Opening a Vape Shop in Vegas: Everything You Need to Know
What do you need to start a vape shop? Where can you get supplies & what about promotion? Here’s everything you need to know about opening a vape shop in Vegas.
In 2018, the vaping market was valued at a very respectable $14 billion. But by the time 2022 rolls around, it could be valued at more than twice that (Image by Lindsay Fox from Pixabay)
What does this mean for you? Well, for one, it means that if you’ve been thinking about opening a vape shop in a city like Las Vegas, now would be the time to do it to beat the rush!
It’s starting to feel a little bit like there’s a new vape shop opening up on every corner in the country. Despite some of the vaping bans that have been proposed in recent months, vaping is a big business that looks like it’s here to stay.
If you want to get in on the action, it’s important for you to take the right steps while you’re in the process of opening up a vape shop. Here is how you should go about doing it.
Take an In-Depth Look at the Local Vaping Market
If you’re planning on opening a vape shop in Las Vegas in 2019, realize that you’re not going to be the first vape shop in the market. The local vaping market in Las Vegas has gotten very crowded in recent years.
This doesn’t necessarily need to be a bad thing, though. It gives you an opportunity to take a close look at what other vape shops are doing so that you can find your own niche in the city.
Make it a point to go out and visit as many Las Vegas vape shops as you can. Check out which products they’re selling and, maybe more importantly, which ones they’re not.
If you visit a bunch of vape shops and realize that they’re not selling something like the best flavored CBD juice for vaping, it’ll show that there’s room for you and your expertise in the market. You can step right in and make a splash by offering something different with your vape shop.
Create a Business Plan for Your Vape Shop
Unless you have a bunch of cash stockpiled in your savings account, you’re likely going to need to acquire funding before opening a vape shop. This is going to call for you to have an airtight business plan in place.
Your business plan should include:
- Who your target market is
- How large the local vaping market is
- What your goals for your vape shop are going to be
- Why your vape shop is necessary
- How you plan to set your vape shop apart from all the rest
Essentially, your business plan should do more than enough to convince a lender or an investor that you know what you’re doing. They should feel confident in your ability to open up a successful vape shop prior to handing a stack of money over to you.
Come Up With a Name and Logo for Your Vape Shop
You can technically come up with a name for your vape shop at almost any time. If there isn’t a great name coming to you at the start of the process, there’s nothing wrong with putting a temporary name into place and coming up with something better later.
But your vape shop isn’t going to feel legit until it has a name and a logo. Kick around some ideas with your business partners, if you have any, or talk to your friends and family members about potential names.
The sooner you can get a business name and logo down on paper, the sooner you’ll be able to start creating signs and marketing materials for your vape shop.
Register Your Business and Obtain the Proper Licenses for It
Once you’re 100% sure that you want to move forward with opening a vape shop, you should register your business in Las Vegas and get your hands on all the proper licenses so that you can set up shop.
If you don’t have the slightest clue where to start, contacting the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce is a good first move. They can provide you with all the information you’ll need to get your vape shop off the ground.
Find a Prime Location for Your Vape Shop
Las Vegas is a lot larger than many people realize. It has a population of more than 640,000 people and extends over 83 square miles.
As a result, you’re going to have your work cut out for you when you start looking for a location for your vape shop. And if you pick the wrong place, it could doom your business before you even open it up.
Search different areas in the city and try to find out where there might be a need for a vape shop. You should attempt to open your vape shop in an area where there aren’t already a bunch of different options.
At the same time, you don’t want people to have to travel too far off the beaten path to find your vape shop. You’re not going to get much foot traffic if you’re situated in a slower part of town.
Invest in the Products You’re Going to Sell in Your Vape Shop
You have a name for your vape shop picked out. You’ve done all the necessary paperwork to register your vape shop. And you know right where you’re going to put your vape shop.
Everything is starting to come together! But of course, you can’t open up your vape shop without products to sell, which is why that’s what you’re going to need to worry about next.
Use your vaping expertise to pick out the products that you’re going to offer to your customers. You should offer everything from vape pens and box mods to e-juices and batteries.
Stock up on supplies for your vape shop and be strategic about it. You only want to offer the best of the best supplies so that people know they can trust you to provide them with a superior vaping experience.
Hire Experienced and Knowledgeable Employees for Your Vape Shop
When you’re first opening a vape shop, you might handle almost everything on your own. But as your vape shop gets to be even just a little bit bigger, you’re not going to be able to take care of all the things that need to be done alone.
It’s why you should begin looking for employees for your business pretty much from the beginning. Try to develop relationships with others in the Las Vegas vaping community so that you don’t have too much trouble tracking down good candidates.
Market Your Vape Shop to Those in Las Vegas
Arguably the most important part of opening a vape shop is finding the right ways to market it to the masses. No matter how great your shop looks and how amazing your vaping products are, it’ll all be for naught without a strong marketing plan.
How are you going to market your vape shop to people in Las Vegas? Are you going to:
- Go out and engage in guerilla marketing tactics?
- Utilize social media marketing to connect with potential customers?
- Set up email marketing strategies to stay in touch with customers?
- Run advertisements in local newspapers and on local radio stations?
- Sponsor community events to build up brand awareness?
Marketing your vape shop is never going to end, so choose the strategies that produce the best results and continue tweaking them over time. If you’re able to market your vape shop effectively, you shouldn’t have any issues getting people to come through your front door.
Expand Your Brand as Your Vape Shop Grows
As long as you follow all the steps listed here, you should see your vape shop start to grow almost immediately after you open it up. You’ll recoup a lot of the money you spent getting it going and see profits soon enough.
But you shouldn’t take it for granted. As we mentioned earlier, the vaping market is growing by leaps and bounds, so there are always new vape shops opening all the time. Your goal should be to stay one step ahead of them at all times.
Update your inventory with the newest vaping products every so often and listen to the feedback you receive from your customers. By doing these kinds of things, you should put your vape shop in a great position for many years to come.
Start the Process of Opening a Vape Shop in Las Vegas Today
Opening a vape shop in Las Vegas might sound simple enough. But as you’re about to find out, it takes a lot of hard work and patience. It also demands a ton of time and will force you to stay on top of things the second you start it up.
But if everything goes according to plan, it’ll be a very rewarding experience. You can make great money running a vape shop, and you’ll also be able to do something that you love at the same time.
Do you want to read more about the vaping market in Las Vegas? Browse our blog for additional articles on vaping and Las Vegas vape shops.