Managing the unexpected costs in retail

Successful retail business will have a robust budget that they will stick to. This will include all of the key financial areas of the industry, including store fit, rent, stock costs, staffing, as well as EPOS running costs, warehousing, and logistics.

Keeping a tight grip on these financial controls will help to steer your company toward profit especially from unexpected costs. Knowing how to staff clever and utilize people when you need them the most is one of the biggest wins for most retail outlets. While analyzing sales data and driving the products with the most significant commitment and markups makes sound business sense and will ensure success. 

Many things crop up when you run a shop that may not have factored for within your budget. And, while it is always best to plan for a contingency for the event of an unforeseen occurrence, some things are just difficult to predict. 

Here are a few unexpected costs that you may not have considered that you will ever need. 

Bird control

Pigeons can wreak havoc in a store. They can nest in parts of your building, attract insects, leave feces, and damage the integrity of the building. The cleanup bill would be significant for anything caused by birds getting into your retail unit. 

If you find that birds are either getting inside your store and nesting in hard to reach places or are causing issues to your storefront, then you may need to look at bringing in a bird control company to help address these issues. 

There are several ways that birds can be deterred from your building; fitting spikes and nets are a very common way of dealing with the problem. 

Asbestos

If your store was built from the middle part of the twentieth century until around the year 2000, you might find that there is a considerable amount of asbestos within the construction. 

Asbestos is a product that was very commonly used in many different ways in the building industry during this period. It was useful because of the ability to stop the spread of fires and was used in everything from tiles, paint, lagging textured coatings, and insulating boards. 

Having asbestos in your retail unit is not a problem in itself; however, if this becomes loose or damaged. There will be a significant risk to health if fragments of asbestos become airborne and are inhaled. 

You should have a survey carried out of your unit, highlighting any areas where asbestos is suspected. This should be kept onsite and then provided to any contractors who will undertake work in the unit. 

If you have any loose, flakey, or damaged asbestos, then you will need to seal off the area and have remedial work carried out. This will need to be handled by specialists who will need to contain the asbestos and ensure there is no risk of spreading fragments. This can be a very costly exercise. However, it would need to be carried out as soon as possible.