How do You Start a Retail Business?
Build it and they will shop
How do you start a retail business? Here’s how Francis Henri did it
Who hasn’t daydreamed abut having their own perfectly curated retail shop? The cutest merchandising. The gotta-buy-this items. All the branded tissue paper, stickers, and tote bags. Dreamy for sure, but also a ton of work regardless of whether you’re asking How do you start a retail business? or you feel like you totally got this. And in today’s episode of the Pretty Okay Podcast, I’ve got another one of my business besties on as a guest! Katherine Oyer of Francis Henri and I chatted, giggled, and reminisced about her journey from launching an online store to opening a retail shop—both with the cutest baby clothes you’ll ever see! This episode isn’t a playbook but it does give you tons of real insight into what it actually takes start a retail business.
You need to invest money—there’s no way around it
Starting a business online is one thing—opening a brick and mortar retail shop is another. You’ve gotta have a space. You need inventory. You need systems to ring customers up…the list goes on and on. But, instead of making a massive initial (and possibly blind) investment, Katherine started small with an online store to prove her initial concept. This approach let her get her feet wet and better understand the market without the immediate pressure of a large financial commitment. Her advice to anyone wondering How do you start a retail business? Start small, test the waters, and scale gradually.
Projecting sales and managing cash flow is a challenge
No one has a crystal ball that shows them exactly how much inventory to buy or how much money they’ll make every month—so projecting sales, buying, and managing cash flow are some of the never-gonna-go-away challenges you’ll face when opening a retail shop. And when it comes to doing what you can to do a good job with it all, you should pay attention to trends within your own shop (to better understand your customers and what they dig most). Katherine also thinks it’s important to learn from each season to make better decisions for the next. Because even if you have the most meticulous plan, you’ve got to stay flexible so you can adjust as needed.
You’ve gotta let customers experience your products
Seeing something you want to buy on a screen works pretty well. Seeing, touching, and connecting with that thing in real life is the sure-er shot at getting someone to throw their credit card down. And that’s exactly what Katherine experienced when she started doing pop-up events with Francis Henri—like often exceeding her monthly online sales in one day at a pop-up. So the big takeaway here is to create opportunities for your customers to physically interact with your products because it helps them fall in love with them.
Starting a retail business is hard y’all
Running a retail business is challenging. And Katherine spoke candidly about the overwhelming aspects, from the financial investment to the emotional toll. Signing a lease for a physical store was a daunting step, filled with fear of financial loss. (Cuz what’s the worst that could happen? Oh yeah, bankruptcy.) Figuring out how to run daily operations was intimidating AF. And doing it all on her own as a mom of 3? Yeah. Her story is a testament to the resilience required to run a retail business—but also the awesomeness of doing it once you get off the ground.
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