When I was younger, okay a few years ago, I had imagined owning my own store. I had plans to make it a fun place to shop with a small play area for kids to play while their moms shopped. I imagined my kids being at the “office” with me playing in the back room or as they grew older helping in the store itself. But as the thought of owning my own business became a reality I realized that the best place for me to start was online. So three years ago I launched my online boutique. I’m happy with running an online business and my dreams of opening a brick and mortar store have faded. I now dream of opening more online shops and working from my home office while my kids play in the background.
I’m not the only one building stores with their keyboard, an article on Forbes.com by Sramana Mitra says that people are no longer looking to open up a store on main street instead they are turning to the web. Have you thought about opening up an online store? What’s holding you back?
Hi! Nice article and food for thought. I love Sramana Mitra, and have had her as a guest on my radio show. However, I disagree that the Web is the “best” place to set up a retail store. I notice there are no statistics supporting that in her article.
Every retailer needs a Web presence, and also needs a way to accept payments for merchandise online. But as the founder and CEO of the Indie Beauty Network, I can say that dozens of my members are opening retail stores and doing very well. They are supporting their local communities and the local economy, adding value to small towns and large cities alike, and creating commerce in fun ways. As great as the Web is, it cannot replace personal, intimate, physical connection.
For example, The Mindful Nest opened in the Los Angeles area a few months ago to raves in local papers and elsewhere. The owner, Jennifer Hardaway, already owns a successful Web business. The Mindful Nest is a way for her to connect in person with her customers and also sell goods made by other local artisans — face to face, up close and personal.
Last week, I visited Blue Flour Best Baked Goods in Irmo, South Carolina. The founder and CEO, Teri Pringle, sells her cookies online. I asked her why she opened a retail store when she could just sell her sweets online. You can watch my video interview of Teri here: http://su.pr/Ac9kqP.
I believe this trend will continue to grow as geo-based apps like Urban Spoon, Snacksquare, Foursquare and others make it fun and trendy to go to a physical location in a city and have a good time buying, connecting, etc. If no one was going to local stores and shops, those apps would be dying. Instead, they are growing by leaps and bounds because they combine the best of the Web with a physical location where people can get together and connect in person.
When I visit a new town, one of the things I love to do is visit the local or historical shops. I was in one yesterday selling vinyl records — if you can believe it. They have a bustling ebay business, but they love connecting with their customers in person, and their customers like to come in a smell, touch, see all the “oldies but goodies” in person. You cannot do that online.
I am looking forward to other thoughts. Thanks for raising this interesting issue.
dm
There’s no one solution that is perfect for everyone. And if every retailer opted out of a physical store, local communities nationwide would die a slow, painful, and certain death. Many online businesses would die too because their ability to grow into the wholesale arena would die if there were no retail stores for them to sell their products to. Not everyone wants to make money one single sale at a time when they could make a sale of hundreds or thousands of items at once if they were purchased at wholesale by a retailer.
I think we should encourage people to create a profitable business in ways that suit their personalities, their communities, and their particular business model.
.-= Donna Maria Coles Johnson´s last blog ..Donna Maria Coles Johnson in Speaking on 30 April 2010 =-.
Donna,
Thanks for your comment. Your right its important to find what works for you and your business. Personally with my background in web development an online retail business was the correct choice for me. I was able to get my business up and running without having to invest a lot of money I didn’t have. It’s important to have a good balance between online and brick and mortar, but I think if your funds are low and you don’t have an investor you can get started online much faster.