No Top-Level Design, No Franchising.

Once you’ve refined your project or product, it’s time to think about what kind of store to open. Don’t overcomplicate the top-level strategy—forget the eight things I mentioned earlier and focus on just one question: Who are my target customers, and what pain points am I solving for them? Get that clear, and the rest will fall into place.

Think strategically from the start—that means keeping your target customers in mind, and even simpler, solving their real problems. With that mindset, you’ll know how to approach opening a store and everything will have direction.

Case study:

A business owner ran a shop in a small city for three or four years. The first year was mediocre—the location was wrong and the target customer base was too narrow. There are two solutions in this situation: change the location, or keep the location but adjust the positioning. The first option means sticking with the original target customers, while the second means moving away from them and instead catering to the people passing by the store. So he made bold cuts—removing certain products, reducing portion sizes, and lowering prices. Within two or three years, the business boomed, with daily revenue of at least $5,000 to $6,000—and even over $10,000 on good days.