Business Tips By Bridgit Stone-Budd

Buying or starting a new business on Sanibel or Captiva?

Here are some things you need to know, as our market is different from where you came from!

1)  “If I build it, they will come.” This isn’t necessarily the case.

2)  We have “season.” This means you have just a few windows of opportunity to rake in the bucks:
Valentines Day through Easter, Thanksgiving weekend and the week before Christmas.

3)  Therefore, managing your cash flow is extremely important. Stash the cash like a chipmunk. You will need it to get by the rest of the year!

4)  Be open the hours that you say you’re going to be open.

5)  Be there. It’s a small island and locals as well as tourists like to be recognized and remembered by the proprietors.

6)  Your business doesn’t belong to your managers and employees…therefore, their customer service will never match yours, the owner.

7) Research the business history before you buy. Talk to locals and fellow business owners (or me at the Chamber) to get opinions on the business you plan on buying or opening.

8. If you plan on making changes to an existing business, structurally or change of use, work closely with the city of Sanibel to make sure that you aren’t going to shoot yourself in the foot.

I’ve seen too many businesses here on the islands open or change ownership only to run into the same roadblocks the previous owner(s) had.

Bridgit Stone-Budd is the Director of Marketing for Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce