I need you!!!

[designstudent]

Before this turns into Hustle and Flow the denim edition, I have coffee to drink and denim to sew.

There's all the annecdotes I can do without being a professional life coach, and lessons learned through lots of dollars spent and an infinite amount more of time.

Good luck with the shop - if you are searching for models I suggest some lovely ladies from Philly as a business model, I'm certain you can scan through the archives here and learn more about them, especially since there are bigger and bolder things in their future with the new shop.

They are the perfect example of moving from the bedroom or living room to the downtown boutique, but there's a lot of other success stories here too.

Good luck with it.

[Pandemonium]

that single product better be freaking exclusive and in high demand otherwise he's in debt.

that idea's like selling staplers, only finding out that people aren't really interested in buying many staplers.

so what the fuck are you going to do with the thousands of staplers in the back?

[designstudent]

that single product better be freaking exclusive and in high demand otherwise he's in debt.

How exclusive it is doesn't matter, whether or not you can sell it at a profit does. High demand, yes it had better be.

that idea's like selling staplers, only finding out that people aren't really interested in buying many staplers.

my point exactly, you had better make damn sure you are buying something you can market and sell.

You are better off buying one brand of staplers you are pretty sure you can sell and proving it to yourself than you are guessing which one's might sell and purchasing a collection of odds and ends that might hit or miss. Maybe being a stapler salesman isn't your life's calling, or is something you're not good at.

The reality is, you probably can't afford that kind of variety. Especially not for the sake of a guessing game - which is what a small business owner is playing. Trouble is, most people aren't very good the first time they play.

so what the fuck are you going to do with the thousands of staplers in the back?

hand out staplers for Christmas.

The reality is that markup on fashion apparel is low. Margins are narrow. How low some of the owners here can tell you, and how hard it is to be selective and how good of a choice you have to make when buying for your customer they can also tell you.

When it comes to buying, a bad decision doesn't get better with age. The product you can't sell today doesn't become any more valuable in three months. That's why items are 40% 60% and 80% off.

I've spent hundreds-of-thousands of dollars of other people's capital and felt nothing, but I can tell you how painful it is to loose five-thousand dollars of my own capital to bad decisions, as any business owner can. When you make your decision, make sure you're sure.

Speaking of fashion apparel, $1,000 barely gets your feet wet with a brand. $3,000 is modest. With high-end apparel even more so.

When someone is down to deciding on brand name or shop name with forum friends I assume a little shared wisdom and friendship might be in order.

I'll ask the poster? How many $5,000 mistakes can you afford to make at once?

One is better than five, and if you can afford to make five start with a single one so that you can manage the damage with less heartache which affects the bottom line.