In this solo segment of the Five Minute Friday podcast, Sarah from The Boutique Hub addresses the common dilemma boutique owners face: whether to open a second brick‑and‑mortar location or double‑down on online sales. She walks listeners through a decision‑making framework that starts with deep customer interviews to understand who the shoppers are and what they truly need. Sarah then urges owners to revisit their core "why"—the personal passion and purpose that drives the business each morning—and to assess whether that why is still strong enough to justify expansion. She highlights the most frequent mistake retailers make: expanding simply because they have excess inventory, not because there is a genuine market need or operational capacity. Sarah stresses evaluating time, team bandwidth, and inventory management before committing to a new store, warning that growth without a solid plan spreads resources thin and creates bigger problems. The segment concludes with practical next steps: conduct customer interviews, clarify the why, audit time and team resources, and map out the financial implications before deciding to open a second location or focus more heavily on online channels. Listeners are encouraged to reach out with further questions, and the episode ends with host Ashley Alderson’s usual call‑to‑action for feedback and subscription.
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Hey guys, it's Sarah back from the Boutique Hub, and I'm here today to answer probably one of the most difficult questions that I am asked on the daily. Should I open a second location, or should I go full-fledged into online versus my brick-and-mortar? Well, in today's age, as time changes so quickly and we're finding the needs of our customers have changed, it's time to do a customer interview. It is time to really dive in to find out who they are and what they want and what they need and how we can serve them. I've covered that in other videos, but I just wanted to come back to that and say, before you say yes to the second store or you say yes to closing store 1 and opening strictly online and focusing there, I have to go back and ask you, what is your why? Who are those customers? Assuming that you already know that, who they are, how you're going to serve them, but then go back and decide what is your why? What's the reason you're getting out of bed every morning and continuing to do this? Have your passions changed? Because if your why is big enough, you'll find out how to do this, right? But all too often, the number one biggest mistake I see retailers make is jumping into that second location or going— trying to go more into the online space, including your brick-and-mortar, simply because we've overbought in inventory. And that's a hardship. We don't want to have to find more space just because we have a buying problem. So should you go into a second location? I'm not sure. Do you have time for that? Do you have a customer need for that? Do you have, do you have the people asking you and the team in place to make that happen? Because all of these extra things you want to take on, you're not getting any more time into your week, right? So what are you going to let go Or where are you gonna find the time to really be able to focus on these things? That's really important. So if you have a deep enough why, you're gonna figure out how to do this. Maybe it's time to assess all the other things that we're doing and decide, is that really worth it? I honestly feel like less is more. Trying to be absolutely everything to everyone is gonna spread yourself too wide, too thin, and create a lot of problems. You've probably heard me say the bigger you get, the bigger your problems, right? That comes with growth. So iron out your time, figure out what are those things most important to you, right, that you're super passionate about, and go after those first. As long as you have a customer that wants that, do those customer interviews, assess your passions, your whys, and assess your time. And that right there Should answer that question. Should I open a second location or should I deep dive further into online? Because yes, there's opportunity everywhere, every time we turn around. Because if you're listening to this and you're one of the ones that has survived the 2020 issues that happen with businesses, there's opportunities knocking every time we turn around. However, we have to be in line with those goals. We can't just say yes without a plan. So slow down, think it through, decide who you're serving, what they need. Do you have time and a passion for this effort? And if so, then it's time to put the pencil to the paper and start mapping out the financial opportunities and the gain. Don't do it just because you have too much inventory, and don't do it simply because you drove down the street and you saw, saw a building for sale or for rent. There's a lot more that goes into it. I honestly believe if you can dive in and do really awesome at the less, the more will come. All right, guys, that's all I got for today. Please don't hesitate to ask us other questions. Message me for more information. Drop your thoughts below. We'll be back soon.
Hey, guys, thanks so much for listening to 5 Minute Friday. I love getting to hang out with you here on the podcast. As always, if you love this episode, Send me a message, AJ Alderson on Instagram or @theboutiquehub, and I would love to chat with you, hear your feedback, and hear what you're doing while you're listening to the episode. If it was impactful to you, please share it with a friend or subscribe and leave a rating and review wherever it is you're listening to podcasts. You guys, I appreciate you being here. Thanks for showing up. Have a great rest of your week, and I'll see you next week on 5 Minute Friday. Bye.
