Once the market research of your sports store has been carried out, you will have to rely on the data collected to define its commercial positioning.
You will need to decide on the type of point of sale you want to open:
- What products will we find there? For which activities?
- Will you target occasional athletes or those with intensive practice?
- With which brands?
- Will you offer additional services such as maintenance and repair?
- What will differentiate you from the competition?
You can opt for a general store, or one dedicated to sportswear, or even a sports store specializing in a single discipline such as running for example.
This choice will depend in part on the type of stores already established near yours: if there are already 3 general stores, you may want to opt for a specialized store in order to stand out from the competition and make your place easier. in the local market.
You can of course also take over an existing sports store, although this option is probably more rare.
Open a sports store: independent or franchise?
One of the questions that you will also have to ask yourself when choosing the concept is that of opening an independent or franchised sports store.
Before deciding on one or the other structure, keep in mind that membership in a group of brands makes it possible to offer the major brands negotiated by purchasing centers and to benefit from recognition. immediate brand. Opening your sports franchise store is therefore the option that seems the easiest.
Finding a local for your sports store
The location of your sports store is extremely important.
Ideally, you want to find a location with good traffic, such as a downtown shopping area or a shopping center. However, it is not always easy to find premises large and cheap enough to set up a sports shop.
The alternative is to move to a more remote area. This cheaper option may be viable if you opt for a specialty sports store, but it is riskier for a general store.
For example, if you are the only skate shop within 30km around, chances are that fans of the sport will make the effort to come to you. On the other hand, if you are yet another sports shoe store, it may be more complicated to attract customers.
What legal structure to create a sports store?
After you have done your market research, defined a concept and found the premises for your future sports store, you will need to consider the legal status of your business.
The choice of the legal form should not be taken lightly because it will depend in particular on: the method of taxation of the company, the social regime of the directors, the administrative formalities to be accomplished, and the conditions under which decisions will be taken. within the company (this is called governance).
You will therefore have to choose a legal status adapted to your project, in particular the amount of capital committed and the number of partners.