Originally the soft open was planned for feb 1st. It looks like now it'll be feb 8th. Grand opening May 3rd. As it'll let me spread the word at a few local events to build hype.
Adventures with Corndog: Corndog's Fish Store
- Thread starter Corndog
- Start date
opiate82
Bronze Squire
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http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/27/pf/c...source=cnn_bin
Some interesting developments in the world of credit card processing. You can now legally (in all but 10 states) pass the processing fees onto the consumer. In a highly competitive business such as my pizza restaurants I think the backlash from consumers wouldn't be worth trying to collect the fees. However in a niche business like the fish store you might be able to get away with it.
Some interesting developments in the world of credit card processing. You can now legally (in all but 10 states) pass the processing fees onto the consumer. In a highly competitive business such as my pizza restaurants I think the backlash from consumers wouldn't be worth trying to collect the fees. However in a niche business like the fish store you might be able to get away with it.
This already kind of happens a lot of places. They have a price and then they have a "You pay cash, you get a discount" price. What is really going on is they figured out what the CC costs are and marked up to match that and the cash price is the actual price. Particularly with gas in a fair number of areas, because of all the gas rewards cards. So... not a huge deal and I doubt most merchants will try to pass the costs along, as it is most places that try the above lose a fair amount of business just from annoyance. I would immediately stop shopping at any merchant that tried it.
Big Phoenix
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Looks like I'll be pushing back my soft open till the 15th. The lighting I need for my aquariums is out of stock. They could fill 8 out of 50 fixtures I needed. They come in the 13th. Besides that I think I could use the time anyways to get more stuff done in the place.
Just filed for a business license with the city I'm in. Only a handful of cities in my state require a city business license. I have a feeling this is going to be a battle. $125 to apply for a license. Had to have a to scale drawing of my layout of the store with intended uses. So they could compare it to the previous tenant and see if I need to get a building permit to do a change of use. With that permit a city planner needs to review the impact on the area etc.
To get my business license if i dont need that permit, 4 different inspectors need to come in and sign off on the place. Right now I just wait in limbo for a letter that states what needs to be done next to satisfy them.
To get my business license if i dont need that permit, 4 different inspectors need to come in and sign off on the place. Right now I just wait in limbo for a letter that states what needs to be done next to satisfy them.
Just be happy you dont have to file for a state alcoholic beverage license. That is the single worst experience i have ever been through.
Cutlery
Kill All the White People
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)I'm in the final sprint now. Things seem to be coming together. The vision is starting to form up. My builder wants super bowl Sunday off. So I'll be doing some staining work on the wood racks on Sunday.
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Building inspector walked through today. Told me to pull a plumbing and electrical permit and put in a lever door handle for ADA requirements. Also wants a lower counter for ADA access. 3 more inspectors to go.
Shonuff
Mr. Poopybutthole
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Is the opening still the 15th? If you wouldn't mind posting pics of the finalized store (feel free to take the store name off) that would be cool.
Hopefully, you'll be able to come back to this thread five years from now, like I can, and look at how far you've come. As you update the thread, it will be instructive for others to look at the changes you've made, both good and bad. Don't just post the good times, post the bad times also. You'll have times where you'll think you were a genius, and then you'll have times when no one is walking through the door and you'll wonder why you left your job.
That is the fun of it all.
Yeah I'll post pictures when it's open and continuing through it's life. I don't think I'll make the 15th. I can force a soft opening them. But I'm realizing it will just be easier to build out another room of the store without people in there. I might shoot for march 1st. Not sure yet playing it by ear. I keep upgrading what we are doing. Few days ago we put crown molding on the fish tank stand in the main room. Then applied stain to it. Next we are shooting gloss on it.
I found out a competitor is opening up in April, I don't think he'll be much competition for me directly as he's focusing on high end ADA products in a different city.
I talked to a neighboring business yesterday. She said it took her 1.5 years to get her business license through the city. Because she wanted to put a shower in her physical therapy office. Once she finally dropped the plans officially with the city she got her business license in the mail the next day. She was still open for business during that time, I don't know if that was legal or not.
Biggest thing I'm going through now is the emotional ups and downs. Yesterday we were only able to work in the shop for like 3 hours. Had to touch up a couple of places of stain and let it dry over night. The whole place is taped with plastic up everywhere to prevent overspray so not much else I can do in there. Before we got there I bought stuff for the shop for a couple of hours. But being done by 4pm was weird and I didn't like it. The night before we were able to work until 11pm. Today were going to rub some linseed oil on the stand and I'm not sure what else. But it looks like a short day. Tomorrow we spray the finishes. Each coat has a 4 hour drying time. So I may be at the shop for 12 hours tomorrow, but only about an hour of it will be work on the shop.
I've already got customers who want me to open, and I'd love to be open as I really enjoy selling things. However I want to make sure the first impression blows people away. As everything I've been doing is very high end compared to any other fish store I've ever seen. I'm making something similar to this picture without the pergo floors.
At this point I want to get cleared with the city before opening so I don't have to tear anything back out and make changes as it's 500 times harder once live animals are already in the store. If I open up tomorrow and go to put my next stand in a month later, all the staining/shoot will have to be done off sight and assembled in the store with customers being around etc.
I found out a competitor is opening up in April, I don't think he'll be much competition for me directly as he's focusing on high end ADA products in a different city.
I talked to a neighboring business yesterday. She said it took her 1.5 years to get her business license through the city. Because she wanted to put a shower in her physical therapy office. Once she finally dropped the plans officially with the city she got her business license in the mail the next day. She was still open for business during that time, I don't know if that was legal or not.
Biggest thing I'm going through now is the emotional ups and downs. Yesterday we were only able to work in the shop for like 3 hours. Had to touch up a couple of places of stain and let it dry over night. The whole place is taped with plastic up everywhere to prevent overspray so not much else I can do in there. Before we got there I bought stuff for the shop for a couple of hours. But being done by 4pm was weird and I didn't like it. The night before we were able to work until 11pm. Today were going to rub some linseed oil on the stand and I'm not sure what else. But it looks like a short day. Tomorrow we spray the finishes. Each coat has a 4 hour drying time. So I may be at the shop for 12 hours tomorrow, but only about an hour of it will be work on the shop.
I've already got customers who want me to open, and I'd love to be open as I really enjoy selling things. However I want to make sure the first impression blows people away. As everything I've been doing is very high end compared to any other fish store I've ever seen. I'm making something similar to this picture without the pergo floors.
At this point I want to get cleared with the city before opening so I don't have to tear anything back out and make changes as it's 500 times harder once live animals are already in the store. If I open up tomorrow and go to put my next stand in a month later, all the staining/shoot will have to be done off sight and assembled in the store with customers being around etc.
Shonuff
Mr. Poopybutthole
- 5,538
- 790
My unsolicited advice is to do what it takes to make sure you stay "up." No one wants to buy anything from a depressed salesperson. Almost every successful businessperson I know is an eternal optimist that things will pick up and tomorrow will be a better day.
About half are existing customers. The other half are people who've found me on the forums/local club.
So the saga with the city continues. I got a letter from them yesterday that states to go any further with the business application I need a tenant improvement permit. To apply for this permit, it requires an insane long list of things to be done. To name a few. Architectural drawings of the entire space and every fixture. Such as an aquarium stand. In bold it states, hiring an professional is highly recommended. Oh and the drawings of the building/fixtures inside etc need to be 3d to scale. A traffic impact study needs to be done. I need a signature from a licensed contractor on the application. Not licensed with the state... oh no, has to be licensed with that city in particular. My plumber is also going through this now. Has been in business for 20+ years, first time he's done commercial work in THIS city. So to file for the permit for the work, he needs to fill out an application to do business in the city first.
Found the form online so I can copy and paste the list:
Application Form E
Site Plan
Reduced Site Plan (11 X 14 or 8 ? x 11)
Architectural Construction Drawings
Structural Drawing and Calculations
WA State Energy Code NREC Calcs & Lighting
Health District Approval Letter
Manufacturer's Specifications/Cut Sheets
Contractor's City of **** Business License
Washington State Contractors License
Plan Check Fee (due upon submittal)
Traffic Impact Analysis
Special Inspection and Testing Agreement
Architectural Design Approval
Heres some details at the bottom:
Plans/calculation/reports prepared by state licensed architects or professional engineers must be stamped and signed by the
design professional.
So our attack plan is to go in Monday with pictures of what we've done so far and argue that we don't need a tenant improvement permit because we haven't changed anything structural at all. And have only installed retail fixtures.
Keep in mind, all of this is to open ANY retail store in this city. So if you were a hobby shop, grocery store, greeting card outlet etc. These are the MINIMUM requirements to get this permit.
Found the form online so I can copy and paste the list:
Application Form E
Site Plan
Reduced Site Plan (11 X 14 or 8 ? x 11)
Architectural Construction Drawings
Structural Drawing and Calculations
WA State Energy Code NREC Calcs & Lighting
Health District Approval Letter
Manufacturer's Specifications/Cut Sheets
Contractor's City of **** Business License
Washington State Contractors License
Plan Check Fee (due upon submittal)
Traffic Impact Analysis
Special Inspection and Testing Agreement
Architectural Design Approval
Heres some details at the bottom:
Plans/calculation/reports prepared by state licensed architects or professional engineers must be stamped and signed by the
design professional.
So our attack plan is to go in Monday with pictures of what we've done so far and argue that we don't need a tenant improvement permit because we haven't changed anything structural at all. And have only installed retail fixtures.
Keep in mind, all of this is to open ANY retail store in this city. So if you were a hobby shop, grocery store, greeting card outlet etc. These are the MINIMUM requirements to get this permit.