James and Lochan Tea have even partnered to develop a socially responsible tea garden in India.

Tea Infusion
A plethora of information on every aspect of tea – from the very beginnings of the history of tea to the amazing depth and variety of tea culture all around the world.

The International Tea Committee
The International Tea Committee is an unbiased, non profit making organisation, supported and recognised by many of the major tea producing and tea consuming nations as the official source for tea statistics.

Step One
Investigate. Do your own research on the Tea café industry, maybe stop by one of our stores to relax and enjoy its atmosphere. Have a look at how the store is laid out, how our staff meet, greet and serve the customers. If you like what you see and want more information proceed to the next step

Step Two
The Application. Take our quick self-qualifying quiz to see if you would be suited to this business endeavour. If you feel you qualify then contact us to receive the confidential application form. This application is used by us to make an initial assessment of your finances, background, location preferences, but most of all it gives us a starting point.

Step Three
Personal Interview. Upon review and approval of your application we will arrange the first meeting (or conference call for those outside of Edmonton) to discuss the opportunity and to answer any questions that you may have. Based on a mutual interest to proceed we will arrange a further meeting to review with you the remaining steps in becoming a Cargo & James Tea Café. These final steps include providing you with a copy of the Disclosure Document as well as a copy of all agreements that collectively make up the Franchise Agreement. The decision is then yours.

At this time, no. However, because of continued requests and interest, we do plan to expand into the United States in the future.

Absolutely! A mandatory 2 week comprehensive training period is required at one of the corporate stores in Edmonton, Alberta. This training will cover all aspects of owning and operating a Cargo & James. On opening day you will be confident in knowing that you have the tools and knowledge to offer the very best in customer satisfaction and product knowledge.

Partnered with WebbCo International Franchising Inc. as Master Franchisor, we are committed to the success and growth of our Franchisees. We believe the success of each business will be a direct result of a strong and prosperous partnership between Cargo & James and each store owner. The various aspects of support include Site Selection, Design & Construction, Training, Store Launch and On-going support which includes advertising and promotion, product development, business development and purchasing.

We expect someone who’s passionate about business and tea and willing to put in long hours to make your Cargo & James Tea café successful.

It is important to understand that there is a significant financial investment to start your own business. Overall costs can vary greatly, depending on location and region.

Before engaging in any contracts, it is of utmost importance to do the proper research on the tea industry as well as the real estate market in order to best under the associated costs.

Yes. We have our own in house realtor who will work with commercial leasing agents in the respective cities to negotiate a leasing contract in your best interest.

Staffing will be up to you, however we are more than happy to provide you with some basic guidelines in order to find the right people to help make your business a success.

Currently, we are franchising in all regions across Canada, except Quebec. The more exposure we have across the country, the better.