A healthy lifestyle will always be popular with all segments of the population. Another thing is that sometimes his authority increases, and sometimes, on the contrary, decreases. Now, after a period of recession, the sport is regaining its former popularity. And an entrepreneurial person can get a good profit from this by opening a sporting goods store. well and how to open a sports store, You will find out by reading this article to the end.
Planning
According to statistics, at least 10% of the population of each city is actively involved in sports, which means that they are all potential customers of your store. As an example, consider a city with a population of 600 thousand people.
According to a rough estimate, 10 large sports stores can safely operate in this city, and each of them will receive a profit of 30 million rubles every year. If you are wondering where these numbers came from, then everything is very simple. Every person who is actively involved in sports spends at least 9 thousand rubles during the year on clothes for training, sports nutrition and fitness equipment.
Knowing this, it is easy to calculate how much money those same 10% of athletes will spend every year, and how much of this amount can go to each store. As you can see, the sports business has great potential in almost every city.
Store format selection
To choose the right assortment of your store, you first need to understand what kinds of sports the townspeople are engaged in. If there is a large number of fitness clubs and gyms, then this will allow you to build a business on sports nutrition. This is a very good option, because you can quickly get a stable income, and it will be easier to tie customers to yourself.
Sportswear will always be a universal product for any city, because in addition to athletes, your customers will be students from all the surrounding schools. But you should not relax, because it is simply impossible to open a sportswear store without a small war with sanitary and epidemiological control. In addition, competition from market traders with their low-quality, but at the same time much cheaper Chinese tracksuits, is very high.
Fast start
In sports stores you can almost always find goods for tourism. Tents, special backpacks, inflatable boats and other useful little things are in great demand among hunters and fishermen. And just in the case of tourist goods, many problems can be solved by acquiring a franchise.
This means that you buy the right to use the goods of some brand. So you immediately get a promoted brand, an initial set of goods and help in organizing the work of the store itself. One of the companies selling a franchise on their goods is called the Expedition.
Wholesaler
Another development path is wholesale. Purchasing goods from the manufacturer and selling them with a small margin to small stores can make pretty good money. Moreover, wholesale sales are carried out immediately for quite large amounts. But this option is relevant only for large enough cities.
Trading in sporting goods is a business in which there are a lot of development options.You can start your sports business with a small store selling a small group of goods, or open a large sports store with a wide range. It all depends on how much money and, more importantly, the effort you are willing to invest in creating a store.
Documentation and Design
The first thing a beginner businessman needs to do is get an IP. This abbreviation hides the name of your new status, “individual entrepreneur,” and, having drawn up the relevant documents, you will turn from an ordinary person into a legal entity capable of concluding agreements and obliged to pay taxes to the state on its profits. The processing of documents for obtaining a new status in itself takes, on average, about a week.
But only subject to the correct filling of all documents. By the way, in the process of registration, you will be required to indicate the leading activities in the form of special OKVED codes. This is necessary to calculate the amount of taxes and accrual of benefits. In your case, you need to look for OKVED - retail trade in sports goods. However, if you can always turn to one of the many law firms, which will draw up all the necessary documents for a small fee.
But if you decide to act on your own, then get ready for the worst. Because retail trade in sporting goods is possible only after obtaining the relevant permits from various services, the main of which is the sanitary inspection. If in order, then it is necessary:
- Conclude an agreement on the disinfection of vehicles and the store premises.
- Conclude contracts for the removal and disposal of garbage, including mercury-containing lamps.
- Conclude an agreement with the services involved in disinfestation and pest control.
So if you want to open a sportswear shop without any particular problems, the business plan must include a list of necessary actions to bring the storehouse into a suitable state.
Optimal size
The most convenient size for a large sports store is 200 square meters. m, and this is only directly the area of the trading floor, all other premises will occupy about 50 more square meters. m. Such a large area is necessary so that visitors can freely approach any of your products. The best work scheme in this case is self-service, because at the same time, sales grow by an average of 20-35% compared to ordinary stores.
For a small shop, 40 square meters is quite enough. m. But concentrating on one product, not much money to earn. And the problem of competition with large stores is rising to its full potential. So think carefully about whether to risk your money when starting a sports business from a small store.
Necessary equipment
A large store should have a very wide assortment of a wide variety of goods, each of which should be demonstrated to the buyer in all its glory. A variety of shelving, display cases, mannequins and mirrors will help you with this. Of course, do not forget about the cash register, barcode scanner and other useful little things.
In general, trade in sporting goods is not much different from trade in products or tools in terms of equipment used. And this makes it possible to save some money by acquiring supported shelving and display cases instead of new ones. Without much work, you can purchase almost new equipment for a significantly lower price.
Particular attention should be paid to security systems and video surveillance. A large store with a self-service system like a magnet attracts various not quite honest people. And constant monitoring of the trading floor with the help of numerous cameras is the only way to reduce the risk of sudden disappearance of goods.
A small store requires significantly less equipment.In fact, you can do a couple of shop windows and a cash register in order, for example, to sell sports nutrition. Especially if you are more interested in the wholesale of sports goods. But do not forget that regardless of the size of the store, it should be equipped with an air purification system.
Staff
Good staff is already half the success. Therefore, the choice of personnel should be approached as responsibly as possible. For the normal functioning of a large sports store you need at least 17 people. Four of them are sales assistants who will not only talk about the features of different simulators, but also demonstrate them in action. Three cashiers working in shifts will also be needed.
To ensure safety, five security guards will work, again working in shifts. Do not forget about the cleanliness that three cleaners will ensure. Manage your finances and solve all tax issues will be an accountant. Well, and to ensure that everyone is busy with their work and does not fly away from work, your manager will be. By the way, it’s better to hire a manager the very first, so that the rest of the staff will be selected along with him.
Suppliers
It is best, of course, to sell products from well-known manufacturers. Although it will cost a little more, but its high quality will allow you to get many regular customers. So it’s better to overpay a bit than to lose customers due to defective goods. Moreover, if you decide to build your business on sports nutrition, defective goods can turn out to be a health problem for the buyer, and for you a lawsuit and a large fine.
Advertising
The main task for a businessman after opening a store is to attract as many target customers as possible. Target people are those who regularly buy sports or travel goods. They can become regular customers, but the first thing to do is to make sure that they come to the store and preferably make a purchase.
The main thing is to lure
The first stage of the advertising campaign begins with the opening of the store. And more precisely - with shares in honor of the opening of the store. In order for as many people as possible to learn about this event, you need to pay for advertising on local radio and television, organize the distribution of flyers and discount coupons, place ads on billboards in crowded places. Well, of course, hang out posters at the entrance to the store with a message about the opening day and brief information about the expected promotions and discounts.
Stable inflow
The second stage is aimed at ensuring that as many people as possible learn about your store and about the goods that you can buy there. This is done in the same way as in the first stage, with the only difference being that a specific event was advertised, and now the store itself.
The constant mention of the store on radio and television will ensure an influx of new customers. The main thing at this stage is not to overdo it. The novelty disappears quickly enough and most of those who live close enough to the store will learn about it for several months. After that, the influx of new customers will gradually begin to decrease, which means that advertising costs can be slightly reduced.
Alert
The third stage is to constantly conduct various actions aimed at making a person your regular customer. Now we are dealing with discount systems, savings cards and discount coupons for the second purchase. It is especially important to tie promotions to weekends and holidays, when people have the desire and ability to shop.
You can also participate in the organization of sports events by providing inventory and equipment. This is a great way to attract professional and novice athletes to the store. You can also sell simulators and equipment to schools at a discount or even on credit.So you both earn and demonstrate your goods to schoolchildren.
Afterword
Now you know how to open a sports store in your city. With the right approach to business, the store fully pays off within two years after opening. A business based on the sale of sports goods can be very profitable if you are willing to invest enough money and effort into it. And the size of the return on all this depends only on you.
