What business to open

[Murtaghjames]

So an opportunity has arose for me to open my own shop. A retail unit has become available in the village I live in. Its not a typical village, very busy with lots of amenities and passing trade. I had originally wanted to open a clothes shop as there is none in the village but I'm not sure now. What shop, service would you like most in your area? We currently have:

2 pubs
4 takeaways
3 pharmacies
2 Hairdressers
Beauty salon
Nail bar
Credit Union
Newsagents
Tesco Express
Home savers
Funeral Directors
Hardware shop
Bookmakers
A small takeaway coffee shop (most recent)

I really don't think plucking something out of the air is the best way to consider a new business. Isn't there something that you have an interest in that would be a good idea?

For me, it would be a bakery because I bake lots of different things. That would make sense for it to be a business you have interest in.

We have a lovely little shop in our village which opened just over a year ago selling a mixture of vintage items (crockery, vases, small furniture, jewellery) and locally made crafts (candles, wooden candle holders, cards) which seems to be doing OK despite the pandemic. It's a great place for browsing and finding unique gifts, or things you didn't know you needed.

Go to a local Facebook page and ask. We often get these questions and apart from a nice cocktail bar the one thing which pops up all the time is a Zero Waste/Eco/Orgainic Fruit&Veg shop.

Unfortunately our high street has very high rents so most empty shops go to barbers/nail salons/charity shops.

I am always miffed as all other Zero Waste shops mean I have to drive and pay for parking/zero parking available.

Butchers might work, but you'll need to either employ a butcher or go on a course, I don't know if that's a possibility.

But if you need this shop to pay you an income, rather than just being an expensive hobby, you'll need to work out how many customers you need to cover the rent, rates, utilities, insurance, banking costs, staff costs, stock, maintenance etc etc and pay you a wage on top.

It's probably a minority of shop owners that earn even NMW for the hours they put in, and those hours can be long, especially as you need to open in evenings or weekends if you want to be available to people who work office hours. A big barrier to independent shops for a lot of people is that they simply can't get there when they're open.

@Donatella

We have a lovely little shop in our village which opened just over a year ago selling a mixture of vintage items (crockery, vases, small furniture, jewellery) and locally made crafts (candles, wooden candle holders, cards) which seems to be doing OK despite the pandemic. It's a great place for browsing and finding unique gifts, or things you didn't know you needed.

How are we defining 'seems to be doing OK' especially as they haven't been even able to open for much of the last year? Do they do a lot of online sales?

A shop would probably have to take a minimum of £1000 a week, possibly more, to cover all costs and pay the owner NMW. That's an awful lot of little trinkets (or cheap foods like lentils and flour for that matter) that need to be sold.

One thing you could do OP is spend a few hours outside the shops in your village - say a couple of hours in the week and the same on Saturday morning and count the number of people who come out of all the shops with purchases as part of your research.

You can't just lease a property and open a business with zero knowledge or idea of what you're going to sell

Opening a shop is bloody hard work and very expensive. Rent, council tax, heating, gas, electric, IT systems and stock all have to be covered before you can even think of what you'll be bringing home.

What about staff? Will you work seven days a week (not really viable long term) and what happens if you want to go on holiday or have a day off or are sick? Will you just close and lose trade or can you afford to hire someone you trust to run the shop for you and pay them for it?

Honestly if you don't even know what kind of business you want to open I think it's an awful idea. You need to have your business plan solidly in place before you even consider leasing a property, not rush one through as an afterthought.

Zero packaging store. They’re all the rage. Loose goods, local honey / eggs / jam. A machine that grinds nuts for nut butter etc. Cleaning products.

Ours does a trade system where you can swap your garden produce for credits

This isn't the way to turn a profit!

Start with the local population and pass through trade. What are their demographics? What is the average income? Are they affluent or on less than average wages? What facilities are there in neighbouring villages that already retain the passing trade?

Always start with the market and then fold in your idea.

New rules for A1,2 3 units mean they are now all under one bracket and do not need new planning permission. I know as I've just got a retail until and all going to make it a cafe so done a lot of research (that's for posters who said you need a new license)

You need to start with researching the local population.
Perhaps this isn’t always part of GCSE Geography but we did about a term on kinds of shops and the size of the customer group needed to sustain each type. We had to map and categorize every shop in our town. There were almost none that needed more customers than lived in the town. You also need to consider their potential spending power. So I think you need to narrow it down then pick one that interests you.

I live in a town where every shop struggles except beauty salons.

Zero packaging shop very niche ime. Or maybe just my area. Not viable in most areas.

I want to say shoe shop but those struggle too (where I live).
Shoes can be combined with other household things, key cutting, bags, quality clothing accessories. I like fresh produce but profit margins tight.

Especially In nearby naice shop town, the shops that seem most viable are ...
pet things shop
nice bicycle shops
cheese & other nice food deli
women's clothing+sole supplier of school uniform
food take aways
bakeries including take-away
butchers
hearing aids/mobility/old people stuff
opticians

outdoor things shops if you live in a suitable area

I really wouldn't take on a skilled trade if you have no experience. Recipe for disaster.

What's the demographic of the area? I would go for gifts & homeware myself, maybe with a toy section if there were a lot of young families around

Combined bakery or deli and cafe would be nice.
I personally would love a zero packaging eco- shop however I think the stuff would be by definition expensive which is only going to be a goer if you have a very middle class/eco-conscious demographic IMO.

I'm a business owner and I think you need to do more market research into what the demographic would actually want. And think more about what YOU would like to provide.

Lots of good ideas and advice here which I really appreciate. The demographic of the area is very mixed, lots of elderly people but also young families, teenagers and young professionals. It really is a mixture. Gift shop seems to be a good idea as there is nothing like this in the area that specialises in this specifically. I'm thinking a gift shop with local produce and maybe a little coffee shop with homemade cakes.

Well, they're still in business! So many new businesses fail in the first year, any that stay open are by definition doing better than that at least.

Sorry that was in reply to the post asking how I knew that particular business was doing OK, I couldn't quote

One thing you could do OP is spend a few hours outside the shops in your village - say a couple of hours in the week and the same on Saturday morning and count the number of people who come out of all the shops with purchases as part of your research.

This kind of thing is important, it will be tough to gauge a real idea at the moment, but if you have a "next door neighbour" type app for people in your area, float or there to see what they Would use, not like the idea of, but actually purchase from.

Lots of research is going to help you here, I'm sure the business side will be fine if your DH can help as he has his own business.

Op what are your hobbies, interests ?
Are there any you could tie into a shop.

In the little village there is a cafe, selling little homemade cakes, fruits from the farms with a little deli inside, it really is lovely.
They also hang/display nice pieces of Art sourced locally which they sell for the Artist.

Post office+ coffee shop + craft shop with classes. 3000sq ft is huge

Somewhere for teenagers to go!

@WonkyCactus

A really nice homeware and gift shop, with some plants too.

Every single one of these that has opened in my busy town has had to start serving tea and cakes and most eventually just cleared 80% of their retail space and made it a coffee shop.

OP you have it arse-about-face. what do you have experience in?

Food OP. I’m assuming you have no hair and beauty skills as you would just do that instead of asking here so food. That’s all that stands a chance on the high street. But realistically only if you know what you’re at so....

As you were interested in clothes, I'd say a clothes and gifts type shop: Oliver Bonas village style. I'd include a nearly-new clothes section too, to encourage people to recycle and also encourage them into the shop - they bring in things to sell to you then have a browse for new things.

Depending on the demographics of the village you could go for children's stuff, there was a v successful shop like that near me with a mix of new and nearly new toys and clothes.

Gifts and cards section for people's "oh rats, I forgot to get something for x" moments.

Gift shop seems to be a good idea as there is nothing like this in the area that specialises in this specifically. I'm thinking a gift shop with local produce and maybe a little coffee shop with homemade cakes.

It's worth considering whether the reason there's no gift shop is because there's no market for it.

Do you have any retail or business experience? You seem to be going about this in a very odd way!

As others say its a nightmare running a small shop i did it for 20 years working 110 hours a week for less than NMW .
Otherwise my penny worth is ...
French Bakery - but you need a monster oven and you start baking at 4am each day and people will moan at the prices .

Re-cycle Post It Shop - somehow you source thousands of old mail bags,flat pack boxes and sell em cheap - either a one shop wrapping service counter or in posting packs ( 10 jiffy,10 envelopes,10 address stickers etc for £1.00 ) all the Post Offices have a woeful selection and ask ££££.Their is a boot sale man that sells this kinda thing and he often sells out of pental marker pens etc .

Second hand Workwear clothes particulary chef kitchen, i am guessing your location has lots of hotels with a captive chef who may need to replace his jacket asap - again the problem is you will need to open sundays and source the clothes .
Otherwise vintage denim - stock thousands of jeans and biker jackets but where oh where you do buy them from and you need to know about every label,every price online,every washing issue ....