Essentials Of A Shoe Business Plan
Ever looked at a person and wondered where he got his splendid shoes from? Yeah, we all have been there. ‘An amazing journey starts with a great pair of shoes’ they say. Shoes, they complete your look and speak for your personality. In this world of polished beings, a shoe business will fit just right in.
To start a shoe business, create a shoe business plan. Every occasion, every outfit and every mood has its own pair of shoes and to deliver these shoes you need an amazing shoe business plan. A business plan will take care of your agendas, goals, growth strategies, cash flow and many more things.
Your footwear business plan will act as your official guide throughout your business journey. So keep it close, clear and handy.
Owing to the tremendous rise in the types of shoes and their types and colours (not to mention the undying obsession), this could be a stream for budding entrepreneurs who wish to make it big in the entrepreneurial world.
Let’s start with a quick introduction to the classification of shoes. It’s not just the women folks with a huge range in shoes like stilettos, pumps, heels, boots, slip-on, flip flop, open toe and other fancy options, men too, aren’t far behind with their own range – sneakers, loafers, oxford, wingtip, boat, office, sports and on goes the list. And mind you, there are subcategories in each category. (Told you, it is a huge business opportunity!)
To create a shoe business plan you might want to decide your USP, aka, your Unique Selling Proposition. As you can see, you have a wide range to choose from. You can obviously include all these varieties or you can opt for a particular category depending upon your business capital.
Let’s jump straight into the technicalities of this business. The most important question, how to start a shoe business? Here’s a quick crux of the process –
- Start off with a shoe business plan
- Decide your niche
- Take care of the Legal licenses
- Create a bang on marketing plan
Now, introducing the essentials of a footwear business plan.
Shoe Business Plan
Your Footwear business plan is going to be a one-stop destination for all your business needs. Take good time to draft it, it will help you in the long run. Think about the minute details of the business like the capital, expansion details, profit strategy, management, functioning, marketing plan and a lot more.
Sounds too much? All of this work might feel a little overwhelming, but we have business plan services that can make things easy for you. A simplified, hassle-free service is just what you need to create a business plan.
Registration Of The Business
It is like an identity card of your business. Registering your business will put your business on the map (Figuratively!) and create an individual identity of your business. Apart from giving an Id card, Registration makes your business separate from the owner.
Your business can be a Propiertership, Partnership, One Person Company, Limited Liability Partnership, etc. Each entity has its own benefits and purposes. The type of business entity should be decided thoughtfully and be mentioned in the business bible – the shoe business plan.
Choosing Your Niche
Want to start a shoe business? Step one is to choose the highlight of your collection, which you want to specialise in. It can be men’s footwear or women’s footwear or only leather shoes, laced shoes, stock only a variety of boots in the store or shoes belonging to a particular brand in the store or have an exclusive multi-designer shop.
The other option would be, you can even lend help by supporting small scale designers or local artisans or can decide to display only ethnic wear shoes such as juttis or only Kolhapuri chappals or only organically sourced leather shoes, etc.
Your shop can also be a one-stop destination for an entire family. From women and men’s variety to kids wear, from teen divas to comfort seekers. Let your shop appeal one and all. Trust us, if you have this wide a variety, you will be like their family shoe shop where one trip will fill the needs of everybody’s feet.
Choose the Target Customers
Know your customers well. You got to develop an eye for fashion and style to be able to assist your customers better. With a wide range of shoes comes a wide range of customers. You got to rack your brains and decide who will you be targeting. This will help you reach the right audience and if you hit the right set of audience it will reflect positively on the sales of your business. Not to mention, the good rapport and loyal customers that your business will earn by targeting the right customers.
Depending on your USP, you need to target the right audience. If your USP is heels or pumps, you definitely would want to target a certain age group. If you deal with formals, you would want to target the working professionals.
Location of the business
Now it is time to put your business on Map (Literally!) The location of your business decides the fate of your business. Choose a location that is easily accessible, visible and located in a hotspot. A location that will add more footfall to your shop would be the one to look for. For eg – a college road, a busy market street, etc.
Apart from the customers, you might want to take into consideration the other significant factors such as parking spots and a place to stock up. Make sure your shop location is convenient for customers.
The Trending Stock
What will attract the feet? Good lights, posh interiors, helpful staff? Yes, but most importantly Trending Stock! Keep up with trending fashion statements of shoes, colours, patterns and more. Keep your store updated and align your stock with the trending themes, festivals and seasons. So if it’s Diwali, you can get those traditional jutttis out on display. If it is summer, the breezy, colourful and lightweight flip flops are the ones you should be displaying.
Make sure you hit the nail by displaying the right things at the right time. Go for the latest market demands and extensive display that will help you spike up the sales. A helping staff will be able to cater to the needs of your customers, will go a long way in getting you those loyal customers who loved to be treated specially. So make sure you attend to the needs of each and every customer so that you can serve them better.
Necessary Legal Licenses
You have everything in place, the decor, the stock and customers. But all will be in vain if your business is not legally compliant. Depending on the location of your business, it is important that you acquire the legal licenses that are mandatory in your state.
For your shoe business, the following legal licenses will be required for your business –
GST Registration – Consider this the identity card of your business. Get GST Registration for your shoe business to avail the tax benefits and to adhere to the single tax system.
Shop Act Intimation – If your shoe store is in the municipal limits your business will require a Shop Act. Shop Act is necessary for availing tax benefits. Also, you just have ti incur a one time cost for getting Shop Act.
You will be happy to know that all of the legal licenses can now be acquired online and need no (repeated) visits to any government office.
Spread The Word
What’s a business without a marketing strategy? Probably, a car without fuel. All your vigorous efforts will pay off when you will see a wave of customers coming in and going out (with the bags, of course) of your shop. Start off with a catchy business name and then work on branding. Logo of your business is also an important factor in your business. The logo should be such that it reflects the essence of your business.
Your business name, tagline and logo should have a long-lasting and a lingering effect on the customers. Advertising it in small magazines is also a good idea for beginners.
It is extremely important to have a detailed marketing plan included in your business plan.
And don’t forget the most important marketing strategy – Take It Online. The current marketing world is ruled by online advertising.
So these are the tips that might help you start your business. Starting a fashion business is a blend of art, efforts and dedication. The above-mentioned points will definitely help your business but if you need any more guidance with your shoe business plan, deAsra foundation is just a call away.