How to open your clothing store?

The opening of its own clothing store is the dream of almost every woman or man who knows fashion trends. After all, you will agree, it is very tempting business - to do what you like, which, in addition, will bring income to the family. However, due to certain reasons, this possibility is far from everyone. Today we will tell you about all the details and nuances of opening your clothing store.

If you seriously want to deal with this business, then in parallel with the work of hiring you will hardly get it done, since this business will take up a lot of your time and energy.

We will build the next article as follows:

• Should I open a clothing store?


• Who will be the target audience?


• How much money does it take to open a clothing store?


• Rules for doing business of this type


• Where to open a store?


• How and whom to hire in a clothing store?


• Advertising

Should I open a clothing store?

Stores in which clothes are sold can be both large format and small retail, which are located in shopping centers or on the ground floors of residential buildings. Most importantly, everyone has the opportunity to find their buyer. Typically, clothing stores are small businesses run by their immediate owners.

Before starting this business, you should receive answers to the following questions, answering to which you will understand how this business suits you:

1. Have you ever been involved in business in general and in the trade of clothing in particular? Have you attended any courses, or watched the work of another entrepreneur? Do you have a tendency to do business?


2. Are you ready to invest in this business, knowing that there is a very high probability that your business will "burn out" and your funds will not return to you? You also need to know that selling clothes is not a very profitable business. For example, in 15 years your business can bring you less profit than it can in 5 years bring a restaurant.


3. You really know the fashion. Maybe you'd better do other business, for example, selling toys, cosmetics or equipment? Do you have enough strength and desire to do this?


4. How many competitors do you have and are you able to compete with them? Can you offer your customers what other people do not have?


5. Do you know the area in which your company will specialize? For example, if you specialize in selling clothes for tourism, then you need to go camping yourself, to know what is best to advise for a particular situation.


6. Is there something that distinguishes you from competitors? Do you know how you can express yourself, stand out among your own kind? Look at where you want to start your business, the number and consistency of people who live or work there, also analyze the stores that are already there.

Who will be the target audience?

If you are opening a small business, then, despite your specialization, you need to know what advantages you have in front of large stores, even if you are not able to offer buyers the same low price for goods. Perhaps you need to compensate for this with improved service, increased attention to customers and higher professionalism.

The disadvantage of large stores is that the goods and prices in them are identical, and the staff in their mass are not professional enough and attentive to their customers. They take their due to a large number of visitors, and not due to attention to each of them.

Small enterprises benefit from the fact that their clothes are often more exclusive, and attention to customers is at the highest level. As a rule, wealthy buyers choose small shops, since service and service are more important for them than price.

• Women. Perhaps the most difficult thing in this business is the opening of a store selling women's clothing, since women consider themselves to be the best experts in fashion, and their tastes are strikingly different. To make your business profitable, you need to find out what you can offer your customers from what your competitors do not have. On what contingent you will be oriented, what model range and at what prices will be presented in the windows of your store. Before you organize an enterprise for the sale of women's clothing, you need to know what will bring to your store customers, what their mentality, what needs.


• Men. Unlike women, most men do not like to go shopping and visit them either for the company with their companions, or if they really need something to buy. As a rule, clothing stores make purchases that want to look good for men with money, whose age ranges from 18 to 40, but there are also those who are over 50. As a rule, men are more likely and more willing to buy casual clothes than watch forthe latest fashion trends.


• Children. Despite the fact that clothes for children are sold in children's clothing stores, the target customers of such stores are not the children themselves, but their parents, as a result, parents decide whether to buy a child or not. In this case, it is not at all necessary that the cost and quantity of clothes purchased for the child will depend on the financial condition of the parents. Perhaps they will prefer more budget options, spending free money on other purchases that are useful to their child. According to statistics, most often such children's clothes are bought, at which the top is combined with the bottom. Traditionally, the most popular clothes are green, blue and pink, with each year there are some new drawings based on popular cartoons or books.

How much money does it take to open a clothing store?

It is believed that in order to open a clothing store, you need a minimum investment of $ 250,000, but usually the amount depends on how big your business is, and also on what kind of clothes will be displayed on your showcases.

Perhaps for opening a small boutique you will have enough $ 50,000, but to open a store with an area of ​​100 square meters, your starting capital should be no less than $ 150,000.

Of course, how many people, so many opinions, and everyone will tell you their amount necessary to open a clothing store. As a rule, and as it was checked by journalists of the Internet magazine Vse-Sekrety.ru, everyone agrees that the more money you initially invest, the more you will profit, and the sooner you will receive it.

If you do not have the funds necessary to organize your clothing sales business, then most likely you need to find these funds first, and only then think about opening a store.

Rules for running this type of business

Clothing trade is an extremely exciting business that will take up all your time. Forget for the first time about entertainment, trips to cinemas or TV, because at first you will literally live in your store.

You will have a lot of things and very different things, and they will need to be done almost simultaneously. You will need to serve customers, giving them maximum attention, and immediately conclude contracts with suppliers or advertising companies. Simultaneously, you will need to deal with accounting, and solve personnel issues. But most importantly, for everyday routine you need to think about how to make your store even better and more attractive for customers.


One of the ways that will help you in the conduct of your business and in making the right decisions is the correct organization of those business processes that will occur in it. Understanding what you are aiming for and how you want to achieve this goal will help you and your employees in making correct decisions throughout the whole working time, get rid of erroneous momentary decisions that can affect the destiny of your enterprise. It is very important to formulate the goals and principles of your company's work, and print them as a reminder for each employee, so that they understand what you want from them. Excerpts from this memo can be placed on the bulletin board in the sales area so that your customers also know what kind of service you can offer them.

The solution of any issue that you or your employees will have to solve, whether it is selling goods, working with claims, concluding contracts with suppliers, analyzing the competitive environment and many others, it is better to write in advance on paper and hand out to all employees responsible for these mattersthey knew how to act in this or that situation.

You will also need to decide on the time of the store. It should depend on the needs of your customers, on the time they will be able to visit your store. Perhaps you will have to work overtime if you do not want your customers to leave for competitors.

Where to open a store?

Before opening your clothing store, you need to analyze the economic situation in the area where you intend to start working, the number of potential buyers, their age category, their solvency.

If you rent a premise in a residential building, you will have to pay rent based on the area of ​​the premises, and it is possible that the owners of the premises will require a certain percentage of sales from you. If the leased premises will be located in a large shopping complex, then you also have to participate in the costs of its maintenance.

Before you stop at a certain room, decide on what area it should be, how many parking spaces there should be, and in what area it should be located. Always choose from several options to choose the most optimal.

How and whom to hire in a clothing store?

The staff of your company will be formed depending on the mode of operation, its area and specialization. On average, for a normal operation of a shop with an area of ​​90 square meters, you will need one permanent employee and another for half a working day.

Before you take a person to work, look how professional he is in sales, how he can lure customers. Undoubtedly, they should be trained, since it is possible that they did not have to deal with some nuances that are present in your enterprise. They also need to have all the necessary information about the product and be polite and pleasant in dealing with customers. Also, they must be honest and attentive, as the goods and money will flow through their hands.

Undoubtedly, the more responsible you go to the selection of employees for your store, the more you will have regular customers.

Advertising

Undoubtedly, advertising is an indispensable tool for business promotion, so you should pay special attention to it. Most importantly, your advertising should not only tell your potential customers about your store, but also encourage them to make purchases exactly from you, and not from competitors. At a minimum, your potential buyers should see your advertising and have a desire to know about you in more detail.

It is very important to understand that advertising is a way to improve profits, so you need to accept the costs for it. It is very important where your advertisement will be posted, and it should be easily recognizable and associated with your store. It can contain information about both the store itself and the assortment presented in it, as well as additional services and promotions. Advertising should be understandable, interesting and informative.

Before choosing the most suitable type of advertising for you, you need to answer for yourself the following questions: what are the advantages of your store to competitors? What kind of assortment does your store have?how do you want to position your store among your customers;which you can provide additional services;and also what is the approximate image of your potential buyers and why they will come to you.