It’s Wacky Wednesday once again. A free giveaway for consignment, resale, and thrift shop owners/ managers.
Here’s a topic that proves great minds think alike: both Tiani, a new shopkeeper, and I came up with the idea of:
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
(Let’s keep it advice useful in running your consignment, thrift, or resale shop: we all know the clean-undies-under-a-bus one!)
So tell us what advice you try to heed as much as possible. You become eligible for the drawing simply by commenting here. No harder than using Sharing on the Premiere Site for Professional Resalers, Too Good to be Threw.
Remember, at least 20 responses are necessary before the drawing’s a go, so clue your resale buddies into this too! Read the rules for our giveaway.
See the Wacky Wednesday Giveaways so far.
This week’s Giveaway, sponsored by PattyH of Wandering Wardrobe in Springville Utah, is your choice of $25 worth of Too Good to be Threw‘s selection of Products for the Professional Resaler.
Let ‘er rip: what’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten to help you in your business?
Update 2-15-10: See the winner and her excellent advice.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
Look at everything you do and find ways to do it in less steps and to be able to do it faster. The bigger you get the more these little things end up costing you. Also if you can move part of the process to be done before you take control of it – that will reduce your efforts & costs.
The best advice I received was from another shop owner regarding inventory. She said “Never take in more than you can put out on the floor.” Balancing inventory is one of the most difficult things in this business. In consignment, customers receive a contract stating that their consign period starts on a certain date (usually the same day). It is our responsibility to get that inventory on the floor asap. For that reason I am very strict about how many appointments I schedule during a week to assure that everything makes it to the floor during that week. Once you get backed up with inventory, the problems begin. For that reason I do not accept any drop offs without an appointment.
Be selective!
So true, Danielle… and pay attention to what sells, so you know what to select, right?
[…] to the Products for the Professional Resaler Shop. Most popular audience-participation topics: The Best Piece of Advice You Ever Got and What Do You Love about Being a Resale […]
We are a new business, just two months old, and while my partner and I should be “crying” right now because we have been severly hurt by snow storms that have crippled the east coast, we are soldiering on and remain optimistic. The best advice we received was from each other when we were in the process of starting our business. “If if feels right, you know its right, keep going” We could have given up, and not opened the business due to the “recession”, but we know that people have to and will buy things, if only to make them feel that it’s worth getting up and going to work everyday. Is it slow, YOU BET! But, we have got to believe that we did the right thing, and that GOD did not bring us this far to fail. Thanks for all your invaluable advice Kate.
I have, over the years, been given much advice by many people. Some pertains to the running of the business, some to the customer service side, and some to being an employer. Most of the advice is good, some I took with a grain of salt (I was told by a business broker to not buy the store I ended up buying–was told it would never make money–he was quite wrong!!)
The best advice I have learned however, from my husband no less, is to treat your employees as you would want to be treated. I don’t expect my employees to do any task that I wouldn’t do myself. I give them my complete confidence in them, and I treat them with respect. I am happy to say that the only reason an employee has left my employment was because of a move to another state, or because they graduated from college and took a position in their selected field of study. Treat them well, and they will respond in kind.
I actually here this from my 20 year old daughter all the time, “You can’t change your mistakes from yesterday, learn from it and move on”. Isn’t that what we all do in this business, keep on learning, whether it from making mistakes or doing the right thing?!!!
“If your not excited to hang it up…..don’t take it!”
Enjoy the journey no matter where it leads you and never stop learning
My brain is full of advice that has been given to me, 90% of it from tgtbt. I don’t think I could narrow down to the “best advice” but I’ll share a good one.
“Run your business, don’t let your business run you”