Business implications - mobile premises in public car park

[georgefreeman918]

I have recently had a light bulb moment, and currently trying to assess the feasibility of following it through and setting up my own business.

The business proposal is electric bike hire. I live in a high tourist footfall area, 7 miles east of one of the most popular tourist locations in the UK. There are good (all off road along Sustrans National cycle network) cycle routes. There is currently no business in the area operating in this market sector.

When assessing business start up costs, the most expensive and difficult to acquire is premises. However, this got me thinking. Initially do I need premises?

Could I operate out of local car park and in affect set up mobile premises? I would of course make every attempt to make the business presentable and professional through the use of a marque, signage and set up style.

The car park in question is a free public car park with plenty of space for me to set up. Initially I would only open Weekends during peak season and all my equipment would be removed and erected each day and transported back to my house (100m up from the car park).

Is there anyone particular I should consult? Council?

Also any suggestions / limitations any one has would be much appreciated. A lot of the details are very woolly as I have only just started looking at the options.

George

[Chrisgr31]

You'd definitely need to consult with the local council who probably own the car park. Might be better to have non-electric and bikes when talking to them as its likely that encouraging people to exercise etc ticks all manner of boxes with them.

There will be a danger of creating a business rates liability for yourself. Unlikely initially but may come in time. Likely to be covered by the small business exemption initially (assuming you have no other business)