Thread: Whats needed?
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Old 15-01-2007, 01:19 AM
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Now we're getting somewhere.
I used to think that being very close to a supermarket was not a bad thing as you had lots of people about. These days people tend to do their supermarket shop first and if they've bought frozen stuff, jump straight into the car and drive home with it. So being a bit removed from that and in a locale where people tend to do some shopping (a good butcher is a good sign) you stand a better chance. Your mix of shops looks good.

With reference to the canopy/outside displays, some councils won't let you put stuff outside on the footpath (in case someone injures themselves by tripping over a pot mum and suing the pants off them), so unless you have a dedicated forecourt area which is described in your lease, it's worth checking out.
It's also worth looking at the orientation of your shop front. Does it get the sun streaming into the window at all. If it does, you will have problems with anything in the window or outside during the summer. The canopy won't help at all, it will only keep the rain off.

Think about offering to do an arrangement in the pub on a weekly basis in exchange for a parking space in the pubs car park. Put your business cards next to it. You can get these done quite cheaply online at Vistaprint. They don't have to be best quality, you just want to be able to afford to give them away en masse. You can always have some better quality cards done for your regulars or to send out with orders.

I would think carefully about using upstairs for a chiller or any flower storage. As you say the staircase is steep this will not only be a pain in the ass but probably a health and safety issue as regards carrying boxes etc upstairs. Ok for dry stock, oasis etc that you don't have to access every ten minutes. Also think about security here, If you're going to be working the shop single handed at any time and you need to go upstairs, you need some sort of buzzer on the door or ideally webcam linked to upstairs. I have an infra red detector above the front door that tells me every time someone comes in or out. I just disabale it if i'm in the shop all the time as it can get quite annoying, but it's great if you're working out back.

Also opening up the side door can be an issue as this is the most likely route for no-gooders. Need to double bolt this and leave via front door.

If your cemetery is within walking distance..great. Remember to stock things like henly vases and the aluminium inserts that always get nicked.

Replacing the sink...think about the size and what you will be using it for. You need to clean buckets and things. You need to soak oasis (how about a 5' cross!)
If you have a water heater that can run cold with a flexible arm it can be useful for soaking frames.

I expect you've already thought about a lot of this stuff already so please don't take this as being condescending at all. I just like to ramble on sometimes.
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