Cost Of Shop

[Stobbs45]

hey, this is kinda in here twice but anyways, If I were to open up a small shop in a shopping centre does any one have any experience, ideas of costs, legal factors? Thanks Peter

 

[MH1]

Your landlord should be able to provide the majority of information, you need to check out if rates are included, service charges, power, wter etc plus insurance on premises and stock.

After that obviously you have your salary/wages etc to allow for plus marketing etc.

 

[That Bates Girl]

As MH1 says, check to see what is included and what you are responsible for. Also remember that any insurance cover that is included will be for buildings but not contents, so you will need your own insurance for that - and don't forget public liability.

If it's a centre, find out about access and opening hours - can you get in when the centre is closed? How easy is it for you to take delivery of things? Do you have an obligation to be open while the centre is open or can you choose your own opening hours?

Try to find out if you can whether there are going to be any building works or other such things that are likely to make a difference to the place, either in terms of access or appearance - when took the lease on my gallery (in a lovely victorian arcade), the landlord ommitted to mention that they were due to do some restoration works. This meant that 10 weeks after I moved in, and 5 weeks before christmas, they covered the entire place in scaffolding, until about the end of the following April. Needless to say that this did not help the ambiance of the place (the cafe next door to me lost £20k's worth of business over that period).

Lydia