A carpet store sells, repairs and sometimes cleans carpets. They may sell rugs and designer carpets as well. Carpets are either sold for a flat fee and installed by the business, or are priced by square foot / square yard.
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Start a carpet store by following these 10 steps:
- Plan your Carpet Store
- Form your Carpet Store into a Legal Entity
- Register your Carpet Store for Taxes
- Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
- Set up Accounting for your Carpet Store
- Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Carpet Store
- Get Carpet Store Insurance
- Define your Carpet Store Brand
- Create your Carpet Store Website
- Set up your Business Phone System
We have put together this simple guide to starting your carpet store. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.
Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas.
STEP 1: Plan your business
A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:
- What will you name your business?
- What are the startup and ongoing costs?
- Who is your target market?
- How much can you charge customers?
Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.
What will you name your business?
Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Carpet Store Name Generator
If you operate a sole proprietorship, you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.
When registering a business name, we recommend researching your business name by checking:
- Your state’s business records
- Federal and state trademark records
- Social media platforms
- Web domain availability
It’s very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.
What are the costs involved in opening a carpet store?
Your startup costs will be between $2,000 and $10,000, depending on your location. You can start from home, or you can use a small workshop with a monthly rent of about $1,000. Expect to pay additional money for high-grade insurance.
What are the ongoing expenses for a carpet store?
Expect to pay between $4 and $5 per square foot of carpet. Your monthly utilities will be approximately $300. A carpet shop’s rent can be as much as $2,000 per month, depending on its size. Expect to pay employees between $8 and $15 per hour, depending on their expertise.
Who is the target market?
Both homeowners and businesses make excellent customers. Focus on selling high-quality carpets and on promoting carpet installation. Because businesses often have full-floor carpeting needs, they’re more likely to pay for installation jobs. They’ll also need to regularly update their carpets to keep an area managed, attractive and effective. Your showroom should promote both individual carpets and full-floor-length carpets.
How does a carpet store make money?
A carpet store makes money by selling and installing carpets, either as individual products or in custom lengths. A carpet store can also make money by installing these carpets. If this is the case, a carpet installation can be charged as either a flat fee or on a per-hour basis.
Some carpet stores may clean or repair carpets. If they’re knowledgeable about high-quality carpets, they can even restore valuable carpets. Some carpet stores may expand into the flooring business. If so, they may make money by selling, installing and repairing customer floors.
How much can you charge customers?
Expect to charge between $2 and $10 per square foot for average carpets. Installations can cost between $30 and $40 per square yard, if it’s a full-floor-length carpet. On average, you’ll make roughly $995 for a full-floor-length carpet purchase and installation.
How much profit can a carpet store make?
A beginning carpet store can make about $55,000 in its first year. It will, however, need to consistently sell carpets to remain profitable. A highly successful carpet store which caters to large audiences can make hundreds of thousands—if not millions—of dollars per year.
How can you make your business more profitable?
Expand to carpet installations as soon as possible. To be competitive, you’ll need to keep overhead costs low while maintaining inexpensive installation costs. Once you’ve established your client base, use a referral network to get more customers. By focusing on installation quickly, you’ll become a well-known, qualified installer. Otherwise, you’ll lose customers to pre-established carpet stores with years of experience.
Want a more guided approach? Access TRUiC’s free Small Business Startup Guide – a step-by-step course for turning your business idea into reality. Get started today!
STEP 2: Form a legal entity
One crucial aspect that cannot be overlooked when starting your carpet store is the importance of establishing a solid business foundation. While sole proprietorships and partnerships are the most common entity types for small businesses, they’re a far less stable and advantageous option than LLCs.
This is because unincorporated business structures (i.e., sole proprietorships and partnerships) expose you as an owner to personal liability for your business’s debts and legal actions, while LLCs protect you by keeping your personal assets separate from your business’s liabilities.
In practice, this means that if your carpet store were to face a lawsuit or incur any debts, your savings, home, and other personal assets could not be used to cover these costs. On top of this, forming your business as an LLC also helps it to appear more legitimate and trustworthy.
Ready to Turn Your Business Idea Into a Reality?
Tailor Brands is our top recommendation because it guides you through every step of the formation process with hands-on support — from paperwork and compliance to devising a detailed plan to help you achieve your business goals.
Note: If you’re interested in more information before getting started, we recommend having a look at our How to Start a Business guide (DIY) or our in-depth Best Business Formation Services review (for those opting for a professional service).
STEP 3: Register for taxes
You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.
In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It’s really easy and free!
You can acquire your EIN through the IRS website. If you would like to learn more about EINs, read our article, What is an EIN?
There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.
STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card
Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.
When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil.
Open a business bank account
Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:
- Separates your personal assets from your company’s assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
- Makes accounting and tax filing easier.
Recommended: Read our Best Banks for Small Business review to find the best national bank or credit union.
Get a business credit card
Getting a business credit card helps you:
- Separate personal and business expenses by putting your business’ expenses all in one place.
- Build your company’s credit history, which can be useful to raise money later on.
Recommended: Apply for an easy approval business credit card from BILL and build your business credit quickly.
STEP 5: Set up business accounting
Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.
Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.
STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses
Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.
State & Local Business Licensing Requirements
Certain state permits and licenses may be needed to operate a carpet store. Learn more about licensing requirements in your state by visiting SBA’s reference to state licenses and permits.
Most businesses are required to collect sales tax on the goods or services they provide. To learn more about how sales tax will affect your business, read our article, Sales Tax for Small Businesses.
Certificate of Occupancy
A carpet store is generally run out of a storefront. Businesses operating out of a physical location typically require a Certificate of Occupancy (CO). A CO confirms that all building codes, zoning laws and government regulations have been met.
- If you plan to lease a location:
- It is generally the landlord’s responsibility to obtain a CO.
- Before leasing, confirm that your landlord has or can obtain a valid CO that is applicable to a carpet store .
- After a major renovation, a new CO often needs to be issued. If your place of business will be renovated before opening, it is recommended to include language in your lease agreement stating that lease payments will not commence until a valid CO is issued.
- If you plan to purchase or build a location:
- You will be responsible for obtaining a valid CO from a local government authority.
- Review all building codes and zoning requirements for your business’ location to ensure your carpet store will be in compliance and able to obtain a CO.
STEP 7: Get business insurance
Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.
There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.
Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance. If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers’ Compensation Coverage.
Find out what types of insurance your Carpet Store needs and how much it will cost you by reading our guide Business Insurance for Carpet Store.
STEP 8: Define your brand
Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.
If you already have a logo, you can also add it to a QR code with our Free QR Code Generator. Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website.
How to promote & market a carpet store
Promote your carpet store through local carpet cleaners. You should use a referral system to gain new clients, and you should cater to businesses with in-depth carpeting needs. Any long-term projects should be business-centric, as they’re simply more profitable.
How to keep customers coming back
Mostly, you’ll attract customers by your location and grand opening event. A carpet store needs to be in a highly visible area, and it should be able to build rapport with carpet cleaning crews, home improvement stores, hardware stores, and interior design centers.
As for customer retention, make sure your services include repair and restoration. Particularly, sell high-quality carpets and sell additional restoration services. A lot of carpet owners will return to the location which sold them their carpet—so as to ensure high-quality upkeep and restorations.
STEP 9: Create your business website
After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business.
While creating a website is an essential step, some may fear that it’s out of their reach because they don’t have any website-building experience. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in 2015, web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler.
Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t delay building your website:
- All legitimate businesses have websites – full stop. The size or industry of your business does not matter when it comes to getting your business online.
- Social media accounts like Facebook pages or LinkedIn business profiles are not a replacement for a business website that you own.
- Website builder tools like the GoDaddy Website Builder have made creating a basic website extremely simple. You don’t need to hire a web developer or designer to create a website that you can be proud of.
Recommended: Get started today using our recommended website builder or check out our review of the Best Website Builders.
Other popular website builders are: WordPress, WIX, Weebly, Squarespace, and Shopify.
STEP 10: Set up your business phone system
Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. That’s not the only benefit; it also helps you make your business more automated, gives your business legitimacy, and makes it easier for potential customers to find and contact you.
There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. We’ve reviewed the top companies and rated them based on price, features, and ease of use. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems 2024 to find the best phone service for your small business.
Recommended Business Phone Service: Phone.com
Phone.com is our top choice for small business phone numbers because of all the features it offers for small businesses and it’s fair pricing.
Is this Business Right For You?
Those who have experience with flooring, home maintenance, and carpet installations are great carpet store owners. A carpet store owner should have a keen eye for quality carpets, and they should be good at gathering resources, talking to customers, and managing resources
Additionally, a carpet store owner should understand which carpets pair well with area rugs, hardwood, cork surfaces, bamboo surfaces, and wall solutions. A good owner will have a solid marketing strategy, be good at locating vendors and prioritize differentiation.
Want to know if you are cut out to be an entrepreneur?
Take our Entrepreneurship Quiz to find out!
What happens during a typical day at a carpet store?
A carpet store, day in and day out, sees retail traffic. Customers enter, browse carpets, and decide on products they would like to purchase. A carpet store may have separate cutting sections for carpets. It may also feature carpet demos on display. A carpet store may cut carpet inside, or it may simply sign up customers for later services. In the latter case, the store’s technicians will travel to the customer’s home or business. Then, they install the carpet
Other daily operations include stocking the store’s inventory, helping customers, matching good carpets with different floor materials, and processing transactions. In addition, store owners will need to handle the business’ finances, marketing, and sales strategies.
What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful carpet store?
Mostly, you’ll need to be well-versed in carpet installation, removal, protection, repair, and restoration. You should also be knowledgeable in carpet fashion, flooring, and interior design. Management, marketing, and financing skills are also useful to a carpet store owner.
What is the growth potential for a carpet store?
A carpet store can expand quite a bit. Becoming a member of the World Floor Covering Association helps, as does becoming a member of the American Floorcovering Alliance. While many carpet stores begin as local providers, many have the opportunity to become national chains.
To grow successfully, however, a carpet store needs to offer a lot of variety. It should also expand to offer luxury-style carpets and flooring. Additionally, a carpet store should assemble a team of experts. Check phone book ads, connect with other businesses on the Internet and offer a finder’s fee to any local carpet cleaning companies.
Take the Next Step
Find a business mentor
One of the greatest resources an entrepreneur can have is quality mentorship. As you start planning your business, connect with a free business resource near you to get the help you need.
Having a support network in place to turn to during tough times is a major factor of success for new business owners.
Learn from other business owners
Want to learn more about starting a business from entrepreneurs themselves? Visit Startup Savant’s startup founder series to gain entrepreneurial insights, lessons, and advice from founders themselves.
Resources to Help Women in Business
There are many resources out there specifically for women entrepreneurs. We’ve gathered necessary and useful information to help you succeed both professionally and personally:
- Funding
- Events
- Guides
- Support
If you’re a woman looking for some guidance in entrepreneurship, check out this great new series Women in Business created by the women of our partner Startup Savant.
What are some insider tips for jump starting a carpet store?
At the start, try to reduce your overhead costs as much as possible. Then, focus on building a stock while hiring showroom workers. These showroom workers should be very knowledgeable, so as to help you compete against established carpet shops. If you can’t find employees with decent experience, you’ll need to train them.
How and when to build a team
You should build a team as soon as possible. Aim to hire at least two to three showroom operators, as you’ll need to present your carpets and talk to customers about their quality. Your team can expand quite large, over time, if you’re servicing a large area.