Читать книгу Start & Run an Adult Boutique - Karen Bedinger - Страница 7

When I began to hear stories of other adult boutiques being shut down by city officials, or their leases not being renewed or being manipulated by landlords due to the adult content of the stores, I started to worry whether my idea was sensible. A few people in town had also hypothesized that the city would not allow an adult boutique as there currently were no others. I did not want to spend a lot of time and money on something that was never going to materialize so I decided to research the stories and issues I had heard about.

My research uncovered that most of the stories I had heard were not true; if a store was shut down, it was because it had illegal activities going on or there were zoning issues. Of the stories that were completely false, I had found out that the stores were actually still in business despite small protests by their communities. The stories of adult businesses being shut down because of illegal activities did not worry me because I was not going to let anything illegal happen in my store! The only real concern I had was about city zoning laws.

Not one to create a lot of controversy, I decided the best step forward would be to inform myself about and become involved in the local business community as much as possible before I opened the store. After I purchased a city zoning map, I asked the city zoning commissioner if he could advise me of any additional restrictions that could be placed on the type of store I was going to open. He asked me to provide him with a short business description for the city’s review. I decided to give him not only the business description but also a description of the type of people who were going to run the store to show him my intention to run a professional business. While he had the department review the case, I did background research.

I called the police department and they referred me to the city attorney. She said that the type of store I was going to open would not violate any city laws. I also researched the city code laws on adult stores just to be certain. My store was not actually going to be a traditional adult store: I was not going to have any live entertainment or viewing facilities, and would not offer services. In order to avoid the principal purpose of my store being for adult usage, I made sure that more than 50 percent of my merchandise was in retail clothing such as lingerie, shoes, and hosiery (instead of adult toys or novelties).

When I was looking into opening my store, it was difficult for any small-business owner to find a good location in my town because a lot of the business realtors only wanted major national chain stores or restaurants in their locations. As an additional hurdle, none of the realtors wanted a store that sold any kind of adult material. Persistence paid off though, and I finally found a location for my business. Even though it would have been easier to avoid telling the realtors that I was going to sell adult items, I did not want to have any problems renewing or keeping my lease. I never could verify any stories of landlords kicking their tenants out due to merchandise restrictions, but I did not want to have to worry about it either. Keeping myself and my store in good standing with my landlord helped me to negotiate a good lease, bring in customers, and avoid grief.

Although it seemed that there weren’t any restrictions on my business, I kept up my vigilance to make sure nothing would go wrong between my store and the city. I attended city hall meetings and joined a few key local business clubs in the community. Before long, it felt as though most of the business owners in the community knew me and that I was going to open an adult boutique. I encouraged them to ask me questions about the store and provided them with information about it. They grew to understand that my business was going to liven up the somewhat-depressed downtown area, be beautiful, and bring in business for their stores as well. I began to feel that I was part of the business community before I even opened my doors. Thus, when the time came to actually open, not only did I already have the support of the city officials and business community, but I had also made a few customers!

When I first opened, I did have a few protesters. The police would come in to inspect my store, but of course, they could find no problems with it. Most of the time they would come back when they were off duty and purchase items! Because I remained active in the community and kept my store very clean and neat, mosy people accepted and supported my business.

After consulting with fellow adult boutique owners, I realized that most of the problems they were having were the same as those any other business owner might have. They would get burnt out working too many hours during the day and end up doing things like not opening during the hours they said they were going to, being rude to customers, not performing their administrative duties (such as ordering and stocking merchandise), or not checking up on their employees to make sure they were operating the store correctly. Even the best-kept boutiques can start to deteriorate if the owners are not working at maintaining status.

I am sure there are other reasons why some adult boutiques have closed, but progress cannot be made when one is too focused on the reasons why a business could fail. Focusing on how to make a business a success and working hard at it is the best way to make sure that it will be successful.