Setting Up Your Shop:
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The entire guide
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1: Finding the premises
Step 1 will help you find a premises to lease to run your business from. This section includes a comprehensive Tenancy Inspection Checklist to help you find the right property to suit your business. It will also help you keep a record of all the important details – including anything you’ve discussed with the landlord – which will be useful when negotiating your lease (in Step 4).
2: Working out the budget
Step 2 will help you work out a realistic budget for opening your store. This step includes a comprehensive Project Budget Worksheet, Advice, and a Key Items Guide. At this stage, you won’t have firm details for many of your costs, but this step will guide you in being as specific as possible to help create your vital initial budget.
3: Working out the program
“Program” is the term for the plan or timeline for all the activities that are required to build your shop fitout. This step will help you create your own timeline showing all the activities and trades you need scheduled in from day one to opening day. Setting a realistic opening day is critical before you agree to a lease. This step includes a Build Your Own Program Worksheet and Advice section.
4: Reviewing the offer
This step includes three comprehensive guides to help you review your lease, your offer, and your referenced documents thoroughly before signing. There are also some tips to help you negotiate for terms that best suit you and your business.
5: Updating your budget, part 1
In this step, you will update the budget you set in Step 2 to reflect any new information you have regarding costs and estimates. It’s important as your project progresses that you review your budget from time to time, adding in the actual costs and estimates along the way.
6: Finding a designer
This step will help you find the right interior designer to bring your vision for your shop to life and will coach you in how to brief a designer on your vision and needs. This step includes a guide to explain the 11 stages of the design process and will help you learn all the terminology you’ll need when talking plans with your designer.
7: Getting your plans drawn
This step will ensure you know how to get all of the formal plans you will need produced – from floor plans and reflected ceiling plans to elevations and electrical plans – before the build of your shop can begin. This section includes a Designer Brief and Plans Guide.
8: Finding a shopfitter
This step will help you find the key specialist builder you’ll need to bring your shop to life: a shopfitter. It includes a How to Find a Shopfitter Guide and a Tender Pack Checklist that will help you get more accurate quotes and pricing back from the shopfitters you contact. This step also includes a guide that will help you assess the tenders that you receive from your shopfitters.
9: Updating your budget, part 2
This step will guide you in creating your most complete budget to date. With a full set of plans and pricing back from your shopfitter, you’ll be able to fill in specific prices for most of the items you estimated in earlier versions of your budget. This step also helps you work out where to save if your budget has crept over your upper limit with a very handy Tender Stage – Where to Save Guide.
10: Monitoring your build
This is the last step that takes you all the way to opening day. This step helps you monitor the build of your shop with guides and checklists to help you ensure everything is being built to the quality you expect and is proceeding on-time and on budget. This step also includes advice for your final week and a guide and a checklist to help you identify
defects you may need rectified at the end of the build process.
Appendices
This section has links to state by state resources that will help you along the - things like liquor licensing and council regulations - as well as a Glossary that will explain some of the lingo that landlords, designers and shopfitters use.