The Boutique Business

The boutique business seems to be trending and growing at quite a pace. While this is great for the fashion lover who wants a high end, one-of-a-kind look, maintaining the boutique at the business end is not always easy. The real concern is that many boutiques have closed their doors for unknown reasons while new ones continue to pop up in the hopes that they will be the game changer. So what really makes a boutique successful and why are we failing at it?

Opening your own boutique or starting a fashion business is a dream shared by many. It sounds exciting to curate a store full of items you love and watch your customers fall in love with them as well. However, any boutique owner, current or former, can tell you that the road to retail success is a rocky one, especially in Namibia where the boutique is the underdog of the retail industry.

Naomi Schmidt from Anjo Boutique says that in Namibia with its small population, and with boutiques selling what most consider luxury items, most people just cannot afford to shop there. “With so many stores and malls opening, it is hard for small boutique owners to keep up, especially if you are located in the wrong place. You have competition, because what you are selling is unique and not everyone can afford uniqueness, especially when they can just go to an Edgars or Truworths where they have an account.”

So how do you survive if the indirect competition is the reason most boutiques are closing?

Melvin Angula, owner of Urban Legend, says it boils down to research and knowledge. “Staying relevant with the ever-evolving fashion industry, knowing who and what your target market is and identifying your competition in those markets. What do you have to do to stay ahead of them?”

Knowledge is indeed power and what you know or don’t know can impact the success of your business. Erica Kiang, founder and owner of New York City boutique Babel Fair, says “retail math isn’t super complicated, but you definitely need to know the jargon”.

Jargon is indeed the order of the day when it comes to business in any industry. You have to understand that you are a service provider and that service has to stand out in order to make it.

Lucy Kautwima has owned a boutique on Independence Avenue for five years and says the success of the business stems from a unique approach to retailing in Namibia. “The secret to Lucy’s Exclusive Boutique’s longevity has been collaboration and awareness of fashion trends and flexibility. We try and offer various fashions and have a local designer. This approach enables us to provide great and varied service to our customers.”

This, however, may not work for everyone and depends largely on the boutique’s concept.

In the boutique industry and any retailing business, image is everything. You have to make sure your customers understand who you are selling to. If your image can show that, you will always have a solid niche.

“Image, to be more precise, brand is the most important thing in any business. Your brand has to be appealing, quality and trustworthy otherwise no one will endorse or support it,” says Melvin. “As shoppers, we love to be part of brands that speak volumes about us as individuals. We tend to shop for status and so we look for brands that are different.”

Like any business venture you chose to enter you will always need to understand the market you are joining. Boutquing is not as easy or as fun as it seems, especially if you or your customers do not understand what a boutique is. According to Kiang, there are things you need to know before opening up your own store. Research, location and knowing your neighbourhood or your customers.

If we analyse how these three factors alone are working against local businesses, it becomes evident that we are not doing enough research as local entities. Kiang’s emphasis on research proves just how important this part of the process is. Location and knowing your neighbourhood is all a part of research and plays a very crucial role in the success of your business.

If we look at current local boutiques, there are very few that have established their brands. More boutiques are not aiming to tell us a story that will keep clients loyal and in sync with their brand. Brand placement is very important; any great store with a great concept and product can fail solely based on location.

You need to be where your clientele goes unless you are turning your boutique into a destination using the product and experience you offer. This may take time and a lot of marketing, but the results will be worth it. Also remember that malls are not always the best place for boutiques to thrive, but neither is being in the middle of nowhere. Find a smart spot in a neighbourhood that does not hinder the aesthetics of your business.

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