Do You Want to Start Watch Business? An Overview of this of this Business Venture
by Josh Biggs in Business on 27th June 2019We have attempted to cover all the necessary information to start watch business so that you can decide whether this will be the right business for you.
Try to know what will be your day-to-day activities as watch a business owner, about the target market, startup cost, growth potential, legal considerations and much more.
Overview of this business
Nowadays, most people prefer to use smartphones to know time however in spite of that, popularity of watches have not diminished. On the contrary, there is steady demand for various high-end, luxury watches.
As per the data available about the year 2017, there was online sale of watches for about $8 billion, which is 12.3% more than last 5 years.
Even the makers of smartphones too cannot ignore the popularity of watches and they are making smart versions of various luxury watches.
Who should enter into this business?
If you have passion for chronometers then perhaps you will enjoy opening a watch store. To be successful in this business you need to understand why people like to wear watches.
In any typical day, as a watch businessman, your activities will consist of the following:
- Responding to various inquiries of customers.
- Running advertising campaigns.
- Ordering more inventory.
- Fulfilling orders
Few business owners may need to perform repair related activities for warranty claims, however those business owners who are not having necessary technical repair skills must outsource this activity.
The target markets
For watches, the target market will be adults who are earning reasonably good income and have good lifestyle. Mostly these customers will prefer to use watches as a fashion statement, as they have enough money to buy watches.
How watch business is able to make money?
As a watch businessman, you can make money by selling various watches of different brands like Hamilton Watches. Usually, watches are sold in individual basis, but collections may be curated for encouraging customers towards buying multiple watches.
Growth potential in watch business
Usually, a watch business starts with small one-person operation which serves relatively limited number of customers that can grow to create lots of sales outlet and fulfill very large orders to sell many watches.
Getting started
To start a watch business, you will need knowledge not only about watches but also how to run your business. As a business owner, you must have at least cursory knowledge about watches to make wise decision to have right inventory and properly talk to customers.
To ensure that the watch business is profitable, you must have basic business knowledge.
If you are not familiar with watches then you can undergo watchmaking course, which is offered by few watch schools to learn watchmaking. Skills taught in these schools will help you to decide right inventory that you must have.
Also, this will give you knowledge to identify which kind of watches are very well made and which are not so well made etc.
There are few online courses too available which are good for those who has got no previous experience about watches. These courses will basically teach how to run watch business rather than going too deep into complexity of watch making techniques.
How much investment needed to start watch business?
Usually, the startup expenses to open watch business are within manageable limit. They will include:
- Purchasing of inventories that you want to sell
- Create and host your website
- Running of advertising campaigns
As the watch business is very small business hence may not need too big space in the beginning for storing inventory. The entire business can easily be run in a small home office.
Those who have very limited capital can always minimize their expenses by starting with very limited inventory. They can set up their website all by themselves and try to focus on organic methods of advertising.
What are the various steps for starting watch business?
After you have decided to enter into this business then follow these steps for making sure that your business will be legally compliant and also avoid wasting money or time as the business will grow:
- Plan your business
For success of your business proper planning is necessary. Few important things to consider will be your initial costs, target market, and time needed to break even.
- Create your legal entity
By establishing your legal business entity will prevent you from becoming personally liable in case your watch business will ever be prosecuted.
- Register for taxes
It is necessary to register for different state or federal taxes for opening a business.
- Open your business bank account
Having a proper checking account for the watch business will keep your finances properly organized and make your business appear professional to your all customers.
- Set up your business accounting
It is necessary to record your all expenses and various income sources for understanding your financial performance from the business. By keeping accurate details about account will greatly simplify your yearly tax filing too.
- Obtain necessary licenses and permits
You may be liable to face heavy fine or may even have to shut down your business if you do not have necessary licenses and permits.
- Get business insurance
For every business owner, insurance will be highly recommended. In case you hire any employee then workers compensation insurance will be legal requirement.
- Define your brand
The company will be known by your brand. A strong brand can help your business to stand out from your competitors.
- Establish your web presence
Your customers will know more about your business through your business website where all products or services that you offer will be displayed.
Do You need a business mentor?
For any new entrepreneur a quality mentorship will be very useful. While planning your business, during the start you must get connected to certain free business resource within your known circle to obtain the help that you may need.
By having little support network, it will be useful during tough times and can always be one major factor for success of any new business owners.
Few useful tips to start watch business
Nowadays, watch businesses are mostly conducted online. Many people may be tempted to set up their business in high-traffic area, however even having very small retail space can be riskier and offers very limited potential.
Having physical locations for business may attract rent and to carry more inventory, while customers will not make impulse purchase. They will rather compare from various shops and take decision.
While e-commerce watch businesses will have limited risk, more flexible and also have more potential. Hence better invest in an online business rather than opening a brick-and-mortar business.