Wow, jumped right in! Starting a business is really a lot like a marriage. I remember that feeling I had 24 hours after the "I do's" thinking, "OMG, what did I do?" I owned a sign business for 16 years and what you're experiencing I believe is quite normal. The mistake that I observed many people make is either lack of funding or lack of motivation. It appears that you're motivated, not sure about the financial piece. Sounds like revamping your business plan would be a good place to start.
As far as clothing is concerned. I had a customer years ago who had an extremely successful small clothing business and she did the following:
1) opened in a location as close to the post office as she could. She felt that the post office was the heart beat of any town and would get the most walking and driving traffic.
2) For fixtures, hangers, and cash register she would look for businesses going out of business and buy on the cheap. She had hangers that were made for fur coats, they were stylish, big, and screamed "high class". Bought them for really cheap. In addition, she also used brown paper wrap that you wrap fish up in and would fold the clothes (mostly t-shirts) like fish. She's in the Pacific Northwest. It took time, but way cool to the consumer. Everything had her sticker on it with logo, address, and phone number.
3) She checked the demographics of the town to determine her market. Mostly a retired community with a lot of seasonal boaters and tourist. So she focused on having a variety of t-shirts with the town's name on them and had some designs done by local artists in which she had the exclusive. She also had a sportswear line that could be worn in basic pieces (sweat pants, leggings) that the t-shirts could go with. Then on top of that she had one designer that made sportswear really suited for boaters (yacht club wear).
She also would look for t-shirts that she could sell on sale on a table outside of her store. What was funny was that these all had teddy bears on them and she would tell me, "oh the grandmas love this". She also would have on that table shirts in kids sizes on sales, once again targeting the grandparents.
She had this store for only a few years and made great profit. She treated her staff really well and gave them incentive bonuses to sell. She was very active with local festivals and would sell shirts geared for that too.
4) Joined the local chamber of commerce and always had promotions for the chamber members. When they would stop by she would give them a discount.
5)Always wrote hand written postcards to customers during slow times. Always stayed late to re-merchandise and keep the store fresh looking. Always had a sign in the window with a weekly special.
6) Always smiled and always made it a point to get to know her customers and those visiting.
7) Love what you do! She did, sold the store for a very large profit, moved to California and started again.
Good luck, I hope this inspires you to move forth!
Alex N Sully
www.AlexanderSullivanGroup.com
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AlexanderSullivan
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