New Business advice please.Starting out....

[mum2oliver]

My friend and I have thought for a long time that we would love to start out a small business.
Can anyone avice who we could gain advice from please?
Its a maternity shop we want to start.We have nothing even near by where we can purchase so there has to be a market for this.

Business Link should have a local office, they may be able to help you

www.businesslink.gov.uk

I did a short course with the Scottish equivilant of Business link, it gave advice on accounting, legal obligations etc.

There is a lot involved in a shop and can be very expensive to run. Depends on what kind of rents are charged and rates too. can be a very costly startup when you consider stock, fitting out, deposits and solicitor fees.

Do loads of research to determine if there really is a call for this kind of business and have a look at similar businesses in other areas to see how they do it.

Make sure you include everything when doing costings and projections, including your time as well as the basics like public liability, rent, rates, utilities, stock, fitting out etc etc.

You will also need to track down suppliers and get an idea of the mark up on this type of clothing, don't overlook add on sales like baby items and toys.

Skribble,thats great advice,thanku.
I dont actually have a clue what Im doing but do have the time to look into it all.

I would also get a good accountant

"there's a gap in the market - but is there a market in the gap?"

This is very good advice. There's nothing around you - there might be a good reason for that. Make sure you do your homework - lots of research on your area and how many pregnant women there are, or women with young children. These will be your market, and if they're not around, you won't get any sales.

Find out how much a local shop will cost you - rent, rates, utilities, etc - and then work out how much you're going to have to sell each month to cover all these costs (not forgetting costs of staff, etc).

Why not find out where all the local antenatal groups, mother and toddler groups, etc are and go and talk to the women there about your ideas? They will help you to formulate what you should/shouldn't sell/offer.

Good luck!

Thanku becauseimworthit.

How about running a couple of baby fairs to gauge the need without too much committment on your part?