Rent shop what are the pitfalls

[Sarkin]

I am looking to expand my business as I have a sucessfull online business.

What are the pitfalls in renting a shop, I prefer this to an office as can push traffic to the shop through advertising and walk ins.

 

[oldeagleeye]

You are going to find it hard going in your business buddy. I was a mortgae finance broker for over 20 years and hight streets shop are expensive. I'll give you a great tip however.

Look around for one of the smaller indepedant estate agents in your area. Few have really goog contacts and would be pleased to give you a desk and window space for looking after their customers and yet more business you way.

Rob

 

[Sarkin]

Mate I got 5,000 hits a month and 2 other brokers working for me, But thanks for the advice.

If someone could just give me a heads up to cost, contracts, that would be great

 

[oldeagleeye]

Around 20K - 25K for a small unit. 3 year lease possible premium who knows what. Anyway its easy enough to do a google for shops to rent in your area.

Most will wnt 3 months rent up front.Yourlegal fees about £750

Rob

 

[Sarkin]

thanks Rob I am looking at renting shops around 4,500 pa.

Do I have to pay business rates, council tax?

 

[oldeagleeye]

There are some exceptions especially for new start ups but maybe for 6 months and you should factor in. Usually around 25% - 50% of the rental

You should also of shop insurance heating and other utilities. I would budgt for £100 a week.

Frankly Sarkin. I don't know what area your in but in the south east you couldn't rent a bedsit room fo £90 quid a week and the only way I can se you getting that sort of low rent anywhere is if you pay a hefty premium of £10K - £20K for the lease.

If your working from home and while you said you would prefer a shop over offiice have you considered something like the Regus Virtual Office Plus.

That gives you all the usual VO stugff telehone answering - mail registered
address on top of which your get about 25 hrs of private serviced office space a month and it don't stop there. There no office equipment to buy photcopies etc on site as well as combing machines for brochures etc and you can use these at any time.

You also get the Regus Gold Biz card included. This entitles you to unlimted access to not only to your base but any Regus business centre in the UK where you can use the prestigious business lounges to meet clients or your team and they even provide free refreshments tea - coffee - mineral water as much as you can drink.

The cost of the Virtual Office Plus deal is less than £50 quid a week. Slightly more in Central London but hey. Those around St James and Hanover Sq are like gentlemens clubs got showers everything. 2 doors up your looking at £50 a year membership if you can get it.

You can actuall buy the Gold Card on its own @ £200 a year. You would save that by popping in for coffee.

Hope the info helps.

 

[oldeagleeye]

Just been on Google maps to find distnce to a friends down there and note from alexa your name and location. I was amazed at how cheap property is down there when I came across a link.

If its in the right area seems like a steal to me ' just £65 quid a week and might be an investment too for a broker

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=04&salerent=1&pid=6466792

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[Simply Business]

Hi Sarkin,

If you are still looking into shop cost's Simply Business is a business insurer that can give you some prices for public liability, employees liability ect. If you would like to discuss your options please email me at [email protected] or visit www.simplybusiness.co.uk

Kind Regards
Tim

 

[oldeagleeye]

Hi Tim - just sent you a PM

Rob

 

[BusinessIdeas]

Its easy to rent a shop almost anywhere for £50 to £100 a week with six months to 12 months lease. A standard lease wont incurr much in the way of legal fees, they are easy peasey to go through yourself without a solicitor being involved.
Dont listen to idiots who tell you that you cant get a shop for less than 20k with 3 years lease to sign, its just ridiculous!

 

[mitch@volume]

so how far below asking price would you start negotiations on a typical town property?

say 7-800 sqre ft in a town centre been empty 6months to 1 year, asking 10k a year on a 5 year lease?

 

[oldeagleeye]

So called idiots that don't know about a certain location learn quickly and try to help. It's big mouths who claim to be able to open a shop in 3 weeks and make no buying second hand gold Sarkin that you don't wan to listen tooand that was Madme Businesideas last great. That was on the 14th July only it didn't happen did it honey bee.

My bullion dealer. Don't make me laugh. Now you seem to be scratching around for a few copper coins as an affiliate for Babiesmoments.

You ain't DancingwithPoodles girlfriend that he keeps talking about are you. Only it seems she melted down a few old trinkets and made him a few presents. Could well be your style

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[BusinessIdeas]

Oh dear I must have rattled someones cage , watch out! the eagle has crashed once again

 

[BusinessIdeas]

so how far below asking price would you start negotiations on a typical town property?

say 7-800 sqre ft in a town centre been empty 6months to 1 year, asking 10k a year on a 5 year lease?

Offer whatever you think its worth to you, bearing in mind your projections on profit and loss. People are desperate to rent shops at the moment so a 1 year lease is perfectly reasonable. I have just signed the lease on my second shop in a prime location at £5k with a 1 year lease.

 

[oldeagleeye]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. 2nd shop in prime location. It's a job to find you home town on the map. Whats the 1 shop by the way. A Joke shop.

Come on now if you want any credibility at all tell us where it is. I''ll see in Google streret maps go out that far in the wilderness an if so take casual virtual walk by.

HA HA HA. Boy has this girl got a sense of humour.

 

[BusinessIdeas]

Being called a liar by some numpty self styled 'business guru' who cant find the werewithal to pay a subscription to the forum, and who does not list any business that he has been involved in is really too funny.
Of course I dont need to prove my credentials, they are self evident. I state facts!
I do not air assumptions based on misinformation and prejudice. if anyone were to listen and to take advice from a person claiming to be a 'business mentor' who has no credentials whatsoever then I fear they would soon come unstuck.

 

[oldeagleeye]

No-one called you a liar. A bit of a big mouth shooting ther head off perhaps or even a dreamer like DWP.

Whatever your creditials are NOT self evident as you claim. All I see is a forum which has fewer members than one I accidentaly came across which was for enthusists that studied the life and mating habits of a bumble bee.

On the other hand madam I have created no less companys worth well over a million pounds in my business career and I would be more than happy to send you a copy of my resume. Then again you might want to wait. I will be starting a thread soon entitled the Diary of a SUCCESSFUL serial entrepreneur.

Not sure exactly when because I am just about to launch my next million pound company. Nay I lie. At the end of year 1 it will be worth £4.5 Million.

Care to invest. Due to a personal matrimonial situation at the last minute I am looking for an investor with £25K mainly for highly targeted promotions and I will be offering 20% of the company. A real company.

Care to shake hands and make up. Business is business as lolng as you don't come up with ideas for running mine.

 

[BusinessIdeas]

Nothing to make up Robert, I dont hold grudges Let me know what the business is and I will see if I can help with the £25k. What were the successful businesses that you created in the past by the way?

 

[oldeagleeye]

I was one of the first to introduce the concept of the retail franchise to Britain when few people including bank managers had even heard the word. Not surprising as the only franchise operation in the UK at that time was the Wimpey Burger Bars.

Anyway I was working as amanager for the Singer Sewing Machine company at the time and it didn't take me long to discover that the 350 strong retail operation were surviving on low book rents so the factory in Scotland could turn out units in volume to maintain Singers claim as market leader. I therefore put the idea of my taking a big loss making shop and runnint as a franchise to the board at Guildford. They dismissed the whole idea out of hand the old farts.

Now I had clashed with old farts running the company in my first job and I had sworn then that I would never let them get the better of me so I went over their heads. Direct to the CEO of the Singer Corpolration in America. Now to cut a long story short. Within 3 weeks a Vice President came over here to see me. With in another 6 weeks I had my francjhise at Chingford in East London and it was profitable from week one. Mainly because I was a good salesman but I also did the repairs.

Within 6 months I had opended another store. Within 18 months I had 6. Each turning over about £100K a year with a healthy 35% gross profit. On a P/E of 10 then that company was worth over £1 million pounds. A hell of a lot of money in the late 1960's.

Due to my success and business model Singer eventualy turn all 350 stores in to franchises. All agaikn a great success intially.The reason that you don't see them around today is that cheap imports of fashionable clothes started to arrive and by the late 1970s a generation not used to the make and mend of the war years thought home dressmaking naff which is why I got out

I am going to skim over the next 2 major venmtures because I am probably running out of paper but on business No 2. I took over a small one man band repairing juke boxes and fruit machines in a small workshop and turned it into the most respected Covert Surveillence manufacturer in the business and I kid you not. My company were for a time the real 'Q' you see in the Bond films. Another million pound company and I am afraid to say my second costly divorce.

My 3rd major enterprise. I already owned a small finance companywhich I set up to provide easy credit for my sewing mchine customer. Within 2 years I built that up into the biggest master mortgage brokers in the South East turning over almost £100 million in endowment premiums. Not impressed well how about this. I was the 1st to introduce truly non-status mortgages. The first to offer mortgages on a 2nd property. The rest is history but with full pages ads in most of the local papers in the South East many people still remember my compny it was called Asset Finance.

Oh one fimnal question you may ask. Why do I need money now. First I quit the rat race for about 8 years and just made a living running my wine bar and a pub. 2nd I am a sucker or have been for blondes and this last one trashed my hgold cc's that I was relying on to launch the biz. It is as simple as that End of story.

 

[Cloughie]

Ohh, getting testy in here

To the original poster, your best bet is to call a couple of commercial property agents in your area and ask them.

Most have websites and they tend to have the PA fee on there.

In my area (Cambridge) even cruddy location, kinda beat up shops run at 12-17K a year. Now thats what they list them for on the website, but that doesn't mean you can't go in with a super cheeky offer I guess (5K a year or nothing type of thing).

 

[BusinessIdeas]

For my first shop I walked the whole area of the town that I was interested in and found a great little shop that was advertised by the landlord himself in the window of the shop premises. It was not listed with any agents at all!
My advice would be to get out there and do the footwork if you want to grab a bargain rent on a small shop.