How much can I earn?
If you hire out or sell eveningwear, the return will be faster than with wedding outfits. A hire price might be £40 to £100 with a deposit of £50 all payable upfront. To buy you might be looking at up to £800 - and more for wedding dresses - but these amounts will be paid in perhaps two instalments, the final one when the dress is finally ready.
As there could be a considerable period of time between the customer walking into the shop and the final payment, take into account you may not get serious capital coming in for several months.
So there is considerable benefit in offering as many additional products as possible. Genevieve Lovegrove says she gets a good turnover in the Autumn months - which are traditionally slow for bridal wear - from her evening wear side, in the run up to the Christmas party season.
People quite often buy hire dresses at a knock down price, which means you'll have had the income from it from the hire and then a sale as well. For example, a customer might buy an ex-hire dress worth £250 for £120 rather than hiring it for £60. That way, it has paid for itself after two outings.
Also, hire is a good source of income because as long as they avoid cigarette or iron burns, dresses are relatively cheap to keep presentable. A dry clean will only cost about £10 and as you will undoubtedly be a good customer, it can probably done overnight. And apparently, its amazing how many of these dresses can be just put in the washing machine - which you can do at home for the price of the electricity.
Location is obviously a make or break factor in your earning potential. If you are in an area with complementary businesses - such as a florist, photographers, shoes and accessories - you could benefit from associated trade.
Also being on a main road visible to passing traffic can bring in a lot of people. One proprietor said being on the route to an airport meant they had a lot of flight attendants making enquiries. And it led to word of mouth advertising, which is perhaps the most important form for this business.
Profits
| Here is how to get a rough idea of the profits you might make on a occasion wear business |
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Takings per year:
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Minus:
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| Stock |
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| One year's rent |
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| One year's rates |
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| Miscellaneous incl. staff wages |
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You could earn around 50% profit:
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