How to start up business

A question about : How to start up business

I have an idea for business, but I need stock and a shop. I can't afford this. I don't have any debt and never have, but I don't work and I don't own any property or anything so I can't imagine a bank would give me a loan.

How can I set up my own business with no money?

Thanks.

Best answers:

• There's a few different types of items I want to sell. Some easier to post than others, some cheaper to buy than others, but none really getting me a profit that way.
  However, it's hard to find the items in shops where I live and they're all things that people are more likely to want to see before they buy or that seeing it on a shelf is likely to make them want to buy it, where as a photo just wouldn't be that impressive. Plus they'd have to search for it online.
  Basically, I could sell certain items in store at a more competitive price to draw in buyers and others at more of a profit/average price that would be sold on a more regular basis.
  Hopefully it would cover my costs as the regular sales would be on higher priced items that people prefer to buy instore and I wouldn't need to worry about fees and postage on the rest so that's extra sales and profit I wouldn't get otherwise if it were all online.
• "I have to ask, did you read the answers you've been given? motorguy and jm gave actual examples of the kind of costs you will face in a physical shop, if not the actuals. These are all fixed costs, ie you have to pay them every month, regardless of whether you've made any sales or not.
  In comparison, you'll find the postage costs are stupidly low!!!"
  They gave me a list of things that costs, that doesn't mean I know how much each of them costs. Someone said about Ј1000 overheads but that was after I posted.
  If the postage costs mean I'm losing money selling an item it doesn't make them stupidly low, it just means that they are just as bad as overheads.
  "You've absolutely got to know what it's going to cost you to buy something, with and without postage. Will you get a discount for quantity, and what will the postage and packing charges be to get it to you?
  If you can't sell it for the same price or less as it's already available for online then true, you'd be likely to make a loss. But selling it in a shop isn't going to help much, because people are going to see whatever price you're charging and think "I wonder if I can get that cheaper online?"
  You'd only make a profit if you sold enough, consistently, to cover the costs of the item, the charges to get it to you, AND the fixed costs of running your shop."
  I know. I have a number of different items I'd sell, but I've only just started looking into it all and trying to figure out everything I'd need. Hopefully they'd be items that would sell consistently.
  "Also remember that to keep a shop open consistently, you need at least two people, even if one of them is just a casual. If a new shop isn't open consistently, you will lose business. "
  That's fine, I've got someone who could work with me.
  "Let's take motorguy's fixed costs of Ј4000 per month. Let's assume you can buy for Ј12, and sell for Ј17. That's a markup of Ј5. Divide Ј4000 by Ј5, you need to sell 800 items every month TO BREAK EVEN. You still haven't made a profit ... "
  Yes, but that was based on one item that would hopefully sell well but probably not consistently.
  Based off other items that would sell consistently...roughly, buying 3000 items for Ј1000 and selling for Ј2+. Could be far higher, the items could vary quite a bit in value.
  Then there would be other items too that I haven't looked into yet and the figure above for buying could be less as that figure was just from a quick search.
  "Also I'm going to ask if you've ever worked in a shop? If you haven't, please try it before you open your own."
  Yes, I have. I've also sold things online for a profit. In fact, with everything I buy I get it cheap and with things I sell I have quite often made a profit, but obviously that is selling as a private seller rather than business.
• It's worth going and sitting outside the current shop (if it is open for business) or a similar one in the area all day and count the number of customers.
  Have a look to see now many empty shop units there are in the area, what makes yours different and successful?
  One of the main issues with retail now is people look then leave to check the Internet. Even if its not cheaper, they buy online anyway because they can't be bothered going back.
  I'd be wary of comparing ebay prices too, I see lots of stuff on there I can get cheaper from other websites. Check several sources.
  I hope it works for you, but retail is brutal now. You have a shop in mind, so that gives you a starting point for rent costs, find out its rateable value, and get prices for pdq and business bank accounts. You need to start pricing costs and making a business plan so you can decide if this is viable.
• I really can't see this as a good idea, ideally you need to find stock cheaper than rivals and post things cheaper (strike a deal with a courier potentially).
  If you can't sell at the same price as somebody on ebay you need to look at the above.
  Now think about passing trade and how many people accross the uk (or further) shop online, to cover a shops overheads you need to sell a lot or at high margins, with posting items you just need storage which if you get small quantities at first I am sure you can store them in a corner somewhere.
  I did some buying at selling about 10 years ago and did turn a small profit, but I had to know the market andkeep getting the right stock at the right time, whatever I sold well would then be flooded on ebay by others seeing the sucess and another batch just wasn't worth it.
  Sorry to say I see no merit in your plan unless you are thinking truly unique items which people from all over would travel to you to see.