How To Start An Antique Business
Before you start an antique business, you have to start PLANNING what KIND of antique business you want to open. No one starts out an expert. Don't try and take 20 steps in one day. Simply start with your 1 MIT: Most Important Thing. Your dreams come true when you do the steps involved to get to your destination.
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Listen: Episode 1: How to Start an Antiques Business on the Business of Antiques Podcast https://antiquesdiva.com/ep-1-how-to-start-an-antique-business
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Don't think about STARTING an antique business. Instead, think about LEARNING about The Business of Antiques.
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Research local antique shops - and see what’s selling in your town. Do you like the options? What do you feel like is missing?
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Do you have a unique perspective that could add to the local antique scene?
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Look up local antique malls and make dates on your calendar to go out and visit those antique malls.
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Pull out your calendar and note when all the antique fairs in your state or even region of the country are going on and plan visits to attend the regional antique fairs.
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Get business cards of the vendors whose businesses you like. Take pictures of their stand. Study what you really liked about them. Was it their inventory you liked or their styling and merchandising?
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Start noticing what you don't like. Get critical. Have you seen great inventory that hasn’t been displayed well?
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Start noticing branding in fashion and home interior stores, restaurants or really any kind of business. What type of logos do you like? What type of color schemes attract you?
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Pick up business cards that you like. What do you like about them? Is it the weight of the card? The cardstock? The font? Raised Lettering? Maybe they are using a photo on their business card?
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Get a notebook - yep an old-fashioned pen and paper notebook - and relentlessly record everything.
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Google the various aggregator market places antiques are sold online - First Dibs, InCollect, Charish, Ebay, One Kings Lane, Ruby Lane.
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Study each site to see what they are selling, to see what you like about the sites. Notice specifically what you don't like.
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If the aggregator sites list the names of their vendors, pay attention to the vendor names you like. Go look to see if those vendors have their own personal websites.
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Start a Pinterest board and start building your dream. You can make one page - keep it private if you’d like - where you pin antiques you would like to sell.
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Choose one antique dealer you like and write down why you like them. This will lead you to determine how you can do it too. Do it again and again and again. You’re building your competitor list.
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How much are these antiques selling for? Get yourself familiar with prices.
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Start thinking about your target market. Do you want to be a wholesaler and sell to other dealers? Do you want to target Designers? Or Millennials? Or Millionaires?
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Do you need to get a business loan to start your store? A business plan? A website? An Instagram account?
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Eventually you have to move from LEARNING about Starting An Antiques Business to STARTING An Antiques Business. But if you’ve laid the foundation, that process is a lot easier.
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