When should you actually get a shop?

1. Customers keep asking where they can find you

Not one or two. Regularly, and from people who are ready to buy. That is genuine demand for a location, rather than you assuming one is needed.

2. Your sales are reasonably predictable

You can look at the last three to six months and say roughly what next month will bring. Rent is a fixed monthly promise, so it should be met by income you can rely on.

3. Your margins can carry the overhead

Work out how many extra sales a month the rent and its associated costs represent. If that number looks unrealistic, the premises will eat the business rather than grow it.

4. Foot traffic genuinely helps your trade

Some businesses live on passing customers. Others are found through search, referral and WhatsApp, and would pay rent for a door almost nobody walks through.

5. You have enough to survive the slow months

Every shop has quiet stretches. Money set aside for those months is what keeps a good business from closing in its first year.

What to do until then

• Keep serving customers from home, on the road, or by delivery
• Keep your website and WhatsApp current, with real prices and photos
• Save deliberately towards the deposit and fittings
• Track where your customers come from, so you know which location would suit

Common mistakes

• Renting because the business feels like it should have a shop
• Taking the cheapest premises in the wrong area
• Signing a long lease before testing the location
• Moving in with no money left for stock or marketing