How does it work ?

[observer]

I've noticed how small shops open and within months close again. Is their some kind of financial incentive involved ?     

[Evil Sid]

Nope, they open thinking it is a good idea, get very few customers and so can't break even and close again.

[observer]

What I'm after Sid, isn't their some Gov incentive, grants etc ?  

[Dizzy]

To be honest I can't actually think of any new local small shops round here  that have closed a few months later Obs.

Are there lots round your way?

[Evil Sid]

Sounds like he lives in the double glazing area of warrington.

Had a quick google for business start up grants. different sites for wales, scotland and england.

There are all sorts of different grants for starting up a small business. They vary depending on what you require but they are usually in the form of reduced prices on equipment or rates or come in the form of a loan. (See warringtons new  bank for details of a business loan ).

[observer]

I presumed it must have to be something involving "grants" , as these shops are starting up one month and closing the next, can't see folk losing money doing it ?     

[Bazj]

Nobody starts a business expecting it to fail within months. As for grants, the government or council (or anyone else who gives help to start up businesses) don't just turn up with a carrier bag full of cash and walk away to leave you to go and buy that nice new Porsche you always wanted. As Sid has said, most help (and it was like this when we set up our business nearly 20 years ago) is usually reduced bank charges for a year, reduced rates for a year, help with business plans etc. 

 

Whoever is setting up the business has to do so using mostly their own money or money from a loan or re-mortgage. 

[observer]

Thanks Baz; which makes me even more bemused;   we've had small cafes, card shops, hairdressers, wedding dress and cake sales; starting up, then closing down. Can't believe folk risk their own money on such misadventures.    

[asperity]

I don't know where you live Obs, but I haven't seen that sort of turnover in business here in Penketh. Okay the Wing Fat Chinese takeaway has just changed owners, but that wasn't an open and shut case (haha, did you see what i did there?)

[Bazj]

1 hour ago, observer said:

Thanks Baz; which makes me even more bemused;   we've had small cafes, card shops, hairdressers, wedding dress and cake sales; starting up, then closing down. Can't believe folk risk their own money on such misadventures.    

Why bemused? People who start a business don't usually do so on a whim (well OK, we did but that was borne out of redundancy and the need to carry on before someone else jumped in and nicked all the business that we knew was not going to get done by the bust company we worked for)

People plan quite well these days and I would expect that any business that fails could well be the result of inexperienced people who maybe didn't do the planning with regards to what is legally required.

 

I very much doubt that if we were given the option now to set up a company, that either me or my business partner would do it again. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and all the latest impositions on business owners and employers in the form of work place pensions, legal requirements and the like would put most people off anyway.

We work in an area that brings us into some site work. I spend hours having to do risk assessments and method statements for piddling little jobs that 20 years ago would have taken an hour and cost maybe £100.00 but by the time you add in all the H&S requirements and paperwork, both before and after a job has started and finished, there can be as much again just on that side of things.... which effectively doubles the price

[Bazj]

Just one other thing.... when we first started up back in 1998, the first letter we ever received as a company was from HMRC telling us of what we were legally required to pay and provide and on what date is was due to be paid.... the second was from HMRC regarding when our first VAT payment was due... I should have closed the doors then and gone and worked for someone who would give me 6 weeks holiday a year and paid for my bank holidays, a job where I could close my computer down at 5pm on a Friday and not worry about anything until I walked in the office again on Monday morning.... where a holiday would not mean spending half of the day on the phone... oh now that would be bliss

[observer]

Wouldn't dispute anything you say Baz, you've got the T-shirt; but my query refered to small shops.  There are of course, many small buisinesses that seem to flourish, like Bookies, Chip Shops, Barbers, Nail Bars; but other just seem to open one minute and close the next.  My suspicion was, that it was some kind of scam, and some Gov start up moneys were involved; but looking round the net, I can't find any; which suggests that these owners must be risking their own cash to start up ?