Entrepreneur Idea Guide

Starting a Hand Blown Glass Shop

Forming a hand blown glass shop? Here's our take on a good roadmap to power your start-up's success.

Wondering how to start a hand blown glass shop? We take you step-by-step from start to success.

How to Write a Simple Hand Blown Glass Shop Business Plan

Haven't created a business plan for your hand blown glass shop yet? You could be in big trouble.

Rather than avoiding your business plan, keep your business plan simple. Ultimately, your business plan is intended to be a resource for you, the business owner.

If your time is limiting, outline the essentials of your hand blown glass shop's business plan now and make a commitment to come back to it later.

Location, Location, Location

For the most part, hand blown glass shops target local customers. Your startup plan should start with gathering intelligence about the local community What types of people live nearby? Does the community have the right demographics to support your new business? If there is a the local Small Business Development Center near you, they can give you access to great demographic information and assist you with your planning process.

Take a Look at the Competition

Before you open a hand blown glass shop within your community, it's essential to see how strong the competition is. We've provided the link below to help you find competitors nearby. After clicking on the link, type in your city, state and zip code to get a list of hand blown glass shops near you.

Is the established competition doing a good job? It's important to understand their strengths and weaknesses and think through how you'll stake up against those established businesses.

Learn from Others Who Are Already In This Space

If you are interested in starting a hand blown glass shop, it's essential that you speak with somebody who is already in the business. It's very unlikely that the local competition will talk to you. The last thing they want to do is help you to be a better competitor.

Fortunately, somebody who runs a hand blown glass shop in a different city may be willing to share their entrepreneurial wisdom with you, once they realize that you are not going to directly compete with them in their community. Indeed, many experienced entrepreneurs enjoy offering advice to startup entrepreneurs. Our estimate is that you may have to contact many business owners to find one who is willing to share his wisdom with you.

How do you locate a hand blown glass shop entrepreneur outside of your area who is willing to talk?

It's not that hard. Just use the handy link below and enter in a random city/state or zipcode.

Advantages of Buying an Established Hand Blown Glass Shop

It's no secret that entrepreneurs have a strong impulse to build companies from the ground up.

However, a business purchase is nearly always the smarter ownership option.

Existing hand blown glass shops are proven operations with dependable revenue streams. And that's not to mention the fact that a purchase let's you avoid the trial-and-error mistakes that are common in startups.

Don't Rule Out Franchising

As an entrepreneur, your chances being a successful business owner are much better when you choose to franchise and leverage their successful brand and track record.

Before you get too far along in your plan to open a hand blown glass shop, you should determine whether buying a franchise could make sense for you.

The link below gives you access to our franchise directory so you can see if there's a franchise opportunity for you. You might even find something that points you in a completely different direction.

Related Articles on Starting a Company

These additional resources regarding starting a business may be of interest to you.

Buying a Franchise

Buying vs. Starting a Business

Free Business Plan Templates

Share this article


Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs

Lists of Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms

Franchise Opportunities

Contributors

Business Glossary