[ladyK]

hello all
Has anybody here experience with running a shop?
An opportunity has come up in our local town and it's quite tempting to consider as it could finally offer an opportunity to become fully local and get off the commuting grind.
It's a well-run health food/natural products shop (I am a regular customer of myself) and I can see potential in expanding the range to feature more local/organic/own produce, which is difficult to find around here unless you track down the producers yourself.
I have no idea at all about what it takes being a good shopkeeper so would be very grateful for anybody willing to  share experiences, tips and pitfalls. 

[CarolineJ]

Yes, I've worked in retail for 20 years, 9 years for HMV, 11 on my own.  Just finishing off getting rid of the last bits of stock on eBay.  I'd say don't do it, but I may be a tad jaded
Look at the accounts before you do anything else.  You'll probably find that the net profit isn't great and unless you want to work 10-12 hours a day, seven days a week for practically nothing...actually, it's not that different to smallholding really!
Bear in mind that many small shops are on the market because their owners know that they won't make financial sense when the national living wage announced in the Autumn Statement comes in, so factor that in to your calculations. 
The absolute key differentiator with shops these days is the customer service.  You can be a little more expensive if you can give a fantastic customer experience, so think about ways that you could improve on its current offer. 

[Buffy the eggs layer]

I think Carolines advice is very sound but the two most important things are to look at what it currently sells, how they currently trade, what they make on it and weather this could be improved upon as it stands.


You may find for instance that if they lost alot of local custom by poor customer service as Caroline says, you may be able to claw it back.


If you feel that the secret to making it a success is to trade differently ( longer hours, home delivery, on-line purchase etc) then make sure that you write a realistic business plan to include all the investment costs and research your target market, area demographics and understand what is important to your customer. We all love quality....but some of us have to settle for value.


Just because one person couldn't make a business work doesn't mean someone else cant but Caroline is right, you need to understand just what it would take to make it viable. 

[Marches Farmer]

Walk around the local area.  Who are your customers going to be?  Is there a prosperous section of the local community that won't be price-sensitive?  Is there a rival business or something like a greengrocer that's partly overlapping the health food stock?  Don't forget you'll need someone to stand in if you still want to take a holiday, otherwise it's a 6-day week unless you have half-day closing.  Plan on making a loss for at least six months, that way you'll have a cushion of funds. 

[fiestyredhead331]

yay me too 

except mine is a wee campsite shop that also does hot drinks and food so should be a good outlet for some our produce as well as the usual essentials
Its only been running for one year and the lady who had the lease gave it up recently due to ill health and offered me the lease.
I don't expect to make much money in the first year but as long as we can keep our heads above water then hopefully it will grow as people get used to it being there and stopping by (catering for tourists and locals)

Good luck in your ventures 

[ladyK]

Thank you all for your thoughts on this.
I know the shop and the area quite well as a regular customer. Couldn't be a more perfect location and while there is some marginal local overlap there isn't any direct competition for a long way in all directions.
The reason for selling is genuine, as far as I can see, not a failure of the shop or lack of customers but more about personal burnout. The owner is a young woman running the shop all on her own. I had a chat with her today and I can really empathise with her burnt out feeling as I feel the very much the same in my current line of work. I desperately need a change as much as she does.
Her lack of motivation has held her back in developing the shop in a number of very obvious ways to me, which she is aware of and we discussed. Just how I feel in developing my current business further - I have been wanting to get out for a very long time but just couldn't see the way. 
If the numbers add up this could really be an opportunity, but only if the numbers add up, as our life here relies on my income entirely. 
The owner will let me have a copy of recent accounts tomorrow so I can have a more realistic view of the figures involved and any further steps depend on that really.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Thats great Ladyk,


         it sounds like you have the energy and fresh ideas that the previous owner had run out of. After all the plans and calculations much of it will be a leap of faith and a determination to succeed. If you have the skills and the drive then I'm sure you will make it happen.


Good luck with it and to you two Feisty. Go for it girls! [size=78%] [/size]

[Anke]

Many small independent (mainly food and book) shops just now seem to rely on the in-store foodie (read cake) outlet and coffee place... but running it as a one-(wo)man shop is quite a tall order.

In our nearest village one of the residents opened a café/gallery a few years ago and quickly found that she needed to employ staff - fortunately other mothers of young children and/or high school girls were keen to take flexible hours... but it does reduce any profit you can make and with incoming changes to minimum wages etc many small businesses will struggle.

Just a couple of thoughts...

[ladyK]

All very good questions and pointers!
I should have made it clear, I will be running the shop with my OH, who is quite keen on the idea too, so that would share the workload. 

[Lesley Silvester]

Sounds encouraging, Lady K. Good luck with it.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Sounds Brill ladyk, all the best for the future. Could you tell me where the shop is based? I might just pop into the shop if I am in the area Also would you be selling your own produce in the shop too as well as other local producers?

[ladyK]

You are running even faster than I do WBF! This is still at the stage of dreaming and researching... 
No hard facts or plans as of yet. Will let you know if it takes off!

[Ghdp]

Good luck with this LK. We are also Conwy, but only just! We look forward to the updates 

[Womble]

The reason for selling is genuine, as far as I can see, not a failure of the shop or lack of customers but more about personal burnout.

A different take on it then: possible partnership agreement?

[Lesley Silvester]

Scarlet.Dragon makes some good points but I would say that my ex and I successfully ran our own business (spinning and weaving workshop) for eleven years and managed to smile at customers even when we were busy rowing (while the shop was empty). True we didn't have days off together and had to fit in looking after three children with it all but it did work. It was only tourist-related though so closed in the winter, apart from December up to Christmas Eve so we had our holidays then.


The recession hit us just after we had made a big investment in the business through a bank loan and that is why we closed it, not because we split up. That happened later.


It is possible to make it work but it's not always easy.