WAT U GUYS THINK????

[iceman]

Hi folks,
Just need some advice. Me and my friends are thinking of investing into a retail business, similar to shops such as topman/topshop and h&m.we are able to get really good clothes at very low prices from on my friends parents factory back in south korea. We have a budget of about 20k do you think that is sufficient, as we are looking for a space in the city centre nothing to big, medium- small size

And also any information about the UKs retail industry, because I feel there is too much competition but we can really offer good quality designer clothing for discounted prices (the clothes will be sold under our own brand). But I thought id post a message here just to get some advice and feedback. We are concentrating on both males and female clothing (casual, retro) and also we are also able to work as wholesalers providing clothing to companies under their own label (if the price is right) or under our own label.

Please… your advice and feedback is invaluable. takecare
:lol:

[iceman]

CMON GUYS I REALLY NEED YOUR ADVICE AND SUGGESTIONS, IT WILL ONLY TAKE A FEW MINUTES AND WILL INVALUABLE FOR ME AND THE REST OF THE BOYS.

ANOTHER THING, ANY1 KNOW HOW COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES LEASES WORK? AND ALSO ANY ROUGH ESTIMATES TO HOW MUCH IT MAY BE PER MONTH FOR ABOUT A 1400 SQFT RETAIL SPACE IN CITY CENTRE OR GOOD SHOPPING CENTRE (ROUGH ESTIMATES WILL BE FINE)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ANY SUGGESTIONS, GOOD,BAD, ARE MORE THAN WELCOME.

THANX

[Toon]

I think £20k is too low to start a shop. I needed about half that just to buy stock to put on a website. To be able to fill your shop you'll probably want at least £20k worth of stock alone. So you'll need extra for fittings and for other bills.

I'd honestly suggest you start with a website or even a market stall just to see if your products would actually sell first.

[iceman]

first and foremost thank you for your reply and advice. well this 20k would most go towards rent and other expense as the stock would be more or less free we have estimated the stock to cost about £5k at the most as we will be getting it from my friends dads factory.

any ideas about how much a normal medium sized retail shop makes in sales?

toon any suggestions or advice would u like to give in regards to selling online?

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN PAL

[SillyJokes]

We started with £700 worth of stock and built up.

With respect plunging £10K straight into stock seems like an awful lot.

I don't know anything about running a high street shop but in all things I start small and grow larger, so you might want to try a less expensive site before targeting a high street.

Have a look at your competitors - are they all bunched together? This means people looking for clothes will come to that area and are less likely to go another mile to visit your store. Try and get a premesis nearby, perhaps on a cheaper street at first. You can always move.

A market stall is also a good start as suggested. Plenty of successful businesses started that way.

You could do some research in another town with a similar profile. See if any of the store owners are prepared to discuss how they did it - or if they won't talk to you talk to just about any shop owner - they will have good advice.

[iceman]

well i agree with you that starting from a market stall would be a good way of understanding the market. but the problem with that is we are trying to sell like a lifestyle, the clothes we want to sell are trendy designer wear.

so by selling them on a stall i think wouldnt give the right impression and another problem with selling them on a stall would be that the price would have to be really low. which wouldnt make sense for our business.

PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS, I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE WITH WHOM I CAN GET SOME ADVICE ABOUT RETAIL STORES, for example their average monthly sales, and various information about leases etc. but without any luck

so if any1 can point me to the right direction i would be very much obliged

regards

[SillyJokes]

try your local business link or chamber of commerce

[winton50]

You get what you pay for with respect to shop rental.

If you are selling lifestyle then I would suggest that you need to look for an area that includes shops of the same demographic as your own.
Cost all depends on where you are looking to sell. London is obviously more expensive than elsewhere. New swanky developments more than older established secondary areas. Bear in mind that you will need to pay for the first three months rent up front and don't ignore things like fees etc.


If you are designer then it's possibly a good idea to think that less is more in respect of stock. Look at all the trendiest shops and see how little stock they actually have. Then look at ASDA/WALMART, primark etc and see how much they have.

The less margin you have the more you need to sell to pay for that expensive space.

I can promise you one of the biggest keys to a good retail enterprise is staff. If you are going upmarket then you need quality staff. If you are thinking about staffing it yourself then you need to be very realistic about your own qualities. If you want to sell to people with money they are not going to come back if greeted with an 'awright mate'!


My best piece of advice to any new start up would be to learn how to make up a cash flow forecast (it doesn't have to be complicated just realistic) and refresh this every week or so.

Also work out what you think your sales will be and halve them!

Sorry for the long post

HTH
:)
Stu

[kyber]

You face a huge challenge iceman and I admire your courage. This forum is very good indeed and has a tremendous range of intellectual capital available but you are starting from such an extreme position of ignorance that I am not sure it is the best place to start your learning.

The suggestion of going to a local business link, chamber of commerce, etc. in your target area is excellent.

The performance of a wide range of retailers is well published but for smaller boutique outlets, well it is pretty much anyone's guess as there are so many variables that small businesses are so sensitive to. The vast majority of boutique stores fail in the first year and usually because of poor cash flow rather than anything else.

You probably need to make friends with someone with a non-competitive but comparable offering to learn from as you are starting from such a low point.

What does intrigue me is how you believe you will be able to create a strong enough brand to attract the higher-margin brand-attracted customers. I see some contradictions here.

With regard to costs, why don't you post a straw-man on here of all of the costs (just line items, not the numbers if you have no idea) that you can think of and then we can provide feedback on that. This will demonstrate you getting into thinking mode on your business plan. Your staff costs (salaries, NI, etc.) will probably be your highest cost particularly given the market you are looking at.

Stuart

[RogerRoger]

Sounds good.

[vvaannmmaann]

Aye,for a post that's six years old.

[GRDCredit]

When this thread started I was still the right side of 40 and only had one daughter and self employment was still just a dream for those wistful moments!

[Chunky Beagle]

You need to find a niche.

You will just be another one of those shops that sells good priced clothing. You need something to make you stand out.

Maybe focus on appealing to a UNiversity consumer base, or 40 year olds casual clothing.

Also where were you thinking about having the shop? Because surely the majority of clothing shops are on the high street where 20k would be far to small.