Is Opening up a storefront for your direct to garment printer shop or embroidery business right for you?
Opening up a storefront for your direct to garment printer shop or embroidery business is a huge endeavor and can be an enormous cost. In some cases, it is essential to your business, or can boost its sales tremendously and give a real presence in your city. In others, opening a storefront is an unnecessary burden, and can sink your business to the ground, rather than lift it up.
With the popularity of online shopping, opening an online retail store can be a viable—indeed, even better—alternative to a physical storefront. However, this does not mean that every business, or business person, idea is translatable to the web. Some businesses are better served by a street location.
If you are considering opening a storefront for your business, you need to consider your product, your clientele, and your overall business goals. Opening a brick-and-mortar location can be a great foundation for your direct to garment printer shop or embroidery business. It’s your space, your place, your baby. A store gives your brand exposure. Thousands of people will see your store on a daily basis, just by driving or walking by. This is why, as the say in the real estate business, everything is about location, location, location.
You can read about one successful businesses, both online only and brick and mortar in the Success Stories section of Coldesi.com
If your store is tucked away in some remote part of the city, or on the outskirts, chances are not many people are going to drop by. It’s not worth investing in a second-rate location. If you can’t afford to splurge on a plot in a bustling section of the city, a storefront probably isn’t the best option (at least not until you have more funds to start). Make sure there is parking available nearby your store— all the cars passing by won’t be beneficial to you if they have nowhere to park in order to visit your store.
Online T-Shirt Sales and Profits
Your storefront can be a huge profit generator, but getting it to such a level is tricky. You might just be making ends meet on a monthly basis. There are many costs associate with a store, including rent, insurance, utilities, and staffers. On top of that, you need to keep your shelves fully-stocked; otherwise, it looks like something is off. You’ll need a lot more merchandise on-hand than if you had an online store. Keep in mind that ordering merchandise, particularly internationally, can take several weeks and be expensive, so order in advance and keep extra merchandise on-hand so you can restock when things run out.
Opening a Retail Store for Custom Tees
Even if you opt for a storefront, you will still need some sort of online presence. If you want a website, your startup costs will include professional photos, product descriptions, a shopping cart system and a merchant account. Spend good money to have the website done properly and to make it look good. In fact, starting with a website is probably the best way to start your business, even if you decide not to open a storefront.
More and more people shop online and you could build your brand with minimal expenses and open a store in the future, once you have more funds. Additionally, with an online brand, you can spread news of your brand much faster and gain online fame. Get bloggers and other internet ‘celebrities’ to link to your website and promote your products. You might even consider sending them samples of your products for free for them to review. Their followers will see their reviews and find your Whatever route you decide to go, be sure you way the above pros and cons before you make any moves. Good luck!
