I need a business mentor...someone who has opened a retail shop. Just need some guidance from a business owner
541453
I don't own a retail shop, but I've been in business for seven years. The basics of running a business are mostly the same. I can help you with the basics. I suggest you approach a retail shop owner who is not selling the product you wish to market. If you're not a likely competitor, the owner is usually willing to divulge some tips. Let me know what type of guidance you need. Good Luck!
763649
OK, do you really want to nock your brothers socks off?\n\nTry following some or all of this:\n\nAnytime you want to start any kind of business, there are several basics that you will need:\n\n* You should first sit down and think about what it is you want to do and then write out the scenario in detail!  This may sound tedious, but it will help you clarify what it is you are thinking about.  Also, when you talk to anyone about the business (mentor, bank, clients, prospective investor), you will have a clear vision to share with him or her.  You can check any number of books at your local library or the Internet for ideas on creating a business plan or goals list.\n\n* Is there anyone out there doing something like what you want to do already?  Can you research what it is that they do and maybe even talk with them about what they do?\n\n* Are there businesses out there that are doing some aspect that you want to do?  In this case, you want to create an online drop shipment business.  What websites have you seen that you like (can you talk with them)?  How does the local McDonalds or other retail outlet do business that might help you in yours (i.e. how is McDonalds able to provide a product to a customer on demand at almost anytime of day – and do it with a much of high school kids)?\n\n* Never listen to anyone who says that you CANNOT do something UNLESS they have been there and tried that!!!!!  Anyone can tell you the good things that you can try or do, however, only someone who has actually tried the specific thing your are thinking can truly give you advise on the pitfalls that could await the unsuspecting.\n\n* If you want to look for a mentor (free or paid – although mentors usually offer their time at no cost), the question that you should be ready to address is WIIFM (What In It For Me {the mentor})!  What are you willing to do for your mentor to help them with something that they may need (for me it’s simple – I am looking for 10 points :-)\n\n\nContacts:\n\n* Contact your local Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce – they have business people who will help start up operations.\n\n* Contact your local high school, community college or university and find out whom the teachers are for courses related to your business (like business or computer/internet classes).  Contact these teachers to get some ideas or even to see if they will take you company startup on as a class project or special project for some of the student to work on (might give the students extra credit and you a free startup).  In the worst case, you might get the names of some good students whom you might hire to do certain aspects of what you need at a very low cost.\n\n* Contact you local, county or state governments (check their websites) – many areas have small business administrations (or some other agency that can help with various things) that have any number of references and resources available at little or no cost.\n\n* Go to your local library in the Reference Section and find the Encyclopedia of Associations.  It is a three-book set published by Gale Research.  The first book lists thousands of tiles of professional organizations and groups.  It will give a code number to use in the other two books to find out more about that organization.  Contact the organizations who have something to do with your idea and find out if they have a services to give you advise or local groups that you can network with.  In many cases, just asking for membership and publications information may give you a lot of useful stuff.\n\n\nOther outstanding sources that I have used in running my four businesses:\n\n* Nightingale-Conant – the largest producer of audio/video training programs in the world.  Many of their programs can be borrowed for free from local libraries.  http://www.nightingale.com\n\n* Entrepreneur Magazine (http://www.entrepreneurmag.com) – many great tips and ideas about running a company.\n\n* Rich Dad Poor Dad - http://
555505
I recommend checking out the SBA, Entrepreneur, The Start Up Journal & Nolo. All 4 are great informational resources for the new/small business owner. I posted links for you in the source box.\n\nAssociations may be a good avenue to explore as well. These organizations will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for some relevant links. \n\nResearch, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can about the industry. Here are some book titles that are relevant:\n\nFabJob Guide to Become a Bookstore Owner (FabJob Guides) by Grace Jasmine\nHow To Start & Manage A Bookstore Business: A Practical Way To Start Your Own Business \nby Jerre G. Lewis, Leslie D. Renn\nRetail Business Kit for Dummies by Rick Segel\nRetail Success! by George Whalin\n\nThere are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.\n\nHope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!
938400
choose online retailer... if this is a true start up company you'll go through so many problem solving episodes.  Once u handle the online business and get it going, branching out in retail locations seems a good next step to expand.
839429
ask what the cost to buy into this is (the start up cost). ask about the  term of the agreement, ask amout what kind of help they are going to give you to help this business get up and running? Good luck
909499
A lot of people dream of owning their own clothing store. My recommendation is always to start by researching on the business and learning everything about it -- before starting. Clothing stores, especially, require lots of capital to start so you cannot afford to make a lot of mistakes\n\nHere are some articles that provide information on how to start a clothing store:\n\nHow to Start a Clothing Store http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,287057,00.html\nStarting a Specialized Clothing Retailing Business http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol89/specialized.htm\nStarting a Retail Clothing Store http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1102419629706&pagename=CBSC_SK%2Fdisplay&lang=en&c=GuideHowto\n\nOne of the first steps is to prepare a business plan. Especially if you are planning on applying for loans, the process of business planning can help you think through your business. It can help you decide on the type of store, determine the costs involved, how to get suppliers to sell to you, how to market the store, expected profitability, etc.\n\nHere are sample business plans for a clothing store that you can check out: \n\nRetail Clothing http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/business-plans/Business-Plans-Volume-01/Retail-Clothing.html\nMen's Clothing Retailer http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/business-plans/Business-Plans-Volume-04/Men-s-Clothing-Retailer.html\nSpecial Needs Clothing Store http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/business-plans/Business-Plans-Volume-07/Special-Needs-Clothing-Store.html\n\nFor detailed information, I suggest you check out the following books: \n\nStart Your Own Clothing Store (Entrepreneur Magazine's Start Up) (Paperback) by Entrepreneur Press \nRetail Business Kit for Dummies by Rick Segel \nSpecialty Shop Retailing: How to Run Your Own Store Revised by Carol L. Schroeder \n\nYou may also want to check out the resources of the following associations: \n\nProfessional Apparel Association http://www.proapparel.com/ \nAmerican Apparel Producer’s Network http://www.usawear.org/ \nWorldwide Responsible Apparel Manufacture http://www.wrapapparel.org/\nAmerican Apparel and Footwear Association http://www.americanapparel.org/\nNational Association of Fashion and Accessory Designers http://www.nafad.com/ \nFashion Group International http://www.fgi.org/ \nApparel News http://www.apparelnews.net/ \n\nAs for grants, unfortunately, if you are in the US, the government hardly gives any grants for starting a for-profit business. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for a for-profit business. \n\nNonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov - these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.\n\nEven if you buy books on "how to get grants" or list that supposedly has information on grants -- all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently. But still the info is the same - hardly any grants for starting a for profit business.\n\nEven SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html\n\n"The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See http://www.sba.gov/financing for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments."\n\nHere is a listing of federal grants for small businesses. See if there is any available for individuals
627457
I agree with experience first and foremost.  Secondly, consult with the SBA and any successful business owners whose brains you can pick.  There is much to know and do.  The majority of small businesses fail and it is due to the fact that people are not prepared for the realities of operating a business and don't have enough start up capital.
638817
Prices can be helpful when you're looking around online for a place to go. Any specials that you have going on would be good to have on there. You should link to a map website that can give customers driving directions, and give ways to contact you.\nmaybe a message board? It could start a community that likes to hang out at your place, and you would also get feedback.
848048
hello friend  \nI am very happy we can discuss about business experience .i hope we can told each other  more important experience .i have a website online store, we are pleasure to offer you large selection of fine products .we are a dedicated shoes .clothes . curio computer for many years ,on this website we will introduce our brand ,as Jordan Puma Nike Gucci Monster dunk Turbo tommy polo Adidas Prada Sony ,Panasonic Lenovo Apple Fujitsu an so on, i hope you can wasting a little time to looking for it, the quality is very goods ,and the price is very low,we can offer large numbers of goods for the seller, this is my MSN llpshop@hotmail.com and bjfshop@hotmail.com .my email address is bjfshop@hotmail.com   fengshop@hotmail.com \ni hope you can joins us ,we are happy contact with some overseas friends .make friend with you ,and make a business-ship with you ,we hope you can interest in our website goods and joins us .thank you very much .\nHave a nice day \nllpshop
145685
Well if you decide to make it into a business you might want to check out http://www.merchantcircle.com\n\nthey're a new site whose sole purpose is to help small businesses grow. They provide tools to connect with the local community and help target potential customers through newsletters and coupons.\n\ncould be of some help, hope it does :)
531777
You are going to need to do lot of cold calling and maybe even showing up face to face for with the business owners/retailers.\n\nWhy don't you hire some sales people to help you?
849526
Hello I have run my own small business in the past so I can sympathise with you. My guess is the one thing your NOT looking closely enough at is your competitors? do you know who your competitors are? where are they? who is taking your previous customers away from you? what are your competitors doing that your NOT? Ask yourself what you can do inorder to match or atleast challenge your compeitors?\n\n**Do you know what your competitors are charging for a standard item you, yourselves might sell :- for example take something simple like a gold ring or chain?\n\n**Dont be shy go into your competitors shops/premises have a good look around see how they operate, see what they offer that you dont?\n\n**Do you have an online shop/store. If you dont then you need a good kick because you cannot afford NOT to offer online sales. Even if its only a web presence, you must offer an online sales channel it could make all the difference to your cash flow. Try it you wont know until you do it.\n\nBest Regards to you.
377365
If you know what business you want to start, try to determine if successful people in that business have schooling.  Try to talk to one of them, tell them you need a mentor.\n\nIf you want a business you can start right away, write me (jstmother) at yahoo.
331023
You might want to start by contacting the manufacturers of the shoes and clothing and ask them their criteria for allowing someone to become an authorized dealer of their products.  If you don't have a business plan, yet, you might want to consider drafting one soon, as they will likely want to see such a plan before they commit to anything.  Good luck with your venture.
304197
visit other stores in you area, talk up the owners, visit the local chamber of commerce, contact the small business administration.  get a part time job at a store in your area to see some of the inside ropes.  talk with your banker about how one gets a line of credit.  talk with wholesalers about how they charge for goods delivered and the differnt terms they may extend.
38677
Start with something you or someone you know already own. \n\nI started a business making leather goods with only $300 investment. I already had most of the tools and supplies but I needed a wider range of leather. My first time selling netted $700 profit and I still had 3/4 of my supplies left. I turned it into a $80G a year business in two years.\n\nOne important factor in creating a business is passion. You have to love what you do.\n\nFrom a cleaning service (everyone has enough supplies to do at least the first house or two..then you reinvest your money to grow), to house painting (more supplies but can be bought at dollar stores for the first house), and the list goes on.\n\nI have built and sold 7 businesses in my life and am on business 8. Don't feel that once you start, thats where your stuck forever. Feel free to learn and grow with life. Get the book "Who moved my cheese" to help you learn how to move through tech changes.\n\nTake a piece of paper and draw a page sized T on it. The right side is cons the left is pros. Write your abilities down on the pro side then pencil in the cons to having a business doing that ability. You will find one or two strengths to work on.\n\nOnce you find what you want to do, find someone who is doing it and ask some questions. You will need to know how long it took to become established. Does the business support them and or their family. Do they like what they do. If not, why.\n\n2 out of three privately owned businesses fail the first year. They tend to work best when you have another job the first year or even two so you can reinvest your money to build the business. Its hard work but worth it if it makes you happy.
391443
I would definitely encourage you, because I've often needed to contract out some of those services for my business.  The problem works both ways, though, because it is just as difficult for the businesses buying those services to find YOU.  The other thing that would put me off is that usually such services are critically important to our success, and I'm very cautious about who I would farm it out to.  I think the key will be making the personal contact with other small business people...we're the ones who will most need the services.  Try joining your local chamber of commerce and networking there, or see if there are other networking groups in your area.  I think the personal contact is important, because I'd be more likely to call someone when I know them and they look dependable.  But you might also try putting out flyers at Staples or Office Depot parking lots. All us small business types go there from time to time.  Best of luck to you.