Launching a brick-and-mortar store is a difficult task to achieve and also often quite an ambitious pursuit. So, if you wish to test the waters first, you can always start with pop-up shops. These are temporary in nature and can last anywhere from a week to around six months.
Albeit small and temporary, there are many advantages that you can gain from opting to start with a pop-up store. It’s a good way to get the word out about the existence of your business, make your products and services well-known, and also ensure that there’s a demand for them. Plus, it’s also easy to build given its temporary nature. For instance, you can easily adapt many shipping container business ideas.
If you’ve long been contemplating setting up a pop-up store, you’ve come to the right place. This article will give you some of the top insights on how you can successfully set one up.
1. Define Your Goals For Your Pop-Up Shop
Like any other business venture, you don’t start your pop-up shop without first identifying the goals that you wish to achieve. As you plan the launch of your startup, it’s also important to set your intentions in advance. Doing so will increase your chances of having a successful pop-up store.
Once your pop-up is running, what you should do is regularly check if your operations are aligned with the goals you’ve set. When it comes to your goal-setting process, you may also want to ask yourself the following:
- What makes visiting your pop-up shop worth your customers’ time?
- What do you intend to achieve by joining a pop-up event or by setting up your pop-up store?
- What’s your target traffic of customers that you wish to attract through your pop-up?
- What’s your average sales goal per day?
2. Keep Your Budget In Mind
Most budding entrepreneurs who capitalize on the growing popularity of pop-up shops do so because they’re short on budget. So, if this is also true for you, then all the more reason that you’ve got to be cautious with how much you’re going to spend in launching your pop-up store.
The amount you’re going to spend for your pop-up shop should be significantly less than what you would’ve needed to open a permanent shop. Otherwise, it simply defeats the purpose of starting with a pop-up shop if the cost will be just as expensive as a permanent brick-and-mortar store.
3. Do Your Research
Do your research on the marketability of your pop-up shop. Is there a current demand in your locality for the products and services that you intend to offer?
If you plan on joining a fair or a pop-up event, then you’ve also got to research if there are any upcoming ones within your local area. If there aren’t any, is there some place where you can set up your temporary pop-up shop with the least possible expense?
Doing your research can ensure that despite its temporary nature, you can still earn during the running time of your pop-up store.
4. Prepare The Utilities That You Need
One of the advantages of setting up a pop-up store is that you’re obviously going to need a lot less utilities than what would’ve been essential if you were opening a permanent, physical store. But you’ve still got to make the necessary preparations.
Especially if you’re going to come up with a food pop-up business, you should consider looking for a portable stove? What utensils should you have? Are there suppliers of takeaway boxes? If you’re coming up with a clothing pop-up, how many racks and hangers do you need?
These are all matters that you have to iron out early on so you can prepare the budget needed for your pop-up’s equipment.
5. Plan Your Display
Lastly, here comes one of the hardest but also most important facets of planning a pop-up store: your display.
You’ve got to be very cautious about your display, such that it’ll be appealing enough to your target customers. Even if your shop is only up for a couple of days or weeks, your display matters. Take the same effort in visualizing this as you would for a permanent store.
If your display is bad, then no matter how good the quality of your products is, you still can’t get customers to patronize what you’re selling because you can’t drive them towards your shop.
Conclusion
Especially when you’re still a small up-and-coming retail business, setting up a pop-up store is often your best bet. It’s a good way to make yourself be known in the market and to grow your small brand, without spending a significant amount from your capital. But, this doesn’t mean that because it’s a pop-up store, you can take it easy with the start-up process. You’ve still got to be very cautious to avoid some of the financial and economic pitfalls of a failed startup. The tips above can lead you towards a successful opening and run of your small pop-up store.
