Starting my own business/shop

[yram]

It has been in my head for ages that I would like to open a shop - its always in my mind, although I have no business experience.

At the weekend I was away and found a fabulous shop which products interest me to sell. I am excited.

I have no idea how to approach the whole business thing...I am not even sure what questions to start asking here.

I think I would like to "franchise" this type of shop. It is unusual and quirky.

What over head do shops normally have and start up costs etc?

Any help/advice would be appreciated and very helpful

 

[oaky9]

phone, elec, rates, water rates, insurance, staff, alarm monitoring, accountants fees, imro, cctv, there are prob a few more too

 

[z107]

...rent, cost of stock, advertising, shop fit out.

If you want a franchise, a good one will cost a fair amount.

 

[Jimbobp]

My advice would be to go to the shop and ask for a job ( offer to work for free if you're in a position to do that) and then learn.Take note of how everything is done,meet with suppliers learn about advertising,landlord rates, customer service etc. Only when
I was comfortable with all of this would i consider opening myself - best of luck
with it.

 

[lemon125]

new shop

Rather than open a new thread i said i'd tag along into this.

I am looking to buy a house at the minute, well within the next year or two but i have a big enough commute to work and the wife is a full time primary school teacher. We currently live in a town 20 run miles away but the house we are looking at is in the village she came from. Now in our search I have seen a rundown house that looks like it was a shop many many years ago. My wife doesn't remember it ever being one. There is no shop in the village, last one close down 15 years ago as the owners got too old for it. There is a pub in the village but no petrol station. If someone has to get milk/bread they have to drive about 6/7 miles to nearest town. Sunday after mass, someone comes with a van full with papers and sells it to the mass goers! This village has a population of about 1,500 and pretty rural.

I would love to enquire about this rundown house, which is located on main road about 200m from village with the school/pub/Gaa field. I have loads of ideas of what i could offer and then kill two birds with one stone buy buying the house to live in and convert the area that looks like a shop into a shop! I can then spend more time with my wife in the countryside where i want to be and instead of getting up at 7am and being home at 7pm (with the commute) I can just do these hours for myself.

Anyone with experience out there think that a village convenience store can provide enough income for me and my wife, we are young so no kids yet? I persume she will stay teaching! I dont think she would have the same love for this as I have.

 

[quinerty]

Lemon 125
The area I live in has a shop something like what you're talking about. It seems to do well as there is no other alternative there. They have a filling station also but charge well above the odds for fuel (and everything else for that matter). There seems to be a constant flow of customers though!
I know it's a bit of a gamble opening a new business in the current climate but your idea sounds as if it would workable. The fact you're other half is in sound employment is a huge plus also.
Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[Bob_tg]

Sounds like a reasonable idea.

If you do go forward with it, try to keep your upfront investment or commitment (e.g. lease) to a minimum in the early stages in case you want to bail out. If you buy the house, it could turn out to be a blind gamble.

Other than that, the advice that springs to mind at the moment is to do a bit more research. Talk to similar country convenience shop owners with similar population catchments and see what they can teach you. Survey your potential customers to see if there is a need there. There might also be an opportunity for local farmers to supply fresh fruit/veg etc., so talk to them and see do they have a distribution problem you could help with.

 

[T McGibney]

There might also be an opportunity for local farmers to supply fresh fruit/veg etc.

Unfortunately the levels of bureaucracy in this country has more or less killed off the phenomenon of farmers supplying produce directly to the public and through local shops.