November/december2003

How to run a Craft Shop: Getting started:

Part I:

Remind me again why you want to run a Craft Shop? If it’s because you have always wanted to then that’s a good answer, and probably the best reason.

The question is, where do you begin?

There are a few basic principles but no magic formula. You will need more energy, more commitment, more time and more money than you ever dreamed of.

Retail shops are constantly changing and you must expect the unexpected. What succeeded yesterday might not work today and what works today may not work tomorrow.

You could start out with haberdashery stall on the market and develop into a brass rubbing and hobby craft centre near a major tourist attraction. Just go with the flow and keep an eye on the cash, but before you rush into mainstream business have a look at the fundamental principles and try to make your mistakes on paper, not in the real world.

Discover as much about your new business as possible.

Study the competition and learn from them, if they are successful they will make it look easy. Bring together the best group of professionals you can find. You will need a good accountant; an experienced lawyer, an understanding banker and a well qualified insurance broker.

Think hard about your mission statement, your objectives, strategies and your business plan. Decide what kind of image you want to create. You will need lots of customers to make your business a success, where will they come from?

How will you get them to buy?

Are you in right location?

Planning a budget or a cash flow forecast has never been easier. There user-friendly accounting packages and spreadsheet programs that will help you anticipate any problem periods. Work out your start up costs and your expenses for the first few months.

Try taking your business through its first two years of trading, this will show you what it takes to make a profit. Really think about it; how much will it take to start your business? What will you live on while the business is starting? What money are you willing to risk completely? What funds are you not willing to risk?

When your business is up and running the secret of success will be good housekeeping.

Go to www.inlandrevenue .gov.uk/startingup for an easy to understand guide on making sure you’ve done everything you need to do. Just before you sign anything, read through the small print. Check again if you are in the right location; have the council given permission for a football stadium at the end of the road?

Good luck for your shop and remember that old Chinese proverb which says, “Man who never smiles should not open craft shop”

January/February 2004:

How to run a Craft Shop: Sourcing Products:

Part II:

One of the most important things to remember when opening a shop is where you are going to find your products.

Developing a close relationship with the best suppliers will guarantee the timely delivery of top quality products at the best price and a resulting queue of happy customers.

The problem is where can you find these fantastic suppliers?

Trustworthy trade magazines and exhibition guides are a good start.

Discover how easy it is to find new products by paying a visit to one of the industry shows.

Clip on your buyer’s badge, and, for the next few hours you will become a very important person. Invite a company representative to pay you a visit and soon you will be introduced to some of the most cheerful characters in the country.

Searching the internet properly will provide you with rapid results, and save precious time and energy.

You can easily compare prices and gather valuable product information.

Controlling the link with your suppliers involves understanding their needs, their behaviour, and measuring their performance.

A clearly worded, well thought out order will put a stop to any costly mistakes.

Take extra care with phoned orders to escape the delivery of ten times the quantity you actually wanted or perhaps two dozen blue goose feathers when you asked for two dozen blue glue spreader.

Once you’ve established a steady working relationship with your most important suppliers you may have time to search for more specialist products.

A steady request for hard to find merchandise is a golden opportunity for you to create a niche market.

Sometimes a product may be impossible to source and will therefore need to be manufactured. Many years ago we had regular requests for the “Brown’s patent rag mat marker” which had long since gone out of production.

Callers would ask if we had spare springs for the machine or a replacement tool they could buy. A chance remark with the man at Making Handicrafts saw the reinvention of the “Rag Rugger”. Thousands of rag rugs are now made every year with this Great British Invention.

 March/April 2004

How to run a Craft Shop: Fixtures and Fittings:

 
Part III:

People love shopping. They hunt between the fixtures and fittings gathering into their baskets everything that takes their fancy. Therefore, your job as a shopkeeper is to make that process as trouble-free as possible.

The environment that you create for you customers must be safe and sound, amazing and magical. With careful planning you will be able to create a location that people love coming back to, time and again. Scientists tell us that when we go shopping our rational thinking zones shut down and spontaneous thought takes over.

This explains why someone may be looking at a display of products one minute and making a purchase the next. Let us hope they are in your shop at the time.

To profitably fill the echoing space of an empty craft shop premises can be a tremendous challenge. Why not start by covering the walls with adjustable shelving or slat board with hooks. Do not be tempted to buy a purpose built fixture to take a particular product line because, when it goes out of fashion you will wish you could change it for something more adaptable.

Obviously if one of your main suppliers is willing to send in a display stand free of charge, take it with open arms and a happy smile.

Your till and counter should be positioned strategically for you to see everyone coming in and going out. You will save valuable time by having the phone, fax and photocopier close at hand.

The middle of the shop is usually a case of experimenting to see what works best. Make a note of how your customers negotiate their way around the shop.

Where do they linger, what part of the shop do they ignore? Perhaps there is a dividing line of some sort on the floor, subconsciously preventing them from moving into that area. The parts of a fixture below knee height and above the shoulder are often overlooked, but if you place light and brightly coloured stock there, even these areas can become productive.

Sometimes you may find that regular fixtures don’t work as well as they should.

We found that common metals stands were often too big, too sharp and not very sturdy. Therefore, we designed our own fixtures from back to slat-board with a smooth solid concrete base.

These have a tiny footprint and are exceptionally robust. At time we sold loose beads and single items from draws in the counter.

As you can imagine this was time consuming and frustrating for customers as well as staff, until we hit on the idea of storing them in plastic tubes on a metal grill attached to the wall. Our regulars now know just where to go for that hard to find item they need to complete their crafty creations.

September/October 2003:

Creating Eye-catching Displays:

Creating Eye-catching Displays:

A few years ago when I was decorating the front window I heard someone say, “it’s only a small window, but there’s always something interesting to look at.”

Your shop window will only have a few seconds to attract someone’s attention and draw that person in to browse and buy.

So where can you go for inspiration?

How do you make the eye-popping shop displays that will tempt the innocent buyer?

To be successful you must go to the expert in these matters, and take a master class with Mother Nature.

The natural world is full of ideas for using colours, shapes and textures so look and learn. Designers and artists draw their inspiration from life and reflect that beauty in their work. When you walk into our shop, you will see an unusual fossil display on the wall around the tiled floor.

 To produce this we rolled out a thin layer of clay and took an impression of the many items we sell, from this we took a cast in resin and finished off with a dry brush to bring out all the beautiful textures.

The arty/crafty shopper has a discerning eye for detail, so you must work hard to capture hid or her imagination. Your shop window is a mini advert so put on a show what you have for sale, be bold and be brave.

Take care with colour, for example yellow and black can look dramatic and will attract attention but for all the wrong reasons. In nature it signals danger so our instinct will be to keep away.

Lighting can create an impact and need not be high tech or expensive.

We used Christmas tree lights fastened to a panel of plastics bottles to guide the customer’s eye to our display of baubles and beads.

Your shop displays must change, not only with the seasons and special promotions, but each arrangement should be strikingly different from the last one.

The essence of visual merchandising is to create a dramatic transformation; this will attract the customer.

Perhaps like the customer who said “this is a lovely shop, I could spend all day here looking around” and left without buying; so much better to have customers that go away threatening never to come back, saying “I’m not going into that shop again, I always spend too much!”

Finally, the most important elements of any display are the words you select to support it. Make a note of the powerful words used in advertising and employ them when you can.

Just remember presentation is everything.

July/August 2003:

Inspiring workshops encourage Consumers:

We can all remember our first attempts at making something. They didn’t turn out too well, but we were pleased and proud to show someone. That pleasure is the joy of creation. The artistic urge exists in all of us and appears in many different ways.

If like me you love working with your hands, then no material is safe.

Clay, wood, wax, metal, paper, you name it, anything that can be worked with to produce shape or surface is subjected to a restless life until I can stop and say,

 “Yes, that looks good”.

Trying out a new material is usually a disaster, the instructions are so complicated all you want to do is get on and make something; this is when we need to be patient.

Every form of creative pursuit needs to be practised; the more we work at it, the better we become. Watch someone who enjoys working and you will see that they are in a trance like state, totally absorbed, mind and body working together, this comes from good working practice. We can also learn a lot from trial and error. Go ahead, make a mess, find out if you like the material and whether the material likes you, and then read the instructions.

Every art and craft has a secret, a hidden key to success, most are easy to find with the right direction. A good teacher can help to unlock the doors of understanding. We are lucky to have some natural teachers in the shop who are knowledgeable and patient enough to spend time with the customers, explaining the finer points and if necessary demonstrating how to achieve a good result.

The teachers that hold more formal classes know that a worthwhile lesson does not start the moment a class begins, but requires detailed preparations to iron out any pitfalls, checking they have everything before they start and never teaching more than they can cope with.

They give encouragement and constructive criticism, helping to create a friendly atmosphere within the store, working closely with the shopkeeper to achieve a climate of happy industry. At the end of the day when all the students have gone home with new skills to practice, the responsible tutor will be the last to leave, checking that everyone has been left neat and tidy. This is good workshop practice and a pleasure for the fortunate shopkeeper.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever and if we can help someone produce that, by having the materials and advice they want, when they want them, then we can share in that joy.

Good luck with your shop demos and classes. Any problems let me know.

May/June 2003

Disaster planning for small businesses,

How to survive fire and flood:

Running a small business can be full of surprises, often moving between one crisis to another. But, when you meet a full blown, right on your doorstep disaster, believe me, you’ll recognise the difference.

Imagine opening up to find the burglar alarm ringing and four inches (sorry 10cm) of water on the shop floor. You enter the office to find your computer system partly melted. You begin to feel a bit wobbly, but things aren’t so bad, because you’ve backed up the important files the previous evening, or have you?

“Which service, Fire, Police, Ambulance?” how can you avoid making the call; what can you do now to reduce the danger?

The best time to respond to a disaster is before it happens. Think of the worst scenarios and check everything. Make it part of your routine to regularly back up essential files. Each year review and update your insurance, consider likely perils. Plan for the worst. Yes, be a little pessimistic; consider what you couldn’t survive without. Create a list of emergency telephone numbers.

Plan now for the day when you feel like a rabbit caught in the headlights, not knowing which way to turn.

Generally disasters come suddenly and can devastate a business overnight, but what about the misfortunes that can crush a company more slowly? Your turnover is going down and your expenses are going u, you’ve stopped making profit and you can’t pay yourself. It might get better, your luck might change, but don’t bury your head in the sand, don’t think it will go away, get some proper advice and take early action. This doesn’t mean chatting t a mate down the pub, talk to a professional.

During the dark days of the three day-working week, we survived by having two sites in different parts of Manchester, making us able to carry on working for six days a week. If disaster strikes could your business operate from home or another location?

However, sometimes disaster can bring good fortune.

When John Corey had his shop in Plymouth, during a cold patch of weather someone heaved a lump of concrete through the window and stole a few things, including barometer movement. He called the local newspaper to tell them about the break-in, thinking a bit of publicity would help compensate for the loss.

When he mentioned the barometer, they seized on it and put the story on the front page with a headline about cold thieves. The following week was his best trade ever.

Good luck with your business.

April 2003

 How to deal with difficult customers

Most of my customers are mad, nearly mad or would go mad unless they are making, painting or dreaming of creating something. Yes they are Markers Artists and Designers, MAD for short. MAD people are not usually difficult customers, just different. Their concerns can often be nothing to do with arts and craft, but a general unease about their life or world events.

Customers are not always right, but they have the right to be heard, and the important thing is how the angry, difficult or hostile customer is treated while they are complaining.

Listen to them and you will identify the problem. If a mistake has been made (we are all human) give them your name, and tell them that you will personally handle the problem. Welcome complaints and deal with them carefully and you create a customer for life, this is true, I have seen it happen. Difficult customers can be a golden opportunity to show what kind of organisation you have.

Sometimes a mean and angry customer will come will come along and you may have to say sorry and just let them go. You cannot please everyone. It is very important not to argue with the customer when they are angry, upset or complaining. Self-control is vital, do not panic and do not loose your temper. Body language can indicate what happens next, a red face is just letting off steam, but a white face is ready for some action, so watch out.

A large number of our customers come to us by recommendation, and if difficult, troublesome customers are not handled carefully, they will tell their friends and neighbours not to visit your shop. Unfortunately word of mouth works both ways.

The most annoying visitors to our shop of course, are those who know what they want, but have no intention of paying. Make eye contact as soon as you can, this shows you are aware of them. Those first few seconds are so important because it gives us a chance to observe their body language. Like customs officers, we must recognize who is a genuine customer. With a little patience, the most unwelcome visitor can often became a paying customer.

To be a good shopkeeper you will need to identify, anticipate and satisfy your customer’s requirements.