Business organization options
You can open a business in various formats, which depend on the plans of the entrepreneur, the scale and investments that he is going to make in the project: 1. a sewing workshop, which is engaged in sewing finished products and is focused on wholesale sales; 2. curtain salon, which acts as an intermediary and sells and services retail customers; 3. online store; 4. large business that combines the above areas. A beginner with a starting capital of several thousand dollars is better off starting with his own workshop. This way you can study the market, gain experience and gradually expand your business. Many such workshops do not consider blind sellers their competitors, but, on the contrary, cooperate with them. By expanding the range, you can increase your sales channels.
Range
It is necessary to spend from 300 to 700 thousand rubles to create an assortment of goods. This largely depends on the size of the premises: the larger the area of the outlet, the greater the cost of purchasing goods. Empty shelves scare away the client, so if you have a limited budget, it is better to rent a small space so that you can fill the store’s retail space thoroughly. The main range of the curtain salon includes the following products:
- curtain fabrics,
- ready-made curtains,
- blinds,
- cornices,
- fringe,
- brushes, grips,
- accessories for curtains.
If you have a limited budget, you don’t have to purchase a large assortment of fabrics: at the beginning of your business, you can sell goods according to samples, which can be collected in countless quantities from wholesale suppliers. In the assortment of ready-made curtains, you can offer the client a whole range of products:
- classic curtains - straight hanging fabric combined with tulle. This is the most popular product. Average price – 2,000 rubles;
- Photo curtains are not for everyone. A more expensive option, unlike the classics. Average price – 4500 rubles;
- Japanese curtains are also not for everybody. These curtains are more like screens. The fabric of Japanese curtains is light and moves along the window using a mechanism. Average price 1500 rubles;
- Italian curtains. Such curtains do not move apart and are rigidly attached to the cornice. They are often used on doorways. Average price 1200 rubles;
- Roman blinds are still exotic. They are a strip of fabric stretched over a rigid structure attached to the ceiling. The average price is 1200 rubles.
Assortment policy
There are a large number of variations of curtains. Conventionally, they can be divided into types: 1. according to territorial markings - Roman, Austrian, Japanese; 2. according to the sewing method - with gathers, cascades, with lining, on loops; 3. by design - classic, country, avant-garde, kitsch, rococo; 4. by mechanism – roller, magnetic; 5. according to the method of fastening - on ties, on loops, on a drawstring, on eyelets; 6. by type of room - for the living room, for the nursery, for the kitchen; 7. by material – linen, cotton, viscose, polyester, cotton. Also, to complete the assortment, various curtain accessories, ribbons, edgings, hooks, clips, etc. should be on sale.
How to open a curtain store and not go bankrupt
Statistics and observations of certain stores specializing in the sale of curtains lead to a very positive outcome.
This matter, as already mentioned above, allows you to sell products with a 100% markup and the buyer will react extremely lazily to such a markup.
In addition, the complexity of all stages, both at the stage of organization and at the stage of direct discovery, can only please rather than repel with its conditions.
Judge for yourself, for a store (without taking into account paperwork) you only need to rent a room and directly purchase the curtains themselves, commercial furniture, at the same time organizing good lighting and that’s it.
The experience of colleagues in the shop forces us to adhere to certain frameworks and try to comply with them, at least for the first time:
- Firstly, you shouldn’t overinflate it too much with a markup . In any case, not in every city and individual area the situation will correspond to the above. Therefore, it will be useful to carry out a careful and smooth increase in markups, monitoring customer behavior.
- Secondly, deciding how to open a curtain store will force you to seriously monitor the state of affairs of your direct competitors . Therefore, we can immediately say that if your curtain costs 3 rubles, and your competitor’s costs 1 ruble, you should not expect visitors. I hope you will pay attention to this advice and will literally check the price with yours. This will allow you not only to always stay up to date with your immediate business, but also to attract more and more new clients.
That's all. I hope the information was useful to you. Please leave all questions in the comments to the article.
Financial plan
How much does it cost to start your own business? To open a mini workshop for sewing curtains with the involvement of 5-6 employees, 2.5-3 thousand dollars is enough at the start. Money is needed to rent premises, purchase equipment, hire staff and purchase consumables. Monthly expenses will include wages, taxes and utility bills, and possible marketing costs. If you establish sales channels and provide yourself with orders, you can recoup your business in just six months. But the problem for beginners is the lack of such channels. Many customers are put off by the reputation of the curtain manufacturer, and in the first stages, good reviews and recommendations need to be earned. Therefore, in practice, the start-up costs of small firms pay off within a year.
Studying the market
The demand for household goods is growing along with the real estate market. People are buying apartments and furnishing their nests. In 2020, the market remains at the same level, which means the need for curtains and other textiles remains unchanged.
Roughly speaking, people would rather not buy additional furniture, but they will always hang curtains: without this there will be no comfort in the house.
Business Features:
- difficulties with foreign suppliers. The sanctions of the Russian government hit business hard, and the call “Choose domestic!” brainwashed many entrepreneurs and suppliers. Nowadays there really is a focus on Russian industry: take this into account when choosing suppliers;
- lack of seasonality. Curtains are always needed, at any time of the year, so the demand for them is relatively stable. There are no bursts of activity either: while in other niches sales are growing before the New Year and other holidays, here, as in Baghdad, everything is calm, quiet and even;
- tough competition in the niche. Your main competitors are large retailers and home goods hypermarkets, which offer, among others, ready-made curtains. You can differentiate yourself from competitors by offering customers a wide range or, conversely, new products on the market: handmade curtains, for example. Carefully monitor new products on the market : perhaps you will become the popularizer of a new direction before others;
- small markup, on average about 30-90%. If you do more, they simply won’t buy.
Documentation
To organize this business, you need to register as an individual entrepreneur or LLC. The last option is suitable for those who plan to take out a loan from a bank or work with a partner. In addition, wholesale companies are more willing to cooperate with LLCs. An individual entrepreneur is suitable for home production - this will make it possible to simplify financial and tax reporting. OKVED code for this business is 17.5 “Production of other textile products.” If you plan to provide designer services and sew custom curtains, you also need to enter code 74.84 “Provision of other services.” The description of this section includes the service of modeling textiles and interior items.
How to increase the profit of a curtain salon
Method one: increase the average check for direct sales
One of the most obvious and obvious types of earnings is direct sales. Among your clients there are those for whom it is important not just to buy fabric and hang curtains, but also to decorate their home by selecting everything they need, and also to develop an individual design. We can offer such clients a full range of services and find an individual approach to each one. You have the opportunity to increase your profits by offering them related products, such as:
• magnets; • braid; • cornices;
Despite the fact that the markup on related products is much higher and can reach up to 500%. It is profitable for you to offer and sell such things. But what’s more important is to offer services: design, sewing, hanging curtains. You should not do this for free, because providing a service requires time and effort that must be paid for.
Method two: we take a commission from tailoring
The second significant part of the profit in curtain salons is the commission from tailoring.
Let's tell an instructive story. At the very beginning of our journey, when we had not yet acquired our own workshop, we outsourced the sewing of curtains from our fabrics to homeworkers or to sewing workshops. In fact, we provided clients and gave work to other people and organizations, but according to the principle: we sell for what we bought for. We received nothing from such transactions. Over time, we came to the conclusion that it is still necessary to take a commission from the contractor, because orders with tailoring account for 50-60% of all sales.
If you don’t charge money for it, then you are engaging in pure altruism, providing clients to other people for free, and losing revenue yourself. What can you do in this case? There are two ways:
1. Open your own sewing workshop. Here you need to make a reservation: you should open a workshop if you have more than three curtain salons. Be sure to calculate the volume of orders before making this decision. Since with the opening of a sewing workshop you can go into the red.
2. You can negotiate with workshops or seamstresses for a commission. Everything is much simpler here. You are not seriously responsible for the work, and simply give them orders, but not for free. You can either agree with the performers that you will receive 10-30% of the order value from the seamstress or someone else’s workshop for the referred client. Or add 10 to 30% to the exact cost of the seamstress’s work, and this amount will be the bed cost of tailoring, which you will announce to the client.
Why is there such a spread - 10-30%? The seamstress market is very competitive, so you need to act according to the circumstances, not forgetting about the interests of the dressmakers, so that during the season they do not give preference to competitors, because they offer better conditions.
Method three: commission for installing cornices
The third way to increase profits is a commission for installing cornices. In this case, the profit share is much less than in direct sales or commission on tailoring. Of course, you will need to find performers and enter into an agreement with them on a 10-15% commission for providing them with permanent work. This will be your additional income.
Roughly speaking, you find a person, agree with him on the cost of performing his services and negotiate in advance your commission for providing him with clients and work. The scheme is approximately the same as with seamstresses.
Fourth method: seasonal sales
The next type of profit depends on the season. It's no secret that in preparation for big holidays such as New Year or Easter, many people update their interiors, including changing curtains. The demand for our products during this period is quite high. How do we propose to use this?
You need to increase the number of finished products in advance and sell them at a slightly higher price by 10-15%, before major holidays.
All workshops are so busy at this time that order fulfillment times are delayed. There are always clients who are ready to overpay in order to have new curtains hanging for the holiday, so that the house is cozy and beautiful. In addition, there are those who do not look at the price, wanting to receive the goods here and now.
This type of profit has a downside.
You need to very clearly define the number of finished products, their model, as well as sizes and prices. If you don’t calculate your inventory or make the wrong sizes, then this method will work to your disadvantage.
How can this be calculated? We would advise you to introduce products gradually, increasing the volume in each subsequent season if possible. It is better that you do not have finished products left at the end of the season. If you don’t implement them on time, then in six months, in a year they will become obsolete.
Please note that before ordering finished products, you must conduct an internal analysis and agree in advance on the quantity of finished products that you can produce with the purchasing department or with the head of this area.
Fifth method: comprehensive services
Additional income can also be an indirect way of earning money. For example, when your salesperson goes to the client’s place (home) and does a comprehensive processing. What does it mean?
- the seller takes all measurements according to which finished products need to be sewn;
- develops curtain design;
- is responsible for their distribution.
Be sure to create a price list for the order for the buyer and for yourself, including. It regulates prices for additional services. All of this needs to be included in the cost of the overall solution for your clients.
You must understand that a simple seller cannot provide such a range of services; you need a specialist who is well versed not only in fabrics, but also in color, design, has taste and wins people over.
Therefore, in a curtain salon it is important to have employees who know how to offer, sell and describe goods well, have empathy and feel what customers need. Such employees need to be motivated, preferably financially: a percentage of sales, or design bonuses.
A good salary is a good reason to work long and hard for you. Such a specialist will be able to develop a client base over time and, most likely, clients will recommend him to their friends, and word of mouth has been and remains the best advertising.
Sixth method: pricing
Let's consider another type of profit - pricing.
It will be difficult for you to sell goods at a higher markup than your competitors, at least for basic fabrics. Not all, but most people will go to several showrooms, ask about the prices of basic fabrics (for example, plain curtains, voile and organza) and make a purchasing decision based on the information they receive.
Therefore, we advise you to conditionally divide the assortment into basic and unique.
Unique fabrics
(with an interesting design, high quality, which are difficult to find) can and should be sold at a higher price (the main thing is that competitors do not have the same ones). When selling unique products, your seller must be able to explain why they cost more, for example:
• the quality of the fabric is better;
• the best composition;
• technological design, etc.
Basic fabrics
- our bread. Under no circumstances should you increase the price of goods such as:
• jacquard;
• blackout;
• plain veils;
• organza.
Clients use them to guide their prices and you will lose if their price in your salon is higher than that of your competitors. It is even better to reduce the price of goods similar to those in other stores.
In conclusion, I would like to say that we have shown you enough options to increase your profits. Undoubtedly, each of them will require time to implement and develop. If you don't do this, then most likely your earnings will be lower than those of your competitors. Therefore, implement these points into your business and be the first in your region.
At home
For a home business, you can set up a workshop in your apartment - you need to buy a sewing machine, an overlocker, an ironing board and an iron. Sewing curtains with your own hands at home is not profitable, since there is a lot of competition on the domestic market among Russian manufacturers, who win in terms of variety of assortment, quality, and volume. Competition is also created by small regional companies that sell low-quality goods at a reduced cost. Home-made curtain products and wholesale companies are not interested; for retail stores, curtains of acceptable quality may seem expensive. Companies that combine individual orders and design, offering custom-made curtains, having previously assessed the type of room and selected alternative options, manage to “stand” and develop. To do this, you need to constantly develop, follow fashion trends in interior design, and study various master classes.
To get new clients you will also need a website. You can create it using the website builder - tobiz.net.
Related products
Although blinds are not in great demand among Russian consumers, as they are usually associated with dusty streaks that can be seen on office windows, you can find allies in companies specializing in their production.
Any experienced sales specialist will be able to convince the client that he needs not only curtains that perform decorative and functional roles, but also blinds that can save expensive fabrics from fading. In addition, blinds can play on contrasts with curtains, which will allow you to create a rather complex composition.
Or you can simply make them a color accent in the overall style. This way you will help blinds sellers, and in return they will recommend you to their clients. This cooperation will be mutually beneficial. You may also be interested in the production of roller blinds, in which case you will cover an even larger market segment.
Order curtains made or buy ready-made ones?
Sewing curtains requires high professionalism and professional equipment. The cutters and seamstresses of the Curtain Salon are experienced, responsible, neat people, masterfully mastering all technological techniques. They have been working with us for more than 10 years. Be sure that the cut of your textiles will be perfect. The elements of the fabric ornament are symmetrical, the stitch length is selected in accordance with the density of your fabric (the denser the fabric, the longer the stitch), fittings, interlining materials, drapery and eyelet tapes made in Germany will be used. The cost of tailoring is from 450 rubles. per linear meter, including the cost of the tape, wet-heat treatment and assembly onto the tape. We guarantee impeccable quality tailoring, exactly according to your sizes and on time.
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