how do you open an off licence shop

[daavedave]

what do you need to do to open a shop?

there is a building for rent close to where i live,

the rent says �5000 per year, what other costs are there?

[Oneeyedvic]

The other monthly bills will include: rates, water, gas / electric, waste collection, insurance, phone.

You will need a licence to serve alcohol.

You will need shop fittings and stock.

You will need to employ staff.

You will need to have adequate security.

[Oneeyedvic]

Best bet is to contact your local business link - they often run or know of courses that you can attend (usually free) with regards business planning

[daavedave]

rates payable to the council? any idea how to find out how much would be charged?

[Ghostrider]

Completely agree with VIc

Get to a Business Link as soon as possible and dont commit anything first, the business planning process can take a long time if done properly - things like market research will be essential i.e it may be close to where you live but is there sufficient footfall to warrant an off licence.

[Twenty20]

Have you worked in the trade before - do you know what sort of turnover to expect? Do you know where to purchase your stock from? Do you know what the mark up is on a bottle of wine for instance?

Ask the Council regarding the rates.

You would be competing against some big players, including the supermarkets.

[daavedave]

im only looking at what would have to be done, no impulse plans to sign a rent agreement just yet!

the shop was an off licence till about 3 months ago, there was also a threashers about 5 doors from it, both are now shut, probably due to a large tescos being opened around the corner,

although this all sounds discouraging, the amount that the shop is on for lease and with all other costs the overheads would be reasonably low,


i havent done any market research or anything, and my expectations arent too high for the turnover,

that i could run the place on my own, meaning no wages needed until it was off the ground...


i have a good idea where to get most stock from, and i wouldnt be restricting myself to just beer, ithere are a lot of other products that could be sold..

ive found the building on the councils list and the rates are about �5500 a year, the rent is �7500 so thats 13000 total, paid over 10 months, 1300 a month, plus stock utilities insurance wages, etc etc.. with an approx markup of 20% and without working out tax, id have to cover about 2500 a week in sales, which seems quite high.

doesnt sound like a very good idea with my business experience.

[Eve]

Also if two local off licences have closed recently due to better competition itmay not be a wise investment.