Hey everyone, as some of you may know i started a retail shop for electronic cigerrates. I had considered starting it online with a website but with really no adwords or pay per clicks allowed on a lot of the major search engines and google being a dick to me the past couple of years i thought id give retail a try.
I posted several threads asking about what poeple thought and i got some decent feedback but for the most part. Almost all the poeple who responded were novices like me as the major players in this market arent going to just come in a thread and give away how they order products or how to make 10k a month etc..
Well its been a long road coming. I signed a lease in Nov of 2013 and built out my store in 30 days. Im going to chronicle my experience for others to maybe help someone else out. I did take notes during my experience and while they wont be exact it will give you a general idea of week to week operations.
It is scary to take about 38-42 thousand of your hard earned money and put it into a retail brick and mortar place when all you have done ever is make money online.
It is scary but also rewarding. Im proud to say that i officially hit a 1200 gross sale in a single day mark. With a decent 54 percent net profit margin when you exlude the money for the cost of goods. Meaning i put a little under 650 dollars in my pocket in a sale day.
It hasnt been a easy road. I have had 3 total days off in 5 months. i work 7 days a week. then come home at night around 11 (were open from 10-10) and work on my online clients.. then after that i deal with china or local dist for my ecig shop. i have dealt with the city, theft, nagging employees and a cousin who keeps trying to hit me up for money because of his finacnial situation. i worked when i had a cold i worked when i had an eye infection..
and you know the amazing part about all of this? If you had told me that i could work this many hours in a real outside stand on your feet type of work for 7 days a week. i would have laughed in your face.. im the typical chubby online guy who slept till 4 pm and worked at early mornings and sometimes didnt even see sunlight. sodas pizza and games at 1 in the morning was routine.. making a trip to walmart was a chore..
but you are capable of anything if you pushed your self. we are 7 days into march and i have sold almost 6500 dollars in merchindise.. with how much im selling im projecting to do about 25k for the money with a 54 percent profit margin..
I HAVE LEARNED SOO MUCH ABOUT starting a retail store.. if anybody has questions please feel free to ask. I will keep this post updated with my experience starting from nov as how i saw it.
tonight we just had poker night.. we had pizzas 15 people in my "shop" 9 of which were playing texas holdem for a prize.. iv made many friends and actually see the sun now...
its not a easy road.. many people are scared of ecigs and it takes a lot of time to educate people. but it has been worth it so far.
The truth is untill i get my 40k in investment back i wont truly be able to sleep soundly.. but with days like today and weeks like we have so far. it is very possible.
please ask me anything you would like and i will answer to the best of my knowledge. also i will be posting experiences i had starting in nov.
I posted several threads asking about what poeple thought and i got some decent feedback but for the most part. Almost all the poeple who responded were novices like me as the major players in this market arent going to just come in a thread and give away how they order products or how to make 10k a month etc..
Well its been a long road coming. I signed a lease in Nov of 2013 and built out my store in 30 days. Im going to chronicle my experience for others to maybe help someone else out. I did take notes during my experience and while they wont be exact it will give you a general idea of week to week operations.
It is scary to take about 38-42 thousand of your hard earned money and put it into a retail brick and mortar place when all you have done ever is make money online.
It is scary but also rewarding. Im proud to say that i officially hit a 1200 gross sale in a single day mark. With a decent 54 percent net profit margin when you exlude the money for the cost of goods. Meaning i put a little under 650 dollars in my pocket in a sale day.
It hasnt been a easy road. I have had 3 total days off in 5 months. i work 7 days a week. then come home at night around 11 (were open from 10-10) and work on my online clients.. then after that i deal with china or local dist for my ecig shop. i have dealt with the city, theft, nagging employees and a cousin who keeps trying to hit me up for money because of his finacnial situation. i worked when i had a cold i worked when i had an eye infection..
and you know the amazing part about all of this? If you had told me that i could work this many hours in a real outside stand on your feet type of work for 7 days a week. i would have laughed in your face.. im the typical chubby online guy who slept till 4 pm and worked at early mornings and sometimes didnt even see sunlight. sodas pizza and games at 1 in the morning was routine.. making a trip to walmart was a chore..
but you are capable of anything if you pushed your self. we are 7 days into march and i have sold almost 6500 dollars in merchindise.. with how much im selling im projecting to do about 25k for the money with a 54 percent profit margin..
I HAVE LEARNED SOO MUCH ABOUT starting a retail store.. if anybody has questions please feel free to ask. I will keep this post updated with my experience starting from nov as how i saw it.
tonight we just had poker night.. we had pizzas 15 people in my "shop" 9 of which were playing texas holdem for a prize.. iv made many friends and actually see the sun now...
its not a easy road.. many people are scared of ecigs and it takes a lot of time to educate people. but it has been worth it so far.
The truth is untill i get my 40k in investment back i wont truly be able to sleep soundly.. but with days like today and weeks like we have so far. it is very possible.
please ask me anything you would like and i will answer to the best of my knowledge. also i will be posting experiences i had starting in nov.
