The Dream Store

Ask any entrepreneur about their most cherished dream, and nearly all of them will talk about having their store. Whether a designer looking to open clothing stores selling their designs or a photographer working towards their studio, every creative entrepreneur wants a space that reflects their sensibilities. The freedom to express oneself creatively in their own space is unparalleled. Thus, having a dream store is one of the biggest milestones in every entrepreneurial journey.

As attractive and essential as it may sound to have one’s own space, every entrepreneur who has tried to open one knows the challenges that follow. Numerous startups get their own space and then face the harsh reality of managing one. Does that mean startups shouldn’t go for their stores? Not at all! Instead, nothing allows the startup to experiment and grow as a store, especially in the creative space. All they need is to be careful with the expense management in the initial days to build a flourishing business.

The critical question then becomes, how does one do this? When you are a startup, expenses always tend to be higher than earnings, especially initially. This puts off many startups from taking the risk of opening a store and finding an opportunity to grow. Here is a list of 4 money-saving tips that a startup can leverage to check the expenses in the initial days. Although this list is applicable for any startup, it is outlined with an example of someone opening clothing stores. Feel free to take the ideas and apply them to your line of business.

Smart Decision-Making

Running a full-fledged business encompasses much more than creating products. One has to take care of all aspects like identifying the right market for the products and the right products for the market, managing finances, finding the right support system including suppliers, staff, etc., ensuring the supply chain is working and a whole range of other activities. This list of responsibilities further increases when opening a store. The pressure of running a startup may bog down a creative person.

Instead of worrying about these aspects daily, it is better to face the fears and go for some smart, calculated decisions right at the start. Some of the smart decisions that have produced results for many startups are listed below. Go ahead and leverage these ideas!

Identify the right location.

When opening clothing stores, or any other store for that matter, this one decision can have the biggest impact on the financials and the business in general. Opt for a prominent location and end up paying exorbitant rents. Or, choose an out-of-the-way location and see the business tapering off. The first decision is to finalise the budget for rent and find the optimum location; no need to start at the heart of the city, competing with other similar stores. Instead, choose a different location visited by your target audience, and be among the first to open clothing stores in the area. The lower rents will always help.

Hire Inexperienced Staff

Running a store by oneself may not be one of the best decisions. One can open clothing stores, but running them without staff is surely a recipe for disaster! But what can be evaluated is, does a startup need skilled staff from day one? Most likely, the answer is no. Yes, the skills of an expert can work wonders for the business. However, it is much better to hire smart individuals with little or no experience in the initial days, like fresh graduates. The hunger for growth in these youngsters can be a great asset for the business. The initial cost of hiring the staff remains low, and they can be groomed to be skilled professionals as the business grows.

Building the ecosystem

No business can thrive in isolation, especially depending on running a store. Imagine running to a clothing store with no assurance of the supply of materials. These critical business needs cannot be left to Adhoc deals. Instead, one needs to build and nurture an ecosystem to thrive carefully. Here are some quick tips on how to achieve this.

Find the right suppliers.

Finding the right suppliers of raw materials is imperative for any business. If you plan to open clothing stores, you must have suppliers to ensure the timely delivery of quality fabrics and other accessories. How do you find such dependable suppliers? Check out Fashinza, the end-to-end platform for fashion industry members. The extensive range of suppliers with feedback from the peer community is a great place to begin for your supply related needs. Having continuous relations with the vendors also helps get bulk deals and special discounts.

Define the Marketing Strategy

The first rule for running a successful business is to have a well-defined marketing strategy. This one aspect helps the customers know about a business. What will happen if one opens clothing stores and nobody knows about it? The customers need to be aware of a startup’s presence to give it a try. That is where marketing comes in.

Several startups take it too seriously and pour a lot of money into promotions. But the results do not justify the spending. A great tip to save money is to build up your marketing in line with the business growth. Thus, instead of starting with a lot of advertising spend, try out some creative marketing ideas. Some budget-friendly marketing ideas are listed ahead.

Online Marketing

While this may not be new in today’s social media savvy world, the important thing to remember is, this can be started for free! Yes, without putting any money for online ads, design a creative ad campaign to run on the online channels, work out an SEO strategy and just begin. If that seems too much work, hire an intern to handle it. In the initial days, paid promotions will not help much. A workable content strategy with an intern can be pretty close regarding returns.

Partner with others

Again, the promotions need not be isolated. One can partner with other startups relevant to their product line and promote each other. For example – if one opens a clothing store, they can promote the newly opened restaurant nearby to visitors. The restaurant can recommend the clothing store to their customers. No money was spent, and yet footfalls gained!

Go Green

This may sound like hype, but sometimes the hypes are worth trying. There are so many benefits to going green with a startup like additional publicity, saving the Earth and probably the most important – saving costs! Take a look at how going green can help a startup save money.

Reduce Bills

What will be the two biggest expenses when one opens clothing stores? First, the store’s décor and next, the utility bills running the store. If a startup goes for green décor – using recycled materials, reusing older furniture – the cost of setting up the place comes down drastically. All one needs is a bit of creativity to incorporate these elements. Also, incorporate LED bulbs and recycled water in the décor and see your running expenditure drastically reduced.

There are many ways to save money when planning to open a store. These can be incorporated right from the beginning, without spending much in the initial days. For more such informative pieces and finding the right partners when opening clothing stores, visit Fashinza – the one-stop destination for the fashion industry.