starting up a bridal boutique, advice appreciated.

[Nicola0482]

hi, this is my first post to the forum.
Very very early stages but I am hoping to set up my own bridal boutique in view to extending in the future once established to occasion wear, I have management experience in retail & have done an AAT course which covered bookkeeping but I have not directly worked in a bridal boutique.
I have been doing research into my location, target customer, stock & pricing, start up costs & financing but not totally sure how to get all the information I need to do my business plan and secure finance to get started.
If their are any boutique owners out there who could give me some advice/mentoring or tips of where to start I'd be really grateful.
Boutique owners in my area are reluctant to give advice understandably as I would be their competition.
would it be advisable to seek help from a financial adviser or accountant?
thank you, Nicola.

 

[FrenchT]

Hi Nicola, I don't know if I can help you or not, but I have worked in bridal shops and have run my own wedding floristry business. I did look into opening my own bridal boutique a couple of years ago, but decided not to. If there's anything I can help you with, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Nicola0482]

Thank you FrenchT like I say still very early stages just doing some research still.
I’ve worked in retail and management so I have run a ladies fashion store before but not a bridal store so I don’t know the daily routine and how much sample dresses cost how much I can mark them up etc I have been looking at the designers and will contact them soon to get a better idea for my costings but if you Can give me an insight in relation to the day to day running of a bridal store that would be really helpful.
On average how many dresses did you sell in the store you worked for each month?
And do you mind me asking your reasons for deciding against opening your own store?
Thanks.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I recently provided funding for a start up wedding dress shop (which I assume is similar?)

Their biggest single cost was stock, for which they secured a Government Start Up Loan.

Our funding was for the fit out of the shop which with some hard work and design skills on their part they achieved on a budget of just £7,000.

On the other hand, there are some long lead times so early cashflow isn't great.

 

[Nicola0482]

Thank you all for your advice, will definitely be consulting with an accountant and looking into marketing side.
Also been reading up on the start up loans site and all their helpful guides.

 

[makeyourbusinessbetter]

Hi Nicola

Research

Continue to do your research and fine tune your business plan. Visit as many bridal shops as you can. Go to wedding fayres and exhibitions. Look at websites too. Ask around.
What are people's experiences of going to bridal shops?
What do the good ones do?
What do the bad ones do?

Experience

That's great you have management experience in retail. Why not see if you can get work experience in a bridal shop? This is traditionally a busy time of year. They might welcome an extra pair of hands, especially someone with your experience of running a ladies fashion store. It will provide you with valuable first hand experience of how such a shop operates on a daily basis. Maybe you might meet someone currently running a bridal shop but looking to develop the occasion wear side of things, something you have relevant experience of.

Good luck

Gordon

 

[FrenchT]

Hi Nicola, sorry for my late reply.

Firstly, contact wedding dress designers to see if they will let you sell their dresses in your shop. Most designers like, for example, a 10 mile radius between bridal boutiques selling their dresses, so if a nearby bridal shop is stocking dresses that you would like to sell the chances are the designer won't let you stock them. Also, some designers want you to buy a certain amount of their autumn, winter, spring and summer designs in order for you to stock their dresses in your shop. Choose your designers carefully. I would say, on average, the mark up on bridal dresses is 3 times cost.

I worked in a very large bridal shop, with expensive overheads and could sell anything between 3-6 dresses over a weekend. I worked in a team of 5 bridal consultants. I also worked in 2 smaller shops and sold approx. 2 dresses per week. It depends on location and selection of designer dresses available.

The main reason that put me off opening a shop was bridal dress alterations. In all the shops I worked, alterations were the main source of conflict with brides which caused a huge amount of stress for the shop owners. Most bridal shops offer alterations, but you must make sure that you either employ or recommend a really good, skilled seamstress otherwise you could be faced with a bridezilla and her wedding party!

Work on an appointment only basis and offer an experience for the bride and her party ie. comfortable seating/viewing area and a large changing room for the bride. Offer tea/coffee. You'll need 2 people in the shop at any one time, one to lead the appointment and one to man the front desk and help with walk-ins.

I think your priority would be researching nearby bridal boutiques to see which designers they stock. If all the popular designers are being represented then you may have to look at a different area to open your shop in order to stock the designers you want.

Please let me know if you've got anymore questions, I'm more than happy to help.

 

[Nicola0482]

Thank you Gordon, I’ve conducted a survey this week and got a lot of valuable information from it in relation to my target customer how much their willing to spend and how far their willing to travel and what they do and don’t want from their experience.

Still struggling to get any help from local bridal stores but I have done a lot of online research in to each one to see what designers they are stocking and the type of service they are providing So research is coming along.

FrenchT thank you so much for your advice you have been extremely helpful, knowing average mark up will help me with my cash flow for my business plan, hard to get quotes for outgoings & overheads such as insurance etc without having a business address as yet which I obviously can’t obtain until I know I have a secure business plan.
You say contact designers.... I have researched these and their closest stockists so I do know which I want to contact but again without premises do you think they will answer my queries and agree terms in principle?
Anything else you think I may need to consider will be greatly appreciated.

Nicola.

 

[FrenchT]

Hi Nicola, designers should be happy to speak to you about stocking their designs as long as you can pinpoint the area that you're going to trade from. They won't agree terms until you can prove that you have signed a lease for premises. It might be a good idea to attend a couple of trade shows where you can meet designers or designers' representatives in person and also bridal accessory wholesalers (ie. shoes, veils, headdresses, tiaras etc). Harrogate would be a good one to go to and also Olympia.

 

[Nicola0482]

Brilliant, thanks again FrenchT you have been a great help.

 

[Tilly 24]

hi, this is my first post to the forum.
Very very early stages but I am hoping to set up my own bridal boutique in view to extending in the future once established to occasion wear, I have management experience in retail & have done an AAT course which covered bookkeeping but I have not directly worked in a bridal boutique.
I have been doing research into my location, target customer, stock & pricing, start up costs & financing but not totally sure how to get all the information I need to do my business plan and secure finance to get started.
If their are any boutique owners out there who could give me some advice/mentoring or tips of where to start I'd be really grateful.
Boutique owners in my area are reluctant to give advice understandably as I would be their competition.
would it be advisable to seek help from a financial adviser or accountant?
thank you, Nicola.

Hi Nicola
I am also in a very similar situation so it would be great to chat, exchange ideas, etc.
Hope everything is going to plan.
Tilly

 

[MaggieLou]

Hi Nicola,
Did you go ahead with the shop?

 

[Oui Madam]

Hi Nicola
I am also in a very similar situation so it would be great to chat, exchange ideas, etc.
Hope everything is going to plan.
Tilly

Hi Nicola,
how are things going? Just came across your post and wondering did you open the shop and how you geing on?

Cyn

 

[Mrs2019]

hi, this is my first post to the forum.
Very very early stages but I am hoping to set up my own bridal boutique in view to extending in the future once established to occasion wear, I have management experience in retail & have done an AAT course which covered bookkeeping but I have not directly worked in a bridal boutique.
I have been doing research into my location, target customer, stock & pricing, start up costs & financing but not totally sure how to get all the information I need to do my business plan and secure finance to get started.
If their are any boutique owners out there who could give me some advice/mentoring or tips of where to start I'd be really grateful.
Boutique owners in my area are reluctant to give advice understandably as I would be their competition.
would it be advisable to seek help from a financial adviser or accountant?
thank you, Nicola.

Hi Nicola,
Can I ask if you went ahead with your bridal shop plans please?
I’m hoping to do the same and just wondered how you’re doing ?