Cigar Stores?

[DeadBase]

I'm going to agree with the G-Man, if you have a name with some gusto behind it why not go with the classic.

Also, try and get Tatuaje's in - the ones I've now smoked have been superb but I can't find them for love nor money.

[PoohBore]

Is this oportunity with simons contacts to get a uk cigar forum cigar rolled? I also think if you can sell nubs you would have at least 1 customer guaranteed !!!!

[captain duff]

Well clearly there aren't a huge number of specialist shops around which can indicate gaps in the market. But it can also indicate a small market where enough trade to break even could be a problem. Personally, my fear would be that if you keep everything 'top end' then you limit regular turnover and risk being stung when problems in the economy mean people are looking for economies. That said of course, one of the best times to start a new business can be during a recession because of the cheapness of rents etc. But looking at my local shop (mysmokingshop) I think the owner has probably got things right on a few different levels. First, I think his premises probably has a very cheap rent (its a very nice shop but essentially a unit in a warehouse out of the town centre). Second, he has got a very good mail order set up that gives him access to a national market as well as a local one via the shop. Third, while all the top end stuff is there in terms of cigars (and some great brandy etc) he also sells loose cigarette and pipe tobaccos - and the former in particular means a very regular walk in trade from people looking for very cheap roll up baccy (my non-cigar ciggy smoking mates use him for this reason alone), and while of course you can present all that in a nice way within the shop (old jars or whatever), the fact is this 'economy' trade is probably very good at keeping the regular pennies coming in between the sales of top end cigars etc.

[Simon-JG-hr]

Some excellent points captain - particularly the rolling tobacco. I am always surprised by how many people are smoking roll-ups now. For my money they are far, far better than cigarettes (as in I will smoke a roll-up, I won't touch a Malboro...)

Mail-order/online sales is something I would particularly like to try and make the most of - without the overheads of the London based retailers, I'd hope to at least mitigate their economies of scale.

I think now is the time to pull the trigger (if I can). I almost can't believe how low the rent is on these units. They're on a bit of a side-street I admit (but I wouldn't have thought that cigars is exactly a 'passing trade' type of business. But it's close to the city centre, about 30 yards off the busiest road into the city and a stones throw from the marina reception (and I've yet to meet a sailor who doesn't smoke something!)

I'm also hoping to try and build-in some extras - like herf organization (e.g. office celebrations, stag parties etc) - good value added, just my time. And, give the attempt at importing another shot. But that may require too much capital.

Pipe Dude - not sure it should be much of an issue at the moment. When I get going it will likely just be stuff imported by H&F or Tor etc. So hopefully they'll have dealt with all the duties before selling me stock.

[jamesmids]

I think you,ll do well Simon , you,ve really researched everything in depth by Reading this thread and you,ve got some great ideas .
I've got my own bussiness and 10 years ago when I first opened i was bricking myself but I can safely say it was the best thing I ever did .
I know up here ( leics) rates are based on the rentable value , they told me that any rent below 7 k entitles you to small bussiness rate relief , my rents 520 per month making my rates 120. Per month , I think in oct the goverment are giving us more off in rate relief.
Anyway good luck matey look forward to seeing it progress.
James.

[Lee Nub]

Just do your homework bud, I started my business 8 years ago and its been a long struggle. I'm in a low rental building, but my total overheads run me 100,000 a year. My initial business plan basically went out of the window, I re-evaluated this over the last few years, and started to make a profit.Also check if any funding is available to you, my bank will hardly give me anything and I'm an established business with a good customer base and ongoing order book. I came from a psychology background, went into the building business working for my dad, and eventually opened my own store, I didn't have a clue when I started.

If you ever need to chat with a store owner (cartridges not cigars lol) then shoot me a pm

Good luck, we need more entrepreneurs in this country

[Simon-JG-hr]

Thanks for the further thoughts guys. Things are starting to progress now. I should (hopefully) have an online presence sometime in the coming month or so. NCs at first, not sure when I'll be in a position to get the Cubans through the door.

I had a very interesting and (I thought) productive trip to Tor Imports on Friday, which has seemingly been the final catalyst I needed.

I'm now trying to choose the right online store provider, and make it look just right. Here's how it's progressing:

http://shop.southwestcigars.co.uk/

It's NOT live yet. Just thought I'd ask for some opinions (remember it's rather formative still).

When it goes live properly (I hope I can stop using the word 'if' now) I'll post the appropriate thread in the appropriate forum.

[davidruddell]

Well done Simon, great to see the site up and running, anything I can do to help just ask.

Great idea regarding the corporate tastings day, sure some of our more auspicious institutions would be good for that sort of thing.

Love the logo, but there is a small hairline to the left hand side.

If it is something that needs fixing/optimisation, just pm/mail me.

[bopmachine]

You might want to try shopify - they have a free trial.

http://www.shopify.com/

Thanks for the further thoughts guys. Things are starting to progress now. I should (hopefully) have an online presence sometime in the coming month or so. NCs at first, not sure when I'll be in a position to get the Cubans through the door.

I had a very interesting and (I thought) productive trip to Tor Imports on Friday, which has seemingly been the final catalyst I needed.

I'm now trying to choose the right online store provider, and make it look just right. Here's how it's progressing:

http://shop.southwestcigars.co.uk/

It's NOT live yet. Just thought I'd ask for some opinions (remember it's rather formative still).

When it goes live properly (I hope I can stop using the word 'if' now) I'll post the appropriate thread in the appropriate forum.

[daverave999]

I'm now trying to choose the right online store provider, and make it look just right. Here's how it's progressing:

http://shop.southwestcigars.co.uk/

It's NOT live yet. Just thought I'd ask for some opinions (remember it's rather formative still).

Looking good so far.

A few ideas:

Do you have your own hosting at southwestcigars.co.uk and are redirecting the subdomain to the freewebstore? You may like to try osCommerce or PrestaShop on your own hosting. Gives you a lot more control and won't be much different to manage. Looks a lot more professional too.

I'd also put the shop on the main domain rather than on a subdomain. I have no reason other than personal preference though I suspect it may affect SEO.

Sign up for Google Checkout as you will likely get less problems with them than PP. Unless of course you are going the merchant account route from your (a) bank.

If you want to swap links with a few of my 'other' websites in the future let me know.

[monkey66]

Good luck Simon. My experience on web sites is SEO is critical. Research the industry key searches and ensure you cover them in your H1/2/3/4's and all the other balances Google loves.

If you don't know what this means (I didn't when I started) find someone who does. It takes about a year but with a little planning (and a lot of legitimate back-links) you can get to page 1/2 on Google without advertising.

[Simon-JG-hr]

Cheers guys. Thanks for the tips for other store providors (you are right, it is redirecting from my domain).

As for payment, there isn't a hope in hell of my using PayPal. Firstly, I (and I suspect others) associate it with people selling stuff on eBay - to my mind, it doesn't quite have the professional look I would hope for. Secondly, I understand that there are considerably issues with tobacco and PayPal. I will likely go for something like RBS World Pay (but I can't change the settings until I've actually got the account - hence still in development).

As for the subdomain - that's interim (sort of). If the physical shop goes ahead, I shall probably give it a different domain and use that as the primary access point.

I'm not quite sure where that line came from david (it might have been from when I cropped it?)

[richgirling]

Best of luck with your venture.

[Lee Nub]

Paypal is beginning to become more widely used by the high street, but your right about tobacco, you get a 6 month ban for accepting money for tobacco sales. You have my admiration and best wishes mate, I set up my own business 8 years ago, in much better times than these and I know how much work is required. Good luck mate.

[daverave999]

Cheers guys. Thanks for the tips for other store providors (you are right, it is redirecting from my domain).

As for payment, there isn't a hope in hell of my using PayPal. Firstly, I (and I suspect others) associate it with people selling stuff on eBay - to my mind, it doesn't quite have the professional look I would hope for. Secondly, I understand that there are considerably issues with tobacco and PayPal. I will likely go for something like RBS World Pay (but I can't change the settings until I've actually got the account - hence still in development).

As for the subdomain - that's interim (sort of). If the physical shop goes ahead, I shall probably give it a different domain and use that as the primary access point.

I'm not quite sure where that line came from david (it might have been from when I cropped it?)

I was just mentioning PP after seeing the logo but RBS World Pay looks a good option. There appears to be a PrestaShop module for that too.

Are you thinking of just selling online? I recall you talking about the shop unit round the corner from you but I'd be surprised if you found that as lucrative as selling online. Obviously this is guesswork as I've not run an 'offline' shop before...