Very new idea. Help apreciated.

[Cassie]

Hi there,

I supose I should start my introducing myself.. Im 21, a recent sociology graduate and currently unemployed.

I've always been interested in the idea of starting my own business, and have recently been pondering an idea which I now want to put into action.

I live in an area 10minutes away from the local supermarket. Neighbouring villages have only one, but mostly no shops in their village and are a good 20 - 40minutes away from the town.

My idea is to set up a mobile grocery store for these villagers, which will stop in each village for a set amount of time and also offer a delivery service.
Offering necessities such as bread, milk, eggs and the like.

Firstly I need to get feedback from residents in these villages to see if the business would actually work.

But then im scared about applying for a business loan because of my student loan and overdraft. (Other than this, I should have a good credit rating.)

How much do you think I will need to set this up?. I know I will need to buy a van, chilling area, etc.. but not sure how much this may cost... plus promotion and advertising.

As you can tell I am very new to all this and would very much appreciate some guidance.

Thank you

 

[RedEvo]

There are probably rules about handling food you will need to comply with. Research your market thoroughly.

d

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

PM Boxby - his style of business seems to be a growing market.

 

[Faith28]

PM Boxby - his style of business seems to be a growing market.

His?!,......

 

[Billmccallum]

2004 FORD TRANSIT T100 High Top 72,000 miles, Red, full main dealer service history, very good running order, taxed and Mot'd, full Ford refridgeration system fitted by dealer. £3,500 ONO.


Buy something like this, stick a fridge in the back, some shelves and pop to a local cash & carry and stock up. For less than £5K you have a mobile shop, now go and sell....

OK, so it's not that easy, but it could be.... take a look at Shell Livewire and Virgin Media Pioneers, where lots of younger people with business ideas hang out, they will be able to advise on where to get grants too...

 

[filtuh.com]

Add value by having affiliated POS displays for sales of the supermarket retail products and utility providers, or just ask people if they'd be willing to receive special offers. Or adverts for local businesses in community A who want to reach community B.

You may find there's more of a market in the higher margin brands like organic and farmers market produce, after all most supermarkets will deliver if there's enough people in the community who'll order on the same day. Assuming the local supermarket manager is switched on of course.

Survey imo - post surveys in a few villages offering a prize draw and with a short bio about you (emphasise the positive about taking the initiative and starting a business rather than joining the benefits race) - ask whether they want budget/value or higher end stuff, frequency, average spend, how they'd feel about selected flyers from reputable finance or utility brands being delivered with it (amazon do this anyway whether you ask or not) or from other local businesses.

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

I would suggest finding out about the post offices in those villages. Chances are the smaller villages have recently lost their post office, and are probably served by a mobile van or an outreach service a couple of hours a week. If you can coincide your weekly trips with the times of the post office van, then you're already increases your chances of getting customers.

Your key market will be the elderly (but not the really elderly as they'll be taken care of by care assistants/meals on wheels etc), so go for staple ingrediants, rather than posh deli type stuff. Old folk buy small portions, so make sure you have individual portion sizes of meat/veggies etc.

And bear in mind the 80/20 rule. your revenue will come from 20% of your lines, and 80% of them will tie up your cash and your space in the van. You can't cater for all needs to go for products that can be used as substitutes for others that you don't stock.

On the downside, you have to consider that ALL of the residents of ALL of those villages already have in place suitable alternative arrangements for groceries. So you've got to not think from the angle that there's no competition, in a sense it's almost harder because you've got to break habits (and convince them that you're not twice the price of the saintly "cheaper" supermarkets - and that's one dead and PR war).

Don't get involved with newspapers. They'll just give you loads of committment and no margin.

Keep it simple, don't over invest, keep costs to a minimum whilst you work out whether or not there is a long term business there.

Go and talk to the Princes trust. They will talk you through setting up the business, the legal stuff, the accounts stuff etc, make you do a business plan. They may even help you with a start up loan.

 

[luvbusiness]

No need to be scared about applying for a business loan they can only say no.I think they will want to see a % of the money from you as well to show that you are giving some financial commitment.It is worth it though to go to a few banks and tell them your ideas maybe they can give you some pointers

 

[jelly3]

Hi there,

I supose I should start my introducing myself.. Im 21, a recent sociology graduate and currently unemployed.

I've always been interested in the idea of starting my own business, and have recently been pondering an idea which I now want to put into action.

I live in an area 10minutes away from the local supermarket. Neighbouring villages have only one, but mostly no shops in their village and are a good 20 - 40minutes away from the town.

My idea is to set up a mobile grocery store for these villagers, which will stop in each village for a set amount of time and also offer a delivery service.
Offering necessities such as bread, milk, eggs and the like.

Firstly I need to get feedback from residents in these villages to see if the business would actually work.

But then im scared about applying for a business loan because of my student loan and overdraft. (Other than this, I should have a good credit rating.)

How much do you think I will need to set this up?. I know I will need to buy a van, chilling area, etc.. but not sure how much this may cost... plus promotion and advertising.

As you can tell I am very new to all this and would very much appreciate some guidance.

Thank you

There was one of these that was extremely popular when I was a child. It was mainly used by our elderly neighbours.

Although you say the local villages have no shops, (would that not make them hamlets:|?)are there no decent public transport links for them to use? Might that not water down your potential profit margin?
How about the big 5 do they not deliver online orders?
Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Asda, Iceland or a freezer eqv?

You will probably need a larger vehicle than you orginally thought, cause we have come a long way from peeps being happy with a bit of old cabbage. You will probably need to offer more than the basics.
Do you plan to offer organic?

Anyway the helpful bit of this post is this, perhaps you could offer some sort of deal to the shops/farmers in your immediate area of operation and offer to deliver their goods as well as the stuff you plan to get from the wholesalers.

 

[patientlady]

Good luck with this, seems like a great idea to me. Just hope it would be profitable enough for you

 

[Cassie]

Wow, thank you for all the very helpful replies!

Billcallumn- Thank you for that, its very cheap and looks reliable

"would suggest finding out about the post offices in those villages. Chances are the smaller villages have recently lost their post office, and are probably served by a mobile van or an outreach service a couple of hours a week. If you can coincide your weekly trips with the times of the post office van, then you're already increases your chances of getting customers."

All post offices have now closed down and there are no other mobile shops. However there are transport links (not very good, but they are still there) ... Apart from Iceland... other delivery services you may need access to the interner, and im relying on my hope that most of the people il be aiming at (the elderly) wont have access.

"Although you say the local villages have no shops, (would that not make them hamlets:|?)"
No none of these villages (bar one) are hamlets... the shops just havent done well enought to make money in each village - which is why I think the van will do well ... because its not just one villages, its about 8.

I will be speaking to Barclays soon because I know they deal with the princes trust who help people like me . Any my aunty is in Business and has her own company so she is going to help us out with the business plan.

I just hope I can get it up and running

 

[UKSBD]

you say you will be,

"Offering necessities such as bread, milk, eggs and the like"

what do you mean by "and the like" because as far as I can see you are describing a milk round, which appear to have been in decline for years.

 

[scribe]

This type of business was quite common years ago but they just disappeared from the scene .Fl etchers bread used to have hundreds of mobile shops darting around now you hardly see them.Its worth a try good look but the supermarket take some beating on price unfortunately

 

[Cassie]

"you say you will be,

"Offering necessities such as bread, milk, eggs and the like"

what do you mean by "and the like" because as far as I can see you are describing a milk round, which appear to have been in decline for years"

Sorry, didnt really detail it properly ... basically will be selling the majority of things that a corner shop sells.. apart from newspapers. So along with milk eggs and bread, things like sugar, coffee, dog food, sweets etc.

 

[Psl]

I would think that any shops left in local villages would charge a 20-30% premium on all products sold?
If you have say five villages that are in your/ the supermarkets catchment area why not try the following;
A.Canvas the villlagers and offer your services to them, 'we do the shopping', for any villagers that are unable to visit the supremarket but explain that you will charge a 20% delivery charge for this service.
B. Plan your delievery days, Monday = village A etc.
C. Pay for the shopping and collect the money when the shopping is delivered, this will build up trust with your clients which is very important in the early days of your business.
D.Get the backing of the local community and let the police know what you intend to do as well, as calling on the elderly may attract their attention!
Once you have built up a client base then you can look at providing a mobile shop, which I think provides an excellent community service.
You should only need a small vehicle and a float of £300 to start off with and build up from there.
Good luck.

 

[Cassie]

Thank you PSL. My mum also thought of this idea. Could I do this without having to make it a company or would I still need to comply with rules and permits and stuff?

Also.. for the mobile store idea, do I need any licenses or Permits to be able to go ahead?

 

[Zeno]

"you say you will be,

"Offering necessities such as bread, milk, eggs and the like"

what do you mean by "and the like" because as far as I can see you are describing a milk round, which appear to have been in decline for years"

Sorry, didnt really detail it properly ... basically will be selling the majority of things that a corner shop sells.. apart from newspapers. So along with milk eggs and bread, things like sugar, coffee, dog food, sweets etc.

I can't see you being able to make a living from this to be frank. The profit margins on these items are low while the costs of operating a motor vehicle are high.

Small grocers have been struggling for years and have mainly been propped up by sales of tobacco, booze, dirty magazines (I am told) and confectionary.

 

[JamieChallenger]

All i can say is that we have a Butchers van, a Fresh Fish van and a libruary van come to our village every week.

Good luck!

Got to be wortha try.

 

[Psl]

Thank you PSL. My mum also thought of this idea. Could I do this without having to make it a company or would I still need to comply with rules and permits and stuff?

Also.. for the mobile store idea, do I need any licenses or Permits to be able to go ahead?

Just start offering the service as a soletrader, you will soon find out if the mobile shop business would be viable or not based on the number of customers you actually get.
Also whilst running this service you can also look into what is actaully required, permits etc to set up the mobile shop business.
PS. get your mum to help in the business as it will not cost you any wages for her

 

[harryboon]

My advise is research research and research some more, and then try and find as many holes in your business plan as poss, when you can't find any you should be ok - as far as business loans go, you need a great business plan and passion and you should be fine.

Best of British!

 

[socialprseo]

Do some research by way of a market stall. Put a sign up offering delivery and start at the very point of interest. You need to understand the 'SLEPT' stakeholders of the enterprise before you invest.

Slept...

Social
Legal
Political
Environmental
Economical
Political
Technological.

... If you can find a van that is eco-friendly or offers a way to spread word of mouth faster then that is wise. An old Italian scooter van are enormously popular in London.

You need to make your business 'fresher' in produce or "perfect" in delivery time otherwise people will continue buying with Tesco home delivery or abelandcole.

Perhaps looking at Tiptree jam as a benchmark isn't so silly. It's just jam but because it is "Tiptree" packaged the locals 1st loved it - then Essex loved it - then England loved it - then France.



Matthew
Socialprseo.com

 

[Psl]

Do some research by way of a market stall. Put a sign up offering delivery and start at the very point of interest. You need to understand the 'SLEPT' stakeholders of the enterprise before you invest.

Slept...

Social
Legal
Political
Environmental
Economical
Political
Technological.

... If you can find a van that is eco-friendly or offers a way to spread word of mouth faster then that is wise. An old Italian scooter van are enormously popular in London.

You need to make your business 'fresher' in produce or "perfect" in delivery time otherwise people will continue buying with Tesco home delivery or abelandcole.

Perhaps looking at Tiptree jam as a benchmark isn't so silly. It's just jam but because it is "Tiptree" packaged the locals 1st loved it - then Essex loved it - then England loved it - then France.



Matthew
Socialprseo.com

is it 'slept' or 'slpeept'?

 

[puffin]

One point of advice.
your student loan, doesn't count as bad credit rating or anything, it shouldn't be taken into account when taking out a loan.

Hope this helps.

 

[LisaV]

We used to live a little village like the one you describe in your op Cassie. The supermarket was a 10min drive away, there was a pub that didn't sell anything much and was hardly ever open and a garage that was a good 25 min walk.
I would have definitely used a mobile grocery service if there had been one as would my neighbours, we all used to complain about the lack of local shops. I would suggest you stock essentials such as bread and milk, but also nappies and sanitary towels - as a young mum stuck at home with kids it's immensely difficult to get to the shops for these things when you run out.

Best of luck with it!

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Cassie,

stop!!!! Unless you ahve some money to waste, be carful going forward - you will have to invest your money in stock, which can go off and will have to be binned! you will also need to invest in a good range.

Why not offer a shopping service - you collect a shopping list, do the shopping and then put a surchage on! No investment in speculative stock or large vehicle (a small van or estate would work). You could then do an order by phone service!

 

[LisaV]

Cassie,

stop!!!! Unless you ahve some money to waste, be carful going forward - you will have to invest your money in stock, which can go off and will have to be binned! you will also need to invest in a good range.

Why not offer a shopping service - you collect a shopping list, do the shopping and then put a surchage on! No investment in speculative stock or large vehicle (a small van or estate would work). You could then do an order by phone service!

But wouldn't people just shun that service for an internet shopping service? Whereas if they know that a van comes at the same time daily, they'll pop in and often will buy a bit more than just the bare essentials.

Milk and bread and always top of peoples lists and these will last a couple of days. Plus if she invests in non-consumables such as sanitary wear and nappies she can keep these items for longer. Crisps and sweets would go down very well with children if you call round after school.

It's just that having lived in such an area I know I would be inclined to use a mobile van service rather than telephone with a shopping list.

 

[Zeno]

It's just that having lived in such an area I know I would be inclined to use a mobile van service rather than telephone with a shopping list.

The trouble is you think this just now (as would many people) but if such a service actually operated in your area you would in all likelihood use it once then never again as it does not carry the brands you like or is more expensive that your current option.

 

[LisaV]

Hmm, I suppose it depends on whether people go for convenience over everything else. I suggest that Cassie then does her research, go into these areas and ask the people who live there what they think and which service they would be likely to use.

 

[Sacha]

Why not use your car (if you have one) at the beginning with some sort of thermal box in the boot. If you don't have access to a car then why not lease one (like a cheap £200 a month car).

Start off by finding out if anybody would be interested in a delivery service. They call you, ask you for certain items (could be anything from sweets to fresh veg or meats) and you charge 20% on-top of market price like someone else suggested. Start with one customer.

Once you build up a regular clientele then you can start sourcing products yourself (like good quality meats, veg from local farms, etc.) to make more money. For example you could source really good chickens to begin with so all the villages use you to get a really nice chicken, slowly build in high quality seasonal fruits (like a £30 weekly seasonal fruit basket) and things like that.

 

[*Lexxy*]

i'd take the time & actually go door to door in each village, i'm sure you'll soon get a feel for whether this service would be used & you're introducing yourself at the same time.

 

[longleaf1]

This would be brilliant for where I used to live in a tiny village called Cheswardine!
Good Luck and hope all goes well!

 

[deniser]

It sounds good in principle but as has already been suggested, the profit margins on cash and carry items are small and you can never compete with the bulk buying power that the supermarkets have.

Having owned a village shop myself I can also tell you that the older people without internet access or transport you are aiming at are very careful with their pennies.

In our village a fish and chip van used to come every Thursday for about 6 hours from 4 till 10. It always had queues. Everything was fried from to order and the villagers used to use it as a social occasion to chat to people while waiting for their food. It went to a different village every day and by all accounts the person running it made a fortune. That might be a better way to go.

 

[Psl]

It sounds good in principle but as has already been suggested, the profit margins on cash and carry items are small and you can never compete with the bulk buying power that the supermarkets have.

Having owned a village shop myself I can also tell you that the older people without internet access or transport you are aiming at are very careful with their pennies.

In our village a fish and chip van used to come every Thursday for about 6 hours from 4 till 10. It always had queues. Everything was fried from to order and the villagers used to use it as a social occasion to chat to people while waiting for their food. It went to a different village every day and by all accounts the person running it made a fortune. That might be a better way to go.

A mobile fish and chip van, that's a bloody good idea

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

Hmm, I suppose it depends on whether people go for convenience over everything else. I suggest that Cassie then does her research, go into these areas and ask the people who live there what they think and which service they would be likely to use.

Be wary of this. I have seen so many "co-operatives" and village shops go to pot because of this. People answer these surveys based on good intentions, where as breaking habits and changing patterns is a completely different thing.

I could currently talk you through a village shop, set up as a co-operative, paying no wages, and no rent, that can't make money. And it is FULL of stuff that people SAID that they'd buy but never infact actually did. And it's all going in the bin. And they're now down to a sales takings levels of single figure £ per morning/afternoon shift.

Don't believe all that people tell you, you need to put a good dollop of realism on top.

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

Mobile fish & chip van, that also sells icecreams and lollies and a good stock of midnight munchie chocolate!!

 

[*Lexxy*]

Be wary of this. I have seen so many "co-operatives" and village shops go to pot because of this. People answer these surveys based on good intentions, where as breaking habits and changing patterns is a completely different thing.

I could currently talk you through a village shop, set up as a co-operative, paying no wages, and no rent, that can't make money. And it is FULL of stuff that people SAID that they'd buy but never infact actually did. And it's all going in the bin. And they're now down to a sales takings levels of single figure £ per morning/afternoon shift.

Don't believe all that people tell you, you need to put a good dollop of realism on top.

great insight Boxby. human nature makes it a little hard to research anything like this then!

i definitely like the idea of the mobile chippie though - yes please (perhaps it could sell bread, milk etc. too?! )

 

[Cassie]

Although the mobile fish and chip shop is a very good idea... unfortunately, there is already one of these around here - however, they dont sell other things.. just fish and chips.

I know I need to go around door to door and ask, but I have no confidence and am scared im going to stutter everywhere. haha. I know I have to get over this if i want my own business.

 

[Cassie]

Also, I don't know what kind of Van i should go with, like a motor home where they can actually get on and walk around, or a big transit van which they may not be able to get in?

 

[Psl]

http://www.thegrocersvan.co.uk/

and

http://www.buyyourcar.co.uk/used-car/vauxhall/movano/spi_21409_3542214.aspx

Confidence! I can understand you may be apprehensive about calling on people so why not print some basic leaflets and deliver them to the homes in each village.As you post them you may come across people asking what you are doing, just smile and chat to them, people will listen if you are polite ( I am not suggesting you would be otherwise).
Post your leaflet on the church/pub/community notice board and go and speak to the community leaders,landlord/vicar/priest/ church warden's wife and even the local bobby, if there is one.
You will be suprised, once you start your confidence in speaking with people will just build and build.
btw, what part of the country are you in?

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

Also, I don't know what kind of Van i should go with, like a motor home where they can actually get on and walk around, or a big transit van which they may not be able to get in?

Do you have a driving license? Look to see what it covers. If you are under 30 then chances are it's not going to cover a lot, and you'll be restricted to cars, and small vans with a carrying weight below 3.5 tonnes. You may be able to drive a 7.5 tonne vehicle, but please, if you're going to even think about this go and do proper training.