how do you open your own shop?

luka

Well-known member
i want one. i want to have it open by the end of the year. unless it needs a lot of building work done in which case it will take longer. i havent got a clue what to do but im now officially unemployable becasue ive offended everyone ive ever worked for, ive got no skills, no qualificiations and have a look of amused superiority permanantly etched on my face which employers find off putting, particularly when coupled with my lack of acheivements. its going to be a cafe with a sideline in modernist poetry texts available at inflated prices.
 

luka

Well-known member
i am really going to do this. i am a capitalist in the making. its not a joke but i am very impractical so need some good advice.
 

luka

Well-known member
ive never made more than 8 pound an hour in my life so anything more than that and i'll be happy.
 

luka

Well-known member
and if i lose everything im just back to being where im used to being so the risk is minimal
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
There's a coffee shop right down the end of Deptford High Street, opposite the train station, past the tattoo shop, you might wanna go down there and have a chat with them
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I'd love to open a shop. No practical advice I'm afraid but if you need help lugging things around I'm often free in the day time.
 

luka

Well-known member
all london based dissensians can keep an eye out for suitable properties. box rooms ideally. outdoor seating. between 4 to 12 tables indoors. areas that are not too rich and not too poor, a big hospital/university/office/etc nearby is a plus.

what would you sell in your shop rich?
 

craner

Beast of Burden
I would like to own a shop, too. I still gaze at scruffy second hand bookshops longingly, and think, "I want one." I generally like shops. I worked in one for 8 years.
 

luka

Well-known member
im going to sell some books as a sideline. you can give me some bookdealing advice. first though we need premises.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
"what would you sell in your shop rich?"
I dunno, bric-a-brac I think, I'd like to have a place where you could rummage around and find totally random stuff - some books and records and dvds for sure but, I dunno, second hand things so you'll never know what you'll find. It would also sell coffee so people could hang around there and chat.
 

Leo

Well-known member
frozen yogurt shops and nail salons are all over the place here, maybe you could incorporate elements of those into the mix. also picture framing shops, where you bring posters/paintings/photos to be professionally framed.
 

reeltoreel

Well-known member
If you're doing it the sensible sort of way, figure out what it's going to cost you to run things for a year (rent, power, taxes, fitout, accountants and lawyers, etc etc).

Quadruple this sum, find a way to get it, then go. If the idea's good enough to last four years, it's probably good for the next ten.

The other way to do it is get the idea straight, get a space and the bare minimum of stuff you need to offer something that people will pay for, then go for broke.
The disadvantage of this method is the high likelihood of ending up actually broke, but it will be a lot of fun.

Getting started, somehow, is the hardest and most important bit. Things tend to carry you along from there.
 
Funding Circle is well worth a go if you need to borrow any money to get going. I'm sure Luka could make a compelling case.

Check local council commercial property lists, which may include pop-up shops on really low short-term lettings. e.g. Camden's listings

You know all those twerps who convert ambulances and school buses into sloppy burger vans, has anyone done that for coffee yet?

I've had a business since 2003 but a shop only since May 2010. We'll turn over around £2 million this year so we're going to open a couple more in London and possibly Brighton, with somewhere in the North too. We started with a one-page website put together by me between spliffs, funded by cashing in an ISA my dad missold to me that was worth about £700 and falling at the time.
 
Last edited:
A couple of other things, get an accountant as soon as you feel you need one, i.e. when doing the books yourself takes up a moment more than you're happy with.

And you must have noticed the trend of cafes springing up in cycle shops. I don't know how it works but getting a space in a place like that, a bike shop that isn't run by dickheads and with room to spare would be a great start.
 
Top