Why would you "do" this????

I've been asked quite a number of times why I would start a business "now".  Now is as good a time as we are likely see and there are quite a number of people in this area who feel as passionately about good fiber products as I do.  That said, business is slow to find us but the people who do find us, really enjoy the products and the store.  I found this piece in another yarn shop's blog and it is so important that I am reposting it here.  The author gave permission for other yarn shops to use it with personalizations and it references the 3/50 project which The Painted Sheep supports.

Only $40 a month. . .

It’s happening all over the country. Every day our hearts break as we see another

“OUT OF BUSINESS” sign on the door of our favorite businesses. A great restaurant,

delightful bread store, or especially our favorite yarn shop; here one day and gone

the next. The fiber community is still reeling from the closing of Vintage Yarns and

Fiberworks, and the question asked of me every day is, “So, how is your business. . .

really? You won’t be closing too will you?”

To honestly answer your questions,

it all depends on sales.

below what was expected and what is needed

exists today. The last thing I want to do is break your heart. . . and mine, and I’ll do

anything to try to keep that from happening. Which is why I have information to

share with you.

I am not PLANNING on going out of business, butPlain and simple. And, quite honestly, sales are significantlyfor long-term survival of the shop as it

Why Shops Don’t Survive

1.

 Profit margins fall below what is needed to re-stock. Example: a skein of yarnThe first $5.00 is needed to pay rent, taxes, salaries, utilities and

the remaining $5.00

If the yarn goes on sale,

now there is not enough money left to re-buy yarn because it still costs $5.00

Suddenly there is less to sell, customers get bored or already have it, and stop

buying. (not all “sales” create this condition, but most do, unless the item was

greatly discounted to the LYS at the time the shop purchased it)

The above is a very simplistic explanation, and there

can do to increase the profit margins somewhat, but the two items listed here are the

major components to success or failure for retailers.

is left to re-buy another skein of the same yarn to restock.the first $5.00 still has to pay rent/salaries/taxes, and.are things a small shop owner

You Can Save Your Favorite Small Business!

A Minneapolis-based retail consultant explains that if even half of the employed population

spent a mere

$50 a month each, at 3 independently-owned establishments

(instead of big box/chain stores), this economy would turn around in the blink of an

eye! And those 3 businesses would be saved from closing. That is about $12.00 a

week at each of your 3 favorite independently-owned retailers. Think about what you

spend weekly on gourmet coffee, texting charges, or bottled water (ooooh, I just

found some money for MORE YARN !).

At The Painted Sheep, if every person on our Preferred Shopper list spends even just $40and be!

a month (or $10 a week), we will not only survive, we will prosper

able to offer you more new exciting yarn, great classes, and a wonderful place to

come and play and forget the outside world exists for a while

I hope you will continue to see The Painted Sheep as your “favorite” shop of choice, and that you will continue to support us by: referring your friends, by NOT using photocopied patterns from a friend, and by taking a class or two now and then. It all adds up. Only $10 a week keeps your favorite yarn shop in business.

 

2.

is sold at $10.

Customers stop buying. No explanation needed.