Opening Your Store

Must Have’s for Starting Your Retail Store

  • Capital – Be prepared with money and/or a credit line to devote to fixing up your store(materials & labor), getting merchandise, paying employees and PR/Marketing. Your best scenario is to have the funds to support your venture for a year or so. You need to re-stock, pay employees, market yourself and keep the lights on while you’re building the business. My team will help you determine a realistic amount based on your vision.
  • Stamina – There will be many long days and nights in preparation for your opening AND once you’ve gotten beyond that point. Eat well, drink coffee if you need to and sleep when you get the chance. Trust me!
  • Great Temperment & Social Skills – You should be a people person, ideally. This will help with customers, employees and will make all of that hard work more fun – very often!
  • Conviction & Knowledge – You’ll need a strong belief in yourself and the products you want to sell. There will be difficult days, but if you know at your core that this is what you want & love, then you will survive & even thrive.
  • Solid Math Skills – You don’t have to perform complicated equations but you do need to understand basic addition, subtraction, multiplication & percentages to understand what you’re paying for, what price to sell your goods for and how everything affects your bottom line.
  • Open Mind/Adaptability – Being able to roll with the punches and adapt to new methods of doing business, advertising or interacting with customers is essential for survival. If you want to remain relevant you will need to make necessary adjustments to your business. If you are married to routine and find comfort in the same old motions, then having a retail business may not be the right pursuit for you.

If you’re comfortable with the above basics & want to move forward, here’s some of the things we will address to get started:
Finding a location
Negotiating your lease
Designing your store layout & overseeing construction
Creating a buying plan & budget
Going on one or more buying trips
Creating a web presence
Creating a PR & Marketing plan
Getting a Merchant Services account and/or POS(point of sale) System
Finding employees & creating schedules
Managing inventory
And how to bring it all together… in preparation for your Grand Opening!

It sounds like allot… and it is, actually. While it’s hard work, for certain – it’s also an awful lot of fun! If you’re committed and have passion, we will have a great time making your dream come true! Learn about our service here.

Read more about being a new retail store owner here.

Contact us now to set the wheels in motion!