Are you considering opening a dollar store? If so, never discount the demands that are associated with having a business that operates during retail hours. As with almost all retail businesses long hours and varied hours, including evenings and weekends will be required of the independent owner-operator. In fact retail stores are typically open 10-12 hours per day, often seven days per week For most who are opening a dollar store retail hours will mean that they can expect that they will need to work ten to twelve hours per day, seven days per week during the start up phase of the business. If you are in a shopping mall of any kind your actual hours of operation will be dictated for you. During the start up and early growth phases of you business you can expect that as the owner you will need to be on-site or readily available to help your new employees as they learn your policies and procedures and the demands of their specific jobs. Phone calls can and will come before during and after store hours. This is all just a part of the challenge of opening a dollar store. Many is the time that I was awakened from sleep after working twelve or thirteen hours due to a false alarm from our security system or by a supplier from a far off location who didn’t recognize the time zone differences. That is all part of the responsibility of business ownership associated with opening a dollar store. It is also a great reason to identify employees who can be trained or who are already capable of assuming more responsibility. As employees are trained and come up to speed after opening a dollar store they will require less owner hands-on support. They will be able to handle the routine tasks of store operations without help.
There are many things to consider before opening a dollar store. The long hours associated with the retail industry is one of those considerations.
To Your Dollar Store Success!
One of the biggest challenges that every small retailer who is opening a dollar store faces is having the time to complete the millions of little things that must be done each day. Many of the tasks include must-do items that are required just to keep the store(s) open and operating. Smaller retailers must remain involved in almost all aspects of the business. They simply cannot afford to hire employees to handle those duties.
There are bank deposits to make. Previous day receipts need to be counted and new cash register set-ups assembled. There is merchandise to receive and price. There are new orders to be written and forwarded. New displays need to be completed. Store signage needs to be updated. Sales and promotions need to be developed. Then there is the last minute phone call from an employee who will not be coming in to work!
With an often over whelming amount of work to be done, and a limited amount of time to complete that work, effective small business owners who are opening a dollar store must master the art of priority setting. Prioritization of tasks will insure that critical tasks for business operation are completed first. Less important tasks will remain incomplete and carryover to a time when they can be completed.
Retail tasks prioritization can quickly be completed when a set of criteria is identified. For example, the highest priority tasks might be those associated with daily store operations. In this group tasks such as cash register set-up, store cleanup and preparation for opening, daily scheduling of employees, actually opening the store, and others will be included.
The next level might be tasks associated with customer service. That might be followed by merchandising and stock work, and on down the line. All retailers who are opening a dollar store will have a little different perspective on what the right priorities for their store.
By prioritizing tasks in this manner the retailer who is opening a dollar store can be sure that the most important tasks always are completed first. By following this process, tasks that are left incomplete will have less impact on the successful operation of your business. Give prioritization a try.
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