Optimistic
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- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
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As an owner of a small tailoring shop, I thought I'd chime in with a few comments and questions: Wholesale prices vary from place to place and even from shop to shop. That is to say, the guy down the street that sells more suits than me gets a better price per meter on cloth, better credit terms, and probably gets new bunches before me. You will never know what the other guy gets unless you get chummy and he tells you. Even then, you still don't really know. Generally speaking, if you aren't at least doubling you won't be able to pay the rent. Unless you find a dirt cheap place to rent. Try to find a place that has the "vibe" rather than something conventional like foot traffic, etc. If your shop is truly unique and has "personality" people will come. Especially if you have excellent products and good, conscientious service. The place I rent used to be a cigarettes and sports lottery shop. They had a very basic business and my rent probably doubled their monthly income. Of course I had to spend more on remodeling, but that was a one time cost followed by months of cheap rent. Low rent lessens the burdens on your cash flow and gives you more freedom in other aspects of running the shop. Plus having the shop exactly how I wanted it increased the "vibe" and "personality" in the space. In the end, since things can be bought anywhere, people come to the shop because it feels comfortable and because of "You". Now the question is who are "You"? Do you want to wear MMM and live the lifestyle that it conveys? Or do you enjoy menswear, like to talk about it, and think it would be fun to own a shop? In the case of the former, most likely you will never be able to afford the clothes you sell, unless you are wearing merchandise from the shop, in which case you are losing the potential income from selling it. While you may wear some of the clothes, you will find as you get older, you most likely are not living the lifestyle of the people that come to your shop. If the latter is true and you enjoy the concepts, history, and philosophy behind menswear and discussing it at length, then perhaps you should open a shop. But you should think hard about who you are and why you want to open a shop before you do it. Profit should be least of your concerns, because there are many more profitable things for you to do. I will sum it up with this: Opening a shop is easy, sitting in one all day is not. That's why mine is by appointment only.
Wow; thanks for the great reply! I completely forgot about the bolded advice... hahaha