Last week, our bridal boutique was featured on the Dave Ramsey Show!!!! (yippee!)
Since then, we have received calls and e-mails from other business people all around the nation, congratulating us on our story and our success. One of these e-mails was from a young woman in the South who has always dreamed of owning a bridal boutique. She wrote and asked me for some advice and the answers to some specific questions.
Well, I'm pretty sure she's not the only young woman out there with this dream. So, in hopes that I can help even just a few, I'm going to print my response to her here. As background, this young woman is in her mid-twenties, married, and has a baby who is about a year old.
Dear __________,
Baby boys are so much fun! I have two sons. Josh is 15 and a sophomore in high school. Jonny is 12 and just started 7th grade this week. My husband, Jeff, and I will celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary on September 18.
Both pairs of my grandparents owned businesses in our town while I was growing up, and my parents own a dry cleaners that they have had for over 30 years. I grew up working in the cleaners, and my Mom trained me to clean and preserve wedding gowns when I was 15 years old. When my boys were small, I helped with payroll and misc things at the dry cleaners and taught piano lessons so I could be home with them most of the time. When they both got in school, I started getting the "itch" to have my own business. With my husband's encouragement, I revived my mother's teaching in regards to the wedding gown cleaning and care; and opened a business that was closely connected to the dry cleaners, but specialized in wedding gown preservation and restoration.
When I was shopping for my own wedding gown, way back in 1991, I dreamed of having my own boutique one day. Over the next 15 years, that dream would come and go, but the time and opportunity was never there. I didn't give up on it, though. I just kept learning everything I could about gowns and customer service as well as developing relationships with people in the wedding businesses. In 2007, one of the bridal stores for which I did wholesale gown preservations closed their doors, leaving gowns still hanging on the racks! We re-opened the store 3 months later as "September's Bride".
After that background, here are my answers to your questions:
How did you decide to get started? See above :)
How much money would say it took to get up and running? A lot. More than you think. Depending on what you need to get a space ready, I would say no less than $100K.
Do you have a certain amount of dresses you try to sell each month? Yes. We set goals for our team each month depending on many factors.
How do you sign up as a retailer for different dress lines? Lots of research, contacting sales reps, attending bridal market
What do you find to be the most challenging running your own business? The most challenging part to me is balancing my personal life and my business life. When you own your own business, the two are intertwined significantly. Cash flow is always challenging, as well as leading a team.
Do you ever have a "Bridezilla"? How do you handle a sticky situation? Oh, yes. Each situation is different. Bridal is one of the most intense, emotional, businesses in which one can be.
Do you have any promotions, sales, or advertising ideas that you can share? I use social media marketing as much as possible. Also, word-of-mouth is the best advertising, but that takes lots of time to grow!
I have a wonderful assistant who is also our boutique manager. There is no way I could do this alone. My husband is also as involved as possible.
My advice to you would be to wait until your children are at least middle-school age. I cannot tell you how many bridal boutique owners I know who have gone out of business because the demands of running the business and raising small children was too much. In the meantime, save as much $$ as you can and learn as much as you can about weddings and wedding gowns. Perhaps do some wedding planning...that is a good way to break into the business without the pressure of having to make rent and payroll each month :)
Owning a bridal boutique was one of my dreams, too; and I really love it. I hope I haven't discouraged you from pursuing your dream, but instead given you some practical advice so that when your time is right, you'll have a boutique that is a blessing to you and your family and not a rope around your neck.
Kelli, feel free to e-mail me anytime if you have more questions. I love to talk business and bridal! Also, we have a blog: www.septembersbride.blogspot.com and a page on Facebook, so please join us and follow along!
Blessings,
Tami
