Happy August!
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I hope your fall is shaping up nicely, and students returning to school brings rhythm and a happy routine. This month, I wanted to cover something a little different than my typical column. We recently opened up our third store and used a contractor for build-out for the first time. While this store should have been the easiest opening we’ve had, it was by far the most difficult and stressful for us! I decided to share these lessons learned with you to (hopefully) save you some heartache.
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1. First, put everything on paper. Whether your landlord and contractor are friends, family, or a reputable local company, make sure to have an agreement and contract in place for the project. In an ideal world, the terms of the contract will never matter. But, if things go south or not according to plan, a contract or agreement serves as your “in case of fire” protection. When working from only verbal agreements, if something goes wrong, you have no recourse.
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2. Second, think through each room in the facility. While we didn’t make this mistake when we designed our newest store, we have before! Make sure you make a detailed list of what’s needed for each room, and where it needs to be positioned. You’d be surprised how much of a pain it can be to have an electrical outlet on the wrong wall! If you can, walk through each room in your current store and take careful note of where outlets, furniture and accessories are. Make a punch-list of these items and start checking them off as you make decisions about placement in the new facility.
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3. Think about function, as well as aesthetic. At one of our stores, we have a beautiful front counter that I love; however, it’s white. Every time a spray-tan customer leans on the counter after a session, the sunless solution is transferred to the surface of the counter. In one of our sunless stores, we have beautiful, gray velour chairs. We have to make sure to ask guests to sit elsewhere post spray-tan, so that they don’t get solution all over the chairs.
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4. Build your budget around a 10% overrun. For example, if you budgeted $50,000 for a store, make sure you only account to spend $45,000. There will always be overruns. Some padding in your budget will keep you from having to make sacrifice decisions in the 11th hour or keep you from going over budget.
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5. Hire and train staff early. Inevitably, there are problems and unexpected hiccups in the process of building a store. Start hiring for your new location a couple of months before opening, so you have plenty of time to train your team. Opening a new facility is difficult enough as it is – don’t make it harder by having to do it with a staff that is not ready to run the business!
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6. Finally, take photos as soon as you’re done. Your website, Google Plus page, and more will need nice photos – not to mention, you’ll use them for marketing the new store! Have some professional shots taken while it’s still perfectly shiny and pretty!
Here’s to a great fall season and growth for all of us!
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I decided to share these lessons learned with you to (hopefully) save you some heartache.
