What NOT to do...

[london lady123]

Can i just ask out of interest, sorry to hijack your post & i will prob post this as a new thread also, but secondary location has been a big part of my down fall (although prob not all), the rent is cheap, but we just don't get the footfall. There is a shop in prob the best positon in town, right next to the free parking,in between all 3 banks which are left in our town, adjacent to the wed & farmers market, which is extremely popular, it is prob 4 times bigger than where we are now, so i could expand all my ranges,especially accessories (its a female clothing shop) but of course it is massively more expensive. we pay £4K rent & 1 K rates & it is £22K (asking, would offer less) & 9K rates, which i think is extortionate. I know we would be busier down there but it is a massive jump. Any advice please??? (ps i would only be prepared to go in with a 1 year get out option)

It's really difficult to say. 4 times space equates to 16k so and extra 6k plus you lose your small business rates relief..which, I think...I should go check...is limited to 15k ratable value.

Your regulars will be the same but will you see your T/O jump up by 5 times? Who knows.
I know Peacemaker is beating himself up on his forecasts but, you can only ever guesstimate....you won't know until the doors open what will actually come in.

 

[deniser]

Can i just ask out of interest, sorry to hijack your post & i will prob post this as a new thread also, but secondary location has been a big part of my down fall (although prob not all), the rent is cheap, but we just don't get the footfall. There is a shop in prob the best positon in town, right next to the free parking,in between all 3 banks which are left in our town, adjacent to the wed & farmers market, which is extremely popular, it is prob 4 times bigger than where we are now, so i could expand all my ranges,especially accessories (its a female clothing shop) but of course it is massively more expensive. we pay £4K rent & 1 K rates & it is £22K (asking, would offer less) & 9K rates, which i think is extortionate. I know we would be busier down there but it is a massive jump. Any advice please??? (ps i would only be prepared to go in with a 1 year get out option)

That's the big question. I often find myself wandering around Bluewater and wondering the same thing. But then the risks are so much higher so I think no.

Your outgoings are extremely low at the moment; mine are three times yours for the cheapest shop in town!

 

[london lady123]

That's the big question. I often find myself wandering around Bluewater and wondering the same thing. But then the risks are so much higher so I think no.

Your outgoings are extremely low at the moment; mine are three times yours for the cheapest shop in town!

OMG me too.

I don;t really want to ID where I sell from now as I am a newbie but, within my sector, it has highest sales per linear foot in the world...so they say.
I have a concession so pay 35% of gross T/O....and supply staffing just for my rails.

I had reservations about doing it but very glad now as it is a massive learning experience...and I really like not having to worry about opening/closing and security.

Are Bluewater shops still about 250k pa? I knew someone who had an indie shoe shop in Lakeside and did a killing until his rent doubled in 2004. He then had to shut as he couldn't see his T/O doubling.

That was why we closed our shop......the sums didn't add up anymore with the new high rent (and rates from April2010)

 

[fergusmum]

Thanks for the replies, Londonlady, yes you are right about rate relief at 15K, i have looked, so it would be the full £9K, its shocking as there are at least 15 empty shops in town, but the council will not budge on the rates. (all either smaller for more money or need a hell of a lot of work doing, b4 anyone asks why i dont go for 1 of these ) & deniser was gonna reply to you too but can't remember what i was going to comment on so i'll have to reread your post lol. anyway i have started this in a new thread, if anyone else would like to comment??

 

[fergusmum]

Oh yeah that was it deniser, you mention bluewater, but obviously there is a hell of a lot of competition there for peoples limited amounts of money. We are lucky (or not) in our town, to have a very small amount of nationals, mostly independants, only 1 small indi & 1 national clothes store in the whole town, so i would hope to be able to attract a lot of custom simply because theres nowhere else to go??

 

Nice analytical post by the OP.

The key to sucess in business is:

Research.

research.

research.

Unless you are risking very little then you can afford to take a punt.

Earl

 

[Lorro2]

All the greats of the business world had a few failures before hitting a success. It might have been better starting doing markets as your overheads are much lower and you can move around as the seasons and footfall dictate and you are not tied to an expensive unit. Then when you have enough experience and confidence you can move into a shop.
The usp thing is a mith as many of the successful shops and businesses don't do anything different from their competitors and if you have a totally new idea, product , concept it is not possible to do any worthwhile research. You simply have to get it out there and see how it goes. After a while you develop a natural business instinct. Lastly learn from the successful experience business people rather than the armchair experts

 

[Frimley111R]

Has this thread drifted heavily into a 'What NOT to do in retail'?

 

[london lady123]

Has this thread drifted heavily into a 'What NOT to do in retail'?

I don't think so.....
Markets? That's how I started out 24 years ago whilst at college.

It's dificult to say definitavely what to do or not.
I only post from my own experiences and now specialise in and sell a product that has a USP (as it comes out of my head) but we bought in for many years all sorts of ranges.

Coffee shops......such a hard market esp in OP's area.

Our area had changed around us over a decade and our premises would have a perfect Ye Olde Tea Shoppe.....but no way could I have changed it into that as way out of my skill set.:redface:

 

[london lady123]

All the greats of the business world had a few failures before hitting a success. It might have been better starting doing markets as your overheads are much lower and you can move around as the seasons and footfall dictate and you are not tied to an expensive unit. Then when you have enough experience and confidence you can move into a shop.
The usp thing is a mith as many of the successful shops and businesses don't do anything different from their competitors and if you have a totally new idea, product , concept it is not possible to do any worthwhile research. You simply have to get it out there and see how it goes. After a while you develop a natural business instinct. Lastly learn from the successful experience business people rather than the armchair experts

A few years ago we had one of those a crunch moments and some of the worst advice I ever had came from an accountant and a supposedly ' small business expert' I went to see.
I wish I had had forums like this and others to have posted on...even if the advice is wrong or you disagree with it, you can sift through it, learn from others and make your own decision.
Armchair experts? Aren't most people on here running their own shows?

I was so stressed out and confused with all the conflicting advice, that I dithered and it made a bad situation worse. Had a happy ending though.

I am new so don't feel comfortable posting my business in sig just yet...want to get a feel for the place first.

 

[peacemaker]

Lorro2, it's interesting you mention starting in the market first as I did originally plan to start out with just a coffee cart/van type operation but as it turns out that would have been almost as expensive as a shop plus had a lot less flexibility in terms of 'extras' you can add when being in a place that could be used as a venue for events and so on. Plus in Brighton it's ridiculously hard to get a spot somewhere decent (outside the train station anyone?!) so I'd end up in a similar predicament.

There's a lot of advice across the web and in various books which suggests starting extremely small is the way to go. Test the idea & product on a small focused market with minimal outlay and work up from there.

I think this approach can be taken in most lines of business though in some you'll have to get a bit more creative.

 

[london lady123]

Lorro2, it's interesting you mention starting in the market first as I did originally plan to start out with just a coffee cart/van type operation but as it turns out that would have been almost as expensive as a shop plus had a lot less flexibility in terms of 'extras' you can add when being in a place that could be used as a venue for events and so on. Plus in Brighton it's ridiculously hard to get a spot somewhere decent (outside the train station anyone?!) so I'd end up in a similar predicament.

There's a lot of advice across the web and in various books which suggests starting extremely small is the way to go. Test the idea & product on a small focused market with minimal outlay and work up from there.

I think this approach can be taken in most lines of business though in some you'll have to get a bit more creative.

Hope it all goes OK for you whatever you decide to do. It's as hard closing as setting up sometimes.

 

[peacemaker]

Thought I'd just do a quick update as a few people were following this and asking me about it..

In the end I decided to close and managed to do so quite painlessly. I thought over plenty of advice from friends, family and people on here but in the end it all came down to the fact the business just wasn't viable.

My landlord was very understanding and has elected not to charge me for the full lease term which was nice, but I only got a fraction of the costs back that I spent on setting up so I'm left with a few debts to clear before considering the next move. I see that as my 'stupid tax' for rushing into the business too quickly

Overall, running the business was a great experience and something I'm now hooked on! I learnt countless things I would never of imagined and now I feel like a much more confident person when dealing with life in general.

So, although this thread is about what NOT to do, I'd still strongly recommend taking the plunge and getting started in business... just do it properly

 

[Frimley111R]

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear it didn't work out but you are now better equipped than ever to get it right next time. I've done the same and am now getting market research done, looking at the cost of my product and all the small thing like office space, staff insurance etc. If it all looks negative my losses will be be small. I could 'go for it' but that's only wise if you know 'it' will definately work.

Just remember, you're only a failure when you stop trying to be a success! I'm never going to stop