FabJob Guide to Become a Boutique Owner (FabJob Guides)

As a boutique owner, you choose the products and you set the prices, and then open your doors to customers eager to snap up your latest selections and show them off to all their friends. Boutique owners are insiders to fashion trends long before the general public. You will have an opportunity to use your creativity every day, from creating window displays to putting together a knock-out ensemble for customers who value your expert advice. Retail fashion is a solid business, with constant demand for new clothing products created by fashion designers and the ever-changing whims of celebrities. And boutiques are chic - people value the personalized service and attention they receive, the cozy ambiance, and the unique merchandize that only a boutique can offer. This guide offers through information to start and succeed as a boutique owner including: - How to create a boutique business plan - Choosing a name for your boutique - Start-up costs, including sample start-up budgets for low-end and high-end boutiques - Where to get start-up financing for your boutique - How to evaluate a potential location - How to obtain your boutique merchandise - How to set your prices - How to manage your staff - How to handle your daily cash sales - Theft prevention methods - How to do a physical inventory - Effective selling in a boutique - Hosting events like fashion shows, trunk shows, and sample sales Plus you will find even more resources and advice, including: - Valuable samples forms: - Evaluation Checklists - How to get professional help to start a retail clothing store business - Ways to get your inventory for the least amount of money The FabJob Guide to Become a Boutique Owner contains some of the best business advice you could get from other sources, plus much more. It can save you many hours of research, help you avoid some common mistakes, and give you information you need to open your own boutique, whether you want to start a women's clothing

Guidebook author Debbra Mikaelsen has been a fashion industry consultant for the last eight years, and has been working in fashion design since and production since 1986. She has contributed to the success of several boutiques in North America, and has also worked with fashion designers, apparel wholesalers, garment manufacturers, and vertical retailers. For this guide book she draws on her own experience in the fashion and retailing industries, as well as numerous in-depth interviews with successful boutique owners. Debbra is also a contributing author to the FabJob Guide to Become a Fashion Designer. Her freelance writing has been published at the apparel industry website Just-Style.com, as well as in International Living magazine.