How to Open a Clothing Store: Plan Everything Before You Start Selling
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In this post we are going to talk about the most important step to set up a clothing store: the business plan. In it, all topics that involve opening and managing a store must be covered. Come with us and understand the importance of this plan and how to prepare it!
After two years of decline, the Brazilian retail trade managed to reverse the situation. Sales in 2017 grew 2% compared to 2016, according to Monthly Survey of Commerce, carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). With the positive response from the economy, it is already possible to think about opening a new business, especially in sectors that stood out in the survey, such as fabrics, apparel and footwear, which closed 2017 with a 7.6% increase compared to the previous year. With an eye on this market, we show you how to open a clothing store and take advantage of the good winds in the retail segment.
As much as many people still consider buying clothes superfluous, they end up being a necessary and indispensable item in the personal presentation. Due to their versatility, with varied styles, news, trends and adaptation to the different seasons of the year, pants, shirts, dresses and t-shirts are in charge of ensuring good sales throughout the year.
However, even with so many indications that betting on the clothing sector is an almost sure shot, it is important that those interested in this type of business take into account, initially, that it is essential to understand that few business models are as competitive as the stores with clothes. So, you must be prepared to think outside the box and bet on differentiated strategies, in addition, of course, to investing in your customers’ loyalty — they are your company’s greatest asset!
That said, let’s talk about the most important step in setting up a clothing store, which is making a business plan. In it, all topics that involve opening and managing a store must be covered. Come with us and understand the importance of this plan and how to prepare it!
How to open a clothing store: Stay tuned to the business plan
Anyone who wants to open a clothing store should pay attention, as we said, to the preparation of the business plan. With it, you reduce insecurity when setting up the clothing store, reduce the margin of error along the way and increase the chances of success for your idea. That’s because it helps to determine the viability of the business, helps to detect the particularities of the market and makes it possible to broaden the perspective for the medium and long term. I mean, this is the tool that will allow the business owner to have a more accurate view of the potential of what he is envisioning.
In addition to the more strategic part, more practical definitions should also be included in this plan, such as the location of the store, the type of clothing that will be sold — single or multi-brand, men’s, women’s or children’s etc. — the target audience, direct competitors, number of employees, among other characteristics. It is also essential, at the beginning, to work with the question of pricing and profitability that you want, then establish the prices, contribution margin and the break-even point of the business. For this step, automation can come in handy, not only to avoid mistakes that can greatly disrupt the start of the clothing store, but also to organize the company’s initial database in a faster and more intuitive way.
As you can see, creating a business plan is not difficult, however it takes time, patience and a lot of research. Here on the blog, we’ve already talked a lot about this subject, as in this article here, which you can access and see the step-by-step process of building a plan. The information is based on the digital guide How to prepare a business plan, provided free of charge by Sebrae, the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service.
You will see that, from this document, it will be much easier to think about how to open a clothing store and how to manage it too. To help you, we highlight below the main points of this business plan. Follow:
1 – Identify your target audience
Knowing who your target audience is should be at the top of your priority list. After all, how can you open a clothing store without knowing the consumption habits, preferences and particularities of the consumer you want to reach?
As it is a new store, it will be necessary to carry out a comprehensive and detailed survey of its future customers. Even if you have already defined the segment you want to reach, it is still necessary to have more specific information at hand, such as the biotype you intend to wear, the brands that this audience is looking for, the style and references followed by the group and its age group.
Here it is not necessary to reinvent the wheel. Analyzing the competition and the main stores that already serve this target audience can be an efficient way to start your search. Only by getting to know these consumers well will you be able to predict their behavior and stay one step ahead of the competition by anticipating the trends people expect to find in your clothing store.
And, of course, don’t forget to invest in customer loyalty since the opening of the business, as investing in their satisfaction is one of the ways to bring the best and most lasting results. To ensure this loyalty right away, it is important to invest in the organization of consumer information, such as their preferences, most used forms of payment and even their birthday, so the business owner can develop strategies that make the customer remember your brand , buy again and also recommend your store to other people.
2 – Structure your financial planning
One of the big mistakes of those who start a new business is leaving to worry about the finances after the business is in progress. The owner of a clothing store needs to start recording all financial transactions even before the doors are open, as he has already had expenses, right? Therefore, having a good financial control tool is essential from the beginning.
But making a financial plan does not just mean writing down what has already been spent. This document should allow you to have a vision of what’s to come as well. It should contain everything you have already spent and intend to spend with the store, revenue forecasts, investments that will be made, in short, it should serve as a true control tool to ensure the health of the cashier and the fulfillment of established goals in the short, medium and long term.
3 – Control the stock
How to open a clothing store without having a good one inventory control? Impossible, as this is one of the most important guidelines in a retail business. No wonder that any failure at this stage can compromise the entire structure of the company. That said, it is essential that your store pay close attention to this area and invest in the good quality of its management.
The first step towards this is to avoid the most common mistakes, such as an out-of-stock or disorganized inventory, which can lead to lost sales due to a lack of product, annoyance with customers or loss of customer loyalty. Not inventorying a stock is simply giving your business to its own devices. Therefore, we repeat the same guideline as financial planning: control it from the beginning, from the first item that entered the clothing store, don’t leave anything for later!
Without knowing what you have, it is not possible to assess what is missing, nor to predict effective sales strategies, for example. Therefore, it is essential to work with software that automate inventory management, helping this process and making the business owner much faster and more practical. An interesting tip here is to look for solutions that integrate checkout control with inventory, further simplifying the management process of what goes in and out of the store.
And don’t assume that all of these guidelines only work for a physical clothing store. Whoever is setting up an online clothing store needs to have the same concerns, as they will have expenses with the creation of the website for e-commerce, they will need to identify their target audience and will have to control the stock as well. For these cases, finding a solution that integrates the online store with the control tools is essential to ensure the smooth running of the business.
Well, as you can see, taking the dream of owning your own clothing store off the paper takes a little more than will, right? However, by following the right steps from the beginning, it is possible to fulfill your wishes and guarantee a future without nightmares. And, as you know, you can count on ContaAzul on this path. Our online platform has everything you need to organize your store in one place, from space for financial planning and cash flow control to electronic consumer invoice issuance (NFC-e) and integration with the counter. All fast and with free support!
Discover more articles in our categories Fashion & Looks & Luxe et encore 90s Outfits.
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