Opening a record shop

[Mehlovich]

you should make a bar/record shop. that way you could sell records and get to have a soundsystem where you work + get to see who ever you choose to book in the weekends.

[bass_culture]

I think the problem is your profits may be too small, due to a small niche audience, as well as genuinely not making too much profit per item - in relation to things such as rent, buying stock and so forth.

The problem with small niche businesses is that stereotypically, their owners are more 'passion over profit' - which is great...if it's a charity or you're a ditsy housewife with unlimited funds from said husband. For instance, in November a 'vintage' shop opened near me, which sold hipster clothes to hipsters. It had a large Facebook presence, looked nice and had the whole 'independent/friendly' vibe going on, but it still didn't hide the fact the owners where shit at business! By the start of November the shop was closed and they've since gone over to selling on eBay, which is probably smaller in terms of sales and image, but will be much higher in profit.
I can name countless stores similar in nature down the years which have failed, due to living on a high street. Off the top of my head they include: Gadget shops, art shops, toy shops and countless music stores...which doesn't make for great reading!

I would try to combine it with being a coffee shop, clothes shop or book store, or something else. On a basic level, this branches out to more customers. Even if you have to fling in old clothes for the first few months, or apply for a painfully long/stressful food license, it may be worth it!

But most of all, approach this from a business angle, not a 'hobby' one - because you will need to keep an eye on every penny. Stuff like getting £100 cheaper rent rather than getting in a batch of CD's you like is much more important in the long run. It may come across as callous, but remember this is business - and you can't afford to be too passionate.

Perhaps running an online store would be your best bet? Sure, it doesn't have the same social aspect, and isn't half as cool - but what it does have is much cheaper costs, with a similar profit margin. For instance, for a one off payment you may pay £500 for a nice website, and then you're done. No rent. Of course, you may not be after this, but it's something to think about.

Thank you for your advice. I have no interest in running a purely online store however.

[1017_duck]

I'm thinking bar/venue by night, book/coffee/sandwich/record shop by day. You wouldn't get much sleep, but it would be the life

[slothrop]

Yep, because that sounds like it should be realistically cheap to get going and simple to run and not involve much of licensing hassle and bureaucracy...

[1017_duck]

Yep, because that sounds like it should be realistically cheap to get going and simple to run and not involve much of licensing hassle and bureaucracy...

Dunno if this is directed towards me, but it's just a "in a perfect world" type thing..

[nousd]

maybe you could give haircuts too (no outlays)

only half joking
meself, I'm currently a part-time shopkeeper
it's great for having a chat & writing in between
but I wouldn't want to be totally relying on it for a feed,
for which keeping stock that sells is the whole story.

[slothrop]

Dunno if this is directed towards me, but it's just a "in a perfect world" type thing..

Ah, fair enough. It's just that people keep suggesting more and more stuff that the OP could do, most of which involve a fair bit of knowledge and experience. I mean selling records and stuff is fair enough but if you start selling food you need to know what to do about hygiene certificates and all that sort of stuff as well as actually having to manage stock, prepare food, wash dishes etc, selling alcohol involves getting a license which is really frickin hard, particularly if it's a location that isn't already licensed and particularly if you've not got any particular experience of running pubs and bars, and if you're going to put on events it's going to be even worse.

I dunno, maybe the original poster is a former pub landlord with extensive business contacts who spent ten years working in an independent record store. But otherwise I think there's a lot to be said for keeping shit simple...

Sorry to shit on anyone's parade...

Edit - bass_culture - have you worked at anything like this before?

Edit edit - I don't want to be totally negative, by the way - the coffee shop /record shop thing is definitely an idea with legs if you've got the skills and knowledge to make it work, particularly if it ends up being somewhere that's tied in with the local scene and that people feel positive about supporting. It's just that business seems to be pretty tight for everything at the moment, so if you go in with the intention of figuring out the business side of things as you go along you'll probably be dead in the water before you get started...

[Lichee]

if you can sell it for the same price as online, do it. The vinyl shop I go to competes with online, maybe £1 but postage from RedEye is more than that so i mind. I think the thing I love the most is the second hand vinyls. Picked up CHST005 for £7 from my local and all sorts of other jems and the guy in there is sound.