Starting my own shop

rictus123

This is fantastic.

Horace

Hi - well done you on wanting to be self employed. You need firstly to go to businesslink who will be able to give you some free advice and help you draw up a business plan. After that you need to contact the HMRC and declare that you are self-employed - should you decide that this is the route for you.

What sort of shop do you want to open? A newsagent will mean v.early starts or do you just want to sell things like milk and bread?

To be honest I know nothing about shops other than spending money them but I still think that Business Link or even your local chamber of commerce will be the way to go. https://www.businesslink.gov.uk

Good luck.

paulwf

Before getting too bogged down in the fine details there are 2 factors I would consider:

- are there any premises in the proposed location that are either vacant or could potentially become vacant within a reasonable timescale? I'm not sure but it sounds like you intend to set up in a village, if there are no shop units left that may make things difficult.

- what savings and security have you got? Generally a bank would want you to put in at least 1/3 of the total capital required. Also, for them to lend you money they will require security to lend against or you could go down the Enterprise Finance Guarantee route.

If you haven't got the required capital and security you may be able to find a business partner who has.

Good luck, we're always willing to bounce around ideas on this board if it helps.

rictus123

This is fantastic.

Trust_2

It sounds that you have a basic plan in your head, just spend time researching your shop, like who owns it, how much it will cost to refurbish, utilities etc etc

Get yourself a list of your fixed costs and then calculate the approx turnover you require to achieve this, your parents wil obviously help

It will not be difficult to get people to take you seriously, as long as you are passionate and your have the answers (Research). It will be a lot harder to get money from people.

Like how much margin you expect to make on the products!

But write all this down in the form of a business plan it is worthwhile and the likes of the bank etc will take you seriously.

Have you had experience working in a shop?

rictus123

This is fantastic.

Sailor_Sam

People that i've known who have had their own shops all say the biggest problem thatthey had was finding staff that could be trusted.
When you work for yourself you tend to work a lot harder and longer than if you're working for a boss. Have yougot someone you can depend on to open the shop up when they've had a bad night and would rather stay in bed.

rictus123

I couldnt see this being a problem, i would have all the cctv in place and would know if the books didnt add up that something was going on. It would be easy enough to get 2 staff to work it, alot of students/part time work needed around here.

brownhandbag

Hello Rictus,

I think you should seriously go for it! We have our own business and it's the best thing we did. I do think the best way to make money with a shop is to actually buy/own the premises as leasing can be v expensive before you start. Is there any possibility of living in the premises with this one? If you have accommodation on site it will make your life much easier and you will always have the option to rent out digs if you stay living at home, with a nice income coming in. Look at the potential for any other income by renting out units etc .
Get your parents on board and with an old service station I would also be looking at possible cafe premises? Sounds like you have a prime site with good parking for the white van man bacon butty gang

Good Luck!

rictus123

This is fantastic.

brownhandbag

We are silk screen printers so do uniforms. t-shirts. workwear etc, in Somerset. Luckily we are able to use our garages as a workshop and are based at home.

I think put your plan together and present it to your parents! They may well be able to help you sort the finance by using their age/experience. Also get networking, though I hate the expression but it really is amazing what you can achieve by talking to just the right person at the right time. If this one really doesn't happen for you then you still have made good progress for the next place that comes up, which it WILL!
May I ask what your trade is?