This is interesting, because I've always been told you should "do market research" and "figure out who your customer is" and I always thought, like, HOW? If you're not selling anything yet, how can you possibly do either well enough for it to be much help? So I always suspected that was, to some degree, BS.
And I agree about fixtures but I think if they look TOO used/aren't suitable for the task they're being put to, it can look like you're already struggling and create a desperate ambience. Like, leave that old grocery store shelving you found in the alley for the scrappers. I know it's free. But leave it, unless it's going in the back room or you have a creative plan to revamp it. But maybe that's just me looking through store owner eyes.
There is no market research. That *is* some BS the SBDC and SBA tell you to do. Trends change too fast now to do any sort of useful market research before you launch anyway. For better or worse, your products are the research. Who would have known two years ago that tinned fish would be a thing? Tinned fish.
All of this advice applies to online businesses too! Don’t stock inventory (aka digital courses), don’t buy expensive furnishings you can’t move (you don’t need the custom $10K website when you start), and don’t load up on tech too early. Great insights!
The thing about personal tastes is a bit tricky, because there's a fine line between just stocking what you like and thoughtful curation. I own a bicycle store in Chicago (ask me how that's going 🙄😬), and there's just no way right now to make the right decision. If you forego your own tastes, you end up being just like every other shop, completely commoditized. If you curate heavily (which we do), some visitors come in, look at our very unusual selection of products (literally NO ONE in Chicago has what we stock), and say "is this all you got?" We are planning, or hoping, to draw a niche customer, but it's taking a little too long for comfort. Either way, even if we stock what's "expected" those same visitors are likely to be very choosy and picky and need to "sleep on it" before (if ever) they become customers. And either way, I am sitting on $1000's in unsold inventory, wondering how I'll make it through the winter.
This is interesting, because I've always been told you should "do market research" and "figure out who your customer is" and I always thought, like, HOW? If you're not selling anything yet, how can you possibly do either well enough for it to be much help? So I always suspected that was, to some degree, BS.
And I agree about fixtures but I think if they look TOO used/aren't suitable for the task they're being put to, it can look like you're already struggling and create a desperate ambience. Like, leave that old grocery store shelving you found in the alley for the scrappers. I know it's free. But leave it, unless it's going in the back room or you have a creative plan to revamp it. But maybe that's just me looking through store owner eyes.
There is no market research. That *is* some BS the SBDC and SBA tell you to do. Trends change too fast now to do any sort of useful market research before you launch anyway. For better or worse, your products are the research. Who would have known two years ago that tinned fish would be a thing? Tinned fish.
All of this advice applies to online businesses too! Don’t stock inventory (aka digital courses), don’t buy expensive furnishings you can’t move (you don’t need the custom $10K website when you start), and don’t load up on tech too early. Great insights!
The thing about personal tastes is a bit tricky, because there's a fine line between just stocking what you like and thoughtful curation. I own a bicycle store in Chicago (ask me how that's going 🙄😬), and there's just no way right now to make the right decision. If you forego your own tastes, you end up being just like every other shop, completely commoditized. If you curate heavily (which we do), some visitors come in, look at our very unusual selection of products (literally NO ONE in Chicago has what we stock), and say "is this all you got?" We are planning, or hoping, to draw a niche customer, but it's taking a little too long for comfort. Either way, even if we stock what's "expected" those same visitors are likely to be very choosy and picky and need to "sleep on it" before (if ever) they become customers. And either way, I am sitting on $1000's in unsold inventory, wondering how I'll make it through the winter.