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Issue 2
| Buying a Newsagency 1 |
BUYING A NEWSAGENCY
How to start?
First of all with a budget! You need to work out “what can I afford” and “how much do I need to earn”.
You can do this by contacting us for details of our newsagency specialist finance brokers and they can very quickly tell you what size newsagency you can afford. Because one of the most depressing things when starting on your newsagency safari is to be looking way outside your price range because you assumed you would be able to afford it.
When you have an idea of the investment level that is comfortable for you, you need to start looking. Contact us and we select newsagencies for you to inspect including those a little above and below your price range.
Why above your price range? Because sometimes an owner may be quite negotiable for a variety of reasons and you would hate to have missed a great opportunity because you didn’t ask.
You will need to look at quite a few newsagencies to understand the type and style that fits you best. Also the size and location, the development opportunity, staff requirements, the refurbishment required and a whole lot of your own criteria – is it close to home, schools, other shops, a bus stop or train station etc.
When looking at these businesses, remember please be discreet and DO NOT SPEAK to the owner or staff about the business as the sale is usually confidential and the owner does not want (nor will you) to lose valuable staff and customers when they hear the newsagent is selling.
Now that you are actually on your safari you should keep notes on what was good and bad, style of shopfit, lighting, location and other points that will help you later on when you are working out which is the best one for you. Also it serves as a good reference for when you have bought your own newsagency – now you can look up what were the good points in other shops and go and look at them and talk to the newsagent about them.
When you have found a newsagency or two that you are interested in, then we will make an appointment for you to meet with the owner when you can ask questions. The only questions that you cannot ask is to do with the price – we, as the selling agents are the people in the transaction with whom you discuss price at the appropriate time.
What questions should you ask? – because you may not have been in business before you may be unsure of what you should be asking. Don’t worry.
One of the best questions to ask is “What do you do from the time you get in the shop in the morning until you leave the shop that night?” This will draw a long answer and from that you will get many other points that you would like to know about and so you may find from this meeting that the shop, for whatever reason, is not suitable or is highly desirable you will have learnt a lot about how a newsagent works and you will now have a better understanding of what is actually involved.
With all your questions answered to your satisfaction we can now move on to the REAL question! How much will they sell it for?
This will be continued in the next newsletter.
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