Rules and regulations
There are only a handful of legal matters that cover retailing with the majority of stock not covered by any specific pieces of legislation. However, it is crucial that you adhere by these simple rules. Stocking bicycles is an exception and comes under the Pedal Cycle Safety Regulations 1984 which sets out safety standards for new bicycles sold in the UK.
If you hold customers' details on the premises you will have to register with the Data Protection Commissioner, (See below) while you must also comply with health and safety regulations. If you have more than five staff, for example, you will have to prepare a written health and safety policy statement. Contact your local environmental health department for more advice.
Finally, if you have staff, you will be obliged to comply with employment legislation including the minimum wage act, working time regulations and the employment rights act.
How much can I earn?
The amount of money you can make running your own sports shop very much depends on the amount of revenue streams you create and operate within your business.
If you simply sell to the public your profit could be minimal, but if you operate some form of mail order from a website or a brochure (for larger items such as tennis ball machines and home gyms, for example) or sell to clubs and organisations and trade shows or create add on services such as ticket sales, equipment hire or re-stringing for racquets, for instance, then you could be making more than you think. The other key element to making a profit is keeping your customer sales and service to high standards as well as seeing as many clients and potential customers as possible.
Contacts
The British Sports and Allied Industries Federation
Represents the interests of UK sports goods retailers
The Information Commissioner's Office
Tel: 01625 524510
www.ico.gov.uk