Shelfspace for minipreneurs | Update

Last year, we reported on Yokozuna in Hamburg, EMERGE*nyc in New York, and the Residents Apparel Gallery in San Francisco. All three companies focus on providing retail space to fledgling artists or minipreneurs. This week, we spotted a similar showcase boutique in Singapore. inQbox, which stands for incubation in a box, is an uncluttered store in a Singapore mall that is stacked with well-lit, attractive shelving units. It rents out ‘boxes’ to small businesses and artists, providing them with retail and gallery space, and taking care of the daily hassle of retail. Prices for a box start at SGD 80 (EUR 40/USD 50) per month, depending on size and location within the store. Vendors are selected carefully, and the store is popular with shoppers for its unique array of wares. And lots of shoppers means valuable mini-real estate, so there’s often a long waiting list for boxes. As inQbox puts it, they aim to “encourage creativity and entrepreneurship by providing individuals with a low cost and low risk platform to develop and incubate their talents further than just a hobby, home business or side interest. This allows you to continue with your busy life, be it taking care of your children, traveling or working in a corporate firm.” They’ve hit the nail on the head with this one: as more consumers turn into (part-time) entrepreneurs, plenty of opportunities are emerging for other smart and empathetic entrepreneurs willing to facilitate manufacturing, enterprising, venturing, selling, auctioning, trading, and marketing. What can you do to make a minipreneur’s life easier, and their business better?