So you want to be Self-Employed?! Hints & Tips part #2

I do love my job! As part of it I met with a gorgeous vintage loving lady last week who's decided to set up her own online Vintage boutique! (Quality and class, not like some others we could mention!)

Our discussion about all things business got me thinking again about the most successful hints and tips I've learnt which I could share with a new small business. One of the key things I've grasped is that you absolutely have to understand that you ARE your business.

It would be no good dressing in jeans and a hoodie and then trying to sell fab frocks and gorgeous gowns now would it?! It's the same for all small businesses, if you don't know enough about your products, in my case; who they will suit, the style they echo or the ethos behind them, then you  are not going to be able to market them very well.

Know your body shape

Loving what you sell is key to successful marketing; not the 'you really can't live without this product' kind of marketing, but the kind which empowers the buyer and creates an opportunity to think about something they hadn't previously considered without liberating their wallet unnecessarily.

As a small business, you have to love what you do, or the time, effort and initial lack of immediate reward for all your hard work may get to you.

McCalls pattern ad c.1950s

The easiest way to 'sell' your product is to epitomise it; (easy for me and Louise as we love all things vintage, dressing well and showing that being feminine does not mean being flighty.) But whatever your business, if it matters to you, that will come across to your clients.

Marketing yourself with integrity and authenticity is really important. We've all been into an independent shop professing to be a boutique yet the assistants somehow don't represent the whole deal- imagine walking into a vintage shop where the assistant is dressed head to toe in Top Shop? Or the house-party seller of cookware or books who clearly doesn't use them or can justify their prices!

Famous plastic food storage party c.1950s!

You have to respect your product and truly love it and why you're selling it, if you want to make a success of your business. You've entered into a partnership with your business that will link you to the values and ethos behind it so make sure you can represent it and more importantly that it represents you properly.

Here's to the success of  BeBopaLouLou Vintage!

                 x