Residential to Commercial conversion

[Russi666]

Good Evening all,

I posted on this site last year looking for advice as I was contemplating moving into the removals/haulage business. I still never bothered with the van. Although I still believe there is money to be made, I'm very much a car lover and cannot bring myself to part with my car to replace with a van! As things currently stand, me and my cousin have started a small window cleaning business. And although we're not exactly setting the world alight, we're doing okay out of it. All of our custom has come through door to door canvassing. Can be soul destroying at times, but really pulls the work in! I also work full time in a factory through the week.

Anyway, whilst doing our round, we have picked a lot of work up in a village just outside my home town. The residents are mainly wealthy people, with a good mix of older/younger generation. After some research, there is a population of approx. 4k people, who are served by 2 shops, 2 pubs, 2 takeaways and a chemist. Now, in my opinion, as there is such little competition, and so many wealthy potential customers, there is money to be made here. My main stumbling block, though, is the lack of commercial property available. Does anyone have any experience of turning a residential rental premises into a commercial one, and is it viable?

I have no experience at all in this, so apologies if it's a silly question.
Thanks in advance
Russ

 

[Billmccallum]

converting premises is not a major stumbling block, it's getting change of use permission from the local council.

Most houses have one or two supporting walls on the ground floor, replacing these with steel girders will easily open up the ground floor space.

 

[markrobin]

converting premises is not a major stumbling block, it's getting change of use permission from the local council.

Most houses have one or two supporting walls on the ground floor, replacing these with steel girders will easily open up the ground floor space.

In my opinion you should apply a application in local council for this and talk about this to them.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Russ,assuming you find a place and then convert it into to a shop - what then? What service/shop are you considering to offer the town?

 

[Russi666]

Would I find a landlord happy for me to butcher his property though? It would have to be rented as I don't have the funds to purchase. As I'm not very experienced in the big bad world of business, I was thinking something simple, something that every town seems to have and seem to stay around for a long time. I'm thinking either:
A sunbed shop. My mother used to manage one, and although, according to her there isn't a fortune in it, there's certainly enough to make a good living. Obviously I have the advantage of her experience and contacts then.

Or

A coffee shop. I know literally zero about this option, but I think this village is an ideal location for one. They seem to be as popular as ever, and I know this sounds odd, but the residents seem the coffee shop type!

It has been well documented the younger generation of the village are very restricted with entertainment options with there being so little to occupy them. Can't think of how to profit from this though!

So anyway, most likely option is sunbed shop. It's the least profitable (I think) but probably the easiest. Do you think it's worth me approaching a rental landlord about this, and how do I go about it?

Thanks for your help so far

 

[Billmccallum]

Would I find a landlord happy for me to butcher his property though? It would have to be rented as I don't have the funds to purchase. As I'm not very experienced in the big bad world of business, I was thinking something simple, something that every town seems to have and seem to stay around for a long time. I'm thinking either:
A sunbed shop. My mother used to manage one, and although, according to her there isn't a fortune in it, there's certainly enough to make a good living. Obviously I have the advantage of her experience and contacts then.

Or

A coffee shop. I know literally zero about this option, but I think this village is an ideal location for one. They seem to be as popular as ever, and I know this sounds odd, but the residents seem the coffee shop type!

It has been well documented the younger generation of the village are very restricted with entertainment options with there being so little to occupy them. Can't think of how to profit from this though!

So anyway, most likely option is sunbed shop. It's the least profitable (I think) but probably the easiest. Do you think it's worth me approaching a rental landlord about this, and how do I go about it?

Thanks for your help so far

How much money do you have to invest?????

Conversion would be around £20,000 (at a guess, maybe more depending on where it is), plus the cost of setting up the business, say another £10,000 minimum.

 

[Russi666]

Nothing like the 30k you have forecast. I could invest around £5000. I appreciate your attempts at helping, but your prices seem way off to me. For a conversion, I don't know what sort of fees would apply, but the actual job itself is just making the bottom floor as open plan as possible, which is not a particularly difficult job. And as for 10k minimum startup, I know a guy who has recently opened a sunbed shop in the main town, and has spent very, very little in doing so. He has hired a unit, so has had to pay a bond on that, all the machines are on hire from Epcot, and the rest has been negligible costs, a til, bit of mdf for a counter, lick of paint here and there. Don't get me wrong, it's hardly got an upmarket boutique feel, but its sufficient with very little initial outlay.

 

[Billmccallum]

Nothing like the 30k you have forecast. I could invest around £5000. I appreciate your attempts at helping, but your prices seem way off to me. For a conversion, I don't know what sort of fees would apply, but the actual job itself is just making the bottom floor as open plan as possible, which is not a particularly difficult job. And as for 10k minimum startup, I know a guy who has recently opened a sunbed shop in the main town, and has spent very, very little in doing so. He has hired a unit, so has had to pay a bond on that, all the machines are on hire from Epcot, and the rest has been negligible costs, a til, bit of mdf for a counter, lick of paint here and there. Don't get me wrong, it's hardly got an upmarket boutique feel, but its sufficient with very little initial outlay.

Knowing what needs to be done and how to do it well is the key, none of the builders I work with would consider such a job without ensuring that everything was done properly, hence the estimate of £20K (that's assuming you can find a landlord who will let you rip a house apart, which they are not likely to do unless it's done properly).

Lots of people think a business can be set up for £5K, but how do you promote your business, how do you have an income for the first six months whilst you build up a customer base?

What happens if it goes t*t's up and the landlord say's OK, put it back the way it was??????

p.s. I have over 25 years experience of business and management, free advice is....don't even think about it being achievable for £5K.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Russi wrote;
and the rest has been negligible costs, a til, bit of mdf for a counter, lick of paint here and there.

Is this really the right image for the "upmarket" audience you are thinking of targetting?

 

[Russi666]

Well, as I said, that is the route my friend went down, and it worked out very inexpensive. But what do you expect an upmarket one to consist of? Most of the Earth is MDF and paint now. I wasn't planning on marble & pewter. It's all about the skills of the joiner/painter. As I've worked in a factory that manufactures fireplaces & furniture for the last 8 years, mainly as a joiner, with spells in Warehouse and Distribution, I consider myself to be more than able on that side. Besides, I have block bookings in 3 different tanning salons, and they're all pretty much identical, barring my friends, who's is similar, just done to a much lower quality. All the reception tables are, even at the large firms, is some variant of veneered mdf. As are the cubicles. Epcot recently got new cubicles, with lovely walnut effect doors. Just veneer. That's all everything is. So yes, in answer to your question, paint & mdf is most certainly the look I'm going for, because I can make it look damn good. I may not know much about business, but I can't half sand assemble & spray!

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Do the residents of the town actually want a sunbed salon?
More to the point would they actually use it?
Who will be supervising the place?
http://www.santia.co.uk/who-we-are/news/32-of-sunbed-salons-breaking-the-law/
What are you going to pay them?
Stuff here about getting started http://www.solansunbeds.co.uk/How_to_Set_up_a_Successful_Tanning_Salonv1.2.pdf

Maybe as you go around cleaning the windows you could ask your customers what the town actually needs?