Ask me about it!

What type of store? How many employees? How much did you invest? How long did it take you to open it? How old are you? Any family? How much personal time per month do you invest into it?

how tall are you

-We are a mattress specialty store, carrying mattresses and foundations, frames, sheets, pillows, mattress pads, and headboards.
-Me and my partner run the store and sales, and we have 4 on-call part time delivery helpers.
-We invested 51 000 dollars to get up and running.
-We worked on the business plan for approximately 1 1/2 years. After moving to the location, we opened 3 months later.
-I am 25 years old, my partner is 27.
-I am single with no dependents.
-I work 7 days a week right now, about 60 hours per week.


-...I am 6"0.

Just to be clear:

You have "netted" 100K in 80 days??

I'm guessing you mean you had gross sales of over $100K in 80 days, or do you mean that after deducting COGS & all expenses (rent, insurance, payroll, etc.) you had net profits of 100K?

I don't give a @%^ what a businesses gross sales or revenue is--it's what their net profit is (after all expenses are deducted) that really matters.

-We hit 250k in sales today. We've operated on approximately 48% margin thus far, and the business is so skeletal we've had very little to pay in expenses.

-Our net profit is over 100k in 80 days.

The man said net. Lets hope he understands what that means.

I've heard mattresses have ridiculously good profit margins, and its pretty easy to see that when walking into a retailer as a buyer, and price shopping brands.

Edit: Beat me to a response...

Tell us how the back end works...

Do you work directly with only a certain manufacturer, or do you sell multiple brands that you acquire these from a middleman distributor?

What are the terms for receiving/selling product?

-We don't belong to a buying group or anything of the sort. Completely independent. We work with 4 mattress manufacturers, and 4 others for accessories. Relationships were developed with regional reps of the mattress manufacturers over the past 6 years working for a large retail chain.

-We worked with the reps on picking out what lines of mattresses would be available to us. We buy from them at a wholesale cost and sell them for whatever price we want to sticker them at. Its obviously in our best interest to get the highest price for what the market will allow.

The most exciting part of all of this is that we've done very little as far as advertising thus fur... and this is the "dead" season for mattress sales. January and February are the slowest months as far as fluctuation goes.

in canada we have at least one big dominant mattress retailer...

i assume (perhaps wrongly) that you do this in the USA.... can't i just showroom mattresses and just buy them off Amazon?

happy that you are doing so well.. anything that makes your business model unique?

What city are you in?
What made you decide to sell Mattresses?
Why do you think customers are buying from you when the industry has a lot of competition?
What brands do you carry?
Are you online?

This is what I believe has been key to our success thus far:

-Location: We latched what I believe to be an almost ideal location for our store. Its an icon building in the city we're located and its right off the main drag you basically have to drive by every day to get anywhere. The building sat empty for a couple years while the owner waited for someone to move in, but the building is huge. We put our bid in on a section of the building when another retailer offered to take half. We paid 0 dollars for renovations as the owner of the building subdivided it and renovated it to our exact specifications (within reason... was still a huge investment on his part). Our rent is cheap in comparison to other locations throughout the city. Another location we looked at wanted almost triple what we are paying for rent where we are.

-Competition: The competition where we are is horrendous. There are other retailers that sell mattresses, but nobody has a clue how to do it. The showrooms are terrible, the salesmen are terrible. Even the big box stores located in our market seem to be like... the reject version of these box stores. My partner and I are young, energetic, friendly, and bring a ton of product knowledge and insight. The sales presentation we use often works like magic and we have a very high closing ratio.

-Policies: We have store policies that we offer (free delivery and setup even to out-of-towners (within a certain range), an exchange option, and an old mattress removal program) that nobody else can compete with.

What was your previous job that gave you insight on how to do things better. Are you in a big or affluent town because I almost never replace my mattress until I move.

When do you know your mattress needs to changed? I'm not heavy so I don't even see any signs that the mattress has depressed. I do flip it once or twice a year.

That is a pretty impressive start out the gate - congrats.

Why did it take 1.5 years to start this? That seems like an insane amount of time for planning.

Do you think you can continue this pace or is this rate?

I am curious why you would open a new store right before the "dead season" for sales on the product you are attempting to sell instead of launching it when sales would be much higher.

Starting a business on the eve of the busiest period is a great way to fall on your face. You are much better off starting when it is slower so that you can figure out how much **** you don't know and fix it before the pace is too fast for you to deal with the unknowns.

can you walk us through a presentation?

What was your previous job that gave you insight on how to do things better. Are you in a big or affluent town because I almost never replace my mattress until I move.

When do you know your mattress needs to changed? I'm not heavy so I don't even see any signs that the mattress has depressed. I do flip it once or twice a year.

- We had previously worked for a large retail chain that has mattress sales down to a science. We are not situated in a big town, but we are a large trading center. The town nucleus is only 20 000 people, but the surrounding trade area is about 200 000 people.
-Mattress generally last anywhere from about 6-10 years, and then its usually about time to start thinking about a new. If the mattress is cared for properly and you are not a heavy set person, then you will optimize the longevity of your mattress. Proper frame, foundation, and rotation are important. Its also recommended to sleep on all areas of the mattress especially in the first few months after purchasing in order to break it down evenly and reducing hammocking.

That is a pretty impressive start out the gate - congrats.

Why did it take 1.5 years to start this? That seems like an insane amount of time for planning.

Do you think you can continue this pace or is this rate?

Business was new to us. We spent an abundance of time researching about entrepreneurship and business strategy. We tried to find holes in the business plan and make it fail over and over. But yes, to say we spent a year and a half researching is not true. A large volume of time was spent searching for real estate and negotiating a lease once we found a location we were happy with. We also had money issues, and met with some potential investors, etc. Its been a blessing in disguise that nobody else hopped on board, as all signs point to success at this point, and it would've been a shame to hand over x-percentage of the company for what now seems like feeble start-up costs.

I am curious why you would open a new store right before the "dead season" for sales on the product you are attempting to sell instead of launching it when sales would be much higher.

Its not generally a good idea to open during busy season, as you'd like a "teething period" to work out kinks and store policies and routines etc. and get comfortable in your own skin.

can you walk us through a presentation?

Its interesting to me, as someone who used to be an avid poker player, how much sales is like poker. You read your "opponent" and pick up cues and information on them in order to extract the maximum value. Its strikingly similar and the rush of closing a big sale is comparable to scraping a big pot.

Without getting too specific, we follow a very rigid sales presentation, but its one that seems very personal and unique every time. Here are a few examples:

-For starters, we wear a tie and jacket every day. We're one of the few in the entire city that dress up for work every day. The store is always very clean and smelling good and the floor model beds are kept in great shape. No mess.

-Customers are allowed about a minute to enter the store and browse, and are then are welcomed to the store. A few qualifying questions are asked... and if the customer (usually a couple) is shopping for a bed for themselves, they are started off with the "comfort test". The showroom is laid out in a specific way, and we put people through a bit of a system in order to narrow it down for them. It generally takes between 30-45 minutes to go through a sale with a couple when done right.

-Our policies are introduced at the start of the presentation, and then reiterated strategically about half way through. For example, "A little bit about us folks, if we were to find you a mattress, we offer free delivery and free set-up, 7 days a week with all of our purchases." Then, later in the presentation, "and by the way folks, I mentioned that we would deliver and set up for free for you if we do find you something, well, just so you know, they're our delivery drivers- they'e employed by us. They show up in uniform and are very professional. We always handle everything internally with our business just to make sure everything goes perfect from A-Z."

-About 1/3 of the way through the presentation, I literally say to everyone, "Oh, I'm sorry folks, I'm being rude. My name is Jordan. And you? (I extend my hand and shake hands with the couple, and they are then called by name throughout the rest of the presentation, making it personal. Try and be funny, too. Crack jokes about sleeping habits, etc. and become their friend.

-Seeds are planted about accessories throughout the entire presentation. Nobody tests mattresses without our pillows. By the time they've chosen a bed, they've been carrying around a pillow of ours for 45 minutes back and forth throughout the showroom, and are praying that we can sell them that pillow as well. The importance of a mattress pad is reiterated at least twice throughout the presentation in different ways, etc. By the time you've found them a bed, you've already talked about why its important to buy every accessory from you, and it doesn't feel like an upsell as it would if its just thrown at them at the desk when writing up the order. Often mattresses are sold with a new frame, pillows, sheets, and a mattress pad.

-Then, once you've found the bed they've fallen in love with, all it takes is for you to give them a little incentive as to why they should buy from you today.

sounds like a nice, smooth sales process, makes it easy to train new people too. jacket and tie is a nice touch, probably something people aren't used to when mattress shopping.

30-45 min is a great target, long enough for customers to think they're making an informed decision, and not too long that they get bored and frustrated.

What is your average sale in $? Do you offer financing?

Cool thread

i like the idea of giving the customer some time before offering help... i hate being pounced on as soon as i enter a store (unless it is the most cursory easy-going greeting... semi-aggressive greeting is terrible 5 seconds into a store)

what about amazon and show rooming? would have thought mattresses are perfect for that?

What % of your customers are walk-ins vs saw your listing online? You mentioned you don't run any ads - do you aggregate any online reviews on Yelp / Gmaps? Have especially good online presence? I'm trying to understand how you are receiving that much foot traffic; please explain. Did you purchase demographic / food traffic data on the area beforehand?

What % of your walk-ins end up making a purchase?

Just replying from the store computer... $4051 in sales today... pretty average day...

what about amazon and show rooming? would have thought mattresses are perfect for that?

-To be honest, you were right. If people were determined, it would probably be best to come to guys like us, see the beds in the showroom, learn all the information and try them out, and then find them online for cheaper.
-I've wondered this about retail as a whole. Malls are dying, online shopping is growing etc. I think furniture is pretty safe, though.. and especially something as personal as a bed that you spend like 1/3 of your life on. The thing about mattresses, also, is that they are all different from retailer to retailer. The mattresses displayed in my showroom have a different name then the similarly-spec'd mattresses you'll find in the next showroom or online. So you'll never find that exact mattress anywhere else. Also, unless your finding a site with free shipping you'll be paying out the ying-yang for that. All in all, I think the reality of it is is that a lot of people just don't feel safe yet with relatively big ticket purchases and personal items like furniture. It can still be a real head ache. The last kitchen table I bought online had to be shipped 3 goddamn times before they got it right, 3 months later. A big part too I think is, supporting local. My partner and I grew up in this town.. moved away for 8 years and now we're back. We become friends with everyone we can who walks in the door. A lot of people are up for supporting local and helping out the "small guy".
-Another huge part is, because we are so specialized.. we have a ton of stock on hand. We've done a ton of same-day or next-day deliveries, which is unheard of around here. People are accustomed to waiting 3 weeks for their mattress. If you walk into my store today, you can order any size in any model, plus there are 12 Queen sets we have on hand in the back and 7 Kings on hand for you to chose from... and all the low end stuff. Grab it and go.

What is your average sale in $? Do you offer financing?

-Our books need updating... but I'd say the average ticket is around $800 or so. Our low end sets start at $249, and there's less expensive things as well, like people coming in for foamies, sheets, pillows, frames, etc. They go up from there, our most expensive sets around the $3000 mark.
-We looked into 3rd party financing, but its not something we jumped the gun on to have starting out. I wondered if it would be detrimental to business or if we'd lose a ton of sales not offering it. But I'd guess in the opening 12 weeks we've lost maybe 3 because we don't have it.
-We do offer a "layaway". As little as 10% down on anything holds it for you here with your name on it, we just need to be paid in full before we get it out to you. The 10% down offer is also a great way to make a sale to people who are on the fence, or if you feel like they are walking on you. Stock on sale is often limited... so if they're not sure about it we offer them to put 10% down to "hold" the sale price for them or the piece in stock with their name on it. If they go with it, great, we square up and get it out to them, and if they decide against it, we refund the 10% right back. If you get the 10%, 99 out of 100 times they'll never cancel. It works great.


What % of your customers are walk-ins vs saw your listing online? You mentioned you don't run any ads - do you aggregate any online reviews on Yelp / Gmaps? Have especially good online presence? I'm trying to understand how you are receiving that much foot traffic; please explain. Did you purchase demographic / food traffic data on the area beforehand?

What % of your walk-ins end up making a purchase?

-To be honest, our online presence is lacking. We have a website/facebook site which we are proactive in updating etc, but I'm not sure how effective its been.
-One thing that has brought in a lot of people, is there's this facebook group with about 6000 members in the region where people post on there if they've had a good or bad experience at a business. There's a ton of negative reviews on there. In a span of a month, we got 5 extremely positive reviews on there about people talking about how great we are. It got to the point where we were being accused of giving discounts for reviews, etc. and our customers had to back us up and say there was no incentive given for the positive review. It did bring in quite a few people, as we've made sure to ask every single person who we've seen how they've heard about us, being a new business. There's also a "garage sale" group for the region with 20 000 members that we've ran promotions/advertised on as a small business.
-We're going to be running facebook ads more seriously in the near future, paying to get our updates in the newsfeeds of friends of our site followers.. etc.
-We did a ton of market research on the trade area. I feel like our center is like a starving market/hidden gem nobody seems to be tapping into. I really think it is unique, and nobody is taking advantage of it. But the main thing that has driven the success of our business has been the salesmanship. I've said previously that we have a high closing ratio... I don't even think I'm embellishing if I told we we probably close 7 out 10 walkins. We're pissed off if anybody leaves the store without closing. We crave every sale. I guarantee you if Joe Blow who had no sales experience or intel in the mattress industry opened up his own store, he wouldn't even have half the sales volume we have as of now. And its only gonna go up from here as we start investing more in advertising and the busy season approaches.