“Starting a Grocery Store Business”
Comment Page 4

Hi fellow Entrepreneur, Here are the steps that you may have to go through to open up a retail/grocery store.

1. Start a small business plan. The business plan doesn't have to be super detail. You just need to get all your ideas and how you will run your business into a visual document.
2. Do a cost analysis of the business. Estimate the start up cost of everything. When I say everything, I mean everything. You will need to find what type of Cash Register you'll be using (POS System or a normal Cash Register), what type of shelving, the cash counter (some city require handicap accessible), the display shelves, and etc.
3. After you figure out what type of fixture/equipment your store need, you need to find wholesalers and distributor company. Depending on the type of products you want to carry in your store, you might have to be register with 2-20 different wholesalers and distributors. Some wholesalers/distributor have online application that take only a day to apply for and some make take several weeks.
4. Figure out the products your store will be carrying. You can figure this out by looking at the wholesalers/distributor catalogs.
5. Up to this point, you should have a good estimate of how much everything will cost. Here is the list of things you have included in your start up cost (Lease Deposit, 3 month Lease, All Products/goods, store displays (shelving, display shelf, wall shelf, refrigerator, etc...), Cash Register (or POS system), Insurance, Miscellaneous items (Carpet, Trash can, Grocery bags, Business cards, etc...), Advertisements for first 2-3 month. You should also include the cost of the License fee, the health inspector fee, Permit fees, One time waste Fee (if you are consider to be causing a lot of waste city will charge you $1000-4000 one time fee), and other fees.
6. Find a good location. When looking for a location, make sure you talk to the city to find out if your can open a grocery store in your area of choice. The store needs to be up to code (example: Handicap accessible entry, Handicap accessible bathroom, and etc...).
7. Draw an accurate diagram of your store and how your store will look like. You need to show where the shelves are going to be, the entry door, the bathroom, and etc. The city might require you to provide them a description of what type of shelving your are using along with your other store materials. City may also require you to write a small business plan of what exactly you will be selling and how you will be doing it.
8. Once City approve, you may start fixing up the place you have for lease.

This is just a brief overview of how to start a grocery/retail store. Each city is different in the requirement they need to start a business. I advise you to go to your city licenses/permit center and talk to someone there. They will tell you exactly what you need.

Hello, I recommend you go talk to your local government agency about the laws and regulation of opening a grocery store in Malaysia. The place we go to for information about what is require to start a business is the Department of Safety and Inspection. The Department of Safety and Inspection will tell you the codes you have to follow, the type of license you need for your establishment, the type of building permit you will need to complete your establishment, who you need to contact to do the necessary repairs and other information you need before you can get your license for the grocery store.
Things you will have to do on your own is:
Business Plan (the government might need this)
SWOT analysis
Finding distributors
File a business name (Will it be sole, LLC, S-corp, C-corp etc.)
Business Signs
Business Layout interior and exterior (the government will need this)
Remember, the first step is to create a business plan and find out where your local distributors are. You will need to come up with a budget plan to see how much capital you will need. You must OVER ESTIMATE everything. No harm comes from over estimate cost. If you under estimate, it could cause your business to fail or delay.
When you budget you must include the following:
Rent, License and Permit, Insurance, Inventories, Appliances, Furniture, Remodeling, Utilities, and other supplies essential to your business such as Cash Register, signs, brochures, shelving, racks, Label makers, Printer, Computer, and etc. You must need enough capital to cover at least 6 month rent and inventories and grocery items are perishable.

I have built two neighborhood grocery stores. Let me help you...