09/13/2022
So You Want To Open A Boutique?
A Store Front Boutique?
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Ask yourself Why. 👇
For the discounts? To make money? To meet people? To be in the Lime Light? It’s a dream? Your Passion? To have Your Own Business? What is your WHY?? Do you know your WHY????
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It was a Dream of Mine! I Followed My Dreams! I Opened My Boutique Business both storefront and online!
I Loved It! It WAS a Success! It was my BABY!!! IT WAS MY LIFE!!! Some of the best times of my life was during this run of owning my Boutique. I have laughed and I’ve cried and boy have i done my share of screaming and cursing too. I’ve made some of my Best Friends Ever!!! I’ve Grown more Spiritually in my Walk with God! I’ve had the true Blessing of watching many Lives transform and young girls grow into adults!! It’s been an amazing journey, but……….IT CONSUMED MY LIFE!!!! Are You Ready to Give Up Your Personal Life? Lose Friends and maybe even a family member or two…maybe even a marriage??? No, I didn’t lose my marriage but I LOST TIME!!!! GOOD QUALITY TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!! Was it worth it???? At the time I thought it was but if I had it to do all over again I would have done things differently for sure!!! I’m not trying to STOP YOU from Opening up a Boutique or any other Business. Just want you to be aware!!!!
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THINGS TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION BEFORE JUST JUMPING IN Snagging that First Magnificent Looking Store Front and Diving In Full Force 👇👇👇👇
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Do You Have A Name picked out for your business? Did you do research on the name? Is your name a Legal name and not infringing on anyone else’s? Is it Original? An Attention Grabber? A Good Strong Name? Is It YOURS???
Do you know how to get your Business License? Are you Going to be a Sole Proprietor or LLC or other?
Storefront picked out? Done your homework on it? Lease agreement? What does that lease agreement entail?? Cost of Utilities such as Electricity, Water/Sewer/trash, Phone, wifi, security, exterminating…etc. etc…
Parking??? Is there sufficient parking for your customers? Is your business convenient for others? What are your hours going to be? Will you be able to accommodate everyone?
Ready to Pay Sales Taxes quarterly or Yearly? End of year Taxes? Local and State Taxes?
Do you have a LOGO yet? Designing your own? Someone else designing it? They get costly but don’t have to!! There are places to find good people to design them without a high price tag.
Business Cards?
Signage?
Can you even have an Exterior Sign? Does it have to be a certain type? What are your RESTRICTIONS??? Can you paint your windows seasonal or during a sale? What exactly can you do and not do!!!!!!
Before SIGNING A LEASE WITH ANYONE YOU HAD BETTER LOOK IT OVER WORD PER WORD AND MAKE SURE OF YOUR RESTRICTIONS and be aware of everything in it! EVERYTHING! Make sure you get ORIGINAL COPY of LEASE AGREEMENT!!
Paying Cash Only? Better make sure you can pay at least with a Cashiers Check for Tax Purposes and to have that Paper Trail!!! If someone wants you to pay them in CASH ONLY you may want to reconsider that place and leasing from that person!!! REPAIRS? Are you responsible for them? Does the heat; Gas; water; AC; plumbing….everything working properly and if not are they going to fix it?
Got bugs/rodents in the building? Are you going to be responsible for extermination? Seems like crazy questions but you’d better ask, especially if your in a multi business building!!!!
Do you have a point of sale system selected?
Do you know all the supplies you are going to need such as hangers; tags for pricing; business cards; tagging guns and supplies; labels; bags; tissue paper……ETC…ETC…..INVENTORY….the LISTS GOES ON AND ON!!!
Where are you going to get your inventory from? How do you start? Where do you start??? Do you go store to store SPYING and Getting your ideals and Brands from others?? It’s a way to get the ideals but not really the Professional way to do it!!! Those businesses you are going to just to copycat spent ENDLESS HOURS UPON HOURS doing their OWN homework getting their Business Plans Put Together and Into Action. (Most of them anyways…there are some that just don’t know how to do things on their own), yes I just said that! Sad But True!!! The Business World can be a Dog Eat Dog World and It’s Not for the Faint at Heart and surely not for SISSIES 😂😂!!! You’ve got to have a Strong Back Bone to you if your taking really any kind of Business into consideration!!!
Back to Inventory!!! Are you ready to buy in Bulk? Ready for HIGH COST OF SHIPPING? Nothing is inexpensive anymore. If you plan on stocking footwear you normally have to buy in Lots and then have them shipped..OUCH!!! VERY COSTLY RIGHT NOW!!! You’ve got to know how to mark your items and by all means don’t undercut other businesses just to try and get their customers. I promise undercutting the Suggested Retail Price will only HURT You in the long run!! Just BE TRUE TO YOU and your customers will come!!!!
Are you a people person? Good Customer Service skills?? In order to run a business and especially a boutique you need to be a very Personable Person! You need to know how to welcome people and keep them in!! You will not always get that happy go lucky person in so you need to be ready and know how to make them happy!!! You will not Always get the sale but that’s okay!!
If you’re not a Praying Person you better learn how to and become one!!! Prayers is what gets us all through!!!
You have THEFT!!! Yes it will eventually happen!! You’ll have damages! You will deal with disgruntled people!
You will spend countless hours trying to find that perfect inventory! You will spend hours upon hours at your storefront! Your mind will work overtime even when your not at work thinking about everything you need to do!
Employees??? Will you have employees?? In due time you will want them in order to give you a break and yes for those unexpected situations that come up unless you want your business closed for days. Finding the right employee and ones that are reliable and want to work isn’t easy! If you get a good one it’s called a Blessing!!!
You have to be willing to give up a lot in order to become successful at your business! It’s not all the Glitz and Glam that everyone sees!! There’s a lot of Blood Sweat and Tears and Guts and Glory that go into this!!!! You’ve just got to be ready to give it your all and be ready for the unexpected and yes…all the extra hidden cost!!!!! You’ve got to decide before you just jump in head first if you’re ready financially; Mentally; and Physically!!!!
Can you handle Stress????? How do you deal with stress??? Do you know that STRESS CAUSES ILLNESSES??? With owning a business COMES STRESS!!! Just be prepared!!! Make sure you have good health insurance!!!
Make sure you have a Bestie you can confide in and maybe even a Shrink!!😂😂 But Most of All if you don’t have a Bible get you one and read it every day if you can and remember this…HIS WILL HIS WAY YOUR FAITH!!! By Faith and Grace you can and will push on and your business will be a success!!!
There’s just so much more to it all than most people think!!! And yes!!! I’ve left so much out!!!
If you’re seriously thinking about opening up a boutique and need help in how to get started I along with many others would be willing to help if You just ask. My best advice is just don’t go behind one’s back trying to be sneaky and steal ideals. Even thoug imitation is a form of flattery it’s still frustrating at times to the business owners that spend countless hours trying to be original. We can all help steer you in the right direction and get you going so you can create your Own!!!
Now just remember, it’s not as easy as just waking up saying “Oh I’m going to open up a boutique today” There’s lots of homework involved and it’s CONSISTENCY!!! Again, if you’d like more information on how to get started and the Do’s and Don’ts just reach out to me.
Maybe I along with other boutique buddies could do a few Boutique Building seminars.
Many Blessings and Much Success to you all!!!
Remember to Always Let God Guide and be the One to Open Doors for You!! 😉 😘 🙏
Updated * Added Info 👇👇👇👇
I also left out some important things!!!You Need a Good Support System besides God behind you to help pick you back up when you fall because some point and time in the journey it will happen and you’ve also got to know that it’s okay to Fall!!! Everything Falls apart to Fall Into Place 😘
