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Advice Online

The Plunkett Foundation has developed a series of advice sheets covering all aspects of setting up and running a village community owned shop. You can either access them as pdf files from this page or if you prefer you can purchase a full set in hard copy. Please

contact us if you would like answers to questions not covered by these advice sheets.

All advice sheets are in PDF format approx 60Kb. You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these documents.

You can download the following advice sheets.

Click on a heading for more information.

Getting started

• Community-Owned Shops
• Why open a Community-Owned Shop?
• Consulting the Community
• Setting up Committees
• Siting your Shop
• Organisational and Legal Structures
• Plunkett Foundation Industrial and Provident Society Model Rules
• Your Business Plan
• Sources of Funding
• Applying for an Off Licence
• Environmental Opportunities and Funding

Ready for trading

• Fixtures and Fittings
• Cash Register or EPOS
• Shop Layout and Display
• What to Stock
• Pricing
• Manning Your Shop
• Security
• Getting Ready to Launch

• Ready to Launch Checklist  

  

Shop Development

• Developing Your Shop
• Improving Gross Profit
• Promoting Your Shop and Promotions Calender
• Tourism and Attracting the One Off Visitor

Customer

• Customer Service
• Handling Complaints
• Customer Rights
• Underage Customers
• Disabled Customer

Legislation

• Trading Requirements
• Food Safety and Hygiene
• Health and Safety
• Disability Discrimination Act
• Fire Safety
• First Aid

Management

• Committees
• Financial Management
• Stock Management
• Staff Management
• Volunteer Management

 

• You can download the following advice sheets:

• Shop questionnaire - This is a word document that can be adapted to suit your requirements.
• Headings for operating profit and loss
• Staff handbook This sample staff handbook for community owned shops has been kindly provided by Urchfont Community Shop and can be adapted for your own requirements.

See publications to order a full set of advice sheets.