How To Start A Community Thrift Store

Learning how to start a community thrift store is an important part of starting your own business. It takes time, planning and money in order to start a thrift store. Follow these steps to successfully start a community thrift store.

1. Funding. Before you do anything, you need to make sure you have the money to start a community thrift store. You can apply for a small business loan if you don't have the cash on hand. If your store is going to be a non-profit, it might behoove you to hold a fundraiser to help raise money to open your thrift store. Once you have your funding in place, you are ready to take the next steps to starting your community thrift store.
2. Location. Finding the perfect location is probably the most important aspect of starting a community thrift store. Choosing a location that is going to be visible to potential customers is of the utmost importance. Whether you are buying or renting your space, it's also important to consider the ease of access to your thrift store. Customers should easily be able to enter and exit your store, which will keep your customers coming back for more. Plus, you'll want to choose a space that has plenty of room for customers to drop off donations.
3. License. Before you can fully open your community thrift store, you need a business license. Even though the majority of your merchandise will consist of donations, you still need to adhere to your state's business license laws since you will be reselling the goods.
4. Advertise. Getting your business name out there will help you get the community support you need. Since most thrift stores work solely off of what others give, it's vitally important that your business is seen.
   
5. Donations. Before you officially open your thrift store, you want to have a good bit in stock. Setting up specific drop off times where people can easily bring donations, will help you stock the shelves of your community thrift store.
6. Help. It would be pretty hard to run a community thrift store all by yourself, so enlist some friends or family to help. Once you get your store up and running, it might be a good idea to hire someone, even if it is just part time help.
7. Open. Have a grand opening to hype up the fact that you are starting a community thrift store. People love grand openings, and there is nothing better than a great deal from a thrift store.

Since some people may not be able to drop off goods, you may want to consider offering a pick up service for donations. You will probably receive more donations this way, plus you'll have loyal people who will continue to donate when you make it easy. Also, the most important thing to remember is to be careful when going through donations. You just never know what some people might find appropriate to donate to your thrift store.