Does this business exist?
Does this business exist?
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Dg504

Original Poster:

332 posts

181 months

Wednesday 1st October
quotequote all
More bored paye slave chat but bear with me.

There’s a new build industrial estate near me that has a couple of 4/5k sq ft units available, others are filled by screwfix/paint/electrical shops so that’s the general type. Motor trade is noted as not being allowed.

Thing is it’s four sets of traffic lights from Dover yet half an hour from Tower Bridge road and say another 30 mins to east end etc. it seems incredibly well placed?

Product could be cycled or driven to most of London from here depending on size/weight obviously.

I’d like to take a unit on and either take something in from Dover and assemble to sell or just setup a distribution hub - but what would it be? Is it a case of searching eBay/aliepxress and co to find a container of something that take my fancy? Or do companies ever actively look outside for this service?

I spanner my own bikes, replace iPhone screens and laptop batteries etc so I’m quite handy and would be happy building up most things. I know about broad commercial finance and how to run a business from the FC side. Is there a match making site to find me a ‘partner’ business? I’d be happy to sign and setup the unit for 12 months providing there was a business plan etc

macron

12,189 posts

184 months

Wednesday 1st October
quotequote all
"business rates".

Shnozz

29,615 posts

289 months

Wednesday 1st October
quotequote all
Admittedly wine deep but you've found premises in a prime location but are yet to figure out the business??

Doofus

31,880 posts

191 months

Wednesday 1st October
quotequote all
Google "drop shipping" and then move on to something else.

Simpo Two

89,903 posts

283 months

Wednesday 1st October
quotequote all
Dg504 said:
I d like to take a unit on and either take something in from Dover and assemble to sell or just setup a distribution hub - but what would it be?
Asylum seekers. It's a boom market. You might need to buy some coaches though.

DSLiverpool

15,773 posts

220 months

Thursday 2nd October
quotequote all
Doofus said:
Google "drop shipping" and then move on to something else.
Collaborative drop shipping or exclusive brand representation is the new thing

StevieBee

14,444 posts

273 months

Thursday 2nd October
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
Dg504 said:
I d like to take a unit on and either take something in from Dover and assemble to sell or just setup a distribution hub - but what would it be?
Asylum seekers. It's a boom market. You might need to buy some coaches though.
Small boat refrub services? smile

OP... I don't wish to be dismissive of your ambitions but you're approaching this arse about face. You need to first decide what business you're going to operate, figure out if it's commercially viable, work out how you're going to attract customers and only then look for a premises that fits your needs.

Dg504 said:
I spanner my own bikes, replace iPhone screens and laptop batteries etc so I m quite handy and would be happy building up most things.
All of that can be conducted from a lock-up garage, shed or small shop somewhere. None of it needs a 'unit' - you just need to be located close to where the customers are. If you need storage, there are much cheaper options than taking on an industrial unit yourself.

What you personally are capable of doing isn't irrelevant but you need to think about your capacity to run a business, sell the services you offer and do the work yourself.

I have no idea how much a unit like that you've described would cost but I'd be surprised that with rent and overhead you'd get little change from £4k a month. Do you think you could replace £4k's worth of phone screens each month? And that's just to cover your costs. I assume you also want to earn a wage.

Dg504 said:
I know about broad commercial finance and how to run a business from the FC side. I d be happy to sign and setup the unit for 12 months providing there was a business plan etc
Financial management is a good start. But you need to establish how you'll generate the money that you manage so Marketing and Sales has to be added to your repertoire.

Dg504 said:
Is there a match making site to find me a partner business?

Not that I'm aware of. It's more a case of networking and getting out there and talking to people.







Edited by StevieBee on Thursday 2nd October 07:20

Jamescrs

5,576 posts

83 months

Thursday 2nd October
quotequote all
It doesn't sound like you have a business idea at all here OP at the moment.

Thousands of people are doing dropshipping, mostly online already, you don't need a flashy business unit for it when starting out.

Mobile phone repairs are on every high street now, if not multiples of them so again I don't see why this unit you identify would be special for it, maybe doing that as a mobile business would be an idea? But again i'd be amazed if one doesn't already exist.

48k

15,627 posts

166 months

Thursday 2nd October
quotequote all
Ref the title - does what business exist?

It sounds like you have (or think you have) a solution and are looking for a problem to solve. Which isn't usually the way to go about things.

Have you sat down and done some fag packet calcs of what such an industrial unit will cost you just to get the keys and then what it will cost you per year to lease it and operate it (lease, service charges, utilities, security etc) ? That will give you some idea of what sort of costs your business will need to cover with whatever it does.

As said, it sounds like you're going about things the wrong way around.