One of the biggest hurdles you will have to face as a fledgling business is taking the step from being online only to having your own real-world location where people can come and meet you and buy from you.

As a small business, being able to open your own shop is a great step and it will allow you to open yourself up to many more customers.

Today we are taking a look at some of the things you’ll need to do to open your first store.

Choose a location

The main decision you need to make when you start thinking of opening a shop is to choose a good location for it.

When you want to open a store and share it with the world you want the world to be able to see it, and therefore a busy location in the middle of the city or town is ideal.

Make sure to pick a spot which people often walk past and this will increase your chances of visitors and sales.

Hire staff

The best thing you can do as a small business owner is to open up your shop hiring process to the public and also encourage college students to work there part-time.

The reason why this can be great is because when you offer this to college and school students their parents and friends will also hear about the store and you will be naturally spreading the word about your new business.

Stock it up

Stocking your first store will take a little time to nail but once you have a dynamic design of shelving and a clear plan you can’t go wrong.

Make sure you use Truck Finance to buy a truck for the business which will be used to transport items from the warehouse to the store and this will make things easier for you as you go along.

Create a display

People see with their hearts and you need to capture the attention of people walking past the store by creating a stunning window display.

If you don’t know where to start, take a look at some of your favourite shops and see what kind of things they do.

For example, for a homeware store creating a real room scene in the front of the shop can pull people in and make them want to learn more.

Have fun with colours and use the seasons to your advantage.

Open up

Opening our store can be a nerve-wracking thing. A good idea would be to invite local people to a 2-hour launch party where you open the store and provide snacks and champagne to celebrate.

Inviting bloggers to a launch like this is a great idea because they will be able to spread the word further and generate customers for you.

Once you have done this and you start to sell your stuff, be friendly and personable and you’ll gain a lovely reputation in the local area!