Things to Note When Starting Your Very First Retail Shop

Looi78

Hi,

am searching around for a retail shop and would appreciate any feedback and sharing on what to lookout for when beginning one's retail shop in view of total cost setup. Below are some items that I feel are pivotal in the consideration.

- Company registration
- Rental Cost
- Renovation cost
- point of sale system
- Furnishings
- Utilities

RemiserQueen

most important thing you forgot is the stocks ! staff salary and expenses

tovi123

Don't forget insurance and advertising/marketing cost.

xoxoxo

A financial budget please! No matter how small scale is your business, with proper financial planning, you will know your financial strength and how far you can go, when to expand, when to cut loss, how much stocks to carry, when not to overspend etc etc.

tuckcts

and always do research. make a few lists:

1. why some business thrive
2. why some business fail

talk to people. talking means you get to learn

all these from my personal experience, let me know if you like to meet up so we can chat more. i like to talk about business. LOL!

tovi123

Sorry to divert the topic abit...

Can anyone advise how much are the market-rate salaries of local and foreign staff (part-time & full-time) manning the counter in a Watson-like retail store?

Most appreciate!

Mystech

should be about 6-7 per hour, i think. thats about min lately. unless you're looking at something like 7-11 which is insanely low.

beauticove

Company registration- sole proprietor or pte Ltd
Make sure you decide on a name that reflects your business but not literally. Take note that you may expand into other areas in the future. Meaning if your compny name is called 'fashion dresses' because that's what you want to name your retail shop, then it's going to be difficult when you want to branch out to other areas such as shoes, handbags or even distribution. Best to have a generic company name like 'fashion solutions' but name your shop more specifically. or better still, if you expand into totally unrelated business like food, your company name can be generic like ' Tan & Co' Company registration is simple. Just go to ACCRA website and register your business name. Payment is around $20 to $50. Make sure all your CPF Medisave payments are up to date.

If you want to establish yourself long term in the market, you must be prepared to shift your focus to other money making ventures that will in turn support and allow your core brand to grow.

Rental Cost
Unless you have put aside a 6 month rental budget, rent payments will depend alot on your monthly sales. How much are you confident of bringing in? How are you planning to do that? If you can confidently arrive at figure, only 30% of that figure should go to rent. The rest should go to staffing, promotions, stocks and utilities. If you're going solo, put aside some for your own expenses. Finally, calculate how much space you're going to need to bring in that amount. Bigger display space means more opportunities to show what you are selling which in turn results in more choices for your customers to buy from. You would hate it if someone walks in your shop, looks bored with the limited choices and walks out without buying anything.
Take note that landlords will usually require 1 + up to 3 months rent. That's a big chunk of your money locked up. One important aspect. Negotiate rental rates like crazy. Do not accept what they offer until you've exhausted negotiations and even then, think about looking elsewhere before you decide.

Renovation
First, calculate your own renovation budget. DO NOT leave it to your designer or contractor to tell you the total cost of what a retail shop should be. Get as many quotes as possible and then put together an approximate cost of the best quotes meaning, you don't have to get everything from 1 contractor. Eventually you'll come to see what it would really cost to renovate a shop based on size. Naturally, all this must be done as soon as you sign the lease contract or even just before as landlords do allow viewing with your contractor before you decide. Make it clear to the landlord what your takeover date is and in the meantime, allow you to enter the unit with contractors who want to give you a quote. Don't forget to negotiate the 1 month rent free period you can get for renovation.

IMPORTANT NOTE Find out what approvals and payments are needed such as change of use from LTA if the previous occupants were running an unrelated biz to yours. Electrial engineers inspection fees for electrical work done by your contractors or electricians. Safety inspections by independent inspectors before you can start operating. Trust me, safety inspectors charge up to 3k just to come by and check your partitions, water sprinkler placements (make sure your contractor is aware of the placements as specified by local law) and exit signs.

Point of sale systemDon't start big with a complicated POS that can cost you a few k. A cash register is great. Stock inventory can be on cards untill you expand. Remember to keep all your copies of receipts safely for stock cutting and tax purposes as well as accounting at month end.

Furnishings
This is really a personal choice but pay close attention to multi function display stands that allow as much display options as possible. Every space should be utilised to make you money. Especially if it's placed in your window. One important aspect, height. Eye level is great, if someone has to look up or down, they might miss it.

Utilities
Check with the landlords as they may have their own suppliers of electricity which can be cheaper than Singapore Power. Also ask if they are supplying chilled water for the aircon systems as it can lower your utility bills.
Internet and telephone systems.
Check who supplies these services to the building. You'll be surprised that not all Telco services are available and you'll be left with just one choice which could be Singtel or Starhub. Remember, biz lines are always more expensive than personal lines. To keep costs down, invest in a USB internet that you plug into your laptop. Cheaper than biz internet. Phone lines are reasonably priced so one line should suffice to start with.

Mystech

Beauticove, you seem to have experienced all this 1st hand. Just a point,

Renovation
First, calculate your own renovation budget. DO NOT leave it to your designer or contractor to tell you the total cost of what a retail shop should be. Get as many quotes as possible and then put together an approximate cost of the best quotes meaning, you don't have to get everything from 1 contractor. Eventually you'll come to see what it would really cost to renovate a shop based on size.

what you can do is to get a designer to design for you and then you search for your own contractors. The inherent danger in this is that if you are not experienced, you can foul everything up. Getting more quotes is of course good, but do remember that your quality matters too.