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How much money would it cost to open a smoke shop?

• I'm trying to get a ballpark idea of what it would take to open up a smoke shop in a certain town. This town is fairly inexpensive for rent, and is a college town. I've found a place for $1800/month right in the main area of shops/bars next to campus that will be available late summer. What I envision is to find a couple of very good glass dealers and offer a variety of pipes, papers, cigarettes (including harder to find brands like dunhill internationals, etc) , hookahs, flavored tobacco, etc. There used to be a smoke shop in this town , but it closed a couple years ago, so there is not a single shop that caters to this large crowd of college students. To move into this new location, what is the typical procedure as far as: do you sign a year long lease? What is the penalty for breaking the lease if your business fails (one months rent?). How hard / much does it cost to get the business licenses and permits necessary? What legal things do I have to take into account because of controversy that goes with having such a shop? I have checked into it, and it appears this state allows for such shops, and I know of a few in a neighboring city, but if there are additional things to take into account here, besides making it 18+ only, that would help too. An additional reason for thinking I could do this would be that if the business does not catch on and eventually I have to close the shop, I am confident I could get rid of the inventory for equal or more than I paid for it via festivals and other outlets. The costs as I see it is the $1800 monthly rent, electricity costs, and $7 / h for someone to help me with the shop. I think that one employee would be enough to run the store. I also have a lot of experience with web design and could do that myself, and know the owner of the most read college paper, and might be able to get a good deal on advertising (its already fairly cheap). I would appreciate your thoughts, suggestions, and critique.

• Answer:

  Talk to someone who handles business loans at a bank close to the location. Draw up your plans with more detail than you have here. I would also advise talking (face to face) with the owners of the ones in neighboring cities with a list of prepared questions. Theyll be your best source :) Take into account the furniture, the supplies, etc. as well. Smoke shops can have a great turnover if theyre in the right area, but it won't happen for about a year at least. This should definitely be a long term investment :)