Does anyone here have a B&M shop please?

mrs_sparrow

I am not sure where else to ask the question as I do not know anyone who has a shop. I currently have a 'pop up' within a gym and I pay 'all in rent' however, it is going really well and I want to look at moving a more prominent B&M store but want to be sure I am aware of all costs before I jump in and make a fool of myself!!

On the council website they list the shops they have and it states the rent and rateable value and amount of business rates payable but what other costs are there (aside from stock and shop fittings):

Insurances
Gas & Electric (I assume a business would pay more for this)
Water

Anything else......

And what does this mean on the information: The council's reasonable legal costs to be borne by the ingoing tenant.

Does this mean I need a solicitor to be able to rent a shop?

Thanks for any help. I was not sure if anyone here would know but thought I would ask on here as a starting point. Thanks.

RFW

You should probably look at getting help from a business growth team near you. There are loads of them sprouting up and they can give helpful (free!) advice and access to other help. For example you could be entitled to a hefty business rates rebate in the first year (it depends where you are).

If you're renting from a council you may not need a solicitor (although it may be advisable), the council's legal costs would probably not be excessive, but you can ask for an approximation.

It also sounds like you'll be renting at the wrong time of year (no one wants to rent retail units after Christmas!) so you can ask for incentives too, rent free period would be a good start.

Gas and electric are usually the same price as domestic, you'd be best only having one, unless you desperately need a gas supply. Water can be trickier, in my experience, my folks once rented a former hairdressers and had nightmares trying to get the water rates to a normal level for years afterwards, so make sure there's a meter, or get one fitted (unless you use excesses of water). Water rates are usually higher than anyone expects, so always check those.

I can't think of anything else right now, one of the business growth groups will be able to help more. They'll have factsheets that cover everything.

forgotmyname

Mate opened a little repair shop in a small shop that had been converted from a larger shop.
No rates for 12 months and then a token payment for the next 2 years after that.
Several empty spaces, they are keen to have the spaces occupied.

When the recession hit and shops started closing. I spotted several with 3 to 6 months free rent.

RFW

forgotmyname wrote: »

When the recession hit and shops started closing. I spotted several with 3 to 6 months free rent.

Some of them can be good deals, some can be a bit tricky, so be careful what is being offered. A council deal along those lines would probably be genuine. In my experience it's the swanky estate agent deals you have to look several times at. You can get 3 months rent free for a unit at £100 per week and by the end of year two the weekly rent is £200.

densol_2

Read your other post and things sound exciting for you ! Good luck

PS - whats a B & M shop ? Lol

giantmutantbroccoli

It may be cheaper in the long run to get a solicitor's advice now rather than after you've signed the lease. "The council's reasonable legal costs" sounds like you're paying for their solicitor to draw up the lease, at least I think so? Definitely worthwhile phoning up and asking them precisely what it does mean.
You should be able to negotiate lower rent as it's an unpopular time of year. Don't forget to tell your landlord that you're an established internet retailer with a large loyal customer base on several channels (i.e. eBay and Amazon) - you want them to know that you're going to be around for a while. Better for them to have a slightly lower rent paid consistently over a long period of time than a higher rent paid for just a few months!
Get all the local help and advice that is available - it varies, but as RFW says there will be a growth group near you.

Costs for a bricks and mortar shop include:
-Rent & rates
-Water rates
-Electricity. I wouldn't take gas as well, it's too expensive! See if you can find out how the place is heated, depending on size you might find it more economical to just wear thick jumpers for a few months.
-Insurance - both for the content of the building (i.e. your stock) and against customer accidents.
-Burglar and fire alarms - monitored alarms are generally quite a lot more expensive, but will make your insurance a bit cheaper
-Wages - both your own, and that of anyone you eventually employ
-Advertising - it's easy to forget this one!
-Internet & phone
-Travel - how much will you spend getting yourself into your shop every day?

[Edit] I've seen a lot of local businesses near me make this mistake - be very, very careful with how much you spend on shopfitting. You can spend a frightening amount of money on fitting out your first shop out to look amazing, and then find yourself struggling to make that money back because ultimately customers are interested in what you sell and how you sell it, not necessarily how your shop looks. If you do need fittings, you can often get good deals on secondhand shop furniture on eBay - that's where we got all ours.
I never want to say too much about my family business on here tbh, but I will say that our first "proper" shop was a scabby, horrible looking old wooden hut. It was the largest building we could afford (our stock is big, bulky items) and it was dark, drafty, cold and had no windows and no shop front. As long as you can put a big sign on the building outside, and a big smile on the face of the person serving customers inside, they won't care too much what it looks like!

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Good luck!

RFW

giantmutantbroccoli wrote: »

It may be cheaper in the long run to get a solicitor's advice now rather than after you've signed the lease. "The council's reasonable legal costs" sounds like you're paying for their solicitor to draw up the lease, at least I think so? Definitely worthwhile phoning up and asking them precisely what it does mean.

It's pretty much standard practice in any commercial lease, the tenant pays the landlord's fees for drawing up the lease. As it's a council they'll probably have a standard agreement they use and likely a standard fee too.

mrs_sparrow

densol wrote: »

Read your other post and things sound exciting for you ! Good luck

PS - whats a B & M shop ? Lol

Thank you - B&M - Bricks & Mortar. A 'real' shop.

All this advice on here is amazing, thank you. Will ingest more later when I am not on the run between school and post office.

They have a rent free period and the haggling is great advice, thank you, the bank said they would lend me money judging on my current trading and turnover for this year. I am *hoping* not to need it but nice to know that option is there.

:T:T:T:T

RFW

If you've got bank support you'll be surprised at how much more you can get. There are incentives all over for new/growing businesses.

Try here for a start

http://www.greatbusiness.gov.uk/

TKPeters

Also if you only have 1 location, you can claim small business exemption on the council business rates

robatwork

Oh. Wrong end of stick.

B&M are also a real shop that have taken over lots of old Woolies branches. I can recommend their salt and pepper for £1.50 for 2 - including the grinder.