Considering starting up your own business? You’re far from alone. Throughout the course of the pandemic, many people lost work and many people started to seriously reconsider their career paths. Running a business comes hand in hand with a host of benefits, so it’s not surprising that many people are really considering it. You are your own boss, you manage what you sell, who you sell to, who you work with, what you charge, where you work from and how many hours you work. But choosing whether to step into eCommerce or brick-and-mortar operations can be difficult. Here’s some advice that will help to guide you along this part of your journey.
Does Your Business Require a Brick and Mortar Presence?
First things first, it’s important to consider whether your business needs a brick and mortar presence. There are some types of businesses that can’t really operate without a physical location. If you want to open a cafe, restaurant or bar, you’re going to need commercial premises and these tend to be the businesses that do thrive in an in-person setting. If you are opening a gym, a beauty clinic of some sort, a hairdresser or other trades that require you to carry out a service with people in attendance, again, a brick and mortar store can be the best option. However, many businesses that sell products, such as clothing brands, beauty brands, packaged food brands and more can easily operate online and online operations could prove a better springboard than a brick and mortar business.
The Benefits of Ecommerce
If you’re running a business that doesn’t require an in-person presence, Ecommerce can generally be a much better place to start out. You gain the benefit of reduced operational costs from the get-go. You don’t have to worry about commercial rent, property overheads or store assistants to assist and serve customers. Instead, you can fork out set-up fees for a website and you’re good to go with minimal ongoing commitments to pay third parties or bills. With Ecommerce, your store is also open 24/7 to individuals all around the country – or even international customers if you can provide international shipping. This can maximise sales, seeing you make money in your sleep.
Going Ahead With Brick and Mortar
Of course, if you run a business that does require a brick-and-mortar store, or if you’re simply set on running a brick-and-mortar store, you can experience success too. Here are some steps you’ll need to take.
Find a Premises
First, find a premise. You need to find a balance between a good location with plenty of footfall and cost. Do market research. See where your target demographic is spending time. Set up here.
Create a Sign
Of course, once you have your store, you need to brand it to let people know who you are. This is where Sign Makers can come in useful, crafting you a beautiful sign that will help your business to stand out from the crowd.
Furnishing
Next, furnishing your store. You’re going to need a POS (such as needing to invest in barcode scanners), display stands, and all the amenities your customers will need to browse your goods and make purchases.
Setting up a store is hard work, but it is still possible to experience success through brick and mortar nowadays. Hopefully, some of the information above will help you to make the right decisions and experience success!
