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Western North Carolina The Mountain Region including Asheville
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Old 04-11-2017, 10:11 AM
 
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My husband and I are thinking of buying some land on the outskirts of Asheville but still being within 30 min drive of the city. I'm also considering opening up my own retail business (sort of a specialty store), but I'm concerned with the amount of business I would get living in those smaller towns.

Does anyone have experience living or having a small business in places like Weaverville, Black Mountain, Hendersonville, etc and being able to bring in steady income? We're in super early stages of planning right now, so I"m just researching demographics, average incomes, etc.


thanks
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Old 04-11-2017, 10:56 AM
 
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It is nice that you are doing a business plan before making the jump.

Check the city data icon and look up city statistics for income, ages, businesses etc. for example per capita income for Asheville is$29k, Hendersonville $22k. Type in town name and hit go. Etc.

Does your specialty product fill a need for that demographic given the high cost of living there?

Or is there enough of a target to fit your product?

are you looking at tourist business and is your product unique enough to be competitive in a tourist environment?

Speaking from experience because my parents owned a restaurant and I grew up standing on a step stool washing dishes. 10 years later everything changed in the restaurant market as Asheville became a "foodie" type place and manufacturing left. Then it became a beer place. Etc fortunately they sold out after we girls graduated from college so they did OK. But you have to meet customer needs to be successful. and I am not sure what you are offering to meet customer needs

Good luck

Last edited by theoldnorthstate; 04-11-2017 at 11:53 AM..
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Old 04-11-2017, 12:41 PM
 
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tea - where do you live now?

If you do not live in this region, my recommendation is that you not get too invested in the business idea before ever living here. It is impossible to build a solid understanding of a business market and local consumers without spending alot of time in whatever city/town you may consider. There is just too much nuance to specific markets. The exception would be if you are an experienced retailer with thorough knowledge of how to evaluate markets, open businesses and make them succeed.

Another advantage of taking it slowly and living here first is that there are a large number of small business owners here (many small specialty types) and you could connect with them and learn how they did it. One that comes to mind offering a narrow niche of products is: Asheville Bee Charmer - Raw Honey & Beauty Products They have 2 stores in metro Asheville but I have no knowledge of how well they are or aren't doing.

In doing mountains of research, spending real time here studying the market and talking to people you might even, ultimately, conclude that having a business online for your products would be better than a storefront. The costs associated with street stores are LARGE and the customer market smaller compared with online retailing.
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Old 04-11-2017, 04:54 PM
 
11,113 posts, read 19,475,635 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by teaaficionado View Post
My husband and I are thinking of buying some land on the outskirts of Asheville but still being within 30 min drive of the city. I'm also considering opening up my own retail business (sort of a specialty store), but I'm concerned with the amount of business I would get living in those smaller towns.

Does anyone have experience living or having a small business in places like Weaverville, Black Mountain, Hendersonville, etc and being able to bring in steady income? We're in super early stages of planning right now, so I"m just researching demographics, average incomes, etc.


thanks

You want to buy land 1/2 hr. outside of Asheville? then build a home on it? and open a business also? If you are a novice at running a business in any area, that combination is a mighty leap of faith. You would need a niche type business where there aren't already 3 or 4 of the same, and a large cushion of $$ to get by for quite awhile. Are you thinking "tea" room? There are already tea rooms in the small towns. Hendersonville (where I live) has two that I know of, and my group of friends don't venture out of town for a tea room. The locals don't visit them on a regular basis; more of a transient (visitors), birthday or other type of visit.

The City Data income figures are outdated, and the average income is less than the neighborhoods closer to Asheville. Tea rooms closer to or in Asheville have come and gone.

Not trying to discourage you, however, the home prices are skyrocketing here, and good land is even more difficult to find at a reasonable price. If you are thinking of putting a business 30 mins. outside of Asheville, it will depend totally on what type of businesses are 'needed', and if you can handle a slump in business in the winter months.

Best wishes on what you decide to do.
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Old 04-11-2017, 09:53 PM
 
10 posts, read 10,551 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by QuilterChick View Post
You want to buy land 1/2 hr. outside of Asheville? then build a home on it? and open a business also? If you are a novice at running a business in any area, that combination is a mighty leap of faith. You would need a niche type business where there aren't already 3 or 4 of the same, and a large cushion of $$ to get by for quite awhile. Are you thinking "tea" room? There are already tea rooms in the small towns. Hendersonville (where I live) has two that I know of, and my group of friends don't venture out of town for a tea room. The locals don't visit them on a regular basis; more of a transient (visitors), birthday or other type of visit.

The City Data income figures are outdated, and the average income is less than the neighborhoods closer to Asheville. Tea rooms closer to or in Asheville have come and gone.

Not trying to discourage you, however, the home prices are skyrocketing here, and good land is even more difficult to find at a reasonable price. If you are thinking of putting a business 30 mins. outside of Asheville, it will depend totally on what type of businesses are 'needed', and if you can handle a slump in business in the winter months.

Best wishes on what you decide to do.

haha, not, definitely not tea. I don't plan on doing it all at once, I may get transferred there for my current job so we're just looking at price ranges in different areas for land and maybe opening something up in couple years.
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Old 04-12-2017, 07:09 AM
 
11,113 posts, read 19,475,635 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by teaaficionado View Post
haha, not, definitely not tea. I don't plan on doing it all at once, I may get transferred there for my current job so we're just looking at price ranges in different areas for land and maybe opening something up in couple years.

Sorry, tried to help with what little information was given. We encourage posters to be more forthcoming about what type of business or employment they are interested in and what the timeline is for relocating. ("Super early" is not a timeline"). "Tea" came from your user name.

You're not that far away, take a few trips up here for weekends and scout around. Look on Realtor dot com for land and home prices. Prices and opportunities will be a lot different in a 'couple years'.
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Old 04-13-2017, 12:16 PM
 
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I would be also seriously concerned unless your shop was in downtown Hendersonville.
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Old 04-13-2017, 09:36 PM
 
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"We encourage posters to be more forthcoming about what type of business" -- often people do not want to reveal what type of biz they want to open....for all sorts of both relevant and personal reasons.
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Old 04-13-2017, 11:32 PM
 
231 posts, read 227,841 times
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I don't think this is the best place to ask business advice.

I always laugh when people say, "Don't start that business because there are already several of them around." What if Starbucks adhered to that advice? Or Apple? Business is all about creating something that people want.

Can those areas support your business? I dunno. Do they want it and can they afford it?
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Old 04-17-2017, 05:59 AM
 
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I lived in Western NC for three years before moving to Europe. The specific areas were in Waynesville, Sylva, and Cullowhee. Look into this area. People regularly travel between Waynesville and Sylva to get what they need. And check out Franklin too!


The one thing that most people were always needing was another oil change/inspection place or a tire place. Especially with the large student population in the Sylva and Cullowhee area. I think that business would do great in this area - there's a few but not enough.
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