Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

Let’s go to the mailbox! EM asked an interesting question recently:

How big a shop can one person run by themselves?

Answer: That depends. (Don’t you love answers like that?) On three things:

1. The actual square footage of the selling space of your shop. Up to 750 square feet, usually, can be adequately staffed, at least in the beginning, with a single person. That’s the size of my first shop, and just one person was usually plenty.

2. The arrangement of the space. That 750-sqare-foot selling floor, though, needs to be one big room, with no walls. if one person is working alone. With various rooms, alcoves, cubby holes, corridors, you run the risk of providing less-effective customer service, and encounter the danger of shoplifting or other undesirable activity. You can’t help a customer if you can’t see her!

3. What you’re selling.  Is what you’re selling small? That means more selection which means questions and selling suggestions would be more frequent. If you sell larger items, say couches and dining table sets, there’s less to choose from, and therefore less attention might be needed… unless, of course, those couches are pricey… in which case, more attention, and sales staff, might be called for! (See what I mean by “it depends”?) So a single worker could cover, comfortably, a larger space of larger goods and still be of assistance to shoppers.

You’ll also need to consider how you obtain your merchandise. If you’re consignment or BOR (buy-outright), who’s covering the sales floor while you’re taking items in? Agreeing to consign, or spending your budget on BOR, means incoming goods need, ethically and financially, to be ready to sell fast. None of those “I’ll get to it when I can” types of storage areas. If you operate with donations, how will they get sorted, cleaned, tagged and displayed with one person working? After hours, of course, can fulfill a lot of prep requirements, but after all, no one wants to live at their shop.

Which brings up the final consideration about staffing the store: How busy you are. The traffic walking in, both buyers and sellers, is of course, what EM is really asking about. Sure, a shop can be run by the owner alone… but will just one person ever be able to accomplish all the tasks needed to build the business beyond its first year or two? Also: how busy you are in your non-owner role: What if you catch the flu… or your child has a dance recital or you have to pick up your MIL at the airport?

And my final answer?

Get your copy PDQ

Plan, financially and mentally, on adding dependable, scheduled help, paid or family or volunteer, within 9-18 months so that the business operates smoothly… and so you don’t end up spending 80 hours a week playing catch-up all the time!

You can get more dollars out of the same space… no matter how large or small… with The Essential Guide to Using ALL Your Space, available as a PDQ download on TGtbT.com

Perhaps a more interesting question is: How LONG can I run my shop solo? Most of us start our businesses alone but how long did that last for you? Tell us, in the comments, how long before you hired help or strong-armed family and friends into real, scheduled, consistent shop help!

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