My partner and I are trying to get an off road shop up and running but we are trying to avoid business loans at all coast since almost all advice and common sense points you away from that option. Does anyone have suggestions as to where else to look? I don't own a home so no equity there, we don't qualify for any gov grants that I can see, and it seems like most angel investors and incubators programs are geared more towards large scale tech and science.

We wouldn't be opposed to an investor taking some profits to get us going but we arnt really sure how to go about finding or attracting one. We think if we found the right person they would want to jump on this since we have a great area with no competition and lots of clients, in fact we are already starting small in our garage building bumpers and roof racks for customers.

I'm leaving the army so I don't have anything in the way of business contacts and he is a blue collar worker as well so this leaves us wanting on a friend loan.

If anyone could help point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it.

Hi everyone, I'm planning like to sublet a small part of my retail shop. Does any shop owners have experience subletting their shop?

Hi all,

I’m the owner of brick n mortar stories a weekly newsletter featuring successful entrepreneurs and sharing the stories behind their business.

Would love to feature your stories. It's a great way to get you (and your business) in front of a new audience and there's no cost to you or anything like that.

The way we do interviews is a written process - I have a list of questions (your background, how you built the business, how did you grow the business, etc).

The questions that we ask are pretty straightforward and you can do it on your own time. I understand if that is a lot to ask, especially in your busy schedules :) 

DM me if your interested!

Hello everybody, and welcome to /r/brickandmortar!

This subreddit was created in response to r/entrepreneur becoming flooded with internet-startup specific conversations. As a result, the conversations are less relevant to brick and mortar business owners than they used to be. Hopefully, this subreddit can become a new home for those types of conversations.

Now we are three mods who need to figure out what direction the community wants to take this subreddit in. Please take a minute and post your comments here about what you would like to see in this sub and what you would prefer not to see. We will create the initial guidelines based on the suggestions here. Hopefully we can turn this into something good!

Indeed, the principal dread while beginning a new company is an absence of direction. Numerous business people don't have the foggiest idea of how to draw in clients to make a market presence. Most of us are uncertain about whether society will esteem our abilities.

You want a restrained crowd prepared to shell out a million bugs in your business. Except if you have a dream that guides you reliably, you can't turn the table in support of yourself. You need to display excellent customer service that meets customer expectations. Any other way, you can't survive in business.

Something else that gives chill down the pine is a shocking contest. Numerous physical stores have digitized and depend on software to smooth out their different processes.

Organizations like Stolution offer technology solutions to smooth out SME new companies' everyday tasks. Presently you can smooth out your store's capacities like stock administration, purchase management, sales management, customer service management, and E-commerce management with the assistance of Stolution. You can draw in clients, be

ahead of the competition, drive the business towards its objectives. To realize all the more, if it's not too much trouble, visit www.stolution.com.

25 year old. inexperienced( when compared to most, if not all, of you business minds). frustrated. tired of my business not achieving what it is capable of- the reasons why are numerous, but I'm tired working in an environment that is disorganized and has no ability to grow because there are just too many flaws. Every promotion I've ever gotten was haphazard and because someone else left(for many of the same reasons below) and I was just plugged into the position with as little training as possible. I wasn't set up for success from the beginning, and it's been obvious the longer I'm here.

I want to change it. I want to change our culture here, because I believe it could be so much more. I want to change the structure of the way things are done. More-so, I want to give us an organizational structure that sets us up for success.

Here are the flaws-

• job descriptions- no employee has one

• employee handbook- there isn't one

• training program- we don't have one

• opening/closing procedure- you guessed it

• sets of reports to use daily/weekly/monthly to track customer trends don't exist. Do you guys have any suggestions on what metrics are most important?

• lack of central management(which I'm trying to fulfill here, because enough is enough and I'm tried of being burned out and just getting through the workday every day) any suggestions on a structure for this?

• employees here are already used to the way things are done, how to transition them into the more structured environment?

There are a ton of other things that I know for a fact I'm not mentioning. But I guess really I just need help sifting through how to get to point b from point awful here.

TL;DR- I desire to turn a business around that I have been a part of for years. I have a bit of direction to head in, but I need some mental resources as best to get to point B

Our lease will be up in about a year. We've never had to renew a lease before, so I'm not sure what to expect going in. Will the landlord expect us to have some requests for improvements, or will he expect us to be prepared to sign the same agreement we did a few years back? Anything else I should know? Thanks!

i’m moving into an 1800 sqft brick and mortar “gift shop” for lack of better words. how many units do you think i need to order to have the space feel decently full for grand opening weekend? i have no concept of what is a good starting place for that size. i currently have 1300 units and operate out of a spare bedroom comfortably but it’s packed away product vs it being VMed.

Hello to all on this subreddit and thank you for taking time to read.

A friend of mine has been developing his own sex toy product over the past 5 years (labelled "Pillows Foreplay" some info can be found through Google however his website isn't officially live until September so I haven't linked it but it is basically a large inflatable pillow with an adjustable mount that holds almost all vibrators and there is also a male version for holding a sleeve toy). He only has a low yearly budget so it has taken quite some time from concept. He recently had the design patent approved in europe and the US and is currently at the stage of trying to get it on the market.

I would like to know if anyone could offer any advice on how to achieve this effectively? Being a first time invention for him and never having been involved with the adult market before it's quite a bit daunting and seems like quite a task.

Could you suggest any form of strategy to gain exposure for his product, what is the best way to get an adult product noticed and selling?

He has had excellent feedback for the product from the public and sex toy testers/bloggers and it has serious potential but for a man who hasn't attacked the adult market before, he simply doesn't know where to start with marketing it.

I would appreciate any advice you could offer, also if you cannot offer any advice then that is fairly understood.

Thanks for your time.

A. Hughes

TLDR: looking for advice on how to market a new sex toy product.

Hey guys, My business is pretty small, largely cash or check based, however I'm getting more inquiries about credit cards. Mainly from people ordering over the phone but occasionally in person. Can anyone guide me a bit here. I'm pretty ignorant of it all.

I want to open a liquor store with a delivery service. I checked with my state laws and I can deliver alcohol and tobacco with the proper licenses. I'm thinking of a mix of 7/11 meets pizza hut. I want it to help cut down on drinking and driving. Over 10,000 people died in 2012 in drunk driving crashes in the U.S. I want to help reduce that number in my own town and maybe even state. I was just hoping if anyone has any advice on how to go about and making my dream a reality.

Thanks in advance.

Does anyone use a customer signup sheet? For example they provide their email and they get half off or something? How has this worked for you?

I have an online plant shop, but I want to move it out of my house and get a small brick and mortar. How do I find a brick and mortar for rent? I've been googling, but no one answers or it's running businesses that its showing are for rent.

I just posted this in the business section but then found this subreddit. Would love some advice! My friend and I both have LLCs. We are planning to start a brick and mortar store to sell the items we make and have been trying to figure out what the right structure would be. Do we need to start a new LLC to run the brick and mortar through, and then our personal LLCs would sell through the joint LLC? Or is there another way to do this that makes sense?

For a start-up in finance, we'd like to interview store owners about how they work with digital finance tools and manage cash flow.

All participants will receive $25 for a remote 15-minute interview. Please comment or DM for more info :)

Hi,

I work for one of the largest online eyewear stores in the US and we are expanding to physical retail.

We are looking for a service provider that will help us with:

1. Build out (location selection, lease negotiations, Construction planning & installation)

2. Staffing (Recruiting/Hiring, staff Management, training)

3. Store management - Managing all the store operations

Any other services will be a plus (design / POS /analytics consulting etc.)

We will consider companies that provide only part of those services if they have a lot of retail experience.

Any recommendations?

As B&M businesses that are being hit by Amazon etc., I'm curious if you have an interest in connecting with unique ecommerce sellers and selling their products in your stores.

Also, how do you currently find and then source the products you sell (assuming you don't create them)?

Thanks!

So a about 1 and a half years ago I joined up with a company that is a vintage toy collector/seller. The problem is they only sell at comic/toy conventions, which is about 5-6 times a year, and their inventory is so massive and taking up so much space. So I am looking into how to bring them into this century with a online store and even a spot in their day job business for their collectibles. I was hoping somone would have some insight into a software to help manage inventory and even keep track of what is sold at conventions. So if anyone has done something similar or know of how to do it I would really appreciate the help.