This wet shaving world that I just dived in a couple months ago is driving me crazy. Here in Indonesia, you can not find anything related to traditional wet shaving. You can not find a decent: - safety razor - blade - shave cream/soaps - shave brush - straight razor or anything at all. I've tried every major online shop in Indonesia. Lazada.co.id, or bukalapak.com, or tokopedia.com Nothing come up. All they show only Gillette cartridge razors and refills and shaving cream cans. Should I open a DE shop in Indonesia? Any vendors willing to cooperate with me? I am really upset with this situation in Indonesia. Thanks to TSD, I found an oases Arief
I think for anyone to properly answer that(we'd all love to just say go for it!), we would have to be in your shoes. It's something that would require a lot of market research. Maybe nothing is available because people there have no interest in it.
It does require market research. It is a business endeavor after all. If there is not a market, we need to create one. People need to know about RAD, SAD, BAD, or any disorders that we have. It is addictive. And I can make money from it.
Here's the question you really need an answer to: Is there a market for wet shaving products where you live? As KCphotog has pointed out, this is something that needs a lot of market research. In your eyes—and in the eyes of folks here—this seems like a really good idea, because this is something we're really into. I think all of us who don't have a local shave shop where we live have wished there was a shave shop in our town that we could go to and drool over wet shaving products. And we would love to be able to purchase the wet shaving products we want without having to deal with online vendors and wait for items we've ordered to be shipped to us. However, in the grand scheme of things, us wet shavers are but a small subset of the population, so we have a skewed view of what we want/need locally. I'm not saying that you should or shouldn't open your own shop. That's a very personal decision that only you can decide to make. I think we all dream about owning our own shave shop so that we could provide goods and services to our fellow wet shavers—and to have what would seem like unlimited access to wet shaving goods for ourselves. But just because that's what we want, that doesn't mean that the population at large wants it as much as we do. In any case, whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best in making this decision. And I wish you all the best if you decide to open your own shave shop. Good luck, Arief!
- safety razor - blade - shave cream/soaps - shave brush - straight razor The first two, safety razors and blades, require specialized tools to manufacture. They can be imported. The last three, creams & soaps, brushes, and straight razors, might be made by a couple small companies. Specialized knowledge, materials, and tools would be required. The knowledge is available - you have the internet. Materials are out there for a price. The tools for the Artisan trades can be purchased used and small. Scaling up as you build business, reinvesting profits as you go. That's how monopolies are built. Up to you to consider if you can arrange to have a product made and sell it at enough profit to keep your company open. Then there is the "buy low, sell high" model. The U.S. used to invent, manufacture, and export. Not so much now because others can and do make as good or better products for less. For you to open a shop will require capital. You need an inventory. Sounds like investors to me. Unless you can do like Sears did with their catalog business. They sold a product (men's shirts, I think), then found a manufacture to make it. Some how they got the product to the customer in time. Sort of a reverse where they "sold high, then bought low & delivered". @KCphotog has an important point. The market is shavers who are comfortable using their current gear. So how can YOU convince them to buy your products? If you can establish yourself as the first supplier of quality alternative shave gear there may be money to be made. Good luck, my friend.
You guys are even better than my economic professor. I will keep this in mind. I think there is or there will be a market for wet shaving supplies in Indonesia. I just need to convince more people to convert. That is why I established my website at BeShaved.com. Maybe I can be a drop-shipper or some sort. Certainly an online shop is better for now, than renting a space to open a conventional shop. Initial capital would be my biggest barrier. But hey.. If vendors agree to consign their products, I might move the products along.
I'm a scratch paper architect, engineer, salesman, carpenter, & handyman. I guess much of my father's MBA rubbed off on me.
I don't want to get your hopes up by misleading you, but for what it's worth, I keep seeing things on YouTube or reading them online that more and more men are converting to wet shaving—either with safety razors or straight razors. But I also think it's worth noting that this doesn't mean that there's a huge market out there for wet shaving products at the moment. So as you have and other commenters here have noted, a lot of market research needs to be done before you dive into opening up a shave shop of your own. Good luck, Arief.
We have a local Art of Shaving shop near by. Okay products but high priced. I think the novelty of it draws in folks that are curious. Now, if you could draw those in and offer good equipment at affordable prices, you might have better chance of converting them. Make them aware of all the money they will save
That was my initial idea. I think I will develop my customer base by using a Facebook fanpage first. It is still too early to jump both feet in the water.
An online store would be great as it means we could all order from you! Retail will always be more expensive than buying online so while it's nice to shop in person the price can be a bitch. Would the shaving store be stand alone or in with a traditional barber or some other kind of store that would compliment yours? You could start small and test the market and if you find the market is not there and you can't create one you are not out $$$ on stock. Best of luck with your project
Since I have no skills in barbering or know a professional barber, I think I will start with a stand alone shop. Or rather an online shaving supplies. I might have to reach out to vendors. To see if they are willing to support me with this idea.
There are two Art of Shaving shops just up the road from me in Portland (or one of its suburbs). I looked at the website for them, and their prices are through the roof! While I might stop by one of them the next time I'm in the area, I doubt I'll purchase anything from them given their high prices. Arief, @Spyder makes a really good point here: If you can draw in customers and sell them products at an affordable price, then you might be able to make a shave shop in your area successful. If, however, you have a very limited market combined with really high prices, that's almost certainly a recipe for disaster.
Who is your market? The people in the villages, or the ones in the city? What will your pricing be? A 100 pack of blades costs me $10-15...a half hour's pay for me. For an Indonesian, that would be about 134,000-150,000 rupiah. For the poor of your country, that represents almost a half day's pay. It makes financial sense for those people in your country to make the switch to DE shaving. It's been many years since I visited Jakarta and the memory has remained with me of a beautiful country and nice people.
My market is definitely for people in the city. Yes, the pricing is going to be a major factor. True that 150,000 rupiah will hit your wallet hard here in Indonesia, but 250,000 rupiah is the price for 4 Mach3 cartridges. http://www.lazada.co.id/gillette/?searchredirect=gillette See the craziness there? That's why I'm turning to DE from Mach3.
I'm unsure about exchange rates, but DE razors are available for quite a bit less. While this resembles a vintage Gillette Flair Tip Super Speed, someone would have to try both to compare the quality.
I think it sounds like a great idea. If the market is there and can support it, why not go for it. If you can get the money together to get the business started, you can begin small and grow it. The fact that you already have your own website, beshaved.com, seems like a perfect place to start selling shaving supplies. You could get in contact with companies that make the products and offer to sell them on your website first, then if the business takes off, you could open a brick and mortar store to sell shave supplies in. I'm lucky enough to have a brick and mortar shave store only 50 miles from my house, so I drive there whenever I can to look at the new supplies and smell the different shave products. It is more convenient to order off the internet, but I love to spend time checking everything out in the store. Also the people that run the store are very friendly and helpful. It is a great experience. I always spend $40 to $100 dollars when I go, even if I don't need the stuff. If you decide to go for it good luck.
You just explained my general ideas. I would love to have an online first and then build my brick and mortar store. A small shaving supplies shop full with wet shaving enthusiasts.
