Opening up a store??

[Lolobug]

Hi mama's!
Dh suggested cloth to me while I was pregnant 4 years ago. I honestly thought cloth had died out with my generation- no one I knew was using cloth! I looked into services in my area (there are none!) no other play group moms used cloth, either. We used cloth part-time for dd1 but decided to commit full-time to dd2. I discovered DS with dd2 and was shocked how many mamas still use cloth!
So here's my question... Can a small CD business survive in a non-cloth community? Anytime people discover my CD babies they ask a ton of questions and seem very intrigued yet I think people are grossed out by the idea of it. Any mama's in the same boat? Advice? TIA!!

[ursaminor]

I dont know about a diaper service, but I have heard the overhead for retail CD sales is massive and there is a very small profit margin.

[Kabuki24]

Are you talking online or actual retail store?

[toastybaby]

Running a business is tough.

If you're looking at an online-only store, the competition is crazy- they seem to be a dime a dozen, and it's hard to differentiate yourself. If you want to run an actual storefront, there's lots more overhead, with products with pretty slim margins. If you're not connected with lots of local mamas that already use cloth, finding local customers may be tough. Do your research, because the startup cost of the business can be steep, and you wouldn't want to put money into something that isn't viable. Try to figure out what the interest for a CD store in your area is before committing.

(Disclaimer: We bought an existing small CD store just a few months ago, so I'm new-ish to this too. Having a business plan and running the numbers to make sure the business is feasible is a great first step.)

[Lolobug]

Originally Posted by Kabuki24 Are you talking online or actual retail store?

Either/or

[d_arnold]

Your area is probable more cloth friendly than you think. I live in Oklahoma and had never heard of anyone CDing until I starting researching it and found we actually have a fairly large cloth community.

There's one brick and mortar store here in OKC and the business is THRIVING! There are several reasons I think it's so successful, but one is that it gives people an opportunity to see the options first hand and touch the product. They sell out of items so quickly and every time I go in there it's busy.

[abunchoflemons]

You could start out small esp if u get interest like you are saying & go from there.

[Hmicolucci]

I know of 2 stores in my area. I haven't been to the one. I only heard of it by word of mouth. The other, the mama runs out of her house. She also sells other stuff besides just cloth diapers to help people to be more green. She has an online website as well which I am sure helps her a ton. It's greenfamilyliving.com if you want to take a look to see what all she has to give you some ideas.

[lecialefty]

You could also try being a diaper consultant - the name of the website/ company escapes me at the moment though.

[Quickshep19]

Originally Posted by lecialefty You could also try being a diaper consultant - the name of the website/ company escapes me at the moment though.

Isn't it Diaper Parties? I think that would be the best bet for the OP. The internet is flooded with cloth diaper websites & so many open & close each year. It would be such a fun thing to do for a living though.