Should I open a formal dress boutique? Any information on small business grants?

I am considering opening a formal dress boutique in a small town. I am wondering if anyone has advice or pointers for me. Also, does anyone have any information on small business grants that I could obtain? Any information will be greatly appreciated.

A lot of people dream of owning their own clothing store. My recommendation is always to start by researching on the business and learning everything about it — before starting. Clothing stores, especially, require lots of capital to start so you cannot afford to make a lot of mistakes

Here are some articles that provide information on how to start a clothing store:

How to Start a Clothing Store http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,287057,00.html
Starting a Specialized Clothing Retailing Business http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol89/specialized.htm
Starting a Retail Clothing Store http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1102419629706&pagename=CBSC_SK%2Fdisplay&lang=en&c=GuideHowto

One of the first steps is to prepare a business plan. Especially if you are planning on applying for loans, the process of business planning can help you think through your business. It can help you decide on the type of store, determine the costs involved, how to get suppliers to sell to you, how to market the store, expected profitability, etc.

Here are sample business plans for a clothing store that you can check out:

Retail Clothing http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/business-plans/Business-Plans-Volume-01/Retail-Clothing.html
Men's Clothing Retailer http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/business-plans/Business-Plans-Volume-04/Men-s-Clothing-Retailer.html
Special Needs Clothing Store http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/business-plans/Business-Plans-Volume-07/Special-Needs-Clothing-Store.html

For detailed information, I suggest you check out the following books:

Start Your Own Clothing Store (Entrepreneur Magazine's Start Up) (Paperback) by Entrepreneur Press
Retail Business Kit for Dummies by Rick Segel
Specialty Shop Retailing: How to Run Your Own Store Revised by Carol L. Schroeder

You may also want to check out the resources of the following associations:

Professional Apparel Association http://www.proapparel.com/
American Apparel Producer’s Network http://www.usawear.org/
Worldwide Responsible Apparel Manufacture http://www.wrapapparel.org/
American Apparel and Footwear Association http://www.americanapparel.org/
National Association of Fashion and Accessory Designers http://www.nafad.com/
Fashion Group International http://www.fgi.org/
Apparel News http://www.apparelnews.net/

As for grants, unfortunately, if you are in the US, the government hardly gives any grants for starting a for-profit business. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for a for-profit business.

Nonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.

Even if you buy books on "how to get grants" or list that supposedly has information on grants — all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently. But still the info is the same – hardly any grants for starting a for profit business.

Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html

"The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See http://www.sba.gov/financing for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments."

Here is a listing of federal grants for small businesses. See if there is any available for individuals for starting a business — THERE'S NONE.

http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.BROWSE_BENEF_RPT.show

Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program

Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women's Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women's business center that will train women entrepreneurs

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