Candy Thibeau, owner of of le petit bebe chic in Canton, Georgia
1. Know who your target market is and make sure the clothing you purchase will appeal to them.
2. Set a budget and stick to it. Get quotes - lots of them. When I started researching the "look and feel" I was going for in my boutique, I found beautiful fixtures but they were out of my budget. It didn't mean I couldn't get them - I had a friend who is a fantastic carpenter and showed him a few photos and asked him if he could duplicate it and although it was not exact, I got the look I was going for at a fraction of the cost!
3. Decide what size range you will carry up to. Personally you can't go wrong stocking up in the infant and toddler range for both baby boys and girls. Depending on what region you are in, will help to determine what size you may want to carry up to. Here in the south, little girls will wear smock dresses well into the size 10 range. But in other parts of the region, such as the North East, they may only wear them up to a size 6x.
4. Don't forget about the little boys. How many times do you hear or have said yourself, "Why is all the cute stuff for the girls?!" Don't just cater to little girls - cater to little boys too. Mom's love to buy and will spend on adorable baby clothing for their little boys as much as they would little girls! Trust me on this - I am a mother of 3 boys and jump at the chance to purchase something special for them every chance I get!
5. Location Location Location. Decide if you are going to be a stand alone store front or in a shopping plaza. There are pros and cons to both. In a shopping plaza, you will get more traffic. However, you may pay more in rent and overhead costs and you may be legally bound to a longer term contract and specific days and hours you must abide by. Stand alones are wonderful if you can find them in your target zone. Try to be at least 20 miles from your nearest competitor. If not, understand that you may not be able to sell a certain designer you were hoping to. Designers want you to do well to so many set up zones and believe me, they stick to them.
6. Take a peek into other boutiques and see what makes them special. Determine how you will differ from them to make people want to frequent your store too! I did this and made an effort to order different designs whenever possible if I was using the same designer as that store.
7. Decide what your top price point will be for each category you are selling. This will help you stick to your budget. For example, you may not want to spend (cost) more than $15 per piece if you need x amount of pieces to fill your store!
8. Become friends with other stores in your area. You will be surprised at all the helpful hints they are willing to share with you on their successes and missteps along the way.
9. Go to market prepared to overspend! It is overwhelming but if you research your designers beforehand and set up specific appointments with the reps you should be able to stay on budget. However, if you go and don't have any appointments set up - you will be overwhelmed with everything out there. Don't be afraid to order more styles from a vendor. I found it makes more of an impact to have a few styles from one designer visually than just one or two from that designer.
10. Most importantly - if you don't LOVE it - don't buy it because you won't be able to sell it. The best sales person you have is yourself. Know the designers, build relationships with them and order what you love. My first purchase was with Mooncakes because my own children wore their clothing and I loved it. I knew the quality, style and comfort of them. It is an easy sell for me because people can see how passionate I am about that product line. They can relate to it more because of my relationship with it.
11. Advertise - nobody knows your in business except for you if you don't advertise. If your store is located near a community with a news letter that is distributed amongst the residents of that community - you may find that you are able to put an advertisement in that newsletter at a fraction of the cost it would be to advertise in your local paper. Ask other local businesses where you target market may frequent if you can put a few flyers announcing your grand opening to be displayed in their business. Nail Salons, Hair Salons, Dry Cleaners, Grocery Stores, Dance Schools etc.
12. Timing is everything - It is also sometimes better to secure your location and take your time setting up if your budget allows so you can open during a peak season such as Spring or Early Fall back to school or Holiday Season. People are looking for reasons to buy during those time frames.
13. Promote your business. Word of mouth goes a long way. Give out discount cards prior to your grand opening and put an experation date on it soon after the grand opening. That way you are sure customers will come close to the time you open and will spread the word. Don't be afraid of a discount - customers appreciate it and will be willing to come back sooner than later.
14. Get to know your customers. People shop in boutiques for the clothing and the experience. Learn their names first hand - talk to them and find out about them. Take notes on them - send them an email to thank them for coming in and make it personable - they will be surprised that you remembered them and appreciate it . It will give you the one up on that other place down the road!
15. Don't be afraid to jump into business in this economy! Be realistic in your projections and if you must, work the store yourself before hiring a part time or full time employee to see if you can afford it. A part time employee making $10 an hour for 20 hours a week is $800 a month! Think of all the merchandise you can purchase with that! You may want to see how busy you are during weekdays and weekends and then decide when and if you need to hire an employee.
16. Don't be afraid to ask your vendors where they get certain supplies from. Mooncakes sent us a big box of hangers they didn't need - at no cost which saved me on one of my set-up costs!
17. Keep in touch with your sales reps and vendors. Let them know where you are in your process and ask them for advice on how to effectively display their merchandise. They will be more than willing to help you make the most of your displays! Talk to them and let them know what is selling and what isn't. They in turn can take that feedback back to the designers and the designers will be able to better serve the market wants.
18. Have a private gathering at your store after your grand opening for your friends and family to see your new store and also to make v.i.p. purchases. You may want to keep your doors open to the public as well - they will see a lot of activity in your store and will probably stop in to check it out and also make a purchase!
19. Listen to your customers. You will find out quickly what you will need to purchase for the following season. You may need to change up your business plan a little if you decided to stop at a size 6x - but your Customers are asking if you have any larger sizes. Let them dictate what sizes you carry.
20. Diversify - In today's economy, people are not just purchasing clothing. Offer novelty items such as photo frames, bibs, accessories that will bring people into your boutique and then up sell them on other purchases such as that cute little outfit you just got in! Don't put all of your merchandise out all at once. I know you are dying to show it all off - but hold back on a few items. That way - if you are unable to afford to purchase more for that season, you can make it look like you are still getting items in every week. Put the new items up front. Rearrange the store as well - sometimes the first time someone walks in they don't get to really see everything. If you switch it up a bit each week - you trick the eye into thinking they are seeing something new!"
- Wonderful advice, thank you Candy for sharing!
