We've moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico!

Wow, it's taken quite a few weeks to set up the new glass studio after our approximately 2,000 mile move.  And we are still unpacking boxes!  At least the torch and Skutt kiln have been set up and working.  We survived the move with minimal breakage.  The hardest part of the move was transporting the sheet glass that was stored in our large wooden glass racks and all of the boxes of  our scrap glass, too.  The moving company wanted the glass racks and boxes repacked before they placed all of them in the moving van.  That was no easy feat since it was a last minute thing.

Anyway, we are close to being up and running full time again!  It's been a once in a life time experience, for the second time!  This is actually our second long distance move.  We hope our friends and occasional readers enjoy our blog and come back from time to time for the art glass information we have crammed into this blog.

  

The gate to our new studio.

The interior of the new studio.

Set up the torch and kiln and tested them out.

Started hanging stained glass windows and suncatchers from the ceiling.

Wallpapered the walls with posters and stained glass cartoons.

Studio quality photography tutorial

We saw this tutorial the other day and thought this would be great to share with our readers.  This is an excellent way to take great pics without spending a lot of money on studio equipment.

Click here to see the link, Studio quality product photography.

Advertising ideas

There are so many ways to advertise your business.  On the internet you can advertise through Twitter, Facebook, your own webpage, a blog, Myspace, Craigslist and a lot of other sites.  Link these internet sites together so that there are multiple ways to find you on the web.

You can make your own free QR (quick response) code which you can print out and place on your cars, in your store windows, on business cards, in advertising, even on kiosks (if you live in a city that has kiosks in public areas). These codes are just beginning to become popular in the USA but have been around and used for awhile in Japan and through-out the United Kingdom.  With your QR code you can write what ever you want to get your store noticed.  We included our blog, Facebook page, Etsy page etc. on our QR code below.  Keep in mind that only android and iPhones can read these codes.  We used http://www.qurify.com/en/ to make ours'.  To be able to read the code, download a free bar code scanner app for your phone.  Click on the bar code scanner app, hold your phone's camera towards the QR and your phone will be able to read it.

Newspaper advertisements are still viable forms of advertising.  These ads can get quite expense, depending on color or b & w, day of the week, and columns used.  Some newspapers offer sales on ads which can be excellent for anyone on a tight budget.  It is good to know the amount of readership for the paper you intend to advertise in.  Circulation numbers are very important to advertising.  Don't spend a lot of money on an add that won't be seen!  You will notice that once your store is up and running, you will probably get newspaper salesmen (along with other salesmen) stopping by your shop trying to get you to buy advertising.  Actually, sometimes you can get a good deal, for example; when a holiday is approaching, you can join in on a group ad that features many businesses in your own local area.  HINT: It is advised to put a highly visible "no soliciting" sign visible on the door of your store.  

Magazine and other periodical advertisements can work well for certain businesses, too.  A stained glass store (or other like businesses) ad could fit quite well in a local magazine where real estate and/or local artists are featured.  You will find smaller magazines that feature your city, or a nearby tourist destination work quite well.  

Last, but not least, don't forget to get your business in the yellow pages!  

You must advertise your store to get it noticed and getting new customers in the door.  With the internet you can advertise for free!

Signing a lease for your store

Once you are sure that you want to rent a store space, you'll have to sign a lease.  When starting a small business like a stained glass studio you will want to make sure you are making an informed decision as to the type of lease you sign.

NNN - Triple net is one type of lease you may hear about when out shopping for store locations.  With a lease like this, you will be not only paying your rent but part of the building owner's taxes, insurance and maintenance fees for that space.  You will notice that most of these spaces that are rented with NNN are more expensive to rent than others.  They also tend to be located in strip malls.

Just keep in mind that you don't need to fix up your store front, especially to make it look amazing inside, just to sell stained glass art or any other product.  The more you put into the building that you are only renting, the more money you are wasting, since you will NEVER get that money back.  

Unless you own a building already, we also suggest renting a store location before ever buying one!  

So it is better to rent a location that has walls, floors, even a bathroom already in place.  When you hear the term Vanilla Shell, it refers to a brand new building that is open and needs to be finished.  In that case, if you can work out a deal with the building's owner, for him/her to install the interior, without you paying anything, it would be advised.  If you are to personally pay for the interior, we suggest you not rent that location since you will never get back that money.  In this economy (or any economy) you want to spend the least amount of money on expenses like these.

Yes you can negotiate leases.  They are not set in stone.  You can negotiate the amount of years for the lease, typically property owners will ask you to sign a three year lease.  It is possible to sign a one year lease or even a six month lease, if you ask!  Another possibility is for you to ask the landlord to give you the option of ending a lease early without any penalties.  That means, if you must close your store before the lease expires, that you do not have to continue paying lease on an empty store until the end of the lease.  

Make sure that any negotiations agreed upon between you and the landlord are put in writing in the actual lease agreement!  Also you should always sign a lease agreement!  You need to be protected legally just as much as the landlord.  Be sure to ask your landlord what is included in your rent.  Typically water, and garbage are included but not always.  If you live in a snowy area, parking lot plowing may be included as well.  Further more, it is advised that you get insurance for the contents of your store and that your insurance covers injury to customers in your shop as well.

In conclusion, pay close attention to your lease and try to negotiate any part of it that you don't like or agree with.  Walk away from a bad deal, it might take some time, but eventually you will find another location that you will like.  Just remember that you really don't want to put out a lot of money in the beginning when you are just starting out!  Save that money to pay rent, business expenses and run your store in the beginning when your store is just becoming established.  You might have seen businesses move into an area, spend a lot on improvements and other non necessary items, only to see it fold quickly.  It's safer to start slowly, and work your way up.  There are many expenses that ARE important to new business, like advertising, signage, inventory and others that you don't want to skimp on because you either overpaid on your lease, or made too many expensive improvements on a building that you don't even own!  Think about it, be careful and frugal, it will help you immensely in the long run!  Hope this helps!

Location, location.... LOCATION

The location of your new, brick and mortar business is extremely important and should be considered carefully.  In the past Harrach Stained Glass did extensive research where to locate our own retail stained glass store.  There are many factors to take in consideration such as, what type of business do I plan to operate, and is there near-by competition.  Keep in mind that we are sharing this information with our stained glass readers but you will find that this information works just as well for any type of business!

The best way to find your competition is to go online and Google the type of store, (or items you plan on selling),  close to the location where you intend to operate your store.  So for an example, go to Google and type in,  "stained glass store Denver Colorado".  You'd be surprised at how easily you will be able to find all of those businesses in that Googled area!  You can also go to the online website of the state government where you intend to open your business and check its business license directory.  Remember, you don't want to open your store close to your competition, in most cases it will be difficult and slow going to begin with if you do that.  On the other hand, here in the Pacific Northwest USA, we see Starbucks and other coffee shops side by side, so WHAT type of product, pricing and quality, even luck are also very important aspects to running a successful business.

Will your store cater to tourists or locals?  Locals will find your store easily from either the phone book, friends or just from driving by.  Tourists will probably only find your store if it is located in an area of town where tourists shop, typically an old town main street or near a well known landmark.  As your business becomes successful, it is possible for tourists to seek you out, but when starting out, that probably won't be the case.

Look for good parking, signs, lighting and of course, a good amount of traffic on the street where you want your store situated.  Some side streets are excellent in a heavy tourist area where there is a lot of foot traffic.

Zoning laws are important to follow in most communities.  If you plan on manufacturing and selling your art in the same location, you must find out through the local zoning board if that is permitted in the desired location.  You will notice that in some older historic districts where there are many art galleries, no one is actually creating the art on the premises because of zoning.  You don't want to sign a lease on a retail location only later to discover that you can't do everything you wanted to do in that location!

Floor space and the amount of display windows are both very important factors.  Display windows are, in our opinion, the most important feature of an excellent retail location.  Floor space needs to be large enough to comfortably house your merchandise but not be overwhelmingly large.  If the store has too much non-utilized space, it will appear to your customers to be empty and not having inventory to choose from.  A store that is full of inventory, but not overflowing or packed in dangerously, always seems to appear more vibrant and even appears as though the store is quite doing well.  Customers like to look at many different items for sale as opposed to having no choice in merchandise to buy.

Cost vs. location is another important consideration when searching for the best business location.  You will typically find that the best location also has the higher rent.  It never fails!  Even if the building itself isn't the best, if it is in an excellent local, you'll pay for it.  NOW, that isn't exactly bad.  If you could rent a store, lets say, in a prime location, it could be quite lucrative.  Again, research that area.  See how long stores stay in business in an area.

As you can see there are many aspects to opening your own brick and mortar store.  Although it can seem frustrating and confusing in the beginning, it becomes easier as time passes and you become more educated in the subject!  Just remember not to jump into something without thoroughly researching the subject and the location first.  It is much better to lose a prime location than to open in a prime location only to discover you are losing money and have to close.  Closing a store can be financially devastating since there is the possibility of having to continue paying a lease on a location you are no longer using.  Keep this all in mind as we continue our next post with the subject of starting your own business!