Questions You Should Know about retail franchise creative homeware

A home decoration shop or company is a business that can be found both online or in a brick-and-mortar retail outlet. Traditionally a home decoration shop will offer both products to buy and interior design services. This means that a consumer can come to business looking for ideas to decorate their home. Depending on the size of home and type of decoration, there are usually a lot of opportunities in this sector. The interior design industry is a big industry that requires experience and innovation.  If you have entrepreneurial skills, a passion for design, a creative mind and great networking skills, then we can help you achieve your dream business.  

If you want to learn more, please visit our website THE MIDI..

One of the very first steps before launching any business start-up is sketching out a business plan. It’s thrilling to set up a new home decoration or home interior design shop, but you also need to apprehend the market you’re entering. To build a strong project, you must marry your good eye and creativity with a solid business plan. For more in-depth ideas to build your business plan, read our article on the Ankostore blog.

The interior design market is a multi-faceted sector which requires a large amount of market research. Before starting any business, it is important to understand the market you’re entering. This step is crucial to your success. Here are some questions to consider before opening your home decoration shop: 

• Who are your target customers ? What is their age range and profession?
• Where will your business be located? 
• Is there a need for a home decoration shop in your location? 
• Who are your competitors and what is your niche? 

If your business can afford it, hiring an experienced decoration retail business advisor to conduct an in-depth market research analysis could help propel your business to success and beyond.

Once conducting an intense market research and business plan, it is time to think about a sales strategy. It is important to remember when opening a home decoration shop that there is a lot of stiff competition on the market. This is exactly why it is crucial to have a strong sales and marketing strategy in place. When starting your home decoration business think about where your business wants to be advertised and why.  

The identity of a brand is at the heart of any business. It is essential for its success. Creating the brand identity should be at the forefront when opening a home decoration shop. Keeping the DNA consistent is important for consumers. Think about colours, lighting, the brand logo and what you want your shop to represent.  

Setting up a business website will allow potential customers to discover the business from the comfort of their potentially about-to-be decorated homes. It is also a great space to show off design portfolios, your business experience and even sell products online. There are various free and useful sources online to help with building a website. Squarespace and Wix are two of the most popular and easy to use for first time web builders! 

Most businesses today need to enter the digital world of social media to guarantee they are being seen and heard. Creating accounts on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are a great way to show off your decoration store and business. By blasting content online, this will maximise exposure and engagement with consumers. It will also allow them to understand the brand identity and even ask questions by sending direct messages to the platform. Today social media is the perfect artistic portfolio to show your creativity and design inspirations. 

In addition, every great business strategy should include an marketing strategy. There are several platforms where this can be done for little to no cost. There are great free marketing platforms, such as Mailchimp, that can be set easily and can guide you through your first marketing campaign.

Franchise fees are more commonly known as initial or starting fees when opening a business. For most entrepreneurs franchising their business is appealing as you can see your fees upfront and therefore budget accordingly. The initial franchise fee is the one time cost you must pay to be a franchise. This cost puts you in the business. Paying this initial franchise will allow you to use your own brand name, intellectual property rights and products. 

A home decoration shop will have several costs that will need to be accounted for before the business is even open. These are called operating costs which can be paid for by taking a loan from a bank or from savings. Money needs to be sent aside monthly for rent, insurance, employee salaries and general utility bills. Without this it will be difficult to get the shop running. Here is a list of elements to think about when opening a home decoration shop: 

• Equipping the office (computers, laptops, printers, projectors, tables, chairs, decoration…etc.). 
• Website costs. 
• Software for computers and electrical equipment. 
• Rent 
• Health permit costs. 
• Water, gas, and electricity bills. 
• Parking. 
• Employee Salaries. 
• Additional expenditure. 

Efficient retail inventory management is an important consideration. Stocking products that consumers want to purchase for your home decoration shop at quantities that meet demand is a skill that will need to be learnt. Shop owners look to retail wholesalers for inventory inspiration. By using a wholesaler it means they can either buy a certain product in bulk if they think it could be a best seller and negotiate lower prices. Wholesalers are the best places to find the latest trends and designs.  Shop owners can also look online for retail online for wholesalers. At Ankorstore online, decoration shop entrepreneurs can find a host of decor products to buy in large quantities. 

A few more  elements to consider when it comes to shop inventory include the below: 

• Accurate product data 
• Stock location tracking 
• Regular inventory checks 
• Analysis of sales and inventory

For any business it is extremely important to have an accounting team or at least someone with financial advisory experience. This role is responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and statements. They are one the ones keeping track of what is coming in and what is coming out. They also can be in control of sorting out legal documents for the company.

Need more advice about how to open a decoration shop`? Look no further than Ankorstart, a platform dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build their dream business from Ankorstore. Ankorstart’s experts can help guide you through anything from business plans to local wholesalers and retailers to get your store ahead of  the rest! Find exciting products and ideas and more by checking out Ankorstore online. 

The opportunity to grow your retail business is exciting and it can be tempting to throw yourself into opening additional stores without much planning or strategy. After all, more stores equal more revenue, right? Well yes, if planned and implemented well, opening multiple stores can boost revenue and profit. It can also bring community benefits by creating additional jobs. However before you start eyeing up new premises there are a number of questions that you should ask yourself.

Here is our guide to what you need to consider before opening additional stores for your retail business.

How will you pay for your new stores?

Setting up new stores can be expensive, so before you get carried away you need to work out what expenses you will incur (think rent, utilities, staff salaries, equipment hire, taxes etc) and how you are going to cover them.

Unless you are planning on opening a much bigger or smaller retail outlet, then you should have a pretty good idea of your business overheads from your existing store. Ergo, this part should be the easy bit.

However figuring out how to pay for your business expansion is undoubtedly the tricky bit. However we have managed to collate a few options for you.

1. Use revenue from your original/existing stores.

This is the ideal solution, but it only works effectively if your business is in the black and you can afford to take your business profits and invest them into your new store/s. If you can afford to do this it could save you paying out on loan interest fees or from giving away company equity to an interested investor.

However you still need to ensure that you don’t direct too much away from your established stores, as this could affect its ability to remain successful.

2. Get a business loan.

When it comes to helping business growth, there are hundreds of companies that will offer to loan you money. It can be easy to get swept up in the offer without factoring in the viability of paying the money back. If you decide to go down the route of a business loan you need to ensure that you can guarantee being able to afford the repayments as failed payments mean expensive charges! You should also shop around to try and secure the lowest rate of interest possible.

3. Finance the expansion yourself

If you are lucky enough to have substantial personal savings or assets then you may wish to you use these to fund the expansion of your business.

4. Get an investor

If you are prepared and willing to give away a small share of your business then you may be able to find someone who is willing to invest some of the capital you need for the expansion. You will need to get a solicitor to carefully draw up an agreeable trade.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of retail franchise creative homeware. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

Will you have to factor in changes in the law or regulations for your new store?

If your new store is in a new geographical area then you may find that the legal requirements for running a business there are different to your established store. This is especially likely to be the case if your new store is in a different state.

Ideally you should employ a professional realtor, accountant or attorney to look over your business and the local laws to ensure that you aren’t in breach of them, which could be costly.

The main areas you will want to ensure that you have covered include:

• Business license
• Sellers permit
• Health permit
• Certificate of occupancy
• Air & water pollution control permit
• Fire department permit

You may not require all of the above, but you should check with your professional which you need, including any that may not be included in this small list.

You should also ensure that you have a comprehensive knowledge of the laws around consumer and employee protection, including privacy, safety, trading hours, consumer protection, retail pricing, employee training, employment laws and advertising, marketing, labelling and packaging. Again these may not all apply to your store, but you should at least check as fines and sanctions could be applied against you and your home.

Do you have the management structures in place to ensure ALL of your stores are successful?

As soon as you open up a secondary store your attention becomes split and the more stores you have the more you have to oversee. Unless you can figure out how to be in more than one place at a time (and if you can please share with us how), the next best solution is to have a great management and staffing structure in place at each of your stores.

There are a number of ways of doing this.

Set up a strong management team of individuals that are not only great at their job, but have passion, drive and embody the values of your brand.

Give great incentives. Whether it be great salaries, additional holiday days or other perks, you need to offer something that attracts and retains great employees to your business.

Create a comprehensive and consistent training plan to ensure that all employees receive exactly the same training that is effective regardless of what store they are placed into.

Create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that any member of staff can turn to to clarify a process or policy.

How will you balance tailoring your new store to its local clientele whilst keep it true to your brand?

As retailers you know the vital importance of having a brand that is consistent across all platforms of sale. However in order to be successful you also need to appeal to your local clientele and what you need to do to achieve this may vary from store to store.

Maintaining a consistent brand image whilst tailoring your service to include local tastes can be a difficult balancing act, but it isn’t impossible. Here are out top tips…

Brand Consistency

Brand Training. It doesn’t have to be a long or intensive course, but just a few hours spent with your staff explaining your brand vision, values and the direction you want your business to head in can be invaluable. Not only will it help your staff to do their jobs better, but they can also project what they have learnt in any of their interactions with customers, for example in store, online or in an . You can also follow up any training with a handbook or corporate identity document.

Solid SOPs. We cannot stress the importance of SOP’s to maintain brand consistency. Make sure that every single one of your actions is written in an SOP to help you stay organised.

Consistent Design. If you think about all of the big chains of stores, they almost always have the same design and layout inside. This provide a better quality and more efficient shopping experience, which as we know keeps the customer coming back for more.

Tailoring to Local Clientele

By ensuring that your stores are relevant and useful you are immediately making customers feel valued and important. This equals great customer service and as we know, offering a personalized and special service keeps customers coming back for more!

Find out from your new customers if there is a certain preferred brand or supplier of products for your store. If you can source in from local businesses then this will reflect well on you and help support your community.

You can also create bespoke marketing approaches that adhere to your brand guidelines but carry a tag line, message or visual that targets your local shoppers. Brainstorm with your creative team to come up with some innovative ways to reach out to your local market.

Do you have the technology in place to manage multiple stores?

Technology is crucial to successfully run a thriving business with lots of staff, large inventories and sales information all being able to be calculated and stored online.

Thanks to the rapid progression of technology for retail it is now possible to centralize procedures, so that processes that are happening in multiple stores are able to be controlled in just once place.

Say ‘Hello’ to cloud-based iPad POS system where all of your company data can be stored safely online. No servers are required saving you valuable space, plus your information can be downloaded from the cloud at just the touch of a button.

As you can imagine this is invaluable for muti-store retail businesses as it lets you retain total control from whatever location you are in. It also synchs in real time meaning that you have up to the minute data meaning you can effectively advise on stock levels etc.

Here at Hike we are pleased to be able to offer cloud-based POS software that is comprehensive and low-cost solution for retail businesses looking to start, maintain or build upon their brand. Click HERE to find out about our free 30 day no obligation no credit card trial!

If you have the opportunity to expand your business, we hope that this blog has given you insight into the decisions that you may need to make before jumping in with both feet. Good luck!

Want more information on retail franchise beauty care products? Feel free to contact us.