LJIDW-LPF Week 5 Tibreaker. Topic: Open

I'm going to open a shop!! *happy dance*

I'm so excited about it, more excited than I have been about anything for ages!

I just have one problem: I don't know how to open the shop :-/ By which I mean, how to get from my current non-shop-opening status to, y'know, actually opening the shop. But I am going to open the shop! I believe in myself! I can do this! I know I can.

What I need to do is to figure out all of the steps needed from here to there. I'm a smart person, I can figure it out. You wanna make a project plan with me? Yes, let's make a project plan!

So, what do I need to know for the shop?

1) What kind of shop am I going to open?
I know this one! I'm going to make things and then sell them! And make and sell kits so that people can make their own. And maybe teach classes on how to make it, too. And possibly have a little teashop in the corner...

Ok, let's not get carried away... stick to the primary purpose of the shop for now, you can always add the teashop later.

That is an excellent point.
Lesson one: Stay focused on the task at hand.
Lesson two: There is a right time for everything.

2) Are people going to want to actually buy my stuff?

This is an excellent question. And I will need to do some market research about that.

2b) You're not getting off that easily, what kind of market research will you do?

Hmmm. Ok then. I will look up all of the competition in the area -- including the internet, I'll come back to that in a minute -- to see what they have that's similar and where the niches are. From there I will put additional thought into the specific products I can offer, and also use the competition as a basis for starting to price items.

Thinking about it further, of course there is always going to be an element of "you won't know until you try", which is why it's important to start smaller and build up, so I'm not risking more than I can afford at the start of the business, but I can also make samples and prototypes. I can give the prototypes away to family, friends and acquaintances to try out for free in exchange for their feedback on the items. Actually, no, giving them away for free probably isn't conducive to them being valued by the consumers. Giving an 80% discount probably is. I can take the samples to trade shows and collect orders there for custom items and hear the comments of customers and potential customers about the products and their designs. (And again, charge them for it.) I don't know how I'd find out about trade shows, though, probably have to search on the internet and take it from there.

Lesson three: you won't know until you try
Lesson four: know what you can afford to risk
Lesson five: take note of feedback and build upon it
Lesson six: start as you mean to go on so far as charging for your work is concerned (and everything else)
Lesson seven: know what you don't know; figure out how to figure it out

3) What are your plans with "start small and build up"?

Selling to people I know, first, as I mentioned. I think my next stop will be Etsy, where I also need to check out the competition. Etsy and then trade shows, a market stall, and finally, finally, with a good wind at my back, open the actual shop in the future.

4) Where are you at with the products?

I have a few ideas for different items, but again, I'll start small. I can always add new designs later -- or alternatively I can specialise from the products I have, if one thing sells well and another thing doesn't.

My skills could use some improvement. And I think I will need to do some research on the materials and the tools I will need to run the business. So I think my first step here is to make some sketches of the products I am thinking of making, listing the materials and then researching those. I can then use those materials in other projects I'm working on until my skills increase and I can make the things well. At this point I will need to draw up more specific designs/templates for the items I want to sell. Once I'm at the samples stage, I will need to also time myself making them, and establish if that speed is fair for the product and the price I want to charge.

5) Speaking of the price, where are you with the business side of things?

I am great at brainstorming, so I am confident I will be able to think of lots of great marketing ideas -- indeed I have already! -- but the challenge will be knowing when to use them and to keep them at a reasonable price relative to the stage that the business is at. I will need to do some research into the best way to market via social media.

Legally, I will probably need some advice; there will be things I can look up, but I will need to speak to a professional about this.

The finances are easy for me to keep in hand, although I will need to raise some seed money to get things going. I don't know how to price things, but I can figure that out based on the competition and the production costs.

I think I will struggle to name the shop, because I don't like committing to one option to the exclusion of all of the other options. And scheduling it all will be tricky, especially at this early stage, but, I think my plan of starting with the designs and then identifying and moving on to the one next task, and so on, is a good one.

And I think taking a beginner's course in Business Administration will definitely help further down the line.

Sounds like I'm all set! I just need to keep figuring it out one step at a time, and I will get there, even if I can't figure it all out now.

Lesson eight: there's always some way to make progress. Just find the one next thing, and then do that, and then do it again.

I'm going to open a shop!! *happy dance*