Newsagents in Edimburgh

[Goldie83]

Hi there,

I am totally new to this forum but i thought i would try and ask you what you think about my situation, all opinions are accepted :redface:

I have recently opened a Newsagents in Edinburgh and I am starting to worry I have made a big mistake because its my 3rd day since the opening and i had only a few customers daily, with hardly any general sale, only a few milk and tobacco buyers, people dont seem to look at my shop when they walk by , and the shop being on a main road, doesnt seem to be effective as i thought it should be.

there are various others newsagents on this road, well established, do u think i have made a mistake to open a similar business?
At the start i thought it was a good location for a newsagents, because its hard not find a shop to rent in a place where you wont get any competition.
And i have looked at shops for months before stepping into Edinburgh.

This is my first business, and I cant afford to put my foot down on this, I have invested too much already.

What do you think i am doing wrong?

thanks for any opinions.

 

[gouldie0]

Hi Goldie83,

I think it's a little early to say it's a mistake, it'll take a little time but I'm sure custom will pick up.

Where abouts are you in Edinburgh?

Have you thought about what type of customer you're looking to attract, are you close to the Uni or any student accomodation?

Kind Regards

Neil

 

[MASSEY]

Well getting a scott to part with money.... ( i better not)

This is where you need to try and differentiate yourself from the competiton. For example i worked in a newsagents once and a competitor opened up 3 doors down and started selling newspapers half price stealing the passing business.

If you were to make newspapers half price and try to entise customers in you would over time, (because you would have to do it for a while) start to build up a customer base, but you need to work out what you can afford.

 

[Goldie83]

Hi Goldie83,

I think it's a little early to say it's a mistake, it'll take a little time but I'm sure custom will pick up.

Where abouts are you in Edinburgh?

Have you thought about what type of customer you're looking to attract, are you close to the Uni or any student accomodation?

Kind Regards

Neil

hi there,

thanks for your reply.

Well the shop is near a high school and right behind the stadium.

Now kids are going to be off school for 2 weeks, yesterday i opened the shop and from 8 am to 1pm, only 1 customer came in to buy milk.

I discovered it might be the exterior of the shop which isnt ideal, so i called someone to come and provide me with an A board and maybe some neon signs.

how long do u think it will take for me to starting making some decent profit?

thanks

 

[Goldie83]

Well getting a scott to part with money.... ( i better not)

This is where you need to try and differentiate yourself from the competiton. For example i worked in a newsagents once and a competitor opened up 3 doors down and started selling newspapers half price stealing the passing business.

If you were to make newspapers half price and try to entise customers in you would over time, (because you would have to do it for a while) start to build up a customer base, but you need to work out what you can afford.

thanks for your reply.

i know scots are famous for being tight with money...i hope its only an old saying

at the moment I avoid getting newspapers because i cant afford to pay Menzies 1000 pounds deposit. I will get this sorted later.

I am just selling newspapers by buying them at the garage, i know it sounds stupid but i really cant afford paying menzies that much now.

 

[gouldie0]

Hi Goldie83,

Have you written a business plan? Have you left yourself too short of cash within the business to run it properly?

The reason I say that is most newsagents stock newspapers. It's primarily what you want along with magazine's, tobacco / cigs, juice - you get the picture. You need to work out what your customers want and who your customers are going to be. You might want to try selling something that will appeal to customers that your normal newsagent doesn't.

I think with schools being off things will probably be quieter as you'd expect the usual rush of kids in the morning etc for sweets and junk.

If you feel the shop needs a little TLC on the exterior that may help attracting customers but essentially it's going to take time. My father-in-law ran a newsagents many years ago, it's a long hard slog with very little time away from the business.

Kind Regards

Neil

 

[directmarketingadvice]

Well the shop is near a high school and right behind the stadium.

Which stadium? There are four (that I can think of).

It doesn't sound like you know Edinburgh very well.

Steve

 

[Goldie83]

Which stadium? There are four (that I can think of).

It doesn't sound like you know Edinburgh very well.

Steve

Well I am not scottish and do not know Edinburgh at all actually, but I have the shop now and i cant go back. :redface:
i know which stadium i am talking about but i prefer not to tell.
thanks for your reply.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

i know which stadium i am talking about but i prefer not to tell.

In that case, I can't use local knowledge to advise you.

Steve

 

[Normansmith]

Well I am not scottish and do not know Edinburgh at all actually, but I have the shop now and i cant go back. :redface:
i know which stadium i am talking about but i prefer not to tell.
thanks for your reply.

Don't tell potential customers where you are located :| Don't have any newspapers ? and opens a newsagents at 8am . Any ideas what you should do to improve ?

 

[directmarketingadvice]

Don't have any newspapers ?

He has newspapers. He buys them from a garage.

Steve

 

[stugster]

I have a newsagents and I keep the doors locked. Why am I not making any sales?

 

[WJP]

I am just selling newspapers by buying them at the garage, i know it sounds stupid but i really cant afford paying menzies that much now.

This reminds me of when there are big book launches (specifically the Harry Potter series) and an independent bookseller I know ended up buying their stock from supermarkets because they couldn't afford to match their prices. It saved them face to a certain degree but didn't make them any money. I know yours is a slightly different situation, but you are not going to make any money buying newspapers from a garage. I find it hard to believe that in all of your planning for this business it didn't occur to you to budget for this. A newsagent without a guaranteed and affordable newspaper supply isn't really a newsagent. It's a milk-and-cigarettes-agent. Find the money, sort your frontage out, think about what you should be stocking (i.e what your customers will buy) and think about what promotions you can run to pull people in. It will take a bit of time, new shops, especially independents, do, but if you put the work in now it will pay off. Don't risk losing your new shop just because you haven't done your homework properly.

 

[limirush]

Hey I believe its to soon to give up!....& I just open my own first cosmetic store knowing that there is a lot of competition around the area. But I always try to give my customer a fast service and good prices, plus working extra than my competition, and that has work out to make my store step up from competition. Don't give up, some days are good and others are so so!!

 

[Philip Hoyle]

If you can't afford the Menzies deposit of £1k, just how much stock do you have? I usually budget for at least £10k-£15k of stock for a small CTN business. What about magazines etc? You need the broadest range of products possible to succeed as an independent CTN, that's right across the board with sweets/chocs, drinks, cigarettes, etc. If you've struggled to find the deposit for Menzies, that suggests you don't have the kind of money you need to properly stock it. You mention a few customers - do they come back the next day and buy again - if not, you really are doing something wrong as it's repeat business that makes or breaks - they should be coming back time and time again and buying more. From what you've said, I fear that your problem is a lack of stock/range. Your shop needs to be absolutely full of stock to give the image of it being successful - empty shelves and only 1 or 2 of each item (like papers) doesn't give the right image and people won't come back.

 

[Goldie83]

If you can't afford the Menzies deposit of £1k, just how much stock do you have? I usually budget for at least £10k-£15k of stock for a small CTN business. What about magazines etc? You need the broadest range of products possible to succeed as an independent CTN, that's right across the board with sweets/chocs, drinks, cigarettes, etc. If you've struggled to find the deposit for Menzies, that suggests you don't have the kind of money you need to properly stock it. You mention a few customers - do they come back the next day and buy again - if not, you really are doing something wrong as it's repeat business that makes or breaks - they should be coming back time and time again and buying more. From what you've said, I fear that your problem is a lack of stock/range. Your shop needs to be absolutely full of stock to give the image of it being successful - empty shelves and only 1 or 2 of each item (like papers) doesn't give the right image and people won't come back.

hi thanks for your reply

first of all , my shop is really small, its not big enough to spend 10k or more on stock.
i spent roughly 2.5 k to stock it so far and its looking good.
i dont have magazines yet but i tried to stock as much sweeties and chocolates as possible. Including stationery etc..

i see your points of view, but at the start its really hard to stock for everything. Some people come in looking for a brand of cigarettes and if u dont have it, they go somewhere else, but can i stock for every type of cigarettes? No i cant. Not at the start anyway.
The next day i buy that brand of cigarettes and I wont sell them for weeks after. People always come in for something u dont have and I cant make everyone happy.

A few days ago a woman came in asking for eggs , i didnt have them so went and bought eggs and i still have to sell them , i will end up making an omelette for my self.

thanks.

 

[Rhodes100]

Yes you have made a mistake.

You dont have enough money to run this shop properly if you cannot afford the £1,000 News Deposit.

And who has heard of a Newsagents that does not sell Newspapers or Magazines?

People will only change their buying habits if someone provides something better than the service they are already getting and you certainly are not doing that. Why you thought that it would be a good idea to set up in competition when you admit there are already a number of established businesses on the same road is baffling.

You do not have the volumes nor finance to compete on price, and it seems that your shop is small and you cannot compete on produce range.

I would suggest that you create a huge number of leaflets and distribute them to the local houses with a couple of known value item offers ie. milk at cost and hope they come in buy the milk and something else.

Also have you tried contacting another non competing Newsagent to see whether they would be willing to sell you Newspapers at a 10% margin. However this legistically would be a nightmare and will bound to end in you making a huge loss trying to control it.

 

[tyro1979]

If your short of cash you're needing to get people to stock your shop for you on a sale or return basis, whilst obviously taking a cut for yourself.

Use the internet, check out local advertisements - find local producers. Sell local free range eggs, locally grown vegetables (check out allotments), locally created hand crafted greetings cards (universities/clubs), etc.

Also try advertise for people with stock they want rid of or have excess multiples of sitting in their basement. I myself have a dose of stuff that I'd happily offer, to a local business, on a Sale or Return basis (notebooks, greetings cards, umbrella's, gift wrap, leather cuffs/bracelets, etc.)

Look on this as a short term solution. Once business picks up you can renegotiate terms or find better suppliers.

I'd also recommend opening for longer hours consistently. Your consumer base will largely use routine. If your needing to pace yourself try select hours that set you apart i.e. 05:00-11:00 & 17:00-21:00 ADVERTISE YOUR OPENING HOURS. Get the front door open too. Never underestimate the stupidity of the general public - spoon feed them everything - shop obviously open, prices clearly on display, serving suggestions, you name it.

All the best

 

[Goldie83]

Don't tell potential customers where you are located :| Don't have any newspapers ? and opens a newsagents at 8am . Any ideas what you should do to improve ?

Thanks for nothing.
Your sarcasm isnt helpful at all. Next time, come up with something more intelligent to say.

 

[Lefty_jakobz]

Hi Goldie, Ive a ctn store aswell.

From reading your posts Id say firstly you should consider opening much earlier, asa a newsagents you should be open by 6/6.30 am at the latest (I open the store at 5.30am-paper deliveries come in at this time!) and stay open until 5.30 pm at least.

People have to see youre shop open to know its there, if your closed (1pm?) before they go to work and again after they come home from work there not going to be able to buy are they?

If you dont mind me asking what is your background, buisness wise and why did you open a shop?

Like I said ive a background in this area so f you need help with anything let me know!