Introduction

You have decided to take the bold step toward opening your new bead store. Before you do, please read some of the helpful tips below. Find why you should make Starman your number one source for wholesale beads.

Good planning = Better success

As with almost everything you do, planning your bead business can be the most important contributor to success. It can help save many of the frustrations that encompass starting a business, not to mention saving you time and money. We recommend getting to know the industry, discover trends, and most importantly know your local customer base.

There are a handful of very experienced people around the country who can help. Barry Kahn of Caravan Beads teaches a seminar about starting a bead store. Many of our customers who have taken his course have found it beneficial to further understanding the industry and raise awareness of their supplier choices. See a quick overview of some of the topics that Barry covers including: advertising, inventory, employees, and the abundance of decisions that you the owner must make.

Link: http://www.caravanbeads.com/pages_f/beadstorestartup.html

Whether or not you decide to seek advice from an industry expert, be sure that you take the time do your research. We have had a number of new startups call us for inventory recommendations on a shoestring budget. After speaking with them it was apparent that they will be paying more rent for their store than for their initial inventory, and that there was very little planning involved.

What can Starman offer?

We want to help you succeed so that we can do business for the long term. Our goal is to provide you not only with excellent service but also with an outstanding product and selection of Czech glass beads including CzechMates, TOHO Japanese seed beads, and TierraCast beads and findings. When starting a new store choosing your inventory can be a daunting task especially when you are unfamiliar with the current trends. Let us take some of the burden off; due to our industry experience many customers have asked us to put together initial orders for them. Allowing us to select your order has many advantages:

1. You can focus on starting your business; let us worry about Czech bead inventory.
2. We are aware of the general trends and hot colors.
3. You will get items that have a higher inventory turn; we want your continued business.

Choosing your product lines

We recommend the basic colors in fire polish to start. Fire polish along with seed beads has become the staple of the industry. Customers seek out birthstone colors for many designs. Try to avoid color duplication in the same style items for higher inventory turn. For example, our Silver/Crystal cathedral beads look very similar to the Silver/Light Sapphire. Most customers will buy on overall looks rather than specific color shades. Then select pressed beads to compliment the fire polish selection. Try purchase similar colors or colors that go well together with the fire polish when selecting the pressed beads. Remember that crystal and jet are the fundamental colors of beading; be sure to keep good stock of these colors. You will also want unique styles and colors that keep your customers in awe and coming back for more. Lastly, choose some hand made beads that customers will use to accent their designs. Depending on the size of your budget the proportion of fire polish, pressed, and handmade beads varies.
A commonly asked question: Do you carry Swarovski beads? Although we do not carry Swarovski beads, we do carry a good selection of Czech crystal. Many consumers cannot distinguish Swarovski and Czech crystal but demand the brand name. Stores that plan to carry Swarovski crystal will typically not carrying Czech machine cut crystal as part of their initial inventory to avoid duplication.

How much should you spend?

In order to get a wide selection of beads, we recommend an initial investment of about $5,000. This will get you started with an inventory of beads that customers regularly use and allow you to accent with some special or more unique shapes, colors, and finishes. We carry a variety of the general birthstone colors in the most popular bead styles along with thousands of unique styles to give your store that special touch. Once you're established you will find other, more unique bead styles to offer your customers. Give us a call @ 888-683-2323 for more recommendations and to find out about our new startup bead store specials.

As an entrepreneur myself, I know first hand how many nights and weekends it takes to build a business. If it were not for our vendors who guided us and provided us with excellent quality products, our customers who gave us the inspiration and trust, and our hard working staff; we would not be here today. Please let us provide you with the high quality service and products that we received during our critical first years.

Why Starman?

• Quality
• Service
• Convenience
• Selection
• Price