Something I never thought about

[Earl Smith]

Something I never thought about when opening a shop.
In 2008 I opened my shop, it was small (37qmtrs and no storeroom) but in a good location. Very happy to get my hands on it and thought Id be there until I retired.
But I got busy , the shop was too small so found a bigger shop.
I moved last month, all good. But here`s the problem, another, new T-shirt printer is going to open in my old shop and he`s going to take all the goodwill Ive worked for over the last 9 years.
Plus my excisting customers might not come looking for me.
As you can imagine , Im not a happy Bunny.

So, heres a warning to anyone taking on a new shop. Get a clause in your contract that prohibits another similar business taking over your old shop when you move on. If its possible.

Earl

[socialgiraffe]

I am very sorry for the phrase I am going to use and I hope I do not offend anyone....

THAT IS SHIT.

The only thing "we" can hope is that future potential shop owners will insist on a clause preventing a similar business taking over a shop if you move. I doubt if it will ever happen though.

Really hope you do not suffer too much Earl.

[Earl Smith]

Those were my exact thoughts, but didnt want to write them here `cause I might offend someone.
Thanks

[Paul]

I am very sorry for the phrase I am going to use and I hope I do not offend anyone....

THAT IS SHIT.

well SAID...
Earl, I hope your good reputation help people to find your new shop.

[mrs maggot]

a friend of ours closed her tattoo business after her cancer got too bad for her to work, she spoke with the place she had rented it from for over 15years and they promised not to rent it to another tattoo shop, saying that they wanted to "raise the image of the precinct" - 4 weeks later - yep you can guess

if it was rented, there is not much you can do, if you sold it then get a new legal team as someone should have said NO

[mr-gobby]

If you have contact details for any of your customers maybe inform them of your new location and highlight it is not you in the old shop and ask they keep using you, even try offering a loyalty or discount system and advertise you have moved wherever you can, maybe offer a new premises promotion code or anything really, it could also prove challenge the newcomer, use and promote your experience and expertise and try not to get too downhearted, fight back and good luck!

Mark

[Earl Smith]

Facebook prooves to be a double edged sword. I promoted my move about 6 weeks before I moved with a count down til I finally moved on. And this is where the new guy saw that I was moving. He is not on my friends list but many of my friends I had asked to "Share" my post. Its from one of these that he found out about me.
Alls not lost though. Ive carried on with my advert on Facebook and Ive sent messages to everyone on Whats App and my email list. ( I made sure I had collected their numbers over the years in business ). and now Im going through my invoices and writing letters to each one telling them of my move.
So far my customers have found me and new ones are coming every day.
My move was to a larger shop with a large store room. This shop is inside another business that has been around for over 30 years and is very well know in the area. And we compliment each other. They are a copy shop, computer IT shop, printer specialist ( Ricoh etc.) And they set up and service, computer , printer , server systems in a large area around our town. So I will get more business customers which is what I want.

[GoonerGary]

The road I grew up on had a sweet shop near the school, it was always a sweet shop even when it changed hands. It closed down again and my dad rented the shop to open a model shop. For years people walked in to buy cigarettes. I would turn round as if to get the customer's B&H and then I would stare at him until the penny dropped that he wasn't in a sweet shop. But estate agents always market rental properties that way, it's the easiest result to sell to a similar business because everything is in place.