Have a retail shop, whether it’s selling secondhand goods or new? Whether you’re a consignment shop or a car dealer, a resale store or a rug merchant, a charity thrift or a chair store…you have to be OPEN.
OPEN for business. Yes, that, of course. You have to unlock the door to your shop. But that’s just the first step.
You also have to OPEN your mind to different ways of doing things. You have to unlock your mind from the well-worn ruts it’s in. If you never do something new you’ll never shake your customers up. And believe me, they need shaking up. They WANT, they HUNGER, to be shaken up. Even if only for the entertainment value…which is one of those perceived value things we talked about a while back.
And you have to keep your options OPEN. From the most basic thing like don’t name your shop after a narrow range of potential merchandise like Susie’s Striped PJs if you might someday want to carry nightgowns (or sell the shop to a person named Percy), to not tying yourself into a business model that is no longer a good fit for your marketplace, open options allow you to change quickly to meet new demands. That’s one thing that small businesses have over large corporations. If you decide one day to eliminate a category, add a category, or advertise in a new medium, you don’t have to get a cadre of mid-level executives to “sign off” on your brilliant idea. Keeping your options open, as a matter of fact, might be the secret weapon of the small retailer. Adding a seamstress to your business? Connecting to a closet-organizing company? Having a trunk show for the 5 customers of yours who hold home parties?
OPEN your doors, but open your mind and your options as well. Otherwise, you coulda stood in bed.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 