Hey Vet-Vapers! 6-year AF vet, 1A8, got out and opened my own business (vape shop, but not here for advertisement.) I just really needed a change of pace from deployments/military. Anyways, I was just looking for a Business Ownership Survival Guide from one of you who understands getting out and away from the Uncle Sam Safety Net to the terrifying and exciting experience of small business ownership. Things you wish you would have known before your first year was over/ before you began. We opened a couple months ago and while business is going well, there's never anything wrong with intel gathering. So, if any of you guys have any tips, tricks, or just general advice (or anything you guys really like or would like to see in a shop) it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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RMarcusY
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Welcome to the VU
Good to have you here.
I was a small business owner, but retired 15 years ago.
Keeping current customers happy is cheaper than finding new ones.
Good to have you here.
I was a small business owner, but retired 15 years ago.
Keeping current customers happy is cheaper than finding new ones.
Sure am doing my best. Some are harder than others to deal with, but I'll put a smile on my face to cover the murder in my eyes.
Bucky205
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Location, location, location is a big one. Traffic is everything. We have a counter with 6 stools, that people will sit, talk about MODs, RDAs, Tanks, Juices, and everything else. You would think that people sitting there would be a detriment to sales, but they are some of your best sales people. Someone that's not an employee of the shop recommending something, carries a lot of weight with consumers. We've got a young lady that works for us part time, that can out sell either one of us hands down. Her circle of friends, and their circle of friends, bring in a lot of business. We charge $5 for rebuilding an RDA, or RBA, If your'e a regular customer that buys juice, there is no charge for an occasional rebuild. Treat people, like you want to be treated. If you can find a vendor to supply you a large assortment of good flavors and attach your label it's huge. You can sell house juice at a much better price than the premiums and still maintain good margin. Still stock the premiums, but the affordable quality house juice goes out the door at least 3 times as fast as the premium, with much better margin. Have a good POS system that also supports inventory control, and reporting, run everything through the POS. If you grab a bottle of juice for yourself, run it through the POS. If you drop a bottle of juice and it breaks, mark it in POS. Stay on top of the industry, with what's popular. Careful about how much hardware inventory you stock. If popularity starts to drop, keep lowering the price until it's gone. The money is in the juice. Number one rule; "Don't Lose Money". Good Luck!, it's a fun industry.
George Harrier
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Good stuff ^Bucky - along the lines of what he was saying about his female employee, try to build a "community" of vapers , and not just customers. Set up times in your shop for different discussions, (ie battery safety : coil building; etc) - cloud competitions always go over well, - most juice companies will supply you with juice/merch for free to give as prizes. - many different things that are both fun and can be quite informative.--to make it as interactive as possible. as Bucky said, the "community" is your best sales person. POS- absolutely. inventory/cost control is huge!! and time spent regulating that will be appreciated at end of year for you. -- and a very important thing. at least it is to me. - education and understanding of products. Nothing i hate more, than walking into a shop, and they person selling/assisting me doesn't know much of anything. - the more your workers know, the more confidence your customers will have. and in turn the more your customers will know, which will only increase their interest in vaping. I think of in in terms of going out to dinner. if you have confidence in your server/cooks, you can then have an "experience" . rather than just buying food. - Hope the absolute best for you in your business ventures !!