For many people, the dream is to be their own boss and own their own business, regardless of size. The pride of having control of your own destiny in a sense is what drives many people to start and for many, operating a convenience store is an easy start. You stock things that people need to buy regularly, therefore ensuring you have a steady flow of customers to interact with throughout the day. This is a great business to start for someone who is sociable. Below, we take a look at a few of the things that you would need to start your own convenience store.

Capital

Obviously you will need some start-up cash if you plan on opening a store. You’ll need to pay a deposit and advance some rent for the space, purchase equipment, inventory and back up money in case you encounter hard times within the first 6 months. Fortunately, equipment and inventory can usually be bought on credit, which you won’t have much of at first but will hopefully build as time progresses.

Permits

You will need to pass the relevant safety checks in order to be given permits to open a business. This may mean sanitary and fire permits to ensure your space is safe and not a potential death trap, and business permits in certain areas allowing you to conduct your chosen business type.

Staff

Even if you plan on working alone in the business you will still need to consider yourself staff. However, you will most likely need help from others and therefore need to hire employees. Be prepared to interview people and hire someone who you believe can help run and protect your small business as well as helping it grow in the long term. Along with this comes requirements ranging from eligibility to work to employer contributions to their taxes, which you must ensure are in order to avoid any repercussions further down the line.

Inventory

This is linked to the capital point mentioned earlier on, but inventory is obviously crucial when starting a convenience store. After all, how would you even make money if you had nothing to sell? When compiling a list of things to sell, you will need to stock a large variety of items – some will sell quicker than others, but variety is of utmost importance. Think of stocking everything from tissues, to milk, disposable cups to even Hugo Boss deodorant (it really depends on your local area)!

ePOS System

It is highly recommended in this day and age that you use an Electronic Point of Sale system (ePOS), not only for safety (they are much harder to steal from), but they can also be linked to software that will allow you to analyse your finances as well as keep track of your inventory digitally. This results in much more efficient processes and reduces theft/losses.