Retail
Retail Shop Setup
From an empty unit to a trading shop with the numbers behind it.
A retail shop is a bet placed with cash you can't get back — on a lease, a fit-out, and an opening stock order. Most first shops fail not because the concept was wrong but because the rent was set against optimistic footfall, the stock mix was guessed, and nobody modelled what a slow first quarter does to working capital. We run the setup the other way round: catchment and break-even first, then location, then the build. You sign the lease knowing what the shop has to turn over to work.
The patterns we see repeatedly.
- 01
You've found a unit you like but can't tell whether the rent is defensible against realistic footfall.
- 02
The fit-out quote keeps moving and there's no capex ceiling holding it down.
- 03
Licensing, registration, and inspections are unclear and the opening date keeps slipping.
- 04
You know what you want to sell but not how much opening stock to buy, or at what margin.
- 05
An existing shop trades steadily but never seems to make money after rent and wages.
Tangible deliverables, defensible work.
We document, we hand over, and we make sure the outputs live inside your business — not on a shelf.
Catchment & footfall study
Who walks past, when, and with what intent — counted, not assumed. Mapped against competitors, anchor tenants, parking, and transport so the location decision rests on traffic you can verify.
Break-even & capex model
A full model: rent, wages, utilities, stock, and shrinkage against realistic daily transactions and basket size. You get the number the shop must turn over each day to cover itself, and the cash buffer it needs to survive a slow opening quarter.
Site selection & lease review
Shortlisting, comparison on cost-per-footfall rather than cost-per-square-foot, and a commercial read of the lease — escalation clauses, fit-out obligations, exit terms, and what you're actually signing up to.
Licensing & registration
Trade licence, business registration, tax registration, and sector-specific permits (food handling, pharmacy, and similar) — sequenced so nothing blocks the opening date.
Fit-out & layout plan
Floor layout designed for flow and sightlines, a fixtured shelving plan, and a fit-out budget with a hard ceiling and a contractor scope that stops scope creep mid-build.
POS, stock & supplier setup
Point-of-sale and inventory system selected and configured, opening stock mix and reorder points set by category margin, and supplier terms negotiated before you're dependent on them.
Staffing & opening plan
Roles, rotas, pay bands, and a simple daily operating routine — plus a launch plan covering signage, local marketing, and the first eight weeks of trading.
What good looks like.
Engagements are measured by outcomes, not output. These are the kinds of results clients tell us about, often.
A lease signed against verified footfall and a break-even you can defend.
A fit-out delivered inside a capex ceiling instead of drifting past it.
Opening day hit without a licence or inspection holding it up.
Stock bought to a margin plan rather than a guess, with reorder points already set.
A daily operating routine the shop can run without the owner standing in it.
Retail shop setup pricing
Start with feasibility — if the numbers don't work, you've saved a lease. If they do, carry straight through to opening.
Catchment, competitors, and break-even — a go/no-go before any money is committed.
- Catchment & footfall analysis
- Competitor and pricing scan
- Full break-even & capex model
- Working-capital requirement
- Written go/no-go recommendation
Everything from site selection to opening day, managed as one project.
- Everything in Feasibility Study
- Site shortlisting & lease review
- Licensing, registration & permits
- Fit-out scope, tender & budget control
- POS, stock & supplier setup
- Staffing plan, rotas & training
- Launch plan and first 8 weeks of trading review
For operators opening several locations — a repeatable playbook, not a one-off build.
- Standardised site scorecard & approval gate
- Repeatable fit-out spec and supplier panel
- Central stock, pricing and margin control
- Store manager hiring and training programme
- Monthly per-store P&L review
Feasibility billed upfront. Setup & Launch billed 40% on start, 40% at fit-out, 20% at opening. Rent, fit-out, stock, licence fees and staff costs are paid by you directly — we never mark up third-party spend.
A staged, transparent engagement.
Feasibility runs 2–3 weeks as a fixed-fee study; full setup is a project engagement through to opening.
- 01
Feasibility
Two to three weeks on catchment, competitor, and margin analysis — ending in a go/no-go with the break-even number attached.
- 02
Site & compliance
Shortlist, negotiate, and review the lease while licensing and registration run in parallel so neither blocks the other.
- 03
Build & stock
Fit-out managed to budget, POS and stock systems configured, suppliers contracted, and opening stock landed.
- 04
Open & stabilise
Staff trained, launch run, and the first eight weeks reviewed weekly against the model — adjusting stock mix and hours on real transaction data.
Do you work with shops that are already trading?
Yes. A meaningful share of this work is turnarounds — an open shop that trades but doesn't profit. We rebuild the margin model, stock mix, and cost base, which usually finds the money faster than chasing more footfall.
Can you handle the fit-out itself?
We manage it rather than build it. We scope the work, run the contractor tender, hold the budget, and sign off stages — the trades are local and hired directly, which keeps your cost honest.
Is this only for retail in Pakistan?
The licensing and registration work is Pakistan-specific. The feasibility, margin, and operating work travels — we've applied it to retail concepts abroad with a local partner handling compliance.
What if the feasibility says don't open?
Then that's the deliverable, and it's the most valuable one we sell. A no-go before the lease is signed costs you a fee. A no-go discovered eight months in costs you the fit-out, the stock, and the exit penalty.
Ready when you are
Take the next step on retail shop setup.
Tell us where you are. We'll come prepared.