Would you open a shop? Should I?

[Lilyofthefields]

Just that really.

I have an idea and a place in mind but I don't even know what questions I should be asking, let alone the answers.

I have zero experience of running a shop or business, although I briefly worked part time in a petrol station / village shop back in the 90s. I don't really know where to start.

I am 39, work part time for £42k, have no kids, no mortgage and no purpose in life.

There’s a shop near me which started as offering gluten free/dairy free and has now rebranded, has a scoop section, but also quite high end ethical beauty and skincare, a small fresh veg section and sells CBD products too. I would say the lesson is you need to sell some high margin stuff and some attractive products.

I think it’s an idea whose time is coming. As others say, you may need to expand beyond the ‘scoop’ stuff and into maybe local fruit and veg, ethical skincare, and more lifestyle type foods and maybe supplements.

It would take some serious research into the local market maybe a case of finding somewhere that balances the customers who will pay more to buy into the ethical/ zero waste concept with affordable business rates.

The other thing is whether the concept would work in a mobile format so that you could do farmers / makers markets, and maybe also hand on online platform and do home deliveries.

Wow £42k for part time.
Fabulous amount.
Personally I wouldn’t risk it.

I’d love a crystal/ new age type shop.

I’ll just park it here and leave it as a pipe dream.
People who seem to have done really well in my town ( houses in expensive areas, nice cars, holiday and holiday Homes abroad, children in private schools) went into selling carpets.
Makes you think doesn’t it.

I think it's a great idea OP. But, I'd try it with just a market stall only selling none food products such as cleaning and personal hygiene products, I think that's a lot less complicated than selling food.

Having worked in retail all my working life, it’s a truly really tough time at the moment. You’ve got to be really confident that you understand your local customer needs and can beat the competition. I personally wouldn’t do it at the moment but food, if you get your offer right, is probably one of the better retail sectors imo

I’m speaking from experience as I own an established shop with a relatively new ‘scoop’ section.
There are literally hundreds of these shops, either already open or in the pipeline around the country.
It is an fantastically amazing resurgence in this type of shopping with an emphasis on zero waste but I have also seen a lot of the new start-ups fail very quickly.
The initial investment is huge - our area cost us £10,000 alone before we even started filling it with produce.
I belong to a lot of zero waste forums and fb groups and everyday there are new enthusiastic businesses popping up but also businesses closing and people wondering why they can’t get funding or complaining that no one supports their crowd funding campaigns
We have four zero waste shops that have opened locally to us plus another local shop starting a ‘section’ this week - I know that at least two of them are sadly struggling to stay afloat.
You really really need to do your research and make sure there aren’t already plans underway in your area for a similar shop as people are very loyal to their first zero waste retailer!

I have no idea how the local zero waste shop stays open as the margins on a KG of pasta or rice will be tiny so you would need to sell a hell of a lot to cover your costs.

Could you diversify? Cloth nappies and wipes, beauty and cleaning, sanitary towels and mooncups etc?

There's one in Marlborough. We had a look and I don't see how you can make any money. As the supermarkets move back to paper packaging and/or letting customers fill their own containers as they inevitably will, this will be dead in the water.

You would be skint and working very, very long and tiring hours. Why would you do that?

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-49178784?intlink_from_url=www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/ce1qrvlexr1t/sainsburys&link_location=live-reporting-story" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Story in the news today about Sainsbury’s reducing plastic fruit bags; Morrison’s , Waitrose and Tesco also doing stuff to a greater or lesser extent. I’d say that the big supermarkets seem to be getting more the case of single use plastics and packaging all the time.

There are 2 zero waste shops in my small town and both seem to be doing well

Define 'doing well'. They might seem to be busy but how many customers do they need to take enough money to cover rent, rates, stock, staff?, equipment (calibrated scales won't be cheap) etc etc and make a wage for the owners, because it will be an awful lot when each sale is a few quids worth of lentils, spices or toiletries and cleaning products.

Google mission green SE13. Don't know where you are in the world but it's a great concept. I haven't been there yet as it wasn't open yet on a Saturday morning when I happened to be around but couldn't hang around until 10am. I was on a mission of my own at the time. (Taxi of mum type thing)

Stick with your part time job at £42k

This. you think it's a gilded cage, wait till you're in hella debt or staring down bankruptcy having sacrificed your financial security, your stability, your well-being, and your health for this shop that's not really going to work long-term and will never compete against Lidl. The pound is falling. People are soon going to be looking to cut back and luxuries like this will be the first to go.

Hey @Lilyofthefields
Brand, marketing and message will be super important to you for a new venture like this. There is a real and growing appetite for plastic free but you nee to do some local research.

Take a look at The Refill Store in Truro On Facebook / Insta.

My family have retailed for generations. I studied business at uni, and took a 6 year graduate course at a top flight retailer in the 90s. I also have an accountancy qualification, and was on the board of the British Shops and Stores association for years. I kept my retail knowledge up to date, embraced change and did all I could to learn about and understand retail.

I don't blow my trumpet often but I honestly do know and love retail.

After 44 years trading we closed our previously lucrative independent family business early this year. For the first time ever there was so much conspiring against us that I felt it best to close whilst we could still afford to pay redundancy to our lovely team.

The main issues were: crippling rent; council making changes to parking (we had a small car park but it wasn't enough and people used it who weren't in our store which is v hard to police thanks to clamping rules); Road congestion; suppliers increasing minimums and changing payment terms; theft; Amazon etc.; lack of footfall on high street; online stores selling our product slightly cheaper (so people came to us for advice and to look at and feel our merchandise but bought it from a cheaper online seller with less overheads)- I could go on if it helps!

OP, it is incredibly tough out there. It's also really easy to get caught up in what is ostensibly a brilliant idea which you are passionate about- but which won't work in reality.

I'd say your idea sounds super- but in reality in most areas it wont appeal to enough people. The true number of people who really care about reducing waste, who don't mind paying over the odds, who have time and inclination to visit a separate store for certain goods, who will overlook PITA parking- are depressingly low. Many people do seem to care about waste but are too time and cash poor to act by using a store such as yours.

You would likely see a surge of interest as may beautiful new stores do, but this then dwindles.

Retail is relentless- long opening hours, weekend trading, bank holiday opening for a start. I appreciate you feel unfulfilled but honestly I'd consider keeping your fantastically paid part time job and doing some volunteering in something that you feel passionate about.

I'm sorry to be all doom and gloom but I felt I had to give my POV.

I don’t think I would in your shoes but..one has opened up near us and rather than going on a high street, they’ve opened at a base point premises because the high street was so pricy.

If you work pt I would see if you can get stalls at the artisan markets.

Ex shop owner here. We nearly went bankrupt over running our dream business. My husband worked for a whole year just to pay the overheads, very depressing. We had an online business before getting our shop. Things just changed so quickly in retail and we couldn’t do it anymore.
It was all very sad and put a huge amount of stress and strain on our relationship.
Please don’t do it!

My local Zero-Waste shop is in the posh town 30 minutes drive away. I am their perfect target customer, but have only been twice in the 6 months since it's been open.

Because:
I won't make a special journey to go there, only if travelling to the town anyway or passing through.
Once, I couldn't find a parking space anywhere, so gave up and continued on home.
The shop doesn't open until 9.30 am - too late for me as I had to be somewhere else by that time.

Parking is key, so are long opening hours which is going to be a struggle.

If you have no purpose in life and only work part time , try volunteering your time and skills

You'd need to think of opening hours too. There's no point being open 9-5 if your potential customers work too. One of these type of shops has recently opened near me and some opening times are 4pm-7pm, 5pm-8pm, 1pm-6pm and Sunday 11am-4pm.

I think the big boys are ahead of you on this one I am afraid OP.
Waitrose extending loose food trial