Open a Furniture Store
If you love furniture and know how to furnish a room to make it both comfortable and pleasant, you might consider opening a furniture store. With consumers always looking for such types of furniture as antique furniture, designer furniture and industrial furniture, there are numerous opportunities to turn your passion into a profession. However, you'll need more than a passion for furniture; you'll also need investment capital, business smarts, and perseverance to turn your furniture store into a profitable business. Read the following tips to find out how to open a furniture store.
Steps
- Decide what kind of furniture store you want to open. Remember that for each type of furniture, including antique, modern, design, retro, industrial and used, you'll need a reliable supply line and customers.
- Research the competition in your area. Find out what types of furniture they sell and what their prices are to determine whether there's a market for the products you plan to sell.
- Construct a sound business plan.
- Calculate the costs of a venue, furnishings, equipment, inventory, and delivery trucks.
- Budget for an ongoing marketing plan that includes street advertising, print advertising, television and radio ads, and online advertising with social media.
- Remember to include the cost of accounting, taxes, business loans, licenses, and employees.
- Make a conservative estimate of your returns.
- Include the possibility of opening an online furniture store to complement your sales.
- Raise the necessary starting capital. Explain your business plan to your bank or a private investor and show them how your furniture store is a good investment. Have a lawyer review your investment contract before you sign it to make sure you understand all of the terms.
- Obtain all necessary permits from the city.
- Choose the right location for your furniture store. You'll want a venue with a lot of square footage, as well as sufficient traffic to attract customers.
- Buy all necessary equipment to run your business and furnish your furniture store. You'll want to have a good selection of furniture, and you'll need at least one delivery truck to get your customers' purchases to them.
- Interview and hire employees.
- Advertise your furniture store.
- Open your furniture store.
Tips
- Build sound business relationships with your suppliers, as you'll depend on their products. Have a return policy in place in case any pieces of furniture are damaged and need to be returned.
- If you're selling one-of-a-kind designer furniture, make sure to have a wide variety of unique pieces.
- Use social media to your advantage. Even before opening your furniture store, you can have a website and a blog that keeps the public up to date of new developments.
Things You'll Need
- Business plan
- Capital
- Permits
- Venue
- Equipment
- Delivery truck
- Inventory
