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Choose a Target Customer/Market
What is a Target Customer/Target Market?
When you select a target customer (aka target audience), you are increasing your chances of selling to the right people. There are people that want what you sell, they simply just don't know you exist. You have to find your people to get the most success out of running an online boutique.
Why You Need to Determine Your Target Customer
When you select a target customer (aka target audience), you are increasing your chances of selling to the right people. There are people that want what you sell, they simply just don't know you exist. You have to find your people to get the most success out of running an online boutique.
- to purchase the right inventory
- to determine your marketing language
- to determine what social media platform to market the most
How To Break Down Your Target Customer
Your target customer may or may not be you. Be sure when trying to determine your target customer, you think about your personality and what you want to sell. If you are super modest when it comes to wearing clothing, it may be difficult (not impossible) to relate to a "hot girl" aesthetic". Or if you are a Christian, it may be hard to commit to selling hijabs. Stay true to your style and a style you can understand and fully commit your all to purchasing, marketing, recognizing trends, possibly modeling, etc.
Demographics is a great place to start when breaking your customer down. To do this, start by researching your competition or similar business. Then,
- Grab a sheet of paper or our target customer worksheet.
- Turn your paper landscape and make columns (as applicable) for: age (helps with choosing inventory, marketing, social media marketing), genders (helps with inventory, marketing, packaging, income level (helps with pricing products), location (helps with inventory and marketing), ethnicity (helps with marketing, tone of voice in marketing), education (helps with product descriptions), religion (helps with tone, images,language used), aesthetic (helps with marketing, language, packaging, inventory), etc.
- Brainstorm your target customer and start filling in the columns. If you write something down and change your mind, just cross it out until satisfied. Once completed, write your target customer as a sentence.
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Example
- Boutique Name: Baddie Label
- Target Age: 18-35
- Genders: Female, identify as female
- Income Level: $40,000+
- Location: USA
- Aesthetic: hot girl, going out, date night, girls nigh, sexy
Baddie Label is targeting females ages 18-35 years old that make over 40,000+ yearly and located in the USA. The type of female that wears this brand is sexy, fierce and all about having fun with her girls or a date night with bae.
Choose a Business Name
Given the abundance of online boutiques worldwide, it is possible that your desired name has already been claimed by someone else. Before committing to a name and potentially facing the need for a future rebrand, it is crucial to conduct thorough research. Start by checking various sources (i.e. social media, domain search) to ensure that your chosen name is not already in use.
Places to Search to Find Out if Your Business Name is Available
- Google Search
- Trademark Search http://tess2.uspto.gov/
- Search if the Domain Name is Available - you can search for a domain on any domain site such as Google Domains or Godaddy.
RESOURCES
- Free List of Boutique Business Names
- Best Keywords to Add to Your Business Name
- Business Name Worksheet
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CHOOSE A NICHE
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So you want to sell clothes? Well here's a few questions we have to ask:
- What type of clothes do you want to sell?
- What gender?
- What sizes?
- Are you solving a problem?
- Are you targeting fitness girls, sophisticated, hot girls?
- Do you want to sell tees with trendy sayings?
Again, this is just a few questions you can ask yourself. Most people fear starting an online boutique because of the competition and "oversaturation" in the market. Competing with top brands such as Fashion Nova or Pretty Little Thing is another fear of most aspiring boutique owners. This is why a "niche" is so important.
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What is a "Niche"?
A "niche" is a market segment where certain products and services and demands. It can even be broken down to geographic locations, cultures, occasions and/or activities. In the business world, a niche or your very own "target audience/aesthetic" is the best way to garner the most brand awareness, web traffic and sales. A niche and target market/target audience go hand-in-hand. We will discuss more in the next section.
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RESOURCES
- Online Boutique Niche Ideas
Choose a Target Customer/Market
-
What is a Target Customer/Market?
When you select a target customer (aka target audience), you are increasing your chances of selling to the right people. There are people that want what you sell, they simply just don't know you exist. You have to find your people to get the most success out of running an online boutique.
-
Why You Need to Determine your Target Customer
When you select a target customer (aka target audience), you are increasing your chances of selling to the right people. There are people that want what you sell, they simply just don't know you exist. You have to find your people to get the most success out of running an online boutique.
- to purchase the right inventory
- to determine your marketing language
- to determine what social media platform to market the most
-
How To Break Down Your Target Customer
Your target customer may or may not be you. Be sure when trying to determine your target customer, you think about your personality and what you want to sell. If you are super modest when it comes to wearing clothing, it may be difficult (not impossible) to relate to a "hot girl" aesthetic". Or if you are a Christian, it may be hard to commit to selling hijabs. Stay true to your style and a style you can understand and fully commit your all to purchasing, marketing, recognizing trends, possibly modeling, etc.
Demographics is a great place to start when breaking your customer down. To do this, start by researching your competition or similar business. Then,
- Grab a sheet of paper or our target customer worksheet.
- Turn your paper landscape and make columns (as applicable) for: age (helps with choosing inventory, marketing, social media marketing), genders (helps with inventory, marketing, packaging, income level (helps with pricing products), location (helps with inventory and marketing), ethnicity (helps with marketing, tone of voice in marketing), education (helps with product descriptions), religion (helps with tone, images,language used), aesthetic (helps with marketing, language, packaging, inventory), etc.
- Brainstorm your target customer and start filling in the columns. If you write something down and change your mind, just cross it out until satisfied. Once completed, write your target customer as a sentence.
-----------
Example
- Boutique Name: Baddie Label
- Target Age: 18-35
- Genders: Female, identify as female
- Income Level: $40,000+
- Location: USA
- Aesthetic: hot girl, going out, date night, girls nigh, sexy
Baddie Label is targeting females ages 18-35 years old that make over 40,000+ yearly and located in the USA. The type of female that wears this brand is sexy, fierce and all about having fun with her girls or a date night with bae.
CHOOSE A BUSINESS NAME
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Free List of Boutique Business Names
Given the abundance of online boutiques worldwide, it is possible that your desired name has already been claimed by someone else. Before committing to a name and potentially facing the need for a future rebrand, it is crucial to conduct thorough research. Start by checking various sources (i.e. social media, domain search) to ensure that your chosen name is not already in use.
-
Places to Search if Your Business Name is Taken
Best Keywords to Add to Your Business Name- Google Search
- Trademark Search http://tess2.uspto.gov/
- Search if the Domain Name is Available - you can search for a domain on any domain site such as Google Domains or Godaddy.
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FREE Business Name Generators for Online Boutiques
- https://namelix.com/
- https://looka.com/business-name-generator/
- https://www.shopify.com/tools/business-name-generator
- https://logo.com/business-name-generator
- https://businessnamegenerator.com/
- https://www.namecheap.com/visual/business-name-generator/
Secure Your Social Media Accounts & Domain
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Social media names and Domain names get taken extremely fast, with most of them never being used. The worst thing in business is when you decide a business name and start branding, logos and marketing and later finding out the social media and domain name is unavailable. To prevent this, secure at the least your socials for Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok and a Facebook Page. As far as your domain, search and be sure its available (as previously discussed). If available, it's optional to purchase now.
For your best chance at being found on Google, you want to get a domain .com.
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Domain Name Tips
- Use a .com domain for best chances at being found on Google organically
- Purchase through Google or a third-party service so it fully belongs to you. You can buy directly through most ecommerce apps like Shopify, but if you do, you can only renew THROUGH Shopify. If you decide for whatever reason you wanted to take your business to another hosting platform, you will have to jump through hoops to transfer the domain or in some cases have to pay for an entire month just so you can login and renew. *Google Domains is highly recommended because it connects with all things Google.
- If your business name is taken add a keywords at the beginning or end that specifies your business (i.e. SHOPprettyhijab.com, hotgirlFASHION.com)
- Read more domain name tips here
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Social Media Tips
As we stated, securing your social media is very important early (if you have already chosen your business name). If you confirmed it's available previously, start creating your accounts for: Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook Pages and Twitter.
- Try to use the same name for all social media accounts
- If your business name is taken add a keywords at the beginning or end that specifies your business (i.e. SHOPprettyhijab, hotgirlFASHION)
Register Your Business with the County/State
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It is required by law to register your business and pay taxes yearly. Failure to do so will cost you big! In many cases, you will have to register portions of your business prior to purchasing inventory, opening bank accounts and others. Take care of as much legal business (especially the free items) as you can before launch and shortly thereafter.
Before you start applying, be sure you know:
- Business mailing address (home or other
- Business email address (yourbusiness@gmail.com or info@yourdomain.com)
- Business phone number (Get a free business phone number from Google Voice)
This will be needed at most points of your business, so it’s best to keep all business-related information together.
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Choose a Business Structure: Sole Proprietorship or LLC
When running an online boutique, or any business, you are going to need to get a few legal requirements out the way. One of the first things you will need to is determine your business legal structure.
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Get a EIN
Apply for Free EINCost: $0
The Employer Identification Number (EIN), also known as the Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) or the Federal Tax Identification Number, is a unique nine-digit number assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to business entities operating in the United States for the purposes of identification.
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Get a Seller’s Permit (Resale Certificate)
Find out the Cost of a Permit in Your StatePair text with an image to focus on your chosen product, collection, or blog post. Add details on availability, style, or even provide a review.
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Get a Business License
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Other Business Registrations
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Once you obtain your business registrations, we recommend getting a binder and clear sheet protectors to place both official, copies and/or printed out business documents. If you have a home office space, print out your documents and frame them.
Inventory and Pricing
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Inventory
Pair text with an image to focus on your chosen product, collection, or blog post. Add details on availability, style, or even provide a review.
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Pricing
Pair text with an image to focus on your chosen product, collection, or blog post. Add details on availability, style, or even provide a review.