What is the best way to prepare for opening a fireworks business?
There’s a lot to cover before you’re ready to sell fireworks, but you’re never alone on anything. The smartest thing you can do is find out what other successful fireworks sellers have done, and model after them. Black Cat has been at this for a long time, and we know several ways to help you start a fireworks business properly.
Prepare for Opening With These Two Most Important Requirements
The preparation phase will involve a long list of items, which you should start doing at the beginning of the year. As we always say, this is not the kind of business you stroll into the week before 4th of July and expect to be successful. Most of these are easy to do, but the process is somewhat time consuming.
The first thing you should do is cover these two basics:
- Securing Your Location
- Securing Your Fireworks
Those are the most relevant items, from which everything else depends.
In other posts, we’ve talked about how “location, location, location” is every bit as important in the fireworks business as it is in selling real-estate. You’ll come to find that you can’t open a fireworks tent, store, or stand in just any location. This requires researching your local jurisdiction to determine whether you’re able to sell fireworks, and, if so, where in your county or town.
Then, when you’re buying fireworks, you’ll have to cooperate with a wholesaler (Black Cat works with several) to select and purchase enough for your specific operation. Here’s where you’ll buy everything from sparklers and smoke bombs to bottle rockets and 500g fountains.
Then Move to These Important Items
What else do you need to set up a viable fireworks business?
- Get a Tent, Stand, or Store
- Of course, it does no good to have a physical location without a tent or store to sell your fireworks. This is an essential item, which you would normally rent from either a commercial property owner or tent rental company.
- Licensing/Permits
- Licensing and permits come from both your state and local authorities. This makes it lawful for you to sell consumer fireworks AND avoid incurring a lawsuit for any premises issues.
- Marketing & Advanced Pricing
- Beginners won’t need a full website yet, but you should have an online presence through social media. Black Cat Fireworks can also help you with marketing opportunities when you become a dealer with us.
- Planogram
- This is a plan-o-gram for the layout of your tent or store. Work with your distributor to determine how to position fireworks items throughout your shop.
- Site Prep
- This is especially important for vacant lots that haven’t been used in a while. You may have to do some lot clearing or other renovation work to get your site ready for a tent or stand.
Other Essentials You’ll Need Before Opening
Then, focus on all the other essential items. Those include other rental equipment (i.e., storage containers, tables, power generators), any other promotional gear like banners and flags, and one of the most important things of all . . .
**Employees**
Yes, you need employees (and/or volunteer help), because without them, you’ll have no way to run your business. We urge new sellers to approach this early in the year and make certain you have adequate staffing, with firm commitments especially from July 3rd through July 5th.
Finally, you’ll need to rent or purchase all the transaction equipment such as a POS system, cash registers, credit card machines, and so forth.
Black Cat Fireworks: Helping You Prepare for Opening the Right Way
So, it’s a long list and some of this might seem overwhelming, but don’t forget that you have plenty of resources and support. If you get in touch with your fireworks distributor, they can walk you through a whole checklist that will include each of these crucial items and more. Again, the key to success is beginning this process as early as possible.
Contact Black Cat Fireworks anytime to learn all the effective ways to prepare for opening a successful fireworks business.
