A Shop Owner Dilemma

Besides doing Jakarta people a big favor by creating a make-all-of-our-lives-easier city directory, I’m a just merely an ordinary boutique owner in this boutique-packed city. All this started when my best friend from Los Angeles, Intan along with her big sister Dewi (she’s a superwoman who is directing a big MLM company and somehow managed to write 3 books, 2 are published and 1 is on the way but still found more time to own a boutique. Oh did I mention she’s a mother of 2 kids?) and Michelle, Dewi’s best friend since probably 15 years ago, asked me and my sister to join their start-up boutique. Well I like to dress up and shop for clothes, but I didn’t know a thing about starting up a boutique let alone managing one. Actually they didn’t need me, they need my sister because she was still living in LA and she could be the buyer for the boutique. I joined so that I know what’s going on in the boutique, being the connector to my sister. Well the money was coming out of the same pocket anyway... So there was I, being a silent partner for the newly formed Secret Wardrobe boutique (I was still working full time back then, so I couldn’t afford to be an active partner)

The boutique is tucked in a small ruko complex on Jl. Margaguna Raya (the road between Radio Dalem and Metro Pondok Indah). They presented me with a concept that our boutique is an active boutique meaning that we don’t rely on traffic like other boutiques in the malls, but we do proactive marketing such as events, newsletters, direct selling, and other relationship-based marketing. In addition we are trying to bring in Californian Chic and Hollywood Glamour style at a more affordable price. Trying to be different here, we are buying clothes from up and rising designers who have good workmanship but unknown enough to have a nice-to-look-at price tag. Well I keen on the concept because I thought it was something different and who needs a good location if we have great clothes with great price anyway right??

Well turns out I was wrong :p. There is a reason why the rent in the mall is much higher, because they generate more traffic. More traffic = More sales. But to be honest, I don’t think our boutique can afford a place in an A-class mall. The margin and the volume just don’t make sense. This is I what I call as the shop owner dilemma, especially owners of shops with niche products. I see many shops located as a standalone store sometimes in a busy road side, sometimes in a very quiet neighborhood. There were many times I was very tempted to stop-by, but chances are I was already late on my way to meet someone, in a mall! I believe many shops will get repeat transaction regardless their location or at least from the surrounding neighborhood, but do they get traffic at all?

I want to give shop owners the chance of first traffic. The rest is up to them, if they have good products and great service, I believe it’s easy for them to get repeat traffic and more sales from word of mouth recommendation. That’s why I started Urbanesia.com.