5 Tips for Starting Your Own Hometown Store
Times have definitely changed for department and grocery stores in smaller towns, where you could once buy almost anything that you could possibly need, but nowadays you can never find what you are looking for. For example, if you want to buy a yard of fabric, then you have to travel to the big city as most small town department stores quit selling a lot of sewing and craft related items due to the rise of cotton prices. If you want to buy a baseball cap of your favorite team, then you will probably have to order it online as most local department stores don’t carry them for some unknown reason and even if they did, it would probably cost $15 to $20 just for one cap.
You can’t even go to your hometown grocery store as most of them have gone under because bigger retail chains have built stores nearby. Since 2007, 87 out of 213 rural groceries have closed in the state of Kansas alone, which was reported by The Christian Science Monitor in 2011.
While some might call this a dangerous time for small businesses, new entrepreneurs, young or old, should take advantage of this great opportunity by starting your very own store, one that can provide much needed and hard to find products to your hometown.
Here are five tips to help set up your very own store in your hometown
Find Your Store’s Niche
The first thing you need to do is to decide what sort of store you want to open in your hometown. If you are undecided about what store you want to open, ask your mayor or city council what the town needs most. Also, take notice of the other stores in the area, as they will be your competition. The Houston Chronicle suggests that you should study your local market before picking out what kind of store to open up as you want to make sure customers will buy whatever you are selling.
Rent an Affordable Building
Before you can open up a store, you are going to need a building. Your best bet is to rent instead of buying because, if your store is successful, you might eventually need to move to a bigger building. Make sure the building is in a popular shopping area so your potential customers know that you have a store there. Rent a newer building if possible, as older buildings can have more fire hazards and other problems. Purchase a unique sign that can be placed on or near your building, but make sure to get permission from your landlord first.
Find a Wholesale Vendor or Supplier
Most likely you are not going to find a wholesaler or supplier in the yellow pages, so you are going to have to do a little research online. Also, you can visit other stores and ask the owners about what are the best wholesalers or suppliers to use. Whoever you do find, make sure they have the best prices and the best quality, but to have the very best will mean you may have to have a high retail price for your customers. This may not be a bad thing, as some customers would rather have the real thing rather than a cheap knockoff, but then other customers also love discounts, so it is best to have cheaper products in your store as well.
Buy a Cash Register
Once you get your inventory all set up for your store, there is one final thing you’ll need before opening day, a cash register, as a calculator, a notebook, and a pencil alone isn’t going to work for your business. You can easily purchase a Shopify POS system and all the hardware accessories you need, like a cash drawer, iPad stand, card scanner, and receipt printer. The investment will save you time and energy. Plus, it is an easier way to keep track of all your business info.
Advertise Your Store
You don’t need lots of money to advertise your store. You can start small by placing an ad in your local newspaper and by giving away flyers about your grand opening. Constant Contact suggests printing bookmarks and leaving them at your local library. Create a Facebook Page and follow other similar shops as social media is good way to attract customers. If you want to go big, all you have to do is purchase a billboard near a highway to try to drive in new customers. Also, you can build your own website store where you can sell your products all over the world.
Starting your own store in your hometown will be an exciting adventure for any entrepreneur, and with the right direction, you can become a respected business owner in your hometown, especially if you use the right advertising methods while providing the services or products that your town needs. With a little hard work, you should have a successful store that your town will be proud of.