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Entrepreneurs - Got a Great Retail Concept But Can’t Afford A Shop?

Written by: Lee Lister

Article Overview: Sometimes circumstances dictate that you can’t afford a retail shop but you really want to get your business started. Many small, retail businesses are not suitable to run from your home base or via a warehouse. Web sites, whilst having low start up costs, also take a lot of marketing and time to become profitable. Why not think about starting a kart or kiosk in a shopping mall? Here are a few points to consider.

Entrepreneurs - Got a Great Retail Concept But Can’t Afford A Shop?

As always Location, Location, Location: Many businesses need to be physically located out in midst of everyday life, in broad daylight where shoppers can easily find them. The location of your business is crucial to its survival. A store’s location can often spell its success or failure. Without sufficient store recognition, a business can suffer poor cash flow and will inevitably fail over time.

The location itself of the mall plays a huge role in your kart’s success. Is the mall located in an isolated part of the city or town, or right in the heart of the action? You must forecast the level as well as the timing of traffic your business will receive during the morning, midday, and late afternoon on each day of the week. Therefore, you can efficiently establish an employment schedule as well as appropriate operating hours.

Choose your mall carefully so that it has ample traffic of potential customers. Go there with a “clicker” and see how many people pass by per hour. Visit on several different days of the week as well as at different times.

Quality of Traffic: It is one thing to have steady traffic, and another to have the kind of traffic that your business needs. Some malls attract low-to-middle income people, while some other malls are targeted towards the upper class. Ensure that the kind of traffic in the mall is the kind that may buy your products.

Position in the Mall: Your success in a mall will depend on whether you are located in a section that is conducive to what your business is selling. You should look at the complementary nature of the adjacent stores. If you are a gourmet store, you may want to be located near a restaurant where people are already in their “hunger fulfilling” state of mind. Complementary businesses, such as fine jewelry and gourmet food, have also been proven to work well together as both its customers are likely to have disposable income and a tendency to spend for these two genres of luxury products.

Similarly high volume areas where lines of patrons form, such as theaters or department stores, are also good mall locations as it could give potential customers several minutes to look in your display or listen to your sales pitch.

Costs: Rental costs in shopping malls are often higher than rates in downtown Main Street. You main consideration should be: will the higher traffic compensate for the increased rental cost? If you can easily recover your monthly rental payment and overhead expenses, you’re in a good position to make a profit.

People Buy with their Eyes!: Lastly ensure that you display your products in an tempting manner. Karts and Kiosks are very good in selling items that are “impulse buys”. Make your products appealing and your sales pitch interesting and your sales will increase!

Lastly, as business improves, you can easily buy or lease another kart!

Consider all of the above and good luck with your kart business.

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Article Tags: broad daylight, cash flow, clicker, complementary businesses, complementary nature, days of the week, different times, disposable income, everyday life, fine jewelry, gourmet food, gourmet store, high volume, late afternoon, location location location, luxury products, midday, operating hours, right in the heart, steady traffic



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