Opening a small indoor market / incubator type business
Discussion
Looking for something for the missus and near a fairly busy town is a largish shop with flat above for only £95k, its large enough for 8 / 10 "stalls" by that I mean shell schemes so they have basic walls but no door or roof plus elec and light. I am thinking of game resellers, mobile fixers, craft / jewellery stuff its also got A3 so maybe a butty stall.
In all honesty I have no idea if this would work but I think we may try it on the basis the property is cheap and the flat enormous.
Question is what permissions do I need to let spaces in the building and what pitfalls await us>
Cheers as ever.
In all honesty I have no idea if this would work but I think we may try it on the basis the property is cheap and the flat enormous.
Question is what permissions do I need to let spaces in the building and what pitfalls await us>
Cheers as ever.
I think it'd work. I quite fancied the idea of doing something similar with craft stalls as that seems to be a growing area at the moment with the popularity of small home based crafters on Folksy/Etsy etc and many of them are looking for somewhere cheap they can put stuff out on a permanent basis.
Often has the premises owner or another stall holder acting as a seller (commission?) so that public can still buy when the stall is unmanned. You've only got to look at the popularity of Bygone Times in Eccleston & Botany Bay Nr Chorley to see how it can work albeit on a larger scale (although I think they were both better a few years back).
There was a place in Crosby till recently but think they gave it up as it was above a cafe and access was virtually through the kitchen so not good from a food hygiene point of view.
Needs to be realistically priced & easy in/easy out but I think it'd be worth a punt.
Either go all small biz (phone/laptop repairs, engravers, desk only, butties etc) or all craft and market it appropriately. Looks like a fun project - go for it!
Often has the premises owner or another stall holder acting as a seller (commission?) so that public can still buy when the stall is unmanned. You've only got to look at the popularity of Bygone Times in Eccleston & Botany Bay Nr Chorley to see how it can work albeit on a larger scale (although I think they were both better a few years back).
There was a place in Crosby till recently but think they gave it up as it was above a cafe and access was virtually through the kitchen so not good from a food hygiene point of view.
Needs to be realistically priced & easy in/easy out but I think it'd be worth a punt.
Either go all small biz (phone/laptop repairs, engravers, desk only, butties etc) or all craft and market it appropriately. Looks like a fun project - go for it!
Edited by Pot Bellied Fool on Monday 13th April 13:07
DSLiverpool said:
Was thinking a Nespresso bar ?
That sounds a nice idea. Certainly quieter than the clatter of a starbucks (steam, grinding etc).
Does Nespresso make good lattes etc? That's what everyone seems drink
The key thing is that it's nice enough to get folk into your market.
Will you have the same stalls every day to theme days - antique clothing / crafts / jewellery etc? Even a once a month computer hardware sale seems busy where I live (london).
I can see it's Wallasey but don't that area too well in spite of looking to relocate over the water fairly soon.
What's the footfall/car parking like along that road? Any other attrractors that will bring footfall to the area?
That's not the be all & end all, if it was crafts for example then hitting Social Media hard will bring plenty of interested people along - perhaps only open certain days to increase the buzz - or if incubator then perhaps less important as there's a dearth of low cost office/retail space and people are happy to compromise.
What's the footfall/car parking like along that road? Any other attrractors that will bring footfall to the area?
That's not the be all & end all, if it was crafts for example then hitting Social Media hard will bring plenty of interested people along - perhaps only open certain days to increase the buzz - or if incubator then perhaps less important as there's a dearth of low cost office/retail space and people are happy to compromise.
Pot Bellied Fool said:
I can see it's Wallasey but don't that area too well in spite of looking to relocate over the water fairly soon.
What's the footfall/car parking like along that road? Any other attrractors that will bring footfall to the area?
That's not the be all & end all, if it was crafts for example then hitting Social Media hard will bring plenty of interested people along - perhaps only open certain days to increase the buzz - or if incubator then perhaps less important as there's a dearth of low cost office/retail space and people are happy to compromise.
Its Liscard - car park 3 mins away, all the shops etc huge footfall, just decided I need a partner as my missus doesn't want to know despite saying she needs a project. What's the footfall/car parking like along that road? Any other attrractors that will bring footfall to the area?
That's not the be all & end all, if it was crafts for example then hitting Social Media hard will bring plenty of interested people along - perhaps only open certain days to increase the buzz - or if incubator then perhaps less important as there's a dearth of low cost office/retail space and people are happy to compromise.
DSLiverpool said:
my missus doesn't want to know despite saying she needs a project.
What she means is she wants a project but not one where she has to do any work - that's your job! 
My Virtual Office is just down the road from there at Liscard Business Centre must've driven past it umpteen times.
I think it's worth trying, how many stalls/cubicles do you reckon you could fit in there? I think there's a market for a very low rent shared office type arrangement, everyone gets a cubicle(shell stand style) with desk(s) & walls so they can put up their planners etc & provide some privacy but it's also got a good buzz of things going on/collaboration to it.
If priced lower than the conventional shared office space it'd be ideal for people that want a workspace away from home or to meet clients but are too small to justify the extra cost of a proper office.
Maybe some ideas to be gleaned from http://doesliverpool.com/co-working/ or https://coworkinginliverpool.wordpress.com/
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