Similarly, you can open up a small store that sells pet food , toys and other items specifically for dogs, cats and other animals. Or you can open up a beauty shop where you sell makeup, hair products and other beauty related items. You can also open up a floral shop where you put together flower arrangements and sell those finished products to consumers. You can also open up a retail kiosk to sell small items directly to consumers.
You can set up kiosks in shopping centers or other places with lots of foot traffic and stock those kiosks with small products. Or you can sell various types of items at flea markets or similar events instead of investing in a storefront.
Subscription boxes offer a unique way to deliver products that has become increasingly popular in recent years. You can choose a specific niche and then set up a subscription system that allows you to sell products without a lot of overhead.
Related reading: 51 Business Ideas for It is now so easy to open your own shop. An online location will do. The times have truly changed. This means that you can put up a business even with a small capital. It all depends on your own will. I have an esoteric store but sales were horrible, then I king of switched the concept and added my own pottery line and some crafts and it worked fantastick.
All rights reserved. Share on Flipboard. Email this Article. Annie Pilon. Annie Pilon is a Senior Staff Writer for Small Business Trends, covering entrepreneur profiles, interviews, feature stories, community news and in-depth, expert-based guides.
Carolyn June 12, at pm. Annie Pilon June 13, at pm. Aira Bongco June 12, at pm. Ruchita Agarwal November 3, at am. Shop owners need to be savvy and give customers a reason to come to them and buy, or an amazing marketing plan which cuts through the digital noise and immense competition. Provide an experience, rather than just stock. Introduce virtual reality changing rooms. Offer fitted or customised clothing. Create attractive loyalty schemes.
Still keen to open a shop? Read on for our comprehensive guide to launching a retail business. Once upon a time, creating a retail website would have been a daunting and expensive task. But these days, thanks to website builders, you can create a beautiful, professional-looking website all by yourself.
Add to that the fact that the latest figures suggest 1. Websites are also essential for:. For example, Square Online is a free tool that enables businesses to set up a sleek, professional online store with minimal hassle.
The only time you pay is when someone makes a transaction through your website. When setting up your online store, just make sure you include the following:. For example, Square Online makes the entire process — from clicking on the product through to processing payments — as easy as possible.
Of course, a more specialist store might have better luck convincing customers to travel out of their way. A few tips for finding the best location for your business:.
Your till will be at the heart of your business. You can also request quotes from merchant account providers. Just head through to our merchant accounts form , tell us a bit about your business, and our partners will be in touch.
To make things simpler, you might want to sign up to a service that provides everything you need to set up a shop in one place. Companies like Display Centre, Morplan, Shopfitting Warehouse, Equipashop, and e-shopfittings, for example, provide bespoke fittings, mannequins, point of sale equipment, carrier bags, cash registers, tagging guns, and more.
Alternatively, to save a little money, you could try buying your equipment second-hand. Websites like eBay, preloved. You may find it useful to bookmark resources Startups has created to help you in this respect, such as our business energy comparison page , and our guide to choosing commercial boilers for heating. The atmosphere you create in your shop is important, from lighting and temperature to the music you might choose to play. Make sure you are set up to succeed with the software that can make organising your tasks, keeping track of your customer base, and taking payment so much easier.
Using these software tools, which are now readily available to the smallest businesses, can save you quite literally hours of time each week, and can even help you offer better customer service. Consider our top recommended software tools for task and team management, managing customer information, and taking payment in-store:. There are a number of regulations that shop owners have to comply with when selling products. The main requirement of these regulations is that the products you sell are exactly as described and of satisfactory quality.
However, this threshold can change yearly. In order to pay VAT, there are a number of schemes that retail businesses can use. Head on over to the government website to find out which calculations to use when working out your VAT return. Your shop premises must adhere to health and safety regulations in order to avoid accidents or injuries to staff or customers.
GDPR was introduced in May to regulate the way in which companies use and store personal data. This applies to data belonging to employees, customers, and suppliers.
Owners will also need to make it clear how long the data is kept for, and ensure it is deleted at the customer's request. When you start up your business, you may not have the funds to hire any staff right away, and you may well be happy to hold down the fort on your own. Have a read of our guide to retail recruitment for more information.
Before you set up any marketing campaigns, make sure you refer back to your market research. This is because successful marketing is all about knowing which channels will reach your audience. So what are the different marketing channels you could use? Why not check out our guide to retail marketing, and find out more about how you can use these different channels to get people through your door? While this may seem like a long way off, in the future, you may find yourself ready to consider an exit strategy.
Ensure they have enough experience and acumen to run and grow the business well. Alternatively, you might decide to turn your brand into a franchise, which effectively means selling instructions on how to open a copy of your shop to entrepreneurs to run themselves.
Franchising is a great way to expand the business without having to dedicate time, effort, and money to opening another shop in a new location yourself, with the business owners who launch the new shop footing the bill.
In an age where people are searching for retail experiences, make sure people think it's worth their time travelling to your shop over another. Most of all, never lose that passion. Home Start-up guides. Aimee Bradshaw. November 3, 22 min read. About us Startups was founded over 20 years ago by a multi-time entrepreneur. Today, our expert team of writers, researchers, and editors work to provide our 4 million readers with useful tips and information, as well as running award-winning campaigns.
Our site is governed by the Startups editorial manifesto. This article was co-authored by: Aimee Bradshaw.
Robyn Summers-Emler Deputy Editor. The key steps to opening a store are: Writing a small retail business plan Conducting market research Acquiring financing for a retail business Deciding on branding, concept, and design Creating an excellent retail website Finding a shop premises Shop equipment and utilities Shop regulations Retail recruitment Market and promote your retail business Deciding on an exit plan Summary: opening a shop. Explain the condition of the market, state your competitors, and detail how your business is going to sit within this picture Marketing strategy — how exactly are you going to attract your target customer?
Give some detail on the stockists and any future growth plans you have for the lines Management recruitment and staffing — what human resources do you need to be successful? Detail staff benefits, employment policies, and recruitment procedures Financials — this needs to be detailed to secure future investment.
Include profit and loss statements, sales and cashflow forecasts, a breakeven analysis, and capital requirements Appendix — a place for any additional documents and data representation that gives the reader a better feel for your business. Want help keeping your business plan in order? Conducting market research First and foremost, you need to do your market research. The price per square meter will inevitably have an impact on your choice of location, especially if your shop requires a large space or parking lot.
To create a shop is also to establish a company which means you'll need to choose a legal structure. Choosing the right legal structure is not a task to be taken lightly as it has many implications - in particular on how the company is run, how much tax it pays and the liability of the partners in case of bankruptcy. To help you make your choice, you can find more detailed information on the different legal forms available to you on the gov. The next step in opening a shop is to evaluate the equipment and staff needed to launch your business and make it run smoothly.
It is advisable to estimate your needs with precise figures so that you can establish an accurate financial forecast. Launching a shop obviously requires finding the right premises and freeing oneself from the costs associated with the latter such as deposit, agency fees, rent, renovation work, etc. The type of furniture needed depends of course largely on the type of products sold, but in any case, you will need a cash register, security equipment gates, alarm, cameras, fire extinguishers, etc.
You will also need to invest in promotional material a shop logo and website , and equip yourself with a van for deliveries or procurement. Also, put time and energy into creating the right atmosphere. You'll spend a lot of time in your shop, so it's important to create a space where you and your customers feel comfortable and at ease.
Your staffing requirements will strongly depend on the surface area and the opening hours of your store. List the desired working hours and skills required to have a clear vision of your staffing needs and the amount of time and money that needs to be allocated to recruitment costs.
Several ancillary services need to be taken into account in your financial forecast, such as insurance, water, electricity, maintenance, or a premise license if you intend to broadcast music. Hiring the services of a chartered accountant for the proper maintenance of your accounts will be a big plus. You may also want to entrust him or her with the administrative management tasks unless you take care of them yourself or instead hire a management company. In any case, don't forget to account for these services in your financial forecast.
To ensure you estimate these expenses as accurately as possible, get in touch with several professionals and ask them for quotes. When opening a shop, you'll need to attract new customers. They're the key to any successful business launch and you will need to build customer loyalty following a strong marketing plan. Whether it's distributing flyers in the street, advertising in the local newspaper or running events related to the launch with promotional offers: there are many ways to get your name out!
It's up to you to identify which actions will be most effective and provide the best bang for your bucks. Don't forget to support your efforts with an online campaign. Create a website to showcase your products and update customers on any exciting news such as promotional offers and new partnerships.
If you don't feel like launching a website at the same time as your physical shop, try to have at least some presence on social media and highlight your products with eye-catching pictures on Instagram or Facebook and the positive opinions and comments of your customers. Drawing up a business plan for a shop is an essential step to verify that your venture is financially viable and therefore worthy of funding.
The business plan is the document with which you will try to secure funding from your bank or potential investors, so you need to make it impeccable. If you are not used to writing business plans, a good solution would be to use online business plan software.
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