Boost Your Boutique with Emily Benson

5:32.0: You know, there's a lot of people that just step into entrepreneurship and it's like not their thing and no judgment. 6:47.0: Because let's be honest. Most people that own a boutique and you know, I know I have my dudes out there and I also have mostly women I'm chatting with, right? And we know we are tired like we were tired. 7:48.6 : I think we have to all really, really be honest about...

8:35.0: I've been studying money and money mindset for a long time. I will preface all of this conversation. With a short legal disclaimer saying, I am not an accountant. 9:33.1: I want to speak to this idea of debt because especially in the United States this is something that Basically, our society has decided is bad and I'm here to kind of flip the script on that for you boutique owners. ...

1:28.3: It's going to cost you some money, obviously, to have a point-of-sale system, meaning you need somewhere to sell it and accept credit cards. 2:13.8: If you're going to start a boutique, uh, whether it's home decor, gifts, children's, women's, men's, you've got to think about what are the things that people buy most often? What are the categories that they're buying?  3:55.7: Now peopl...

Click here to see more about Boutique Basics Bootcamp. Enroll in Boutique Basics Bootcamp now for the lowest price and over $3200 of bonus material! This episode has not been edited for ums or gaps! Enjoy! Emily on IG: @stylishandsuccessful or @boutiquetrainingacademy Mentioned in this episode: How To Start A Clothing Boutique Business - Free On-Demand Webinar Here is the link to register for the...

00:07.1: Let's talk about what jobs or where we see most people come from in boutique land to start their boutique. 1:01.8: First and foremost, it's stay at home moms, it's mothers, it's women, people with uteruses that have had children that want to start a business.  1:49.2: You're going to need support with your business and with your child or children. The more kids you have, I think the...

46.6: I worked for seven years in corporate retail merchandising in New York City for big brands that, you know, then I started my own boutique. 2:08.0: If you are not committed to either finding cheaper wholesale items or marking things up appropriately, and I'm talking like three times markup, you will not be successful. 2:46.4: And the amount of money we make is dependent on the difference betw...

1:42.4: Having a mobile boutique was really fun for me. I loved all four years that I did it, and I want more people to start the business. And I want you to start a mobile boutique if it's something you're excited about.  2:18.8: The obvious first thing is you need a truck, a trailer, a whatever, an RV, a bus, before you even get into buying that vehicle, you really want to think about what...

1:19.7: We need more boutiques to open because we need more perspectives. We need your point of view.   1:50.4: So first and foremost, no, you cannot buy samples. I know it sucks. You just can't. Okay. The way that the wholesale piece of the industry works.  2:57.3: This is why I always say you should go to market or try to go to LA or New York or wherever these people are so you can see...

1:14.6 : We're talking about growing our assortment today. And to me, that's a really important topic because I've seen so many people do it incorrectly. They end up with lots of inventory sitting in a back room or sitting in a warehouse or in a storage unit or whatever. 1:47.2: If you're in a spot where you're like, I'm making all these mistakes that I'm like, talk about great. You see your mista...

0:56.8: I always say focus on one store first, grow that, and then add.  2:39.1: They do local pickups, things like that. That's actually, I think the best-case scenario for opening a brick-and-mortar because you already have this built-in customer base locally. And then they're going to say to their friends, Hey, let's go to this store. I think it's really different. 3:10.8: Let's say you ha...

1:30.5: If you are someone who feels overwhelmed often, or you can't handle lots of people, then going to market or a show might not be for you. 5:48.2: So the intention of going to a show would be to hopefully place orders, but to touch and feel and try on and meet the vendors and maybe meet new vendors that, you know, every vendor isn't on Fashion Go. 6:47.1: You'll find is generally organized i...

1:12.3: 20% is a lot of money for a business. But it's also not that hard. So let's think about what 20% would look like in the next 30 days for you. 1:51.3: You need to make sure that you have inventory. Okay. If you don't have inventory, then that's okay. 2:32.6: If your customer is already bought into something that's really working, then you're in a position where you have the opportunity to b...

3:13.8: I was raised middle class in a blue state. And I think that generationally, I'm like two generations away from the Great Depression. And I am one generation, not even, I'm 10 years away from women getting bank accounts.  4:09.2: I want to recognize that things are changing in the boutique industry, especially because it is a woman-led business, and I'm sorry, I'm a woman female-identi...

3:13.7: I'm worried that so many boutique owners think there's one way to do things.  3:44.7 :  It's just so important to be your unique self and only do the things that you want to do. 6:34.5: One of the biggest things I see across the board and boutique land is this turnover.  8:16.2: This is a good double-check on, do I really need to buy this? So many of you are overbought. Even...

3:31.1: I turned 40 a week after my daughter turned one. So I currently have a 19-month-old at age 40 which most people would say is super old. I actually love it. 5:02.8: I honestly think that women's healthcare after having a baby is ridiculous. The fact that they talk about baby blues and postpartum depression and anxiety and rage and all of that, like only being up to eight weeks after 12 week...

0:32.2: I really want to help you understand that starting a boutique is not for everyone and going into it with a full scope of understanding what could go wrong and what could go right is really important.  1:01.5: I think one of the things people think when they have a mobile boutique is that things are gonna be easy. Like, oh, I'm gonna just pull up and sell things. And that's not at all...

50.7: A lot of people are getting into this business now, and they're not realizing the impact that it's gonna have on their life and what they're gonna have to do to be successful. 1:01.6:   An online business obviously requires a lot of technical stuff.  1:33.4: If you're not tech-savvy, that's okay. Just know going into it that you're going to have to at least be adaptable and open to...

Boutique Brilliance Classes May 15 Training Boost Your Boutique with Emily Benson BONUS Mid-June Boutiqueland Updates All rights reserved Mentioned in this episode: Work on Your Shop Event- September 21, 2025 Work|on your|shop is a one-day, in-person experience designed to reset your mindset and give you the exact steps to grow your boutique with more ease and clarity. You’ll leave with: ✅ A comp...

1:33.0: It's really important when you start your kid's boutique or children's boutique to focus, you cannot sell newborns to tweens. All of the things in between boys, girls, gender neutral, wherever you're headed with this, plus toys, blankets, it's a lot. You guys, you've gotta focus. 2:14.8: I think that opening a children's boutique is a no-brainer because you're always gonna have customers....

1:30.5: I'm seeing boutiques run ads and they're one of two things: They're either targeting me with “Come to our store opening” and they're in Virginia, I'm not in Virginia. Or they’re advertising denim, which I hate. 3:24.3: This is the phenomenon I'm seeing in Facebook ads. It’s a video and two photos the size of your phone screen. In the video the boutique owner or model is pulling on the side...

1:36.8: Now a lot of boutiques will start online or they'll have one brick and mortar and there's all these opportunities to sort of rent a space inside. We see it a lot in salons. 2:09.8 : If you are just online, it's definitely a good opportunity for you to be in front of people and see what the sales look like and see how things can change for you from an assortment perspective and from an idea...

2:05.3: The fundamentals of retail are the fundamentals of retail. They don't change over time. What does change sometimes is marketing or building a brand. 2:44.3: I think it's important to take a step back and think about like, what about my business do I love?  5:51.5: So whether you're new or you are established, or however you see yourself in the scope of what boutique land looks like fo...

1:10.5: we're talking about meta, which runs both Facebook and Instagram ads.  1:33.8: I think this is something that you wanna do when you start to hit like three, five, $10,000 a month. So $3,000 to $10,000 months in your business.  2:45.3: Facebook ads are really an additional way to continue showing people who already like you more of your stuff more often. 3:25.5: The easiest way fo...

2:33.4: And so I'm here to remind you that you are a very, very, very powerful being and that you get to decide, you get to have the choice about what it is that you want, where you wanna go. And so I want to tap into what might be holding you back. 3:27.4: One of the very first ways that I see people blocking themselves from having a great boutique is fear. Fear of success, fear of failure. Fear...

Resources: Visit Boutique Training Academy - If you want to make more money in your boutique or retail business you're in the right place. We'll guide you step by step in your journey through Boutiqueland. NEW BOOK #TheRetailMindset available on Amazon Let’s be friends! Facebook  IG Mentioned in this episode: Work on Your Shop Event- September 21, 2025 Work|on your|shop is a one-day, in-perso...