What does the Open My Shop guide cover?

The guide covers site and lease assessment, layout and customer flow design, visual merchandising, services and infrastructure, fitout and contractor management, approvals and permits, supplier and stock setup, and launch and local marketing.

Is this guide suitable for online sellers opening a physical shop?

Yes. The guide is specifically designed for people who understand their product and customer but need a framework for the physical retail environment — including operators moving from online to bricks and mortar.

How much does the Open My Shop guide cost?

The Open My Shop guide is $97 USD, available as an instant digital download. A Launch Bonus Pack can be added at checkout for $147 total.

Open My Business — Retail Planning Guide

OPEN MYSHOP.

Layout, fitout, approvals, supplier setup and launch — a complete system for opening a retail shop that trades well from day one.

Get this guide — $97 See what's inside ↓

Guide price

$97

USD — instant download

What you get

Site & lease assessment
Layout & customer flow
Fitout & shopfitter guide
Supplier & stock setup
Visual merchandising & launch

What this guide covers

A complete system for opening a retail shop that works.

Retail is unforgiving in the first 90 days. The wrong layout, the wrong location signal, the wrong stock mix or the wrong launch approach can set a trading pattern that's difficult to reverse. Most of these decisions happen before opening — in the planning stage, when everything still feels flexible.

This guide gives you a structured way to make those decisions in the right order, with the right information — so you open with a shop that's designed to trade, not just designed to look good.

What's covered

Site & Lease AssessmentFootfall analysis, visibility, access, zoning, lease terms and services capacity.
Layout & Customer FlowTraffic path design, fixture planning, display zones, fitting rooms, counter placement.
Visual MerchandisingWindow display strategy, product hierarchy, signage and the principles that drive dwell time.
Services & InfrastructureElectrical, lighting, air-conditioning and security requirements for retail environments.
Fitout & Contractor ManagementHow to brief, quote, manage and hold a shopfitter accountable from start to handover.
Approvals & PermitsSignage approvals, DA requirements and what to expect from the council process.
Supplier & Stock SetupOpening order, stock management, POS setup and supplier relationship framework.
Launch & Local MarketingSoft opening strategy, community outreach, social setup and launch day checklist.

Where retail openings go wrong

The site.
The build.
The launch.

The Site & Lease

Taking a site because it's available rather than because it's right. The wrong location for the product type costs more than the rent.

The Fitout

Shopfitter quotes that excluded services, approvals that took longer than expected, layouts that didn't suit the stock. All preventable.

The First Season

Opening into a quiet period without enough stock depth or a marketing plan. The first season sets your baseline — make it count.

Who this guide is for

First-timers and operators who've learned the hard way.

First-Time Retailers

You know your product and your customer. This guide gives you the operational framework to translate that into a shop that actually works.

Online Sellers Going Bricks & Mortar

You have the brand and the customer base. This guide bridges the gap between online and physical retail.

Expanding Operators

You're opening your second or third location. This guide helps you replicate what worked and avoid repeating what didn't.

Get the guide

Open My Shop

The Open My Shop guide covers every stage from site selection through to launch — built from 35 years of opening retail environments across categories.

At $97, it's the most cost-effective planning tool available for first-time retail operators.

Retail planning guide

$97

USD — instant download

Guide includes

Site & lease assessment framework
Layout and customer flow planning guide
Visual merchandising principles
Fitout and contractor briefing tools
Approvals and permits pathway
Supplier setup and launch checklist

Get Open My Shop — $97 →

Instant download. No subscription.

Upgrade your order

ADD THE LAUNCH BONUS PACK

Add three expert tools to your order — a full concept-to-sales programme, a brand building playbook, and a designer briefing guide. Built from the same 35 years of experience. One-time add-on.

$97 + $50

$147

Guide + all three bonuses

Add bonuses — $147 →

Years of experience

Who built this

Experience you can actually use.

The Open My Business guides were built from 35 years of designing and opening physical venues — hundreds of real projects, with real budgets, real approvals and real consequences when things went wrong.

This isn't theory. It's what actually happens when you open a physical venue, and what you need to do about it.

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