Opening my own retail store..experiences?

[Canucks3322]

Has any beyonders here ever thought about or have opened a retail store before? What made you decide to do it or not to do it...I'm more interested in how much money you can actually make.

I'm getting sick of my desk job, it pays $70,000 a year but I'd be happy if I could be my own boss and make $50 a year...plus I've worked as an auditor before and have a basic grasp of how a small business works. Just more curious as to other beyonders' experiences...

I know of Tirebob for one here, who seems to be running a pretty successful business, it appears he even has a 2nd location now... can't imagine he has much over head besides rent, which I assume would be quite reasonable since he's in an industrial area. Myself, I would probably do something in a small mall or shopping strip....input? And no, I have no idea what I would even sell...haven't gotten that far yet lol...just pondering career changes....it would definitely not be food related though. I did work in a Nutrition House once and it seemed like a reasonably profitable business, but to what extent, I don't know...

I remember reading some discussion here a while ago on the mall kiosk businesses but I think the consensus was that they made dick all lol...and I really have no special skills to offer so I couldn't start up my own construction business or anything like that, it would most likely be finding a product, getting some good suppliers and then selling it out of my own store...

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by Canucks3322
I did work in a Nutrition House once

Yeah, but have you stayed at a Holiday Inn before?

Originally posted by Canucks3322
... can't imagine he has much over head besides rent, which I assume would be quite reasonable.....

That statement alone tells me you have no idea about running your own retail store, let alone your own business.
But good luck, none the less!!

[Canucks3322]

Advice from a grumpy old man haha, thanks...well what I meant was that his biggest expense would be rent..and when I say I worked at Nutrition House I meant that I saw how much they pulled in per day and how much their inventory cost and how much they paid their employees...that kind of thing...

I honestly don't think running a small business is rocket science...you just have to find the right product that will sell.

[Kloubek]

Overhead. Not over head.

Honestly man - you need to take some business courses before you decide to do something like this. Simply trying to sell something isn't enough... to be a success you really need a lot of aspects covered or the competition will eat you alive. Knowing how to run a business with the employees, books, taxes and government is pretty essential... and you appear to have little experience in such matters... so that would be your first step. And I'm not talking about the experience you get as an employee. I used to work at Zellers too back in the day, and that taught me very little.

Working in the retail business at a higher level now, I can tell you it is very high stress and cutthroat. It's all about the $$... and if you have investors, you better be making it or they are gonna drop you and move onto the next (profitable) business. If you don't, then you risk putting yourself under if you make a mistake. If you manage to start selling a really hot product, you might be able to get away with that. If not, then you're going to be bankrupt before you even know what happened. Just keep in mind that very few businesses succeed right off the bat. It is possible, but be careful.

Furthermore, I've always hard that to have a successful business you need to have a real passion for it. You're thinking of this just to make money, but have no idea what you're going to sell yet. Right off the bat that seems like an impulse thought rather than being driven to succeed at it.

But if you do choose to leave a relatively decent paying job to persue this, I wish you the best of luck.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by Canucks3322
Advice from a grumpy old man haha, thanks...well what I meant was that his biggest expense would be rent..and when I say I worked at Nutrition House I meant that I saw how much they pulled in per day and how much their inventory cost and how much they paid their employees...that kind of thing...

I honestly don't think running a small business is rocket science...you just have to find the right product that will sell.

Yup. No clue.

[Weapon_R]

I think your biggest problem is that you don't seem to have made the connections or built any people skills as an auditor. This is not a knock against you, but most public sector employees don't have the skills to simply delve into private practice.

In my opinion, you should transition from public service into the private sector for a year or two and learn the inner workings of running a business before going on your own. You'll learn the procedural aspect of running an office and build a small client base.

Keep in mind that business owners deal with 10x the bullshit that employees do. Running an office, dealing with employees, and finding work isn't easy.

As for your assessment of Bob, I think that shows how much inexperience you have. Bob has to balance running the shops, finding and paying employees, negotiating and maintaining stock, and paying all of the rent and bills. And he has to do that monthly, no matter how busy or slow he is.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Canucks3322
make $50 a year...

Sound about right.

Retail in Calgary sucks unless you are selling consumables. Most big box stores can easily run over you. So you are basically limited to niche market. And our population density is too low. It hard to drum up traffic unless you have a REALLY desirable product that's exclusive to you.

Only retail that has a chance in Calgary are food and services. Bob is offering a service.

The other question is, how much money you got to invest into your business? If you don't have the cash, how do you plan to raise it thru loans?

And here's what I hate the most about retail, it's FUCKING boring. Nobody shops during weekdays which force you to work nights and weekends. And if you have to pay for staff, 9/10 you'll get robbed by your own staff. Underground alone loses around $20-$30K worth of merchandise a month. Most probably thru warehouse/store front staff that works for minimum wage.

[Canucks3322]

Some good advice...thanks, maybe I should look into something else then haha, thanks for the input.

[Mar]

Be prepared to work double the hours for half the pay.

[ercchry]

depending what it is, start with selling it online. this will limit your overhead, therefore giving you better margins/being more competitive.

[max_boost]

Not so simple bro. Better know what you are doing because it's just throwing money down the drain.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by ercchry
depending what it is, start with selling it online. this will limit your overhead, therefore giving you better margins/being more competitive.

Online doesn't work unless you are based in China. Canadapost and other transport companies charges too much. This means you must have a fair margin to absorb the cost to be competitive.

[Canucks3322]

Ya the more I look into it, the more I realize...ya I know dick all about running my own business. And there's good reason why most people will say to just stay away.

Sigh...back to pencil pushing I go

[ercchry]

Originally posted by Xtrema


Online doesn't work unless you are based in China. Canadapost and other transport companies charges too much. This means you must have a fair margin to absorb the cost to be competitive.

i buy a lot from canadian companies since you save on duty/custom charges. again it all depends on WHAT you are selling

but if you ask me, property management is where its at.

or promotions. things with large chance of profits without having to carry any stock

[CanmoreOrLess]

Whatever it is you are going into as a new venture, work in a like place for a period of time and collect some income while keeping the full-time grind. Part time is good, gets your feet wet. I see so many people who want to open a cafe, restaurant, car shop, pizzeria, etc yet they have never actually worked in one. If the passion, I mean real passion is there at the end of a work period, go for it if you can bring something better to the table. Be many a fool who likes to have a nice coffee and hatches the idea of working in a cafe 24/7.

You need to find your passion really, as your own business is a 24/7 thing. Working for a company, when you leave the office, you leave the office. Bring that office shit home, well cancer is considered a viable way out.

Tire Bob is an overnight success story, hardly breaks a sweat and from what I hear is about to flee to the land of apples and pears, fishing his days away. He will do all this based on my twice yearly visit for a tire change over and every few years I buy some new tires.

[J-hop]

Mall rent is going to be insanely expensive so I wouldn't even bother looking. I know you said nothing food related but if I were you I'd try starting out in the online supplement business, it is quickly becoming a hugely profitable industry and it is something you could probably do on top of your current job at first. You could probably develop a decent customer just here on beyond.

I think you just need to do some research into hot markets right now, what people are buying etc and decide on a product/product line and then build a business around it not the other way around, best of luck!

[adidas]

^ Your opinion is invalid, no one on beyond lifts.

[InRich]

Dude... you posts have fail written all over them... I dont mean that in an offensive way either. What your talking about getting into ain't a joke, its serious business, and it involves serious cash...

It really just sounds like your sick and tired of working in a cube all day, and need a change... I was there once, 5 years ago, made a change. but you need a great idea, and something that costs little money. the last thing you want is massive overhead. I recommend starting a small business out of your basement first, and then moving on...

[ddduke]

Originally posted by Mar
Be prepared to work double the hours for half the pay.

THIS.
Especially the first year. Just getting your name out and building clientelle is a nightmare.

As others have stated, you obviously know nothing about overhead. Here is a list of some of my expenses:

Rent
phone bill
utilities
advertising costs
book keeper
accountant
stock
exployees
insurance
bank fees

There is so much that your overlooking. I've been my own boss for a long time and this year I'm seriously looking at getting back into the 9-5 just because being your own boss is stressful, especially when business is slow. Right now I'm sitting on $20000 in stock that I can't sell because of the weather being too good and I'm paying a retainer to winter staff for doing nothing because it hasn't snowed. It's not all sunshine and rainbows.

[kenny]

Originally posted by Canucks3322
Ya the more I look into it, the more I realize...ya I know dick all about running my own business. And there's good reason why most people will say to just stay away.

Sigh...back to pencil pushing I go

Start small, learn as you go and master the art of failing--it'll make you rich some day.