I’ve been running a retail store for over 3 years. When I tried to be the rock-bottom-price champion and have cheap stuff the store did OK. I changed my roll and went higher-end specialty stuff where I still offered a good value, but since it was a specialty shop I have a greater selection of things that other, bigger stores don’t have. Sales almost immediately doubled. Mine is a mattress shop, BTW. Another thing that has been awesome for business is Yelp. We KILL on Yelp (because we treat people right and luckily they take the time to tell Yelp about it) and that is some amazing free advertising. Anyhow- TL DR – Set yourself apart from your competition. Give yourself a niche. Also- your customers are your lifeline. Treat them well and make sure they’re happy.
Advertise. Don’t be assholes to customers, even if they’re assholes to you. Lose money on a product. Have at least one item that’s cheap as dirt to draw people in. They’ll buy other stuff. Some wont, but most will.
I currently manage a picture frame shop. Connected to it is a baby boutique which the owners joined together in the same suite. They sell more american made stuff, cribs, clothing, christening gowns etc… They haven’t made a profit in 6 years. Big box competition has killed their sales and traffic. I can answer more specific questions if you have any. **If I were you I’d invest in a mini portrait studio set up. Appointment only and get a photographer who works independently. People are always asking if we do photographs. Items we don’t carry but are always asked for: breast pumps, car seats (and rental car seats), dollhouses and quilts.
Delegate. How many employees will you have on? Make sure that you take care of the legal/accounting on the front end. What you should be focused on doing is getting people in the door, selling them products, and turning them into loyal customers. You don’t want to fuck up on the legal/accounting end and have to sweat that out at night. I have a friend who runs a small business and is really sweating it out over a couple of HR mistakes he made two years ago. This stuff will come back to bite you in the ass.
CALCULATE YOUR COST OF GOODS SOLD. Make sure you’re within 29-31% for profits (should be there for a coffee shop, anyhow). Watch the small costs – equipment, vendors, the whole shebang. They seriously add up. Do a thorough inventory every month. Advertise wisely. Target a specific audience. Customer service. Be amazing to everyone. You’re dead in the water without great customer service.
if you accept credit cards, know what service you are with. there are a lot of services that pretend to be yours and hook you into a contract. and don’t be afraid to look for a better one. they’ll probably lower your rates if they find out you’re shopping around for a better service. if you want to cancel a contract, be prepared to pay for next month’s bill even if u terminated the contract already depending on the billing cycle of the service and finish the cancellation paperwork ASAP.
I’ve been running a retail store for over 3 years. When I tried to be the rock-bottom-price champion and have cheap stuff the store did OK. I changed my roll and went higher-end specialty stuff where I still offered a good value, but since it was a specialty shop I have a greater selection of things that other, bigger stores don’t have. Sales almost immediately doubled. Mine is a mattress shop, BTW. Another thing that has been awesome for business is Yelp. We KILL on Yelp (because we treat people right and luckily they take the time to tell Yelp about it) and that is some amazing free advertising. Anyhow- TL DR – Set yourself apart from your competition. Give yourself a niche. Also- your customers are your lifeline. Treat them well and make sure they’re happy.
Advertise. Don’t be assholes to customers, even if they’re assholes to you. Lose money on a product. Have at least one item that’s cheap as dirt to draw people in. They’ll buy other stuff. Some wont, but most will.
I currently manage a picture frame shop. Connected to it is a baby boutique which the owners joined together in the same suite. They sell more american made stuff, cribs, clothing, christening gowns etc… They haven’t made a profit in 6 years. Big box competition has killed their sales and traffic. I can answer more specific questions if you have any. **If I were you I’d invest in a mini portrait studio set up. Appointment only and get a photographer who works independently. People are always asking if we do photographs. Items we don’t carry but are always asked for: breast pumps, car seats (and rental car seats), dollhouses and quilts.
Delegate. How many employees will you have on? Make sure that you take care of the legal/accounting on the front end. What you should be focused on doing is getting people in the door, selling them products, and turning them into loyal customers. You don’t want to fuck up on the legal/accounting end and have to sweat that out at night. I have a friend who runs a small business and is really sweating it out over a couple of HR mistakes he made two years ago. This stuff will come back to bite you in the ass.
CALCULATE YOUR COST OF GOODS SOLD. Make sure you’re within 29-31% for profits (should be there for a coffee shop, anyhow). Watch the small costs – equipment, vendors, the whole shebang. They seriously add up. Do a thorough inventory every month. Advertise wisely. Target a specific audience. Customer service. Be amazing to everyone. You’re dead in the water without great customer service.
if you accept credit cards, know what service you are with. there are a lot of services that pretend to be yours and hook you into a contract. and don’t be afraid to look for a better one. they’ll probably lower your rates if they find out you’re shopping around for a better service. if you want to cancel a contract, be prepared to pay for next month’s bill even if u terminated the contract already depending on the billing cycle of the service and finish the cancellation paperwork ASAP.
fast nickel, slow dime. have cheap prices. volume > profit