be my own boss - newsagent

moneymaker1982

Hi everyone,

I was recently made redundant a few weeks ago:embarasse after working my way up in a company to a contracts management position. I have school qualifications as i dropped out of uni after a year n a half, so in these testing times i am finding it very difficult with my qualifications to find anything at all.

I have been offered a chance at leasing and running a local established newsagents by a family friend, and wonder if anyone could give me any info on what my first steps should be. The newsagents sells hot food throughout the morning and afternoon....one of my friends was previously a chef and is interested the idea too...would it be easier for me to employ him for x amount of hours to cater to prepare the food or would it be viable for him to become a partner. I have very close friends and family that would gladly help out in any way (including cashflow) to make this work. I am aware this is working all hours, 7 days a week...but i am a worker, with no ties and this doesn't put me off.

What sort of figures will i have to find out to calculate how much profit the newsagents will be making to see if this is a realistic opportunity?

I am very new to this so any help/info ould be much appreciated.

Thanks:A

Fire_Fox

Check out your local Business Link for loads of guidance on setting up and running a small business. You need to look over the books as they are; is it actually a profitable business? Is it the newsagents or the food that's the most profitable?

kernewek

My brother took over a newsagent several years ago. Didn't make money at first but then shifted focus into higher margin goods. He's now driving around in a £50000 BMW and spends six months of the year in Thailand (flying business class) has few debts and bought the freehold a couple of years ago.
However,
I should point out this is in West Cornwall in the middle of a tourist honeypot.
From what I know you make very little money on newspapers and tobacco, lottery etc the staple things a newsagent sells. So if you look at these as things to get people in the door and then focus on high margin products you have a good chance. However you need to be aware of the customer base. Can you sell lots of ice cream for instance?

zebedee01

Hi, we bought our own newsagents two and a half years ago now. We were completely new to it then too!
We work 7 days a week, only having 3 days off in the whole year! And for this we earn peanuts. It is tough, but i do love being my own boss! I can tell you that on papers and magazines you make roughly 25% and on ciggerettes only about 6/7%, top ups only about 3%. Some of the convenience items are much better mark up, sometimes up to 40%.
The hot food idea sounds good as i know there are very healthy profits in the food industry!
As for a business partner, think very carefully before you decide cos a business like mine could not support another person. We are very lucky to get a nice sum from tax credits every week and this is what we have to live off. My father in law was interested in being a partner of our business when we were buying and we said no, and i'm glad we did now cos theres no way on earth the business would have supported him aswell!
Its good that you have family who are willing to help you out though.

Have you been shown the accounts for last year?

If you want to ask anything else feel free! I'm no expert lol, but i'll do my best!