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Everyone needs food in order to survive. And while many people have had to turn to restaurants and fast food in order to get food on the run, the retail supermarket industry is still thriving. People like to eat and they need to eat. However, getting into the retail supermarket business can be difficult, so here are some basic tips to get you started.

First of all, learn about the customers that you want to provide foods to. Are they looking for low prices or are they looking for a certain type of food * i.e. organic or local produce? Determining the kinds of customers you will cater to can help to limit the capital that you have to spend up front as well as the costs for buying products that you might not need. If you already have a location or area in mind, you might want to send out simple surveys to see what people are looking for and where they might like to see it. Include a discount coupon or some other freebie in order to get surveys returned to you * people like to be compensated for their time and their opinion.

Once you*ve determined the kind of supermarket that your customers want, you can begin to look at possible locations. People don*t like to drive too far for their food, so keeping stories in central locations is best, though you also don*t want to be somewhere that might cause traffic to become troublesome for locals as well. Look in the area to see where other popular retailers are. You might find that you can set up shop adjacent to them and help both locations out. If you have larger grocery chains in the vicinity, it can help to find a location that is at a distance so that locals can make their own choice, but that said, you will have to create some sort of incentive for them to choose you.

What's the incentive for your customers? If you*re providing a particular product to your customers, that can be all the incentive that they need * in the beginning. Organic foods, for example, are a quite lucrative right now as people are more concerned about their health and eating right. However, these foods can be expensive to purchase, so you will want to research cheaper suppliers and farmers.

It can help to research and observe successful supermarkets in your area to see how they are creating profits for themselves. Look to see what kind of variety they offer, if they rotate their products or maintain the same items throughout the year. You may want to do everything completely differently as well, but it never hurts to see what's working for someone else. You could also talk to other customers to see what else they*d like to see at popular stores in order to bring in their business to your own establishment.

Starting a retail supermarket requires capital to buy the space, products, and the employees to get everything running. But if you*ve secured your market and your products, you*re nearly ready to start cashing in on your ideas.

Copyright 2006 Jorge Olson