Posted in Functional Friday, Shopkeeping talk, tagged daily operations, employees, profit, resale shopkeeping on November 6, 2015| 1 Comment »
Does this sound like you… or your staff?
when we’re tempted to procrastinate, diversions are only a click away… knowledge workers in the United States waste 25% of their time dealing with their huge and growing data streams, costing the economy $997 billion annually.
If so, this Harvard Business Review article may motivate you to re-think that “always-on” Internet connection in your shop’s workstations.
Posted in Really good ideas, Shopkeeping talk, tagged consignors, customers, daily operations, resale shopkeeping, starting a consignment shop, success on October 19, 2015| 2 Comments »
When you first started out, you probably based your business plan for your consignment or resale shop on what you wanted or thought you’d want if you were a customer. And that’s okay, ’cause you had lifelong experience as a customer. Your gut instinct (along with the advice in Too Good to be Threw Complete Operations Manual) got you started.
But now, whether you’re a year in or twenty years in, you have lost something… and it’s for the better.
You are no longer a “typical customer”… and you can no longer go with your feelings when making decisions about how your shop will grow and develop.
Instead, ask “What would my target customer like?” For example, you may have, back when you opened, chosen to have business hours that ended at 5pm. After all, we need to be home to get supper on for the family, you reasoned. Women haven’t got the time to shop after work. But if you continue to close at 5pm, because that was your decision way-back-when…. and don’t use your recent experience to observe that many of your shoppers want to shop on their way home from work… at 5:15 or 5:45 or even, depending on your market, at 6:15… you may be hampering the growth of your business.
In other words, once you become a shopkeeper,
You no longer can walk into a new-merchandise store, whether it’s a department store, a boutique, or a hardware store, the way a typical shopper would. Instead, your shopkeeper mind is cataloging a hundred things: what their signage says. Whether your ease of passage is impeded upon by displays. And so on. You are no longer, and never will be again, the typical shopper. Your personal reaction is no longer a reliable indicator of the right thing to do. But that’s okay, because you have turned into a retailer. A retailer who can ask, instead of What would I like?,
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged daily operations, employees, resale shopkeeping, small business, success on August 1, 2015| 2 Comments »
Fretting over whether the wisest course of action would be to keep working with… or dismiss… a new employee?As you may know, all my employees were hired on a trial basis, where (as I put it)
We’re trying each other on for size. You get to see if you like the job, the people, the duties… even me. And I get to do the same: observe how you work, how you interact with staff and customers, and whether you can and will accomplish a variety of tasks. If either of us decide this wasn’t a good choice, we can back out, no hard feelings, during this time period.
As Bob Phipps says here:
I’m often asked what is one of the best practices from successful retailers. It’s simple. They get rid of the bad employees sooner. Termination is just part of the retail hiring process.
Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Shopkeeping talk, tagged daily operations, resale shopkeeping, starting a consignment shop on April 9, 2015| 5 Comments »
If your consignment, resale or thrift shop is full of screechy sounds, if your fingers are full of black dirt, if your merchandise ends up with marks… it’s the accumulated soil and dust on your hangrods.
Here’s how to wax them. And no, it does NOT (more…)
Posted in economics of resale, My Favorite Things, Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged daily operations, display, Products for the Professional Resaler, resale shopkeeping, small business, starting a consignment shop, success on March 1, 2015|
Is it dreary around your neck of the woods? Would a little spring color help enliven your consignment or resale shop windows and swing shops? Here’s some Pinspiration from the TGtbT boards:
Bright colors from the ceiling down look great over furniture displays or dress form outfits. Remember doing these in grade school?
Ice cream cones: what could be yummier in a kidswear window? Surprisingly easy to make for your shop!
Another “remember when?” craft from your prepubescent years. These lanterns look especially wonderful used in tight groupings of 3 or 5.
Windows that WOW don’t happen by accident. Learn the hidden secrets of resale eye candy that nobody tells you and how to make awesome displays of your one-of-a-kind merchandise as you Display. Sell. Repeat your way to awesome profits. This 48-page PDQ shows you how to choose, create, and sell everything with affordable, time-effective ways to DIY your own “Windows Worth a Thousand Words.”
Includes a 10-point checklist for staffers to follow, FAQs, and ideas from shopkeepers like you! Make your business stand out from the crowd with windows that WOW! Order your own PDF of The Big Book of Window Displays now.
Too Good to be Threw is the flagship site of the TGtbT Family of Sites for the Professional Resalers
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 