Advice on setting up a B&M shop

[monty]

I think juice is where you will get your repeat business so I suggest having lots set up for people to taste. Look into making your own, what the legal requirements are, think about professionally printed labels.

[zeldamum]

I have only been going for 5 weeks, be prepared for ups and downs, to start with there will be quite a few downs.

You have vaping experience, which is a huge positive, with that comes giving advice to potential customers who may ask you for advice and then go else where to buy, or have bought something else where and come to you to fix a problem. This can feel like a downside, but can be a huge positive as you build up a name for being helpful and they are more likely to tell their friends.

Word of mouth works really well, stay professional at all times no matter what is happening in your personal life. For example, my husband was packing to leave on a Saturday and I had to smile sweetly at customers which wasn't easy.

What is your start up capital? You will need more than you think. Time off is very important for you sanity, typically I get no time off except bank holidays, 3 extra days off at Easter and 1 week during the summer, could you cope with having very little downtime. Having said that I love it.

If you are going to charge for coffee you will need to go to your council and have an inspection from the environmental team who will give you a rating. I decided to give coffee away for the time being as I have enough to cope with running 2 businesses from the same shop.

Suppliers, make sure you would be happy using the vape gear, make your you would be happy vaping the brand of eliquids you sell, that way you can talk honestly and openly and with passion about everything you sell which goes along way to gain the customers confidence.

MOQ can be quite high Innokin for example have a MOQ of 1000 units for clearos and 100 for mods.

Sorry if I have rambled on good luck with your decision and keep us updated.

[rojeans]

Jun 10, 2014 18:38:08 GMT @munkymunky said:

Jun 10, 2014 15:53:02 GMT lynxkat said:

I would imagine, Waterloo or Crosby, would be a nice place for a shop, not sure if there is any already there though. But I don't think so .

Crosby and Southport have shops as do County Road,and Walton,Kirkby,...non in Broadway though,  ,and I don't know about Kirby. It's a shame Adam  at Rojeans doesn't have an online website.

I've considered on line but then I wouldn't be able to put in the dedication that I believe a good B&M shop needs to put in. I also love the contact and banter that goes with it.
When an issue arises I can also deal with it strait away, something that can't be done on-line. Just call me old fashioned, but I believe, for me, it 'works'
Thanks to everyone for their positive comments BTW,
Cheers
Adam.

[monty]

Maybe stock multimeters or resistance checkers, saves first time rebuilders bringing batteries that "just died".

[Deleted]

Jun 11, 2014 10:18:34 GMT rojeans said:

Jun 10, 2014 18:38:08 GMT @munkymunky said:

Crosby and Southport have shops as do County Road,and Walton,Kirkby,...non in Broadway though,  ,and I don't know about Kirby. It's a shame Adam  at Rojeans doesn't have an online website.

I've considered on line but then I wouldn't be able to put in the dedication that I believe a good B&M shop needs to put in. I also love the contact and banter that goes with it.
When an issue arises I can also deal with it strait away, something that can't be done on-line. Just call me old fashioned, but I believe, for me, it 'works'
Thanks to everyone for their positive comments BTW,
Cheers
Adam.

Adam, you are neither old or old fashioned .

I do like the fact that you don't have a team of staff that aren't clued up as in a lot of B&M shops. You provide an excellent service "face to face with the vendor". Everything is explained clearly ,no matter how long it takes customers to understand,and the friendly banter makes newbies relaxed and confident in making a purchase.

Long may ROJEANS Liverpool reign! 

[goneforagasper]

Jun 10, 2014 17:21:32 GMT shez said:

My advice would be compare the prices of items you'd be selling to those online. I popped in to my local vape shop & everything was way way more expensive than online so I don't buy.

[Jerri]

Jun 10, 2014 17:21:32 GMT shez said:

My advice would be compare the prices of items you'd be selling to those online. I popped in to my local vape shop & everything was way way more expensive than online so I don't buy.

You can't expect a b&m to have the same prices as an online shop.

They don't have the overheads. The rent. Taxes. Gas. Electricity etc.

You pay extra because you're getting your item instantly. And should anything go wrong you can walk back in to the shop and sort it face to face. There's no chance it will get lost in the post or damaged in the post.

There's no waiting for it to arrive. No postage fees. No posting back damaged items. Messing about with waiting for them to be checked. Refunded. Replaced. No Taking the chance that the seller will be an arse about it etc.

If you want juice you can try it before you buy. I'd rather pay £1 extra for a juice I know I like than waste £3-4 plus p&p on a juice I might hate.

Yes some b&m shops overcharge. But so do some online vendors.

Whilst I do mostly shop online, I'm happy to pay a bit extra in a b&m shop for the reasons above.