Re: Starting a retail business ...
 

Hi there,

Yah, it's difficult to run a retail business these days. Yet, business is all about being bold. I'm going to take a break from pushcarts after my lease. Will be concentrating on selling to my regulars and getting online orders. With high over-heads, I don't think I wanna start doing pushcarts anytime soon. Maybe running events and/or bazaars that suit my products will be better as paying rental fees will be less taxing on me. Few hundred bucks for a few days to a week is still within my means. But such events/bazaars are not easy to come by so I'm planning to conduct workshops just to generate more awareness of my company and respones.

Re: Starting a retail business ...
 

i also interested.pls pm me the shop location n rent.
actually i tok of taking the shop in east point what do u all think?

Re: Starting a retail business ...
 

My suggestion :

Start by renting a display box in a well-known shopping centre with salesperson provided.
Currently, suntec city & marina square has it.
Rentals start from $15 /day only.
So for a month , rental might be below $500.
Start small. Through this, you can find out whether your items attract the customers.


Still , to me online selling is still the best:D
Earn around $600 - 700 every month. You need to know what the crowd likes to earn a profit.

Re: Starting a retail business ...
 

Yes. its always interesting to hear from the seniors who had started out before.
I am about to start out, and would like to meet up with coffee with anyone who has advice for a newbie.

Plus the operating system like POS, CSM, etc.

Please PM me your contact no, if any kind souls could help out. :)

Re: Starting a retail business ...
 

Nice cool advices from seniors of the retail industry yeah (:
Im graduating with a diploma in retail studies next year.
And am wondering whether this line is really suitable to earn big bucks!
Be a full time entrepreneur, set up push cart or maybe take part in flea markets(which I've started to do now) Its definately not all with the best sales, but is the experience that I gained that matters! Recently went to a insitution flea market and I barely cover the cost(rental + transportation)
I guess you have to go both online and physical to get more customers, and not to forget the most important thing which is customer relationship management! Safety income of 1k plus to 2k per month is good or venturing out?

Re: Starting a retail business ...
 

You don't need to study retail studies to succeed in retail line.

You need guts, financial, and resources.

Maybe you can PM me your contact no. I will love to catch up on your expertise.

Re: Starting a retail business ...
 

Corrine is my fellow schoolmate in retail studies, I guessed?

For business, it takes courage, patience, able to take advise, able to speak well (either to client or supplier) and of course, business "sense".

Don't do things that don't even make sense to yourself.

Regards,
Takeshi

Re: Starting a retail business ...
 

hey takeshi, good to see you again. i'm guessing you're the other one? :D

actually, i think that doing retail studies is good if you are thinking about going into retail. They teach you things that you dun have to spend time learning for yourself. pricing, logistics, management, etc etc.

of course, if you have lots of resource and money, that makes things easier for you, but a lack of knowladge can still bring you down.

Re: Starting a retail business ...
 

This is an interesting thread and it's just what I needed for the time being. I have been doing online sales for almost 2 years. The one and a half year was merely posting and no advertising done. As such, my sale sucked. I didn't know what to do and was working full time. I have been doing it full time now since I quitted to take care of my daughter. My ultimate dream is to own a shop of my own and later to manufacture my own line like what estilo is doing.

Re: Starting a retail business ...
 

Is good feeling to own a shop but when you are in it you hate it when businesss is bad.You hoping to get out as soon as possible.
I had a retail shop for 5 1/2 years,at first was not bad , get rental and some pocket money.
When economic dowturn whole off last year I did not earn a single cent only enough to cover rental some months I even loss quite a bit of money.
Business was so bad but every week I still have to get new stocks for regulars,so all my money got stuck in the stocks.
Luckily my shop is not in a very popular shopping centre and my rental is quite cheap otherwise I will be broke now.

when I am operating a shop I also have a website help to generate more customers to my shop and it does help a bit.For 51/2 years I built up a pool of customers and next month I closing my shop to sell online and these customers are there to support me.
My advice is study the market first before you go in otherwise you will regret.
Nowadays to open a shop is so expensive.Bear in mind it doesn't mean that you open a shop customers will flock into your shop to buy from you.
I am so happy and relieve that my contract finish end of March.
Last word of advice,having a shop look and feel good but when no business the shop is burden to you.:)