Help! i just opened a business no one is coming in the door . What should i do?

Question

I have a beautiful studio in Clearwater Florida it is a Dance studio a Floral studio and ard Gallery . It is beautiful I have years of experience in these feilds and am ready to work but have no advertising capitol what should i do? Already on craigs list.

Answer 1

Do some advertising. Try creating a flyer and then post it in some newspapers, restaurants, schools and extra. In order to have a successful business you have to do some marketing. Good luck and hope this helps.

Answer 2

This is a common problem when you don't have enough start-up capital. You're not alone.
I would approach local schools and offer discounts to students who want to take dance. Start off wiwith the grade schools as the kids there tend to be more impulsive.
The Art gallery side requires a lot of investigation. You need to get close to the art community and put on shows for local artists that might have promise. Offer a 35/65 split with framing at cost.
You should be promoting the Floral aspect to local funeral homes. Many florists offer referral fees to morticians. Those folks can generate a whole lot of volume. Set up a promotional package with local Real Estate agents to send a plant to everyone they sell a house to. Offer discounts or every 5th one free.

Maybe you could hire a local homemaker who is connected with the PTA and other organizations and offer a commission only incentive for her participation.
Good luck with the new enterprise.

Answer 3

Print up flyers by the hundreds. Distribute them anywhere people show an interest in dance, flowers or art; high school/college dance teams, cemeteries/funeral homes and landscaping places, museums or pottery/art shops, cafes/coffee houses.

Have an event. Just telling people, "Hey, we're here, we're open" doesn't create a sense of urgency to come check it out. Make it a grand-opening event where people get such-and-such a discount on a certain day.
Or, offer people a limited window to sign up for some kind of dance lessons or art lessons or something, so they'll come in for the sign-up, then keep coming back for the repeated lessons or whatever.

And how could you open this thing without ANY ad capital!? I know it's expensive, but come on. You HAVE to figure that into your business plan! Or you soon won't have a business.
Look, the bottom line to marketing is to get the word out there. Don't rely on word of mouth, cuz that can take years. Go to where your customers are and physically tell them about your business if you have to.It'll get easier; hang in there.

Answer 4

So...I take it you haven't studied your market, have you? You need to put a PR campaign in place first. You can do this by getting the local press behind you. Get some pitching going to get some placements and generate a "buzz" about your business and its offerings. Once you've done that, take your press and put together a brochure and target potential customers within 2 miles of your location. Offer a special on membership or pricing as to entice new customers. Also, memberships drive revenue that you can forecast (100 members @ $5 = $500/month x 12 months = $6,000/year). There just is not enough space for this. The only other thing I can tell you is consult your business plan. You did do one, didn't you?

Answer 5

Try making flyers and distributing them around the local schools for the dance studio. Post flyers for the art and floral studios on community bulletin boards. Do you have a digital camera? Try including some actual pictures.

Answer 6

Give.
Give free demonstrations at the Mall, school, PTA function, Christmas bazaars, stand on the nearest road dressed like a rose or whatever catches the eye. Check posting opportunities in the libaries and stores cf. Safeway. Donate a basket to the Lion's annual do/hospital's charity benefit.
Many newspapers have a # for new businesses in town, call them.
Print out 400 flyers, check with the city first, and when you are closed, roll them out and put them between door handles and door jambs. Hard work but it works. Include time dated coupons.
Ask the neighborhood pump if they will give a rose to every 10th customer w/ your flyer on it.

Answer 7

Cold calling is good. Open the phone book. Call businesses. Make small floral arrangements and take them to businesses asking them to put them in the front, and have a pretty little note that says "Compliments of Jameela's Shop @ 123 Main, Clearwater, FL 888-555-1212" and put some business cards with it.

Also, make some simple flyers from Power Point. Grand Opening! 20% off of floral arrangements $29.99 and higher (Not necesarrily this ad, but you get the drift). Also, go to like middle schools and high school cheerleading practices and offer a free dance lesson to the girls. They may like your moves so much that they hire you to choreograph for you.

Go online and order some schnazy business cards, PASS THEM OUT TO EVERYONE YOU MEET! Put a buzz in your friends' ears also. Have them mention at work where your shop is, have them put flyers in their break rooms. Go to places you wouldn't think of either: Car dealers. There are a ton of men there that will love the idea of a "unique" gift for their lady friend.... salsa lessons, anyone?

Always carry your photo book with you of various floral arrangements... you never know who you're going to run in to. It's all about networking yourself. Keep a professional attitude with everyone, you never know who you will meet. Also, dress for success all of the time, even when going to the grocery store, you will never know who you run into at the market!

Pass out flyers and cards. You'll be tired. You won't turn a profit for about 6 months unfortunately. You will be broke. BUT, when you start making money, it will be well worth it.

I just helped my mom open a restaurant, and she's in the same situation as you... no advertising money. I made flyers and passed them out everywhere, took business cards with them too. I had my mom make cinnimon rolls and I took them to like Advanced Auto and some businesses. I included a single page menu with a coupon that had something like buy one burger, get the second one half off with this coupon. It really drove in business.

OH! Another HUGE thing: join your area Chamber of Commerce. The yearly fees vary where you live, but are always reasonable. You get put in their special phone book that they support, and they only buy things from Chamber members, so if they want bouquets for someone's wedding, you automatically have an edge, when someone calls them about dance classes, you have an edge. My mom is doing parties for Chamber members now and is making anywhere from $500 to $1000 per party.... and they're only like a few hours! That's profit alone.

Good luck with your new business. I hope some of this helped you out.

Answer 8

make flyers on your computer for the dance studio. take them to local events fairs, etc. Hand them out with your friends. I don't know what a floral studio is. If you sell flowers, take some pictures of your creations, add prices and show them around. Go to hotels and ask if they are happy with their florist. Go to businesses and leave cards and flyers. You got to get out there and sell. Let someone mind the empty store for you for awhile.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

you need to advertise BIG -- start with newspapers, phone book - start a website - mail postcards out to people in the area -- you need to get your name out there -- maybe hold a art contest for kids in the area -- you can display their work in the gallery and then tell them about the dance classes....you can offer floral classes in your studio -- think of anything and everything to get the word out!