When designing your storefront, there are two major concepts to keep in mind – signage and presentation. As your storefront is your first chance at making an impression on prospective customers, it is essential that you get both of these points right. Do not underestimate the effect they have on whether customers decide to enter your store or not. You should display a large, clear professionally made sign outside of your store. It should be large enough and clear enough to be easily read from the opposite side of the road to where your store is located. If your business name does not make it obvious what your store sells then you should also include a tagline on your sign which says what type of products or services you offer. Signs inevitably start to become dirty over time so you need to be sure to clean yours every month or so, as a dirty looking sign gives a bad impression to customers. Above your main sign you might want to consider installing an awning, which will provide cover for people looking inside of your window and will make your store stand-out from those alongside it. Victorian awnings are probably your best bet if you want to do this. As for your window space, you need to use this to grab the attention of passers-by. You need to give a snap-shot of what your store has on offer. Displaying your best selling products in your store window makes sense. Also, try to include a few that are not available elsewhere in your town. As for the arrangement of the products, there is no strict rules because it really depends on what exactly you are selling. If you are stuck for ideas then take a walk around a large town near you and take some photos of the store windows of stores that sell similar items to you. If lots of other stores are taking a certain approach then you can not go far wrong by doing something similar. Remember that getting your storefront looking great is not a one-off job – you need to change things around regularly to keep people interested. How often do you need to make changes? Maybe make minor changes every week or two and big changes every month or two. It will take some time and effort but if you pay close attention to it then you will really notice the difference in the amount of money that you make.

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