Many people have a dream that they would like to open a shop. The idea of running a book shop, antiques shop, health food shop or whatever can be really exciting. There are lots of things that seem great such as working for ourselves, having lots of lovely customers and just being part of the local community. However, if you want to want to make money then you need to check that having a shop will work for you. There are lots of things that you may need to do.
Check What is Open in the Area and if they Make a Profit
It can be a good idea to think about the area that you are thinking of having your shop in and seeing what types of shops they have in that area. You should think about whether shops in that area look like they are making a profit. Is there a big turnover of different shops and what sort of shops tend to come and go and which ones stay. If there are independent shops, you will be able to take a look at their accounts if they are limited companies on the companies house website. You will be able to use that to find out how much profit they make and this will help you to know whether it is likely to be profitable. Quite a few independent shops are vanity projects, meaning the people that run them do it for more of a hobby than a business so you need to bear this in mind.
Consider Whether There is a Market and How you Will get People into the Shop
It is a good idea to think about whether there is a market for the things that intend to sell in the area that you are setting up the shop. Is there much competition and where from. What sort of people do you feel you will appeal to and are those likely to visit the high street where the shop is. You will also need to consider how you will get others into the shop. You may need to specifically use marketing to bring in people, especially if you are a niche area and want to attract people in form outside of the area. This may include setting up a website to sell things on so that you can extend your market and you will to promote this as well.
Think About Whether you Will Always Work There or if you will have Employees
It is worth thinking about whether you want to have employees or not. If you are running a shop there will be a lot to do. Not only will need to be there during the opening hours to serve customers but you will also need to be ordering stock and stocking up the shelves, clean the shop, do the accounts, dealing with online orders if relevant and marketing as well. There is a lot to do, especially if you open the shop for a lot of hours, which you may nee dto do, to be able to attract customers in.
Consider How you Will Manage if it Does not Make Money
It is well worth thinking about what might happen if the shop does not make any money. You could find that you will need to put a lot of money in, particularly to buy stock and pay rent and if your profit margins are small you may struggle to manage to make enough money to pay yourself anything. It is well worth thinking about how much you will have to sell in order to make a decent amount of money and considering whether it is manageable. If you are selling low profit items which are cheap, then your turnover may have to be massive for you to raise a lot of money. Make sure you add it all up first and work out whether you have a realistic plan. Also, even if you think you will be able to make enough money, make sure that you are prepared just in case and have thought about how you will manage for money.
