5 Tips for the first-time business owners

Hi everyone,

I hope you are having an amazing week. The other day, I had the chance to participate in a business fair where a lot of amazing women had the opportunity to showcase their talents, their knowledge, and sell their goods. This inspired today’s post where I will share some tips for first-time business owners.

As an entrepreneur myself, I often get asked questions related to how to start a business. So why not make a blog post about it that I will make sure I have as a favorite to share whenever appropriate.

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So of course, today’s post is for anyone thinking about doing a business. It’s not everything but it’s definitely a good place to start.

1. Decide on the type of boutique you want to start

This first step is really tricky. Most of the time, people choose a type of business based on what they see other people do. Yes, competition and variety in a market are important but it is also important to do something you love. Doing a business is not only about profit it is also about sharing your passion with others. You need to ask yourself: “What is the message I want to tell?”, “Why do I want to open this boutique?”, “What is the purpose of it?”. The key to success here is your “UVP” (Unique value Proposition) – also known as “USP” Unique Selling Proposition?

2. Figure out who is going to be your supplier

Unless you are the one making the product with things you have in your garden, you cannot start a business without a supplier. For example, if you are starting a clothing boutique, you need to find a wholesale company that can provide you with the type of products you want to sell. You will buy from them and resale them in your own boutique. Or, if you are making and selling bracelets, you need a company that sells beads, clasp, beading wires, etc…in large quantities.

3. Choose your potential customers

Customers are an essential part of the business. That is why you need to figure out your target market. The target market is basically the portion of the population that you are going to sell your products to women, men, kids, companies, etc… To do so, you need to identify a problem and your business should be the answer to the problem. For example, if you notice that there are some people who love to wear the same type of clothes as their kids and there are no stores around that are addressing that part of the market, you can open a “Mommy and me store”. But you should not go all out and try to please everyone. You need to segment (age group, lifestyle, environment…) the market because you will not be able to serve everyone unless you have a really large-sized budget.

4. Find the location

The location needs to be accessible to your target market. You can’t open a store that sells coats by the beach. The people who need the coats more are not the people by the beach. I know that the location depends on the budget. You cannot open a store in a busy mall if you don’t have lots of clients. The rent will be too high, and your profit will not help you. Unless you have a clear plan as to how you can quickly convert the visitors of this mall into your clientele. Anyhow, start somewhere where you can afford rent even if you don’t have lots of customers every day. If the place is yours, then it’s perfect, all you need is an interior designer to make it perfect.

5. Decorate it to reflect your idea

The process of opening a boutique does not stop after finding the place. Some people just find a nice place to sell, and they start selling. The boutique is bland, and no personal touches are added. You need to have a budget for renovations. The décor is super important, and it can affect the customer’s mood when they enter. It has to be special and has to reflect your idea. For me, a boutique needs to have a wow effect. That means that when I enter it, I need to be mesmerized. It needs to be unique. The client will always remember how they felt when they first enter your shop.

These are, amongst thousands, some of the things you need to keep in mind before you enter the business market. I hope that my tips have helped in some type of way. Please let me know in the comments which tip you think is essential and what else would you add to the list that would also be essential to a soon-to-be business owner.