How You Experience the World is About to Change
One of the biggest shifts every retailer faces when they open their first store is the mindset shift from employee to entrepreneur. It’s not going to happen overnight and it’s normal to experience resistance along the way, but stay open to knowing that the way you see the world, your work life and your personal life is about to change.
As you make up your own rules and try to figure out your new reality, you may end up thinking about your business 24/7. You’ll rely on a plethora of personal skills that you had or will develop to learn the many aspects of running a business – from getting a signed contract for your storefront to strategizing long term plans. And little aspects of your entire life will change in different ways as you learn skills and build your business muscles – like putting yourself out there even if you’re scared, or having uncomfortable conversations when a business collaboration goes the wrong way – which will start enriching how you show up in your personal life.
You’ll Be Wearing a Lot of Hats
Many retailers choose the kind of store they want to open based on their passion. So if you live for skiing , you might open a store that specializes in ski equipment and apparel because you want to deal with skiing and skiers, all day, every day.
But as a small store owner, it’s important to remember you’re going to be a Jack of all Trades. Chances are, even if you have an employee or two, you’ll deal with store management, finance, accounting and cash flow, employee management, customer service, administrative work, marketing, sales and technology – just to name a few responsibilities.
And while you won’t have one direct boss, you will have employees, service providers, suppliers, business partners and customers who’ll demand your attention. All the time.
Building a business around your passion is one of the greatest feelings in the world, but make sure you’re also passionate about business, so you can truly enjoy the ride.
It Takes Time to Truly Understand You Audience, but it’s Crucial to Prioritize it
At first glance, knowing your target audience (your future customers) seems to be the easiest part of starting your first retail store. Chances are, you’ve interacted with them in some ways before. Heck, you might even be one of them.
But when it comes down to making serious and committed business decisions, you start realizing it’s much more complex than that.
This type of evaluation will help you towards choosing the right location for your store
But there’s more. You need to understand what your ideal customer needs – not just wants – and how to position your store in the way that helps her get her needs met and builds her trust in you.
Customer Experience Will Make or Break Your Store
s MySpace, Vine and even Facebook – have learnt the hard way that when you’re on rented land, someone else can change the rules on you and take your audience away with a click of a button. That’s why 91% of B2C marketers told Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs that email is actually their most important content distribution channel: We’ve all been there. You walked into a store to buy – let’s say – a camera, and despite plenty of online research, you really don’t have any idea what to choose. You asked friends and even colleagues for a recommendation, but they weren’t much help. So you came to the store to get help and buy. You asked for assistance, and all the salesperson did was read the same information off the card that you found online – leaving you feeling totally helpless about your purchase decision. In today’s world, you can’t afford to have this happen at your store.
Don’t settle for your team understanding features. The product guidance experience is one of the key elements that will make your customers buy this time, then return to the store when they need you type of products again. Ensure that your team knows why customers look for these products, what type of needs these products fulfill, and how customers’ lives will improve once they purchase them.
To social media or not to social media?
Almost every target audience is on one social media platform or five. That’s probably why, according to the 2017 Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs research, 85% of B2C (business to consumer) marketers use social media – more than blogs, newsletters, videos or in-person events.
But your job is to choose the best one for your audience. Don’t try to be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Periscope and Musical. ly immediately. It will overwhelm you. Exhaust you. And take up way too much of your time.
Do some research and figure out where the majority of your target audience hangs out and engages, and join the conversation there. If your resources are limited, prioritize only one platform first. Once you’ve built a big, trusting audience there, it’ll be easier for you to leverage it to build a second platform elsewhere.
You’ll Need Support to Succeed
Your significant other, friends, parents and kids might not always understand your choices or your process, and there is no question that they will pay a price while you invest your time, money and energy into developing your store. You can learn from other entrepreneurs’ family experiences to be mindful of what your loved ones are going through, but it’s equally important to make sure you have the necessary support for yourself.
Listening to Advice is Important, But Sometimes You Just Have to Take the Leap
When you’re thinking about opening your first store, you do a lot of online retail searches and a lot of talking to people. You read a lot, you spend countless hours on YouTube, you take courses, you ask for advice and, of course, you get plenty of unsolicited advice too.