Unit 1

Business Plan for Boutique Management

Definition:

The term boutique has French origins, and means a small shop that sells fashionable and designer
clothes, fashion accessories, and also some other make-up products. Though "boutique" is a
French term, but originally, it is derived from the Ancient Greek term ‘apothēkē,’ which means
"storehouse."

Introduction:

Boutique is a fashion villa with collection of enormous designs. To an extent, in recent times the
word ‘Boutique’ plays an active role in the day-to-day life. The main attraction is towards the
ethnic designs, standard colours, desired patterns and availability of Ready-to-wear garments.
Further they sell fashionable goods including apparel, jewellery, handbags, shoes and hair
accessories. Many of the boutiques are specialized in producing handmade clothing and
customer made apparels.

Successful management of the boutique is based on user friendly system. It is the system to
manage the clothing, accessories and the accounts associated to the boutique. A boutique can be
a successful one by managing it in a correct way. Boutique is a place where the collection of
designers is displayed or it is the place where the fashionable garments and accessories are sold.

In a simple term, boutique is a place where a particular style of apparel is produced. A clear
vision has to be set while opening one’s own store. Research should be made from different
sources before opening up a boutique. It starts with the planning of infrastructure, deciding the
type of collections, creating one’s own brand, marketing and especially giving importance to
good quality fabrics.

Objectives of Boutique:

 A boutique is opened to provide quality, fashionable products to local people.

 Boutiques sell branded items in remote areas; similarly, it promotes a specific brand in
different regions and increases a brand's popularity.
 It represents a particular brand and develops local credibility and acceptance.
 Promoting a service or product online.
 Selling a service or product.
 Providing product support or client service.
 Establishing complete awareness and company identity.
Factors to be considered Before Starting up a Boutique:

a) Deciding the type of boutique to be started – Higher End/Lower End

b) Analyzing and studying the customers and their population in that particular
area/township where the boutique is to be started
c) Selection of business plan/structure
d) Determining the forms of capital to be invested
e) Getting a Legal advice, obtaining a Business License and consulting with an Accountant
f) Spotting the venue for the boutique
g) Hiring of skilled employees for the boutique
h) Planning of size, ambience and interiors for the boutique
i) Developing of boutique’s brand – choosing the name and logo
j) Starting up of website and
k) Choosing the popular advertising media and the best forms of promotion.

a) Types of Boutique:

Boutiques can be generally classified into Higher End boutiques and Lower end boutiques.
Further divided into Stand – Alone and Chain. The upcoming fashion trends and sales are
analyzed and scrutinized by Fashion Experts, especially a team of fashion merchandisers.

Stand – Alone boutiques are owned by single ownership and a perfect location whereas Chain
boutiques have the ownership by larger companies and widespread locations.
 High End Boutiques
 Low End Boutiques
Boutiques are available to all people of different strata, for example, the rich people can afford
the price and the other one is the place where the people with moderate range can buy the desired
collections.
 High End Boutique
High End Boutique is the place where the
top brand collections are displayed starting
from infants to adults wear, shoes, sandals
etc. with an extreme or expensive cost
which cannot be afforded by the moderate
people. The Higher End Boutiques
collection will be unique with highly
stylized designs, top quality fabrics and
features based on current trends. These are
generally located in metropolitan cities and
in fashion centres.
  Lower End Boutique
A comfortable zone of shopping is said to
be the Lower End Boutiques. It also has a
wide range of varieties at reasonable cost.
A wide range of people depends more on
the low end stores which can produce the
exclusive designs with desirable price.
Designs made for lower priced items are
generally sold through mass market
retailers.

Other types of Boutique:

 Jewelry Boutique − It is the

boutique specialized in selling

differently designed local and
imported jewelry products.

 Make-up Product (Cosmetic)

Boutique − It is a store
specialized in selling different
make-up products exclusively
for females.

 Designers Clothing Boutique −

It is a store that largely sells
high-end fashionable clothes
exclusively for girls.

 Women’s clothing Boutique

− it is the store that largely
sells married women’s
clothing and other fashion
accessories.
  Hand-made Product
Boutique − It is the store that
sells only hand-made fashion
items such as handbags, hats,
jewelry, dresses, etc.

 Hair and Skin Product

Boutique − It is a store that
largely sells hair and skin
products, especially for
women and girls.

 Ethnic Wear Boutique − It is

the store that sells largely
ethnic wear dresses for women
and girls.

b) Clothing Boutique Business Structure

The selection of business structure is based on two forms of organizations viz., Non-
Corporate Enterprises and Corporate Enterprises. Under Non-Corporate Enterprises, the notable
classifications are Sole Trading Concern, Partnership Concern and Joint Hindu Family Firms.
Corporate Enterprises function under Government, Private and Co-operative sectors.
 Vision & Mission for Boutique
A vision statement and mission statement are important tools in boutique management that help
define the business, its objectives, and how it will achieve them:

 Vision statement
A broad, inspirational statement that describes the desired future state of the business. It's meant
to inspire support from stakeholders and often describes a future where the business redefines its
industry and benefits society.
 Mission statement
A more specific statement that defines how the business will differentiate itself from other
businesses in its industry. It describes the business's objectives, who it serves, what it does, and
how it will achieve those objectives.
Here are some tips for writing a vision and mission statement:
 Understand what the business is all about and where it's headed in the future.
  Keep the statements concise and powerful, ideally no more than three sentences long.
 Dedicate time to the process, and be willing to revisit the content multiple times.
 Invite debate among co-founders to align the leadership team.

c) Source of Finance

Knowledge about sources of finance motivates the entrepreneurs to start up a boutique in a

confidential manner. Sources of finance include Equities, Debts, Term Loans, Letter of Credit,
Debentures, Earnings, Working Capital Loans and Venture Capital Funds etc.
d) Location for starting up a boutique:
Ideal location selection is very important for starting up a
boutique. Certain factors are to be considered before deciding
the location of a boutique. A very successful boutique
location aims for lowest unit cost in the production and
simultaneously concentrating on the distribution of goods at
the right place at right time to the target customers.

Selection of place for starting up a boutique highly depends

on the availability of raw materials nearby, proper transport
facilities, availability of skilled labour, cheaper power
facilities and transport facilities. Further it should be focused
on the type of target customers

Since boutiques are focused majorly on high end customers,

it should be started in a place where fashion trends are
updated seriously. Sometimes it may be based on the personal
preferences such as starting up a boutique in his/her own
native place, hiring a land at lower price etc.
 e) Hiring skilled employees
People skills. The attitude toward people of retail
employees is one of the most important selectors.
Retail employees who serve the public on the
floor of your business will certainly be the ones
who will meet the most people. They have to have
a strong desire to please people and make sure
everyone they meet in the store finds what they
need and want. Traits related to more intellectual
or money-related goals are nowhere near as
important as a basic desire to make people happy.
Honesty, tact, patience, personal maturity, are all
human interactional skills that are more important
in retail than, perhaps in other kinds of sales.

Quick learning. The retail environment is a constantly changing one, where new products are
quickly brought on the floor and new skills have to be quickly acquired. A retail employee must
learn valuable skills usefully on the job quickly. The skill of closing sales is central. Organizing
products or correctly repairing product arrangement, quickly folding clothes, using the complex
of new retail software, point of sale, inventory management software and more. The best retail
employees will have a sharp memory for inventory and for faces. They need to memorize
quickly on the go. The ability to carry on several functions at once is essential in a complex and
fast-moving retail environment.

f) Size of the Boutique:

The size of the boutique is dependent on so many factors such as type of business, type of
products to be sold, figuring out the finances, type of market, location availability and type of
customers to be targeted etc.
 g) Select a Name for the Boutique:
Choosing a name for the boutique is very
important and at times strongly linked to the
success of the business too. If one wants to
stand out, then a boutique name should be
chosen so that nobody else could possibly
do. The names should be very unique and
classy.

A list of cool and trendy names should be

made and finalized at the end. At times,
naming can either make or break a business
startup too. Boutique names should be
catchy, must not be too lengthy; must be a
memorable name; must be specific and
clear.

 Theft Prevention Methods:

In boutique or clothing stores, the majority of the losses are attributable to retail theft. To avoid
this, implementation of Inventory Management is mandatory along with high security systems.

Common theft prevention methods adopted in boutiques are;

 Video Surveillance
 Burglary Monitoring
 Panic Buttons
 Security Mirrors
 Educating the employees continuously
 Organizing the boutique properly and
 Hiring the security guard.