What does it cost to run a retail store?

I get asked this question by people looking to start or buy a retail store... what are the costs involved? Now, I could go into a whole thesis on the cost on your family, time and sanity, but I think the folks are asking about "the green". How much moola, greenbacks... etc.

Here's a list of the costs involved in running the store. It's related to my specific business of paint-your-own-pottery, of course, but the list is applicable to retail in general. In planning your business, if you believe that the item in the list is relevant, then you'll need to do a little research to determine what the actual $$ might be. Publishing my specific numbers would just not be kosher, and could be misleading if you're in a different area of retail or a wildly different location. If you have questions, aren't sure if an item is applicable, or need help, send me an email or leave a comment.

The assumption here is that this list would be used in the planning stages of a business. If you're already in business, and have something to add, please leave a comment!

The Basics (i.e., things you can't do without):
Rent - plus CAM or triple net; plus real estate taxes that may get passed from landlord to you; plus association fees
Payroll - which may or may not include yourself
Taxes - sales tax, payroll taxes, property taxes, unemployment taxes, etc. This will vary wildly based on your location. Call an accountant to get a good understanding of your tax liability.
Inventory replenishment
Utilities - electric, gas, water, telephone, internet, trash removal (if not covered in CAM by landlord). I also consider having a website a necessity, so add in the cost to maintain the site and your URL.
Insurance - business insurance, works comp, etc. Give your insurance agent a call and get their opinion on what you might need. Note that a lot of what the agent comes up with might be optional (one option I had was to insure the cash in our register - that's not necessarily covered in case of a break-in)
Credit card processing fees - I'm not sure if there's any business starting out today that can consider not accepting credit cards.
Advertising - many newspapers publish their basic advertising costs online
Printing - flyers, brochures, forms, etc
Office supply replenishment - for us, this is everything from computer printer ink and paper to pens to sticky notes to new sets of dry erase markers every now and then
Cleaning supply replenishment - trash bags, floor cleaner, window cleaner, etc. And my employees have become very fond of swiffer dusters and swiffer wet jet .
Other supply replenishment - toilet paper, hand soap, paper towels, etc Shopping bags could go in this list, too.

"Optional" things that we do have at The Pot and Bead:
Security - if you choose to have a system such as ADT or Brinks
Bottled water delivery - a little nicety for my employees and customers. Drinking lots of water is healthy. :)
Muzak - Did you know that it's illegal and you are subject to fines by playing CDs or even the radio in a public place like your store? Having a service like Muzak (XM offers a service for businesses, too) takes care of all that and sounds great.
Accountant - I choose to have an accountant prepare my taxes each month rather then wade through all the papers I don't understand myself.
We also use a couple online services that go into the cost of running the business. Constant Contact ( www.constantcontact.com ) is for managing and sending out e-mail newsletters to existing customers. The best thing I've found for clocking employees in/out is an online service called Time Clock Online ( www.timeclockonline.com ).

Lastly... if you are starting or running your business on any type of credit (i.e., bank loan, credit cards, etc) don't forget to take into account the monthly payments you'll be making, including interest.

These are just the recurring costs. This does not take into account any cost associated with getting the doors open like deposits, fixtures, initial inventory costs and advertising costs. It also doesn't take into account the random unexpected costs that come up from time to time usually when something breaks (the toilet, the water heater, chairs, etc etc).

You can read more about some of my specific money issues in my book, Cute Little Store.

Any questions? I have to go pay a bunch of bills now...