The footwear industry is profitable for both small and big investors. Ordinary shoes are needed in everyday life and designer ones are for special occasions. Data from PRweb on global footwear market indicates the industry will be worth $211 billion by 2018. Its compound annual growth rate is expected to be almost 2% for next 5 years.
No doubt the footwear industry offer scores of opportunity. The big players can invest money and waltz off with the cherry on the cake. But what about the not-so-big players?
A study of the footwear industry leads us to believe there are ample opportunities for small and medium size businesses if they follow some tips. Below are some of those tips;
Select your demographic market
Shoe business sees different types of customers. You should therefore, keep varieties of shoes in your stock. Keep women’s shoes, kid’s shoes, shoes for fashionistas, athletic shoes, men’s shoes. It mainly depends upon which area your shop is situated at. If it’s a residential area, keep all types of shoes. If it’s near to a playground, the best bet is to keep athletic shoes.
Business license
Since you have limited capital, you won’t set up a shoe factory. You are likely to set up a retail shoe store. So check out the guidelines issued by your state to start a retail business. Most states require a license before starting a retail business. Some states require shoe retailers to obtain a separate license. So call the Secretary of State’s office and get all the information. Remember, if you open a retail shoe outlet without obtaining proper license, you’d have to face sizable amount of fine.
Registration
To register your business, you should visit a legal documentation site. Those sites will let you create Articles of Incorporation, which is a formal request for registration. Once it is created, file it along with selecting your state or county. Also, you need to fix a name for your store. It is called DBA name or “doing business as” name. Before filing your Articles of Incorporation, check if DBA name is inquired by the state or by the county.
Footwear industry promotion
There’s many innovative ways you could promote your footwear business. Just keep in mind there’s no one-size-fits-all formula. You can’t advertise a retail shoe store the same way you could publicize a drilling machine manufacturing firm or a fast food chain. As people have become style conscious, you could invite a celeb or a style icon at your store and show this off to potential customers. This would give you enough publicity.
Following the above tips will help you secure a footing in the footwear industry. Rest is how you efficiently could beat your rivals and arrange more capital to expand your business.