Has anyone got their own business or shop?

I went to our local 'Pets at Home' store yesterday, as usual I found it a pretty dire range and quite expensive... this is pretty much the only Pet Boutique around here for miles, I cant even locate one in our nearest city of Manchester? (I should imagine London will probably have some boutiques though?)

This got me thinking id LOVE to have my own shop/pet boutique!!!
I know theres a lot of 'online' stores but sometimes its good to have a little day out and browse around a shop.

How much money would starting something like this take dya think?
Im pretty good with finances etc but I could imagine it would be quite stressfull having to pay for so much stock and keeping track of what your selling for profit and overheads etc etc? Anyone have any info on this sort of thing?
Anyone want to come into business with me up North haha?!

__________________
Steph, Pixie & Luna xxx

that sounds like an awesome idea. here in new york its very expensive to even rent a space. let alone pay the electric bills/ advertise and whatnot. it costs thousands to even fix up the place u want and get inventory in. are u talkin about buyin from wholesalers and sellin their products there? or are u talkin about makin ur own things and sellin them? either way i sure do think it would be stressful. even havin a home business is stressful enough for me. best of luck to you!

__________________

"I told him that if a lady who doesn't cook can make such yummy Jerky for Dexter then we can do it too" - Lynx8456

http://www.facebook.com/dextersheep

I have a kiosk. Basically it's a tiny shop inside adjoining center. I pay 2300 a month !!!!
My news paper add costs £170 a week.
It's took us nearly a year to start drawing a wage from it.
It depends alot on location of your shop.
But it sounds like a fab idear. There is one shop where I live that sells decent things ad I would love to see more shops open.
Good luck xx

__________________

Thank you Charlotte for my Siggy mwah xxx

There is no psychiatrist in the world,
Like a chihuahua licking your face.

I own a tiny shop in a shopping center I Pay £2300 a month for it. That's just the rent.
My newspaper add is £170 a month.
We started with at least £5000 but I don't sell things I buy gold do you have to account for your stock.
But I agree we need more pet boutique shops about. So very best of luck and let us no how you get on ! X

__________________

Thank you Charlotte for my Siggy mwah xxx

There is no psychiatrist in the world,
Like a chihuahua licking your face.

Didn't mean to post twice lol I didn't think it sent as my phone crashed lol

__________________

Thank you Charlotte for my Siggy mwah xxx

There is no psychiatrist in the world,
Like a chihuahua licking your face.

My dad owns a computer repairs shop - I was actually looking into running my own small dog boutique type shop before I was diagnosed with RSD and the costs are insane... Rent anywhere worth renting is through the room, plus theres rates, water bills, electricity (at business prices not home prices), phone bill etc - Unfortunatly even some of the best pet shops out there are having to close down because people arent spending so much on their pets and they cant afford to stay open

__________________

Urgh it doesnt sound cheap

Id be selling products rather than making them etc. So id have to get loads of sizes etc in...

I dont have the money to spend but sometimes you get so low with the current financial climate you end up just spending it to make you feel better!
Especially when it comes to spoiling doggies!

Theres a small pet shop in our town centre, it just sells random low quality products really, the lady who owns it seemed quite, to put it polietly, dizzy...I got out of there and said to my husband 'How does that shop stay in business? If she can do it I can do it!' Maybe she'd won the lottery though lol.
Some businesses it makes you wonder.

__________________
Steph, Pixie & Luna xxx

To give you an idea of startup costs.... Excluding the stock, in a small shop out of the town, with very little parking, it cost my dad almost £3000 just to open the doors. You'd need another few thousand pounts worth of stock too to make sure you had enough and a good enough variety to attract customers, plus a few hundred pounds for advertising *I know this cost can be kept down but its still expensive and you need to do all you can to bring in customers when you're new, especially with how much advertising PAH do!*

__________________