Run a profitable clothing store

Chapter 53 Issues to be aware of when expanding a store (1)
It is undeniable that expanding the scale does have many benefits, such as the unification and standardization of product specifications; the reduction of unit purchase costs through the purchase of large quantities of raw materials; the professionalization and streamlining of management personnel and engineering and technical personnel; Product development; with strong competitiveness.But at the same time, there are risks in various aspects of expansion. This chapter mainly tells you about the issues that you should pay attention to when expanding your store.

Appropriate store size

There used to be a popular view called "zero-profit operation", which means that a business should not put profit first, but should expand rapidly, make the clothing store bigger, create momentum, and make a well-known brand.

In 1997, the manager of "Red Sorghum" not only accepted this view, but also believed that he had obtained the "tantra" of doing business.So, start to practice this "strategy".Take 10 stores as a group, and open stores in Shenzhen, Tianjin, Beijing, Henan, Hainan and other places at the same time.The company plans not to make profits in 3 years, but to seek scale and brand first, and then seek profits.As a result, after 3 years, it was a complete failure.

The lesson of "Red Sorghum" proves that the "zero profit" business concept is harmful to the enterprises in the start-up period and the pursuit of scale.Treating a small shop as a big business, attacking across the board, casting a big net to catch small fish, is in vain, resulting in the failure of the store operation.Because small shops are still in the early stage and have no ability to resist risks.

The correct goal of an enterprise must be the pursuit of profit, not scale.The expansion of new stores is undoubtedly the top priority in the development of clothing stores, but we must not blindly pursue the number and speed of opening stores.

Every time a store is opened, a lot of market research and analysis must be done in advance to evaluate the popularity indicators of the business district and the purchasing power of the area, and to adjust the brand and product varieties in a targeted manner. The planning and brewing of new stores takes a long time When opening a clothing store, you must really have a well-thought-out plan.

Clothing stores need to maintain sufficient funds

It is very difficult to start a business without sufficient funds.Because the basic principle of doing business is to "seek profit from capital", without sufficient capital, it is bound to be stumbling and inconvenient to start a business.

Running a clothing store usually requires two parts of funds: one is the store opening fund, and the other is the store operating fund.The former generally accounts for [-]% to [-]% of the total investment in opening a store, and it is a one-time investment. If the opening of the store fails, it is difficult to recover the funds.

Clothing store operating capital refers to the funds for purchasing clothing, which should usually be three times the monthly turnover of the store.Because in actual operation, the first batch of clothing purchased by the store may make mistakes, and the second batch of marketable clothing must be raised in time, otherwise the store may fall into the dilemma of being ruthlessly abandoned by the market.

In real life, many people ignore the importance of store operating funds, thinking that after the store is opened, it will definitely make money by guarding the store.However, if there is a mistake in clothing procurement and the business performance of the store is at a very low level, there is not enough funds to pay various expenses and raise new clothes, and you can only watch the store wither all the way until it closes.Therefore, you must prepare enough funds to open a clothing store, so that the business can be successful.

When there is a dispute over ownership, for example, sometimes a thriving clothing store closes down in a short period of time, and it is difficult for outsiders to see why.When this happens, it is mostly due to problems within the store, the most common being a dispute over the ownership of the store.

Nowadays, many shops are jointly invested and established by several owners, and each person has an idea. When irreconcilable conflicts arise between these people, the business of the clothing store is bound to be affected, and sometimes the impact can even be devastating.This point should also arouse the full attention of the operators. As the saying goes, "everything prospers in harmony at home", only harmony can make money.

Skills for Rapid Growth of Clothing Stores

Every store operator wants to make his store grow up quickly in order to expand its scale and earn more profits.To achieve this goal, we should start from the following aspects:
(1) Persevere.If you finally open a clothing store, you should take good care of it and persevere. I believe that persistence will lead to victory!

(2) study.Novices who open a clothing store are generally not very proficient in business management and other businesses. Therefore, they must constantly learn this knowledge and have positive experience.Then look at the experience of its store.

(3) Service.When dealing with your customers, you must always pay attention to whether your attitude will offend him.At any time, don't forget that customers are God, maybe customers will bring people around them to patronize.

(4) It is necessary to make some exquisite small paper advertisements. First of all, let people know what styles of clothing are roughly available in your clothing store.

(5) Carry out some small activities during holidays or peak periods of people flow, such as discounts and discounts.

(6) Re-examine your storefront.For example, does the decoration in the store make people feel comfortable?Is it easy to make people want to walk into the store?
Avoid business mistakes
When you find that your clothing store is not doing well, you should find out the reasons from the following aspects:

1. Choose a store
The conditions for choosing a good store address are:

(1) The store area is slightly larger, generally more than 30 square meters.

(2) There are a certain number of residents in the surrounding area (based on the radius of 500 meters).

(3) There are many pedestrians passing by in front of the store.

The reason for choosing a store in this way is mainly to consider the combination of less investment and the combination of movement and static of the source of customers. The low rent of the store can afford an appropriate cost for media advertising, so that consumers have a brand identity.

2. Selection
Clothing selection errors usually manifest themselves in two ways:
(1) Purchasing goods based on the feeling of the shopkeeper. A large number of styles that the shopkeeper thinks are good-looking come in, and these styles are often not what customers like.

(2) Choose clothing according to the trend, and enter in large quantities when you see popular styles on the street, resulting in fierce competition for homogeneous clothing.

The solution to this problem is mainly to fully understand the needs of consumers, communicate with consumers more before purchasing, and consider which clothing to buy from the needs of most people; Compete with peers on price.When purchasing goods, try to ask the wholesaler to promise to return the goods within a certain period of time, or to return the goods in proportion, which can reduce the pressure on inventory.

3. Selection
When selecting clerks, the condition is basically "young and beautiful". Due to the lack of corresponding life experience, such clerks lack the ability to guide when communicating with consumers, and their sales performance is not ideal.When recruiting clerks, the following conditions are required, that is, friendly smiles, a comfortable image when communicating, and a strong sense of responsibility (observation after arrival). The clerks recruited based on these conditions can communicate effectively with customers, so that It is possible for the store turnover to increase significantly.

4. Promotion
It is the traditional way to open a store and keep the store. It is the habit of the store owner to wait for customers to enter the store and let them choose by themselves. Few people think about the "work" outside the store. This practice makes many customers pass by the store. I can enter the store.

5. Selling
The vast majority of clothing stores have the theory of "violent money", that is, a certain type or several types of clothing sell too much. This phenomenon makes many shopkeepers feel proud of the correct selection of purchases, but in fact this is not a good thing. Therefore, if there is a "violent money", there will be a corresponding "slow-salable money". This is the main reason why many people put the money they earn from opening a store on the bottom of a pile of goods.

The correct way to deal with this kind of problem is that the clerk should learn how to recognize and distribute the goods, so that every piece of clothing is a good product in the eyes of the clerk, so that all the clothing in the store can find suitable customers.

6. Management
This kind of failure is caused by the lack of system in the store. Some of the systems are nothing more than regulations on commuting hours. The store owner uses this system to restrain the staff.In fact, no matter what the system is, only the system that can mobilize the enthusiasm of the shop assistants is the best system.

7. Service
Service errors are mainly manifested in two aspects of "passive service" and "no follow-up service". These errors lead to low transaction rate and transaction volume, making it difficult to win repeat customers.For example, after the customer enters the store, although the clerk greets the customer with polite language, he lacks behavioral reception, that is, he allows the customer to choose the product by himself, and the whole transaction is passive service.To change the situation of mediocre performance, we must do active sales.

Business philosophy is very important
If you want to expand the scale of your own clothing store, in addition to having strong financial strength, you should also establish a correct business philosophy.Generally, there are the following types:

1. The concept of competition
Any kind of clothing store is not exclusive in the market, and competition is inevitable.The competition among clothing stores is the competition of market share, which leads to differences in market share and thus different economic benefits.Store owners must establish the concept of competition, dare to participate in competition, dare to defeat competitors, and be good at competition, pay attention to research methods and strategies of competition, and regard competition as the driving force for the development of stores.

2. The concept of gratitude
(End of this chapter)