Tests

Is it profitable to sell children's clothing and what to choose - an online store or a regular way of selling. How to open a children's clothing store from scratch? Is it worth starting this business?

Do you want to start a clothing business? Learn how to open a children's clothing store, because selling clothes for toddlers is more likely to succeed than for adults.

♦ Capital investments – 750–800,000 rubles
♦ Payback period - from 1 year

The clothing trade can become a very profitable enterprise, or it can easily ruin an unlucky businessman who has not thought through all the nuances of launching a startup.

The situation is slightly different in the children's clothing trade sector.

It is much easier to find your niche and create a profitable business here.

Therefore, if you dream of becoming the owner of a boutique selling ready-made dresses, then you need to study the topic in detail, how to open a children's clothing store because selling clothes for kids is more likely to succeed than for adults.

Today we will talk about how to open a trading company, the main direction of which is the sale of things for children, based on the experience of well-known businessmen.

What is a children's clothing store and how to open one?

Both markets that sell new clothes and a thrift store where you can dress your child cheaply are enjoying success.

It is clear that the main trade direction of your future store is clothing, but you do not need to limit the assortment of your goods only to it.

You can add to the sale, accessories and even toys.

It all depends on the area of the trading floor: how much it can fit.

If the area allows, then you can open a wide-profile children's clothing store, where the buyer can find everything from baby diapers to stylish teenage clothes.

If you open a small trading enterprise, then it makes sense to narrow the direction, for example, to trade only in clothes for:

infants (from 0 to 3 years);
teenagers (11-15 years old);
boys;
girls;
sports;
special occasions (ball gowns, carnival costumes);
school visits, etc.

How to open a children's clothing store: how to start a startup

Regardless of what kind of trading company you are going to open, you need to study the theoretical background of the issue and do a little research in order to understand how best to develop your business.

You should be especially careful when it comes to a business like a ready-made dress store, which tops the list of start-ups that fail most often.

In order for an open children's clothing store to be guaranteed to make a profit, you need to figure out which particular market to open is most profitable:

a small shop or a large store, more like a supermarket;
or selling new things;
expensive brands or focused on the middle class;
selling products of domestic or foreign manufacturers, etc.

How to open a children's clothing store: a preliminary stage

Interesting fact:
Until the end of the 18th century, it was not customary to think about what to dress a child in. Children's clothing copied the adult and was made only in a reduced form.

In addition to carefully researching consumer tastes, you also need to:

Understand all the details of the retail business, especially if you do not have entrepreneurial experience or have previously been engaged in completely different things: production, wholesale sales.
Businessmen should remember that opening a children's clothing store is not at all like opening a wholesale base.
Idea search.
It is not enough just to wish to open a trading company that sells children's clothing.
You need to find your own chip, decide how to most favorably differ from competitors, etc.
Writing a business plan with specific calculations that will correspond to the pricing policy of your region.
Invention of the name, development of the logo.
You need to seriously think about how to name a children's clothing store.
Studies have shown that parents trust stores with foreign names more.
Preliminary search for suppliers from whom you can buy high-quality clothes cheaply, but it is expensive to sell them, the layout of the trading floor, the formation of an assortment of goods that you will sell, etc.

Only after you carefully think through all this, you can start a real launch of a startup, and it doesn’t matter too much the commission whether it will be a store or one that sells new clothes.

If you are aiming for a new business for yourself, then the experience of more experienced colleagues will surely come in handy.

It is most profitable to open a shop with goods of an average price category.
There are not so many parents who are willing to pay huge money for children's clothes, and the poor are more likely to visit a thrift store in the hope of saving money.
If you have a modest start-up capital, then it is better to open a small store than to take out a loan and launch a huge startup. A large trading enterprise, opened with other people's money, can ruin you.
Consider opening a franchised children's clothing store, such as Utenok or RIKKI-TIKKI.
If you decide to open a small store, it is better to limit the range of goods.
Buyers should be able to see it normally, and not rummage through a pile of junk.
Cluttering is only acceptable if you decide to open a thrift store.
At least once a season (in winter, spring, summer and autumn) refresh the assortment of goods, take new models for sale, and put up stale goods for sale.
Carefully study the tastes of your consumers in order to sell what they like, and not you personally.

How to open a children's clothing store: an advertising campaign

It is very important for the future business (no matter the commission or some other store you are going to open) to advertise it.

In order to attract the attention of customers from the first days of work, you need to:

Print promotional products: business cards, booklets, etc.
Put up ads around town.
Order promotional material in local media.
Use social networks by creating a group of your children's store.
Make a grand opening by inviting not only potential customers, but also journalists.

Believe me, customers will quickly catch up with you if you:

sell quality goods at an affordable price;
reward regular customers for purchases;
regularly organize sales;
located in the most convenient way for customers.

How to open a children's clothing store: calendar plan

In launching this startup, it will take you a lot of time to prepare, conduct research, study all the nuances.

The implementation of the business plan (registration, rental, shop equipment, personnel, etc.) should not take more than 4-5 months if you prepare a good theoretical ground.

Stage	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
registration
Room rental and repair work
Purchase of equipment
Team Recruitment
Work with suppliers, purchase of goods
Advertising
Opening

The main stages of opening a children's clothing store

New businessmen struggle when it comes to learning how to open a children's clothing store from scratch.

There are so many nuances in this issue that if you miss one, you can ruin the entire startup.

To prevent this from happening, follow a clearly defined plan: registration, search for the ideal premises, repair work, purchase of equipment, team building, work with suppliers and first purchases, an ongoing advertising campaign.

registration

The most profitable form in order to open a children's clothing store is an individual entrepreneur.

The procedure itself is quite simple and does not require a lot of paperwork.

You will also be able to pay a single tax on temporary income (UTII).

Also, since you are registering a trade enterprise, you will have to enter your store in the trade register and obtain permission from the Chamber of Commerce in your city and follow its rules, which you will be introduced to.

The registration procedure also includes obtaining the conclusion of the Fire Service and Rospotrebnadzor, which allow the operation of your premises.

room

If you want to build a customer base as quickly as possible, carefully choose the premises for your children's clothing store.

The best location is in the market, in a shopping center, not far from children's institutions: kindergartens, schools, parks, clinics, libraries, creative centers, etc.

If you do not have a large start-up capital, then you can limit yourself to the minimum area: 25–30 sq. m.

If you want the children's clothing store to house not only a trading floor with fitting rooms and a workplace for sellers, but also a bathroom, an office and a warehouse, then you will have to rent from 50 square meters or more.

Since your customers are children, try to create a bright and interesting interior of the trading floor to interest them in visiting your store.

More sunny colors: yellow, orange, red, green, azure, etc.

You can use images of fairy-tale or cartoon characters in the interior.

Equipment

Opening a children's clothing store does not require expensive retail equipment.

It is enough to purchase a cash register, hangers and racks, fasteners, curtains and a mirror for a fitting room, a couple of mannequins, a rack and shelves.

Item of expenses	Amount (in rubles)
Total:	RUB 155,000
Racks and shelves	30 000
Showcase for accessories	7 000
Racks and hangers	20 000
Fasteners and curtains for fitting room	10 000
Mirror in fitting room	5 000
Mannequins	10 000
Cash register	10 000
Computer or laptop	20 000
a printer	10 000
Other	33 000

And you also need to equip:

Item of expenses	Amount (in rubles)
Total:	85 000 rub.
Trading place of the seller (rack, chair, cash desk)	20 000
Service bathroom	15 000
Service room (lockers, table, chairs, etc.)	50 000

Staff

The children's clothing store must be open seven days a week. Only in this case you will be able to get the maximum profit.

You need to form two shifts (salesperson + cleaning lady) who would work 2/2 or 3/3 days.

If you want to open a store with a total area of at least 50 square meters, then it is better to take two sellers to change, otherwise it will be difficult for one to cope with a large flow of customers. Hire people who are good with children.

Your employees should be not just sellers, but also animators, psychologists, good fairies.

If you are ready to deal with accounting and administrative issues yourself, then you can not hire anyone else.

Otherwise, look for an administrator (manager) who would be able to keep accounts.

Please note that such a universal specialist will have to pay a lot.

Or you can entrust bookkeeping to an outsourcing company.

The minimum cost for staff salaries will be as follows:

Suppliers

You can work both with domestic and foreign (for example, Cheerful Kid) and foreign (Chinese, Turkish, German, Polish) manufacturers.

The main thing is that the goods purchased from them should not be too expensive after the extra charge you set and be of good quality.

Work with those suppliers who can provide you with a quality certificate.

Since your business is selling clothes to children, any parent will want the item they buy to be safe for the child and not contain materials that can harm the health of the little treasure.

You have a successful children's clothing store, qualified employees, conscientious suppliers and partners, business is booming and customers are actively buying your products, your profits are growing day by day - the ideal picture of any entrepreneur.

But, unfortunately, things don't always go that way. There are many external factors that reduce our sales, but we cannot influence these factors. Unstable situation on the market, changes in the country's economy, decrease in purchasing power, increased competition - this is just a small list of reasons why our business suffers.

How then to keep the business and increase income? How to create a flow of customers to the store? How to increase sales?

These are the questions we will try to answer in this article.

When the recession hits, some retailers, in an attempt to increase customer numbers, turn to standard advertising: buying up radio and TV time, billboard space, magazine coverage, and so on. These methods, of course, will bring new customers and increase the visibility of your children's clothing store, but the amount of investment will be so high that it will not pay off the result. In the end, it turns out that you spent money on the wind.

So what to do? The answer is simple. Study your customers, take care of them and then your customers will come back to you again and again.

Why are we sure it works? To illustrate, we will tell you why people buy clothes for children in the same store using the example of one client. This buyer was an adherent of the assortment of a particular store. The store was located far away, you had to drive through the whole city to reach it, although there were several other children's clothing stores near the house. The prices were also not the lowest, it was possible to find high quality clothes for children much cheaper. The "favorite" store's products were not specific in size ranges, fabrics, or styles. So why did he go there?

It's all about store service. The buyer has always been given special attention, the sellers gave recommendations on what clothes are suitable and what are not, talked about the current fashion in colors and styles. The store collected information about customers, about recent purchases, and this helped the sellers to make an up-to-date recommendation. The client felt special. He constantly received information about new products and store promotions. And, when it came time to buy new clothes for the child, the buyer went to "his" store.

Therefore, collect customer information at all times. If you have a crm system, use it actively, if not, keep a database in Excell spreadsheets. Collect numbers, e-mail, customer names, track purchase amounts and dates. Constantly expand the file about the client, adding new information. Do not ask for all the information at once, no one wants to fill out huge questionnaires, collect it in portions with each new visit. Develop the skill of collecting information from your employees.

Here is a list of tips that will help you conduct marketing activities at a minimal cost.

Track purchase amounts and sort customers by volume. Select the top 10, top 100 and plan different approaches to work with different categories of clients.
Enter the loyalty system. By means of mailings, invite customers to join the "Club of Special Clients" and give them discounts and bonuses.
Start a monthly online magazine via email newsletter, where you publish information about market changes, new fashion trends, new products, materials, tips for new mothers, childcare listings, etc.
Hold a client event where buyers can have a good time. This will increase loyalty to your store, and buyers will have a reason to visit you again.
Notify your customers about promotions and new arrivals in the children's clothing store via e-mail and sms-mailings.
Maintain social media accounts and communicate with customers there
Do not forget about the quality and relevance of your products. Work only with the demanded assortment, so as not to "fall" in the eyes of customers.
Make sure employees are well trained to develop customer relationships, not just sell.
Reward employees who take the initiative in communicating with customers.
Maintain a database of customers that is convenient to use in any situation without losing a single contact.

Remember: Your customers are the greatest value of your business.

Are you a wholesaler of children's clothing and need a product with high demand?
We are ready to cooperate! Send a request and the manager will contact you

The children's goods market has always been a very attractive trading sector for many entrepreneurs, and what can I say, it is still the most profitable and remains very profitable even in times of crisis. All this is based on the principle of the mentality of our people, namely, they do not save on children. So it is, and if, for example, adults can refuse to buy some thing, then for the child they try to buy all the best. It is this factor that makes the trade in children's clothing a competitive business, and at the same time, a large number of manufacturers allows many entrepreneurs to work and take their "place in the sun" in this area of activity.

In this article, we will talk about how to open a small children's clothing store and what you need to do for this. We will go through all the basic steps of starting this business and you will decide whether you should work in this niche or not.

Business Format

Before you start looking for premises and buying equipment, you need to clearly define the format in which you will work. In fact, the business idea of a children's clothing store should have been placed in several subcategories, but we decided to make a more general overview in one article. So, the most popular options are:

- purchase of a ready-made business selling children's clothing. This is a very good solution, especially if the point is promoted and there is already a list of regular customers. This is a profitable start for beginners, but in fact, it is very difficult to find a good option for a ready-made business in this area. Really profitable outlets are rarely sold.

- Opening a retail outlet for children's clothing from scratch. In this format, you will need to go through all the steps, from the selection of premises to the development of a client base. A difficult and very costly path, but often newcomers start from this option, launching a small children's clothing and accessories store in their city, after which it often grows into fairly large boutiques over time.

- children's clothing consignment store. Opening such a business option is especially beneficial during the economic crisis. There are a number of points in this area, namely, this is working with used things, but on the other hand, the price tag in such a store is much lower and you can find your customers.

— sale of children's clothing by franchise. The least attractive option for starting a business, especially in small towns. There are many different options for franchises with children's clothing, but with this format you will have a number of restrictions, such as the range of goods and work only with certain manufacturers, which may not help increase sales.

As you can see, there are many formats and they all have their own nuances. The choice is solely yours.

Selection of premises and equipment

First you need to note for yourself a list of the most profitable places where you can open a children's clothing store. Firstly, these are shopping centers. Young mothers love to go shopping with their children and often they visit shopping centers. Renting a good place in a shopping center is already half the success of this business, and this will especially affect the savings in the advertising budget.

Secondly, these are separate stores. In such stores, they usually sell some specific product and attract customers with their uniqueness. For example, good quality children's clothing at low prices, or the availability of programs for discounts and other things.

Thirdly, these are clothing markets. At present, it is advantageous to work in this format in small towns. Prices are usually low in such outlets, and there will always be customers.

Fourthly, you can open an online children's clothing store and rent only a warehouse for a low price and sell all products using the Internet and online advertising. With the advent of social networks, this option has taken a significant share of sales in this segment.

The size of the premises for a small store can be found from 30 sq.m. and higher. You need to consider that most of the goods are a set of all sizes, so this entire range will need to be stored somewhere.

Now let's look at what kind of equipment you need for the children's clothing trade:

racks with shelves;
showcases on wheels, for displaying jackets, outerwear, suits and more.
shopping baskets, in which socks, panties and other rubbish are usually laid out.
racks with hooks, on which a large amount of outerwear is placed with the help of hangers.
cupboards for storage of other assortment.

Also, don't forget a workplace for the salesperson and provide a small play area for the kids, with some toys. This will help keep them distracted while mom chooses clothes for her baby.

Rules for the sale of children's clothing

One of the frequently asked questions on the Internet is what kind of documents do children's clothing trades need? It is quite logical, and we will try to answer it.

choose the legal form, types of activities and taxation system
sign a lease agreement
if the landlord has not provided you with all the permits for the premises, you will need to pass all the SES and fire safety checks yourself
placement of a trade patent, license in accordance with the requirements established by law
whether you, as a seller, have quality certificates for the goods
organizing a buyer's corner in your department

After fulfilling all these requirements, you will be able to obtain permission to trade in children's clothing. When starting a business, it is best to consult a lawyer, as the rules for working in Russia and Ukraine are slightly different, and an experienced lawyer will tell you all these points.

Range and suppliers

The next step on the way to opening a department for the sale of children's clothing, as in any business, is the selection of an assortment. We will indicate only the main categories of goods that should be presented in such a store.

Separation by gender:

for boys
for girls

By age:

for newborns
from 1 year
from 3 years old, etc.

By product groups:

outerwear: jackets, coats, vests
hats, scarves, mittens
overalls, envelopes
jeans, pants, pants
jackets, shirts, blouses
tracksuits
bodysuits, crawlers, bibs, tights, socks, underwear and much more.

Your range will depend on start-up capital and perhaps at first, when starting a small business selling children's clothing, you will choose a narrower segment of goods and then expand the range.

To search for suppliers of products, you can either cooperate with sellers in wholesale clothing markets, or you can search for manufacturers in your country and order goods directly.

Also, now there is a huge number of representatives of various manufacturers of children's clothing who are ready to cooperate even with small stores. The choice is huge and you need to choose the most profitable and cost-effective product. Of course, it is not worth including low-quality children's clothes from China in the assortment, unless the seller provides you with all the certificates for this product.

Advertising

Nowadays, with a huge competition in the market of children's things, it's not enough to say that I want to open a children's clothing store in my city. To promote it, you need to invest in advertising.

Here is a list of the main customer sources:

media announcements
distribution of flyers with promotions and discounts on goods
discount program in your store
advertising on the Internet, namely contextual advertising for your online store and its search promotion in various product categories
advertising in social networks. In fact, popular groups on social networks can bring the lion's share of customers, and often there are queues for hot goods.

Don't forget about an interesting name for your store and a bright sign.

How much does it cost to open a children's clothing store?

Investments in this business in each case will be different. It all depends on the price range of goods, assortment, store location and other factors. We will provide a basic list of expenses.

Room rental - $250 - $300
Taxes - $150
Salesperson salary — $220
Initial purchase of goods - $15,000 - $20,000
Purchase of equipment - $1500 - $2500
Advertising — $550 (+ advertising on the Internet).

How much can you earn?

You can earn a lot, especially if you connect social networks, but it will take time and money to promote a business selling children's things and you need to be prepared for this.

The average markup on children's clothing ranges from 50% to 110%. But at the same time, there are a number of product groups where the margin can reach up to 130%.

Based on these figures, you can roughly estimate the volume of sales required for a business to pay off.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs think about opening a children's clothing store, but the business that has been started does not always bring profit and pleasure from work. In most cases, this is due to mistakes and misconceptions about this area of business.

Is it profitable to open a children's clothing store?

Every experienced entrepreneur will say that it is beneficial if the store pleases with a large assortment, low prices and friendly service. But, as you know, only this is not enough.

Many mothers complain that it is difficult to find beautiful and practical clothes for a child, in one store the prices are high, in another there is a small assortment. Children grow up quickly, so unlike adults, they need to update their wardrobe much more often.

The main task of a businessman who opened a children's clothing store is to listen to parents and children and try to fully satisfy their desires, only then will your favorite business be profitable.

The most important thing for a children's store at the planning stage is the idea and concept. This is where you need to start developing a plan and act. It is important to remember that a children's clothing store must be liked by parents and children therefore, it is worth coming up with an interesting name and design.

It is necessary to answer the question: “What will be special in my store, what will distinguish it from the competitive environment?”. Usually at this stage, the entrepreneur must come up with a name, style and concept for the future store.

The role of clothing segments and positioning rules

To determine the positioning, you must first select the segment of children's clothing that will be presented in the store.

There are three of them: low, medium and high. The low category includes economy class clothing, that is, the cheapest, the middle segment occupies a large part of the children's clothing market, and the high segment is represented in boutiques and elite shopping centers.

When positioning a low-end children's clothing store, you need to focus on low prices and good quality. Prices for clothes in economy stores are quite low compared to representatives of other segments, which attracts a fairly large part of buyers.

The middle segment is represented by a large number of manufacturers. Here, not only the price of the product is important, but also the manufacturer. Moms often pay attention to the country of origin, and some prefer only a certain company.

Clothing of the high segment is less popular than children's clothes in other price categories. This is due to the high price, manufacturers produce elite collections, and stores sell them to regular customers.

Opening a children's clothing store Please select an age group for which the product being sold is calculated. Of course, you can sell clothes for newborns, and for older children, and clothes for schoolchildren in one store. But, as you understand, the larger the range of goods, the larger the area of \u200b\u200bthe premises is needed.

There is no such problem in the adult store, since the clothing sizes are standard. Check out this article for some useful ideas that you can apply to a children's clothing store as well.

And, for example, in an online store, you can lay out any number of goods. In information about opening an online store, read and then open your own clothing store for children.

Paperwork for a clothing store

As soon as the concept and idea of a children's clothing store is chosen, it is necessary to think about the necessary documents.

Before opening, the following preparatory work should be carried out:

submit tax documents for registration of an individual entrepreneur, and then send the necessary package of documents to the Pension Fund. Registration takes 5 working days, and documents can be submitted to the Pension Fund within 1 day;
rent a room, sign an agreement with the landlord, draw up fire safety documents;
find suppliers and ask them to send all the necessary certificates for clothes;
get the necessary accounting documentation, hire an accountant or conclude an agreement with a bureau providing accounting services.

How to choose the right place for a children's clothing store?

After the idea is developed and registered as an individual entrepreneur, you can start looking for a suitable premises. The right choice of a trading place is 50% of success. Its area depends on the number of age groups that will be represented in it.

Sometimes the situation is exactly the opposite: there is already a room, and depending on its size, it is necessary to decide on the assortment. In both cases, you need to follow the basic rules.

Often, a future entrepreneur thinks about where the store should be located: in a shopping center, residential building or in a separate building. Here you need to carefully analyze the area in which the premises are chosen, for example, it’s great if there are schools, houses of culture, kindergartens, sections, etc. nearby.

But in no case should one make the most common mistake - to open a children's clothing store next to a circus, a children's theater, an entertainment complex, a zoo, since the main goal of people visiting these establishments has nothing to do with shopping.

In a separate building or a store located in a residential building, you can sell clothes of any segment, focusing on the wealth of families living in the area.

But the shopping center does not always agree to allocate a place on its square. This is due to the policy of the shopping center, in some cases, for rent, you will need to provide a presentation of your project, the administration considers it and makes a decision.

Important, so that the store does not stand out from the style and concept of the shopping center and was in the same segment with other products.

For example, if a shopping center sells clothing from brands such as TomFarr, Wojcik, Ceremony and other brands of adult and children's clothing, then administrators will not allow the sale of Ivashka knitwear, etc. nearby.

In centers targeted at the low segment, it is also not worth opening a store with more expensive clothing models, as shoppers there are accustomed to other prices.

The choice of suppliers of children's clothing

Unfortunately, this issue is one of the most problematic for all entrepreneurs involved in children's clothing. At the initial stage, it is better to conclude an agreement with 3-4 large ones, and then find new ones and update the assortment.

So that sales do not fall, you can’t constantly buy the same thing, it bothers customers. This is especially true for stores that are located in residential areas, where there are many regular customers.

All suppliers must be in the same price segment. It is highly undesirable to interfere with the goods of manufacturers from different countries, this can reduce the credibility of the store.

Making a shop space

This is the next step that needs to be carefully considered in order to create an in-demand and profitable store.

The most important rule that applies here is: everything should look nice and neat. If necessary, it is worth making repairs and choosing calm light colors.

It is important to monitor the appearance of the product itself, it should not look careless, wrinkled or dirty. To competently design a store and create an ideal design for it, it is better to turn to professionals.

In order for the opening of the store to go smoothly, you need to plan all the steps in advance. The instruction "" and the article that you are currently reading will help you with this.

To analyze the profitability of a store, you can use EBITDA - - what it is and the calculation formula.

For an online children's clothing store, consider hiring a courier service. For information on how to choose a courier service and the benefits of outsourcing delivery for business.

Coordination with the relevant authorities

After the preparation of the store is almost completed and the long-awaited opening is approaching, you need to contact Rospotrebnadzor, the Trade Department and the State Fire Supervision Service, coordinate the opening of the store with them and receive the relevant documents.

You can find out more about their requirements in the relevant documents, but you need to be prepared for the following:

Rospotrebnadzor will check compliance with sanitary standards, which can be found in the "Laboratory Control Program";
The fire inspection, if there are no violations, issues a permit for trade. It is important to remember that during the implementation of trading activities, it is necessary to conduct fire safety briefings for employees and keep a special log;
When checking, the trading department takes as a basis the "Rules for the sale of certain types of goods", special attention should be paid to equipment during the preparation of the premises.

Personnel and marketing policy

Proper preparation and opening of a store is only half of a successful project, a competent marketing policy and qualified personnel are important.

The number of employees depends on the sales area, if the store is small, then you can hire one seller or trade yourself, and for a large one you may need a whole staff: a manager, several sellers and a cleaner.

Recently, SMS mailing has gained wide popularity, which informs about the beginning of sales, the arrival of new collections, etc.

Do not forget about such holidays as Knowledge Day, Children's Day and New Year. These days, you can invite animators, give each customer small gifts or arrange a lottery.

Opening a children's clothing store is a difficult and costly undertaking, but with the right approach, it can become interesting and profitable. The main thing is to be sure, provide for all the features of the opening, and also carefully prepare for business activities.

Thinking about how to open a children's clothing store from scratch and don't know where to start? Then this post is just for you. According to many business experts, trading in children's clothing is much more profitable than any other: adult, work, for special purposes (hunting, work, etc.), sports, etc. The thing is that no matter how adults are dressed, they always try to dress their children better than other parents of their children. After all, children are the “flowers of life” ...

Brief business analysis:
Business setup costs:0.7 - 1.5 million rubles
Relevant for cities with a population: from 10 thousand
Situation in the industry:high level of competition
The complexity of organizing a business: 2/5
Payback: 9-12 months

Surely, those readers who have a child have repeatedly heard a similar phrase from him: “Mom (dad), and today in our kindergarten (school, on the street) Lenka (Petka, Vaska, Tanka) came in a new T-shirt (jacket, skirt, jeans). So beautiful!" And that's it. This is quite enough for a parent's heart to go shopping this coming weekend.

Try to imagine how many clothes a child needs: for school, for the street, for sports, for games, for home. An adult can do without half of this, but a child cannot. In general, we think that you have already agreed with us that the question of how to open a children's clothing store is very relevant, and the business itself is profitable, practical, and profitable.

Trade Format

Due to the fact that so many moments of our lives are already “mirrored” on the World Wide Web, the ways of selling children's clothing can be very different:

offline trading - opening a children's clothing store in your city;
e-commerce - the sale of goods through an online store (read more about how to open an online children's clothing store below);
combined trade, in which the principle “one does not interfere with the other” works.

Now consider all the options for how to open a children's clothing store from scratch in order.

How to start opening a store

Of course, the very first step should be to develop a business plan for how to open a children's clothing store (how to write a business plan can be found here -). The general concept is good, but in order to succeed, you need to clearly follow the points of the drawn up strategy. The next step is to define your target audience. You must understand to whom and where you will sell clothes. In which area of the city sales will go better, for which categories of families with what level of income you will offer a range of your goods, etc.

Shop space search

First, you should make a kind of "map" of the location of competitors' stores. Opening your business next to a successful children's clothing store would be extremely unwise. The next factor to be taken into account is the specific location of the premises. For some reason, many believe that it will be very profitable to open a store in places as close as possible to kindergartens, schools, and other institutions where children spend time. Allegedly, on the way there / back, parents will go to the store and buy clothes for the child.

Well, tell me, what parents will find time for this? In the morning they rush to take (take) the children to the kindergarten, school, children's center, etc., in order to go to work themselves. And in the evening - pick up as soon as possible to go home, where dinner and rest are waiting. Where to find time to choose clothes for a child?

Usually they go shopping purposefully, knowing what exactly the child needs. Therefore, we believe that the ideal location for a children's clothing store is a large shopping and entertainment center, or a residential area of the city, where there will be "a few steps" from the store to the house. Or a department in a clothing store "for adults", where, buying clothes for themselves, having stumbled upon a sign of a children's clothing store, the buyer will definitely make a purchase from you.

For retail space will be enough from fifty to one hundred square meters. You can, of course, more, but at the same time, remember that the risks increase in proportion to the increase in the room. And why pay more for renting "squares" if you can optimize the location of the assortment, and visually enlarge the room due to the correct layout?

Registering your business

To do this, you need to choose the right form of doing business, determine the taxation system, according to which you will work, register your individual entrepreneur, or LLC. By the way, if “things don’t work out,” you will have to liquidate your enterprise. You can read about it.

After all the "paper" hassle, it's time to choose

Product range

Without exaggerating at all, let's say right away that this is one of the most difficult stages in the implementation of the idea of opening a children's clothing store. Clothing for children is divided into age categories:

for newborns and toddlers;
for children who attend kindergarten;
clothes for schoolchildren.

Each group of goods has its own selection criteria, which should be taken into account when choosing an assortment. We mean that clothes for the first category should be sewn from natural fabrics, have an appropriate design, colors, and be affordable for a wide variety of people. Clothes for “kindergarteners” are comfortable and beautiful at average prices. Clothing for students is very different, because here the child himself most often takes part in the choice. Prices for this group can also be very different.

In general, it should be noted that children's clothing for sale is provided in almost all garment factories.

How to open a children's clothing store franchise

Another option for implementing this project, perhaps the most reliable and calm one, is the acquisition of a franchise. In this case, the franchisor will help you to fully organize the business, give you a ready-made business model by which you will reach the planned profits in the shortest possible time. So we advise you to take a closer look at this option.

Staff

The optimal number of employees for such a store is five people: one senior manager (or, if you like, let's call him manager), and four sales assistants - two people per shift. Practice shows that the most convenient work schedule is two days after two. We think it would be superfluous to say that it would be better if the sellers love children and know how to communicate with them. Still, they said ... By the way, sales directly depend on this. The kid will be more willing to “pull” his parents to the store where “that cheerful aunt who knows how ...” works.

Promoting your store

Advertising your store is half the success of its activities. Or even a little more than half. In addition to regular advertising: media, leaflets (read about the idea of working with leaflets), pasted ads, and advertisements on the Internet, hold various promotions, make discounts, expand your business - open a children's cafe here. Find something that will set you apart from your competitors. For example, it can be an increase in the warranty period of a product, or a gift for a purchase of a certain amount, or something else.

Now a new way of advertising has gained popularity - questionnaires. With the consent of the buyer, who fills out the appropriate form (name, gender, age, phone number, e-mail), he is sent SMS or email notifications about new sales, promotions, discounts held by the store. As the practice of existing stores shows, this method is very effective for increasing sales.