Sometimes when customers have too many choices they become distracted and not purchase anything at all. So you can take a sigh of relief and stop racking your brains wondering if you have enough merchandise to support your retail location because by definition a boutique has a small selection of specific or specialized items.
Keeping your space and inventory selection small is actually a good thing. Focus on selling categories or creating a signature collection of items. Cater to a specific clientele and only buy inventory for them. Does the idea of creating a premium signature boutique light you up, but seem overwhelming? Read Starting By: Briana Morgaine. Step 1. Who is your ideal customer? What do they love, like, and absolutely hate?
What colors, fabrics, articles of clothing, kinds of jewelry, and types of foods appeal to them? Well, it matters for one big reason: Aesthetic cohesion. You want all of your items to fit, and tell a story. Check out Thread Theory, a sewing, and menswear boutique: Your brand goes further than just picking a cohesive style of products to sell.
What do these images have in common? The products are the star of the show. Connect with local artists and crafters If you see products that you love at your local Saturday market, ask the makers if they would be interested in selling their products wholesale to you, to sell in your storefront.
Scour local consignment, vintage, and antique shops The beauty of finding items for your store on consignment or via an antique store? Search eBay Overseas manufacturers often use eBay to sell goods at nearly wholesale prices, so it can be a good place to look.
Go directly to the manufacturer Searching for your product at wholesale prices will often turn up plenty of results, and allow you to get your items from just about anywhere. So, there you have it—virtually everything you need to start an online boutique. Briana Morgaine. Starting or Growing a Business?
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Develop a business mentality from the word goes. You are in this to make a profit and a better life for yourself. Without profit nothing is possible — so always be thinking about profit and cutting costs. Some girls think that a boutique will help them pass time. Some want an escape from home. Some feel compelled by their relatives to prove themselves. All sufficient enough reasons to start a business but not enough for a business to be successful.
A burning desire is needed to make any business a success — not to say anything about the cutthroat fashion business. Make sure that you have enough education for carrying on a business. I do not mean a degree in fashion or a degree in marketing. A general education on how to run a business is an essential part and you can get this from reading relevant books.
With education, you do not have to rely on others. If you have the knowledge none can fool you. Even if you employ qualified employees who will take care of everything for you, they are employees. The knowledge you have will stand you in good stead and you will be able to make good and informed decisions. Conducting business is challenging and needs expertise and nurturing. Make a customer profile or profiles of your ideal customer and find products for them. Think about the purpose of your business and whether it tries to solve a real problem.
You can conduct a small market research to know what is currently lacking in the market that you can provide.
You should not go all out to please everyone — finding a niche market is the best way for boutiques; you cannot serve all the people — unless you have the budget of an Amazon. Decide on the target market — the customers you are going to sell to. Identify a problem in that market that you can solve. Check your customers purchasing preferences. The styles, color, and fit should meet the preference of your target market.
If you are going to start in a residential colony with a mostly retired population you are not likely to be successful with a boutique selling cool funky clothes. Think about what your customer wants rather than what you like. If something sells, it is in demand and you can start selling that.
Do what the successful one does — one trick that most business experts vouch for is to begin selling what already sells. If there is a demand it means that they will buy from you too — you should increase the value proposition of the product — give them better quality than what is in the market. We are not all Steve Jobs to start a trend — following the herd is better in business for most people especially if you do not have money to spend splurge in marketing.
Visit the stores that seem similar to your idea and compile a list of the brands they carry which you wish to carry. Most likely they will be your best sellers too.
Ideally, you should start with enough money to carry on for the next 6 months in the business. I would say 1 year or 2 years. Most businesses do not turn a profit within the first few years so having enough cash to carry on the business and also bear your personal expenses is necessary if you do not want the business to fold before it has a chance to prove itself.
You will need money to give as a security deposit for renting space; money to pay employees, money for inventory, for doing up the store interiors, to name a few expenses. Will you need a business loan? Risk is a double-edged sword. It can be your savior in business or it can kill you forever. So take only calculated risks especially when other investor money is involved. How the money is utilized should be planned carefully.
Location is one of the most important factors in deciding the success of your store. But choosing the best location depends on your budget. A boutique located in a very busy mall will have heavy traffic but comes with heavy rent. A boutique located in a quieter residential area will not have customers thronging the halls but the rent will be less. So the choice is dependent on you and what you can afford.
You need a source which will supply good quality products for your boutique. Look out for manufacturers that specialize in products you have in mind. After you have seen them firsthand, You can negotiate with them and they can work out the budget according to your quantity.
Finding the suppliers. Once you identify the supplier you may have to decide on the style you want from their collection; You may have to buy in multiples wholesale for getting discounts. Decide that you will not deal with counterfeit goods — this is a matter of ethics as well as good for your safety in the long run. Selling fake goods can land you in trouble.
Read about the tips to not buy fake goods here. Pricing rightly will make or break your store. Remember that you will have to take into account a whole lot of factors when deciding on the price. Decide on a price which your customer refer the customer profile can afford and which can give you a nice profit. If you want to make a profit you will have to have adequate mark up pricing on the wholesale price.
Some markets will take a higher mark up than others. Study the customer profile to know what you should charge. When you are making things for small babies and kids, the new parents may be willing to pay more than they would for their own clothes just my way of thinking.
Add sales tax if applicable. The store decor is an important element in making people feel whether they should buy from your store or not. Colors you use inside the store, shelf and storage layout all are contributing factors to buying decision. The customer has to feel that the product you offer is worth the money they pay. They should be made to open their wallet; for that, they have to trust — Trust can be induced by the layout of the store and the look of the storefront.
The atmosphere of the store should make the customer comfortable. Collect appealing pictures of other stores from the internet; visit some stores you admire so that you will have an idea of the ideal store layout. Make a picture board. Some boutique owners want the customers to walk free inside the store touching the clothing and wanting them by the feel. Some do not want the customers to touch the clothes. They would rather present the materials to the customers one by one. The layout of the store should complement this policy.
If you have a bridal boutique you will need the space to model the collection to the prospective buyer. A runway with a big mirror is a good touch in cases like this. A fitting room with surrounding mirrors is common in all retails stores. People need to know how they look in the clothes they are buying.
Effective use of space is a necessity when space is a premium. Consult a space designer yes, there is a portfolio like that if you are insisting on a professional touch.
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