Brick And Mortar Store Start Up

[ramrod]

Funny, I'm also in Durham for a few weeks for some music gigs..played SUNY Syracuse in a former life. I have met a couplel of the local leather workers at craft shows but I think the right shop in he right place would go gangbusters!

Old Time Jam session, good coffee, leather making for kids...kewl!

What part of Durham? I'm North off Roxboro.

Cya!

Bob

lol....i'm north too. near broad st off of guess rd. interstate 85 is just behind me.

you're playing locally?

[Cowboymade]

lots of great informationof course right now I'm really busy trying to figure it all out but I wanted to let all of you know that I am taking your advice and running with it the best I can I do appreciate everyone ideas

[Lobo]

A few things that might not come to mind until after you start up the store:

1. With customers in the store you will get no production work done. Greeting, answering questions, demonstrating products, all these things take time and attention. If you expect to get a day's production work done you will probably need a sales clerk on staff, and that cost is significant.

2. Depending on the terms of your lease, and to some extent local customs and traditions, the monthly rent is not likely to be your only cost. You may be liable for some form of property taxes. Sales and use taxes are common everywhere, and the "use taxes" can be a real pain (monthly, quarterly, or annual assessments on all of your business equipment, tools, shop fixtures, inventory, etc). Utility bills add up, and commercial accounts are usually at a different rate than residential accounts (frequently double or more); water, sewer, heating, electricity add up quickly (my 450 sq. ft. commercial shop brings utility bills higher than my 2400 sq. ft. home every month). Some commercial leases include responsibility for all interior maintenance, and frequently some or all costs of exterior maintenance, parking lots, common areas, etc.

3. Business insurance. Liability coverage for accidental injuries on the property is an absolute necessity. If you are handling consignment goods you might need to think about coverage against losses to fire, theft, vandalism, etc. Then there is the value of your own tools, equipment, fixtures, supplies and inventory. How about contingent business interruption coverage, i.e.: losses of income and revenue in the event of major losses (fire, burglary, whatever). If you have even one employee you will probably need to carry workers' compensation insurance and unemployment insurance premiums (which vary widely for different occupations).

4. Are you in business as a sole proprietor, a partnership, or corporation? It is usually advisable to create some form of business entity such as a corporation, limited liability, company, etc, in order to shield your personal assets (home, bank accounts, retirement plans, etc) from claims arising from business activities.

5. Business banking needs, including credit card factoring. Many people today think nothing about using charge cards or debit cards, and many carry little or no cash. Accepting credit and debit cards requires subscribing to a service, frequently with monthly fees, equipment rentals (card swipes, etc), and a fee for every transaction. Security of transaction records and customer account information is a major consideration these days (and can be difficult to insure properly). These costs add up and need to be kept in mind when pricing products. If you are doing consignments these costs need to be part of your agreement with individual providers.

These are just off the top of my head. There will be other concerns and other costs.

Best regards.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

As for cards, many small businesses are using Square on their phone, or a dedicated tablet.

In some areas a consignment store is a different type of businesses license,like second hand stores are.

One thing is for sure, when you open a business it is like hitting a PowerBall lottery. People you never heard of will suddenly be at your door asking for money to pay for licenses, permits, fees, etc.

Read all of that boring fine print.

You may check to see if the local chamber of commerce, or college may have some info on local hoops you will have to jump through. Sometimes just the location will bring unexpected taxes, or other fees not needed just a mile up the road.

[cdthayer]

Mom & Pop retail brick & mortar shops are dying off like the dinosaur. It’s one of the reasons that small retail space is becoming more affordable. Small retail shops are just “scratch & sniff” showrooms nowadays, so that buyers can get the feel for what they want and then go online to make their purchases. I think that the days of having the customer come to us is about over. Even though the USA is one of the most mobile societies in the world these days, very little of the mobility is for shopping for anything more than groceries or the cheapest gas. Online and event shopping is growing by leaps and bounds.

I would urge you to look into doing a road show for making retail sales, and only use physical space for production. Renting physical space for production (or repairs) makes more sense to me than retail, since it doesn’t have to be pretty, just functional. And the nice thing about having a mobile store is that you can go to where the buyers will be. And you can move around to get new eyes on your products all of the time. Sure, you’ll still have plenty of “looky-loos”, but only for short periods of time, not all of the time when you’re trying to get some work done.

And if you consider the mobile sales effort as purely advertising at those venues that don’t produce a lot of sales, and whatever sales you did get as just helping with the expenses (of that advertising), you’ll be more inclined to sign up and head out for the next event. I think that you’ll have better luck, even with the business plan that you are considering (with consignments), to take your product to the customer instead of waiting for them to come to you. Remote sales and internet sales both take the product to the customer.

CD in Oklahoma

[leatherwytch]

I ran a brick and mortar store for many years. I was lucky, I could live there too. Well now I am unlucky, as of last year I was forced to move. So to break it down most stores you can't live in, in this city. Rents are extreme so I had to find a place to rent to live in and that took ten hours a day 7 days a week and finally at the last minute found one at extreme rent. I have since the time I had to start looking until now lost a minimum of 10K in business. I now live in an apartment that costs me double to what I paid before, it is very small and I am having issues getting the work studio up.

These are things you must consider. I have all my stock from the store, my leather, tools and everything else. I have no idea where anything will go and I also have show coming up. You need to make sure with any brick and mortar or even place you can live with your work that you don't get told you have to move by the end of the month. It is stress you will never forget. The only good part is no more extreme liability insurance and utilities that were out of this world, insanely priced business insurance and if you have to move and you set up again. Then you need building and fire inspectors out and they cost big time. There are pros and cons to everything and people will call you at midnight if you are a business.

[Cowboymade]

Thanks to everyone. Opening First week of February.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I wish you the best of luck!

[leatherwytch]

All the best.

[Cowboymade]

Thought I'd throw an update to all that have been great with their advice.

Been in business since February and it has taken off more than I had expected.

First month 80% sales off the sales then it has turned mainly custom orders including repairs to expensive furniture that require leather only (forget the upholstery stuff)

Social media has worked well. With Instagram getting most of the business.

I've been featured in a local magazine http://oakcityhustle.com/clark-aflague-the-leather-man/

Of course they had to call it the leather man......

There's a renaissance period going on with people looking toward artisans and not stuff from across the waters that set borders.