DSF

HI All
this is a spin off of a post i put up which kind of got taken over regarding openeing a physical shop Mrs M suggested a seperate post so i thought id start it off
We have been in our physical shop for 3 years and heres our experiances i hope these will be of help to some people

the shop.... When we started our shop in Haverfordwest we were actually looking for a small unit rather than a retail out let we just happened upon the shop reason for moving out of the back room at home was simple we ran out of room so with this in mind when looking for a shop consider not just what you are doing at present but what you aspire to do in the future. Printing takes a lot of space when you consider printers presses stock etc its no good getting a shop on the basis that you have a ricoh a4 printer a single mug press and a clam press hopefully your business will grow and so will your equiptment you will need to take this into account. Its taken 3 years to start getting a steady flow of customers through the door if we move that will need starting again remember that.You will also need to consider permissions needed to run your business , is the electricity supply upto the job? are there enough electric points , are the fire regs covered

the cost..... Running a shop is amazingly expensive a lot of the costs you will already inccur but consider these costs when working out what your outlay will be. electricity is the big one shop around and get a good price dont use an agent you will pay more once you have your provider get your name on a contract asap if you dont the phone will be red hot with middlemen trying to get you to sign with them . when we moved into the shop we had 2 weeks of constant phone calls almost every 10 mins i kid you not from electricity agents who always start with "you are paying too much for your electricity we can save you money" how do they know this ? they dont is the short answer these agents can see that you are not signed upto a contract hence the constant calls they can not see what you are paying try asking one "if you can save me money how much is my cost per unit" they generally tell you they cant repeat that info due to data protection the reaolity is they dont know what you are spending get yourself on a contract and the calls stop (well slow down dramtically any way)
Rent is always a given check what the avg is in your area
dont forget phone and broad band
then theres insurance public liability and buildings and equiptment
fire extinguishers are a legal requirement and need servicing yearly
pat testing is a legal requirement if the public are anywhere near electric equiptment
business rates is a huge cost and much is discussed about this and im sure will be in this thread example a shop im looking at costs £200 per week thats £800 a month rates for this building are £2000 a month at present in our shop we get full rate relief (wales only check whats available in your area) but this is dependant on shop size and location . even if you do get rate relief remember it wont last for ever you need to take it into account.
legal matters .... you will get a visit from trading standards to make sure you have everything priced and you may get a visit from the health and safety bods dont get caught out.

these are just a few points and bits of advice im sure much more will be added by other members

Brett

Thank you very much Brett,
a very interesting read for me at the moment, first of all sorry for taking over the over thread and im sorry i cant help you with a paypal button
im in the process of making decisions, i have found a lovely shop in a nice busy area, but taking the plunge is such a big step for me at the moment as i have just found out we have another little one on the way
if i do get a shop and it works then everything would be just fine, but if it doesnt take off im stuck with no job and another 3 years to find rent. Lately ive been working hard behind the scenes on my web site and ebay, but if business staid the same as it is now then i could not afford the shop, only time will tell,
i do look forward to reading the rest of this thread for other peoples experience good and bad
Dave

Hi Dave
No problem hijacking the thread it obviously threw up something that needs discussing. running a shop isnt cheap and theres a lot of hidden costs that you dont think about until it happens. regarding the paypal button that was just me clicking things i shouldnt an expensive lesson !!
Congrats on the news must be somthing in the water up there lol

thanks for making this a new post, i thought there were some really interesting points made, esp with one about contacting the authorities to see if there maybe a start up grant etc etc, we now have the normal January high street near us, where the new shops that opened in nov/dec are now closed down, and there are bargains to be had on the high street, but unless you do your planning well, it looks as if the "to let" sign just goes "to let" "let" "to let" "let" "to let" on and on and on

Our local council offer a 28% grant with you raising the rest of the capital, if you can prove need.. but there are no options like in other areas where they offer say 3 months rent free etc.. you would think it would benefit to not have shops sitting empty or boarded up..

It makes me really angry i know my business would expand if i moved closer to the town centre i would definatly have to employ a full timer but theres no way i can do all that and pay the stupid rates that are charged . Haverfordwest is in pembrokeshire smack bang in the middle of a tourist hot spot we have beautiful river that runs through the town and yet the local authority seem happy to let the town go to rack n ruin there are more closed shops than open and those that are open are either bookies food shops ie gregs or charity shops when will the politicians learn , give small businesses a chance

Turn yourself into a charity and get zero rates!

charity shops dont quite get zero rates but there is quite a discount although im sure i heard somewhere this is set to end

I totally agree with you on towns that want to look good.. but shops opening seem to be larger companies.. we have just had a costa coffee open in town.. now Spalding isn't huge.. and had just enough lovely small coffee shops.. but nope, they allowed Costa in.. we also have a Greggs but they bought out our Bakers Oven.. we have nearly all but lost the lovely small, friendly businesses *a few have stood the test, but not many* and now we have an abundance of nail bars, hairdressers and euroshops.. and those shops that are empty, are usually the same as Laura mentioned.. in one minute and out the next.

We have just had money granted to the area.. and we are all pushing for a town manager.. but the local town bandstand and the likes seems to get more of a look in

Info on small business rates relief (until March 2015)
https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-r ... ate-relief