Many of us strive to start up a business and often part of our business model is top open up some sort of shop or store. Whether you area boutique selling clothes, a shop selling fresh produce or deli items, or simply a store showcasing your products, you want to make sure that you take the right steps to make this part of your business a success. After all, with things like leases and overhead costs, it can be quite a costly investment to make. With that in mind, here are some of the factors that you may not have considered when it comes to opening up a shop and tips to help you succeed.
Getting things right in terms of pricing
When you branch out and open a retail premises, you may find that you all of a sudden have fresh competition. It might not necessarily be directly, but it could certainly have a huge effect on your cost per item and the products that you sell. So you may need to think about this strategy ahead of time and do plenty of research. It will be especially important to enforce your minimum advertised price policy, essentially if not only are you doing retail but also wholesale business to help support the business model. Getting the pricing right is crucial to ensure that all parties are on the same page and that you can compete.
The window display is crucial
If you have as shop front, then the idea is to entice customers into your store in the hope that once they step in that they will buy. But, if your window display isn’t attractive, what will entice them through the door? A window display needs to look inviting, showcasing your best pedicure or products and really look appealing. This can help when it comes to ensuring that you take advantage of the assets you have at your disposal and a window display is one of them.
Advertising when you don’t have a good location or foot fall
Not everyone can afford a store on the main high street as lease prices can be extremely high, so you may want to think about how you advertise your store. Perhaps signs locally or posting in local community facebook groups to advertise could be the way forward. You could also get heavily involved in community affairs and sponsor events or help out with things, to help get the name of your business heard.
Making the most of an online shop as well as your store
Finally, as much as a physical store is the dream for many, the online world is really taking over and so a great idea would be to consider making the most of your online shop as well as your physical store. Selling online means that you may entice people to come down to the store and see things in the flesh. It can be an additional advertising option as well as a wider spectrum of customers you can serve.
Let’s hope that this helps you if you are about to embark on opening a store.
