The three invaluable traits needed for high street success
If you’ve walked down a city high street repeatedly over the course of the last several years, you’ve probably witnessed a significant level of change. Since the final few years of the last decade, the average shopping street has seen more than its fair share of challenges - and if you have dreams of launching a retail store, these are challenges you’ll need to face down yourself.
Just from paying attention to business stories on the news, you’ll probably have heard more than enough about the threatened “Death of the British High Street”. On the flip side of that, though, there are plenty of more positive outlooks, and if you’ve got an idea for a bricks and mortar retail store you shouldn’t abandon it. You merely need to think about what it will take to allow you to prosper where others have failed.
Apply local knowledge
If you are opening a retail store on a city street, then it goes without saying that you are moving into the former home of a store which has either failed to thrive, or has thrived so well that it outgrew its original premises.
Either way, this is a chance to apply a little local knowledge. What was here before you? Why did it fail? What makes your business likely to succeed? You have the lessons of the previous inhabitant to fall back on, so use that knowledge.
Keep overheads to a minimum
Running a lean business is essential to seeing out your first year in a retail unit. You’re going to be paying rent or a lease on the store, so from the moment you take possession you should be working hard to get it up and running, booking in a waste removal for the day you get the keys, and minimising the amount of time it takes to be ready for your public.
For this reason, it is also wise to begin with a smaller range of products before scaling up. Concentrate on having an eye-catching exterior and a few excellent products; this way you can get customers through the door and spending money, helping the business to grow organically.
Customer service can’t be faked
The one thing that guarantees return business more surely than anything else is customer service. Leave a positive impact on a customer, and they’ll remember you for all the right reasons - and when they give word-of-mouth recommendations to friends, they’ll have you in mind.
Online, where every transaction is automated and designed for function, customer service can be foregone. In person, it just can’t - so be chatty, be helpful and be knowledgeable about your business area. In short, be memorable for the best reasons.
When it comes right down to it, there is no way you can guarantee a business will be successful. Opening a store on the high street is always going to be somewhat risky - but the more you do to minimise that risk, the better the chance that you will break the recent trend. You can still make a success of a high street retail store - you just need to do the hard work.