AIBU to want to give it all up and start a shop on the Main Street in our village.

[Plumviolet]

Sitting here listening to all the doom and gloom on the radio about brexit and the cliff we are all going to fall off in a few months and it’s got me dreaming of a life reboot.

I’m returning to work after a maternity and I just can’t face the horrendous commute, full time away from the kids, au pair/full time nanny taking all my income and the day to day drudgery of working in a soul destroying office job for someone else to profit. (And I’m likely to lose my job anyway if all the hype is for real).

I live in a lovely little town around 30 minutes from Belfast. We still have a busy Main Street where people do actually shop still as we are remote enough.

AIBU to want to pack it all in and open a little shop?

I have a fairly major problem though... I don’t know what to sell. In your dream country village what shops would you like to see?

I know starting a business and getting it profitable is a hard slog but at least it will be for me. We’re all going to have to buy local as we won’t be able to afford to import things anyway!

In my local village there is a cafe with a separate soft play room with an attached gym/hairdressers at the back. That is always packed as it appeals to a wider clientele.

My ex-mil used to run a village shop and post office. It was very popular and busy. She sold all the basics but also had a deli counter and sold some fancier stuff (fresh bread, cakes and the like) so it drew a wide range of customers.

It was hard work I think but it was lovely and made money.

A decent chemist with the usual medical supllies plus some lovely handmade perfumes, soaps, make up etc. Sick of Boots.

Our village has seen a few of these dream-projects, grinding to a halt after a few months, sadly.

You need to add up all costs (rent, salary, insurance, purchasing items, maintenance, cash machine rental, book keeping etc.). Then work out how much profit you'd need to make. Then work out how much turnover you'd need to have to create that amount of profit....

The ones that did not do their sums, lovely little places, with a few customers a day, open at odd hours (to facilitate school run), eg a coffee and cake place next to the station. brilliant. But did not open until 10 (because of school run) thus missing ALL commuters, and all school run parents. They closed again at 3 (for school run) again missing a large chunk of the day, and closed Sat and Sun ... this is an extreme example, but this lady had not thought it through. Selling lovely cake and coffee to the rare visitor was never going to generate the £1500 in rent a month in profit (and that would just cover rent)

so dream, but also do your sums (sorry, I am so boring).

A shop that has been very successful here is a post-office/foodie shop. They sell quality cooking ingredients (they stock kimchi, roast peppers, Thai meal kits) and good home made pasties and soup. They do tasting evenings, wine tasting etc. too.

Hair/beauty salon doing ok too

I'm 30 minutes from Belfast too OP. We really ought to start an NI Mumsnet group!

There used to be one peachgreen, we had a few meet-ups and a night out but it seemed to fizzle out. That was about 9 years ago though so there might be more NI MNers now to make it stick.

I'd definitely be involved Posie, would be lovely. Though I might have to name-change.

Me too!

Hams that you slice, cheeses, homemade cakes and breads.

Though I think starting an online business is much better these days. Limited overheads and you work from home so minimal childcare. All you need is your own (gorgeous) office space.

Shops in most villages and high streets can't survive anymore.

My village has a “little shop” unit that has been many things over the 15 years we have lived here. It was originally a butcher’s shop. Since the butcher retired and sold up it’s been a chocolate shop, a gingerbread shop, a dry cleaner, a children’s clothes shop, a home wares shop and an IT repairs shop. The IT man has been there for 6 or 7 years abd orivides a useful service and some employment; all the others were pretty transient, and whilst nice, not a particularly useful service. The exception I think was the dry cleaner’s. A useful service, but badly thought through, as the paper shop takes in dry cleaning and was much cheaper!

I think that if you can come up with something unique enough that people are willing to visit your village just to go there, you probably have more chance of survival. And realistically, I think in that case you'd also need to offer coffee and cake because that's what people want when they have finished browsing in your nice shop.

Food and drink, low stock costs, second hand furniture can be sourced. People always have to eat and drink even if they do not care about arts and crafts. Friends teachers inherited a cafe right on the beach. They have not given up the day jobs yet though.

Buying an existing business if you know bugger all is also a good idea if there are existing staff to teach you the ins and outs.

Thanks everyone, so many good ideas! Been away most of the day so I’m going to sit down and make up a business plan and look at the finances. Love the idea of a pottery studio/artist space and the no packaging store. I have images of the shop in practical magic! Has anyone seen that?

Our small town has had a couple of 'posh' food shops which didn't last long. You can't make money out cheese, ham, olives & home-made cake.

We have got three successful independent cafes though, which manage to compete with a Costa - but you can get a proper lunch in them, which you can't with Costa. They also run special events - themed dining nights etc.

OP, the NI shop on the Hairy Bikers was the Rinkha if you want to google. We've used our local pottery place a few times but they only had a few designs that appealed to DS so we had no incentive to go back. We also had to play 2nd fiddle to a party group so were left waiting, got nothing if I didn't ask for it etc. which stuck in my craw a bit. You really need to be something that people need, if you only provide a nice to have, it can be dropped when budgets are tight. Also think about location. Near my sister's is a dry cleaners. They've done well as they've taken over an old petrol station so people can pull in to collect their suits on the way home from work. I thought it was a really clever use of a drive in space. If you rely on people driving in and parking it reduces your potential users.

I wish I had an eco goods shop close by

Ooh yes! Realistically though you need to identify what is missing.

Can you cook well?
What about one where you make homemade meals to go, people can preorder and pay for what they like from your menu and pick up on the way home, you can do Allergy free no nuts or no gluten choices for those of us who can't eat certain foods maybe? Or vegetarian and Vegan options Proper home cooked, like Shepherds pies, lasagnas, cakes, crumbles and custard etc.

What is an eco shop???

A small gift shop started in my town and i thought it was sure to fail but it seems to be going strong - this seems to be because 1. The family have a lot of retail experience 2. Whoever buys and presents the products has impeccable taste 3. They offer free gift wrapping 4. Prices are mostly very reasonable, with some larger expensive items. They sell cards, candles, jewellry, scent, plates, fake plants, mugs (of the gifty kind), christmas and other seasonal decorations, gisela graham type stuff. Stock changes constantly.
Our eco shop seems to be struggling - or at least trying to diversify into every possible which way (which must be expensive). Our hardware store is ticking along. Florists doing well. Record shop is popular, no idea if profitable. Key cutter and shoe repair business quite busy.

I think it depends upon what type of village you're in. Will locals or visitors be your main customer?

But if it's fantasy, then mine would be the coffee-and-cake-bookshop hybrid. Small menu done very, very well. I'd also sell a few arty/crafty things and cakes/buns to take away. Somewhere you take friends when they come to visit or have brunch with your partner on a Sunday. On evenings you could diversify with themed meals or hostin events.

I live in a village and we have a village shop/post office, hairdressers and Chinese which all do very well and a chippy, which doesn't for some reason.

I wish we had an off licence and a tea shop.

@peachgreen and @IStandWithPosie I'd be up for joining that group

Personally I think you need to remove those rose tinted glasses and switch your head on.
Yes, its a lovely warm thought but it reeks of nostalgia that simply wouldn't survive today. In the village where I live several have tried to open little shops and boutiques. The boutiques survive, but dear god they never close.
The cost of rent, rates, wages, utility bills (remember these are business rates not domestic)
I haven't walked into a shop for years except for newsagents and DIY stores (Wickes/B&Q).

Virtually all our shopping as a family is now done either online or aldi