Hi, I found a rental warehouse from my council but I am struggling to find out what would be the expenses for a ecommerce warehouse. Council has been not been great help so far so I was wondering if anyone can help me here. So there is - Rent - Business rate - Service charge - Council tax - Electric & gas - Internet 1- What is Business rate? 2- Are they any other expenses addition to above costs? 3 - Is it possible to negotiate with council on rent? Thank you in advance
1 - based on rateable value. Can, for cheap places, be zero if that is your sole commercial property. Register with the council and they'll send you appropriate bill. Which may be 0.00 2 - rubbish removal. Businesses do not get rubbish taken as standard like the public do. You pay the council a monthly fee or pay another company (can be cheaper than council) and they give you a bin and dates it will be emptied. How do you feel about security? An alarm, maybe a response from a company? Better door etc? Don't forget fire safety. Equipment, perhaps some alarms? You don't have council tax. The business pays rates - the business version of the public's council tax. Or doesn't pay the rates - small facilities may well not be payable anyway. 3 - unlikely. They do tend to be pretty low rates compared to some private landlords.
Thank you so much Mr. D. These are extremelly helpful Regarding security, there is a reception with security cameras, I hope they'll be enough. If not, i may get my own security system.
The warehouse we had, we had to factor people coming in via the main door or the cargo door. Or through the walls from units either side. We ended up not getting a security firm, just setting pallets against the walls.
Insurance costs Security costs could be substantial depending on what you are storing/selling - your Insurance company may require a high-level security system depending on what you have and the total value there at any one time.
Business rates are one the biggest exxpenses that many small businesses face. There is business rates relief for small properties (rateable value of less than £12,000). So I would definitely take a look at what business rates you would need to pay on the property
Don't forget about insurance too that can often be pretty hefty depending on the type of business you're in.
.jpg)