The Framers Forum

I started my own business from scratch when I left school and then bought an existing business a few years later as well. Basically I moved my business into the old businesses premises. The business I bought was incredibly run down, really badly managed, not turning over a lot as a result of that and I probably paid too much for it. However, I could see the potential in the place and we quickly made it our own. It's located in an excellent spot on the high street and it had already been a framers for over 10 years so it had a reputation. So from that point of view it was worth the risk. When you buy a business though, you naturally make it your own and do things differently to how others would do it. We don't use any of the same suppliers as the previous guy and we offer different services. The hardest thing for us was replacing the previous guys reputation for doing a rubbish job and making the customer wait 3 months with our good reputation. That's taken time.
Pros - I found buying a business, although more expensive initially, easier to get going as you don't need to put in as much leg work advertising etc. The work came flooding in straight away as people already knew where to find us which I much preffered. Also, like others have said, any change in the "wallpaper" of the high street generates business. Sending a write up to the local paper and getting your online presence sorted really helps as well.
Cons - initial cost of buying the business. Building up a good reputation if the previous business was a bit rubbish.

Steve wrote

or looking at it another way 60% of your customers have never returned just joking

You can do a lot statistics


Indeed. 60% of our customers haven't returned YET!

On a slightly different note, has anyone made the move from working at home to moving to a high street shop/ business unit ? I know of a few high street framers that have had to leave the high street because of soaring overheads but as someone who has been in business for 6 years, working from home with a reasonable customer list and a good ranking on Google I'm wondering what my next move should be. Working from home sounds appealing if you are struggling on the High street but the novelty wears off after a while, especially if you work on your tod....

Bagpuss - I had a home based business for about 4 years and in August last year found a small place to open a shop. It is on a main road, not the high street and around 400 metres from the nearest set of other shops.

I also spent a long time finding the right place in terms of size, rent, business rates and location. All this after investigating a small number of framing businesses up for sale in the local area.

Results so far: previously the accountant always got me a tax rebate = overall loss when using a home for business, after the first year trading from the shop I had to pay income tax = profit using a shop for business. The second year of trading is looking even better.

The amount of money being asked for an existing business took the possibility of buying one out of my reach and for a relatively modest amount of investment I had a shop front and workshop to my own specification.

Bagpuss if you have a good base of customers and a good internet presence then you don't necessarily need the high street a small industrial space may be the answer, especially if you have one near residential or areas of employment. My first workshop was a small Victorian workshop set behind a row of terrace houses. Recently I have shared space with another framer/printer and his business hasn't suffered his customer are finding him.

If you have a presence then you won't be relying on people seeing you in the traditional way and the benefits of an industrial workshop space is lower rent and rates.

I have never had a framing business based in an industrial unit, but as long as it is in a good location, I can't see any reason why not.

A good location means convenient for your customers, but you will need to let your potential customers know that you are there. Leaflets through people letterboxes can be both cost effective and cheap to do. Also as time goes on word of mouth will increase your customer base.

I'm not a young guy anymore, so I like a small shop which is easier to heat, but on the other hand if you are still young and fit and don't feel the cold as much as me, an industrial unit could be the way to go.

Well mark I have been successfully running mine for 12 years from industrial premises.

I know this, but this could also work as an alternative to moving into a shop, when the business outgrows working at home.

That was my whole point mark, if you have an established
A blushed business working from home and you have a healthy Internet presence and you are needing to move because your workload is out growing you garage it were ever then commercial premises may be ideal. I would never go back to having a high street retail presence mainly because of the rates you pay and the size of workshop I need, you would be paying a higher rate of rates for a large part of the ore mises which in essence are commercial and not retail space.

If you look there are quite a lot of 'industrial' spaces and not necessarily modern industrial estate type building. If you have the Internet presence then you can become somewhere that people will travel to, easier parking as well usually.

Can you be sure the person you buy from is not going to use your money to update his machinery and start up elsewhere. I know a man who bought a going concern with a fat customer book, alas most of them had not dealt with the previous owner for many years. Why not buy s/h gear and give it a go yourself.

kevin wrote:Can you be sure the person you buy from is not going to use your money to update his machinery and start up elsewhere.

It would be normal to have a restraint of trade clause in the contract preventing him from doing this within a certain radius of his old business.