WHAT DO I NEED TO OPEN A PROFITABLE RETAIL STORE ?

Planning on opening your first retail store?  Well I hope you are! 

Because if you fail to plan, your just planning to fail!

Many retail store managers go into business for themselves.  Only a few have the experience to be successful in the retail business world. 

If your planning to open your first retail store or your planning on expanding to two or more retail stores, you need to make a plan.  Financial planning is used for banks to see if your planning for success in that retail business venture.    But every thing you do should be planned out. Plans don't always work.  Sometimes you need to change plans. But winging it rarely works out well.  Unless you have won the lottery and can just throw money around, you need a plan.  Start with an outline and add details as you do your research.

Yes everyone needs some advice.  But, you if you do your homework you don't need to pay for it.  There are many places to get FREE ADVICE on how to open you first retail store.  Start here at The Retail Consultant.

    To be a successful store owner you need to keep and open mind, be organized and a strong leader.
What do you need to plan for before you can open your first small business retail store?   The following is an outlined list of things you need to plan before opening your first retail shop.

1. What kind of retail store do you want to open?
• What would you like to sell?
• What retail experience do you have?
• Location matters in what you sell in your store.
• What size store?
• Buy a franchise or start from scratch?
2. Money?
• How much money do you need to open and run my business?
• How much do you have?
• should you share the cost with a partner?
• Where do you get financing for a new retail store?
3. Location, Location, Location!
• Where?
• What size?
• Who are my customers?
• Who is my competition?
4. Permits, Licences and Taxes.
• What Permits do you need?
5. Design and Setup.
• How do I layout my retail store?
• How much merchandise do I need?
• What kind of fixtures do I need?
• What is construction of my store going to cost?
6. P.O.S. and Bookkeeping Systems.
• What is a POS system?
• What kind of POS system do I need?
• How much is it going to cost for a good retail POS System.
7. Merchandising?
• What kind of merchandise am I selling in my small retail store?
• Where do I get merchandise to sell in my store?
• How much merchandise do I need to start?
• What are the goods going to cost?
• What price do I sell the merchandise for?
• How do I keep track of Inventory?
8. Store Operations.
•  Who's working in the store and doing what?
• Human Resource Manual
• Store Operation Manual
• Merchandising Manual
• Employee handbook 
• Cashier training handbook and guide
9. Office Operations.
• Who's doing all the paperwork, payroll, and bills?
• Where am I doing the store banking?
• Who's doing the buying and pricing of the merchandise?
• Where am I doing my banking?
10. Marketing.
• Advertising and promotions.
• Signs, both outside and inside the store.
• Website and Social Media.
• How to tie it all together.
11. Making a Profit?
• Keeping good records.
• Think Shrink.
• The Bottom line of the P & L statement. 
12. Plan, Plan, and Re-plan!
• Go back to #1. start over and tweak the plan.

Did you know that not every retail store is a chain.  Some are co-ops and some are franchises.   Here's a list of places you can go to find a franchise retail store.

www.franchisee.com
www.entrepreneur.com

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How to be a Better Retail Store Manager!

How do you be a better retail store manager?

Ask yourself.  "Do I want to be a better store manager"?

"Can I be a better store manager than the last one"?

"How can I be a better store manager"?

" What's the benefits of being a better store manager"?

Having a retail store manager job is something to be really proud of. Part of you still might be nervous about your new management job.

You've probably been training as an assistant 

retail store manager, so are well aware of

the misconceptions of the store manager's duties.

We don’t need to tell you it’s more than being in charge of the store and keeping customers happy.

Your  role will involve being in charge of just the store’s sales, keeping an eye on stock levels, reordering supplies and managing and motivating your staff .

 You’ll also need to set an example to your employees and stick to company policies . It's a lot of work being a retail store manager but it's worth it.

Not sure what skills you're going to require to do the job?

How to keep the team happy?

Motivating your employees will become one of the most important parts of your job, without their help you’re in big trouble, and could even go out of business. So how do you keep your staff happy while still getting their respect?

• Take an interest
• Keep them in the loop
• Compliments cost nothing

Keep in mind how your felt when you were in there shoes.   Things that motivated you will Motivate your employees.  Things that disgruntled you will do the same to them.

Management styles

If you’re still lost and unsure about how to manage your team effectively, don’t panic! There are several different styles of management you can try.

A Better Store Manager is a Hands on Retail Manager.

• Work with your retail associates.  Teach them the right way and the wrong way to do the task at hand.  Show that your willing to help out when needed.   If your the manager who sits in the office and only comes out on the sales floor the critique, expect disgruntled employees.   
• Lead by Example!  The Ruff-riders followed  Teddy Roosevelt into battle.  He didn't stand back and say go charge up that hill alone. 

The Delegator  

Although it’s important to be aware of everything that’s going on, don’t do everything yourself, remember as manager it’s now your job to get more done than you can do yourself.

As long as you know what needs to be done, you can delegate the work to the best person and your store will still run efficiently. 

Stay Calm and Collected

Stay calm in a crisis and leave the excitement to your staff; remember if anything goes wrong the staff will look to you to lead the way. 

As a manager, you are  responsible for the whole team. You are the voice of reasoning for the group when dealing with company-wide issues. If your team let you down, you have to take it on the chin, but equally if they do well, you can be credited with the success – and that is the most rewarding part of the job.


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How Do I Open My First Retail Store?

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A Guide to Planning Your First Retail Store.

Going into a retail business for the first time takes some time, money and planning.  Here's a few things you might have not have thought of in planning out your first retail store. 

Who, What, Where, When and How?

Who's got the money to open a retail store?  Do you have enough money to open a retail store correctly?  How much do you really need?  Make a list of all the costs involved with opening a retail store, overhead, merchandise, payroll, fixtures, equipment, supplies, licenses, advertising, insurance, etc.  Then figure you need enough for at least the first 6 months of overhead costs to get started.  Plus you need to be able to pay yourself for those 6 months.  Most business don't make a profit in the first 2 years. 

A good business plan will help you get loans and attract investors.

What are you going to sell in your store?   Knowing what kind of merchandise to sell is very important.  You need to have a passion for what your going to sell or its likely your store is going to fail.  A lot of people these days are opening  those .99 cent stores.  They answer an ad for a preset turn key retail operation, not caring what they are selling.  They get suckered into a bad deal, all because it wasn't important enough.  Ask your self these questions.

1. What do you like and dislike about selling?
2. What do I have experience or knowledge in?
3. Who's going to be manning the store?
4. What's hot and what's not?
5. How is the competition for this merchandise?
6. Can I make a decent profit?
7. Do I see myself growing this into a larger chain of retail stores?

Where are you going to open up your retail store?   Location, Location, Location, its all about the location.  But have you really thought about it.

1. How big a store do you need?
2. How much us the rent?
3. Is the foot traffic worth the cost of the rent?  A mall retail store may cost 3 times  that of a strip center but only do twice the sales.  But a lost rent shopping center with a good anchor store can be more profitable.
4. How much competition is there in the area?
5. Is my store a destination stop or will you rely on the customers walking by.  ( A destination stop is a store that the customer planned to go; examples would be the grocery store or drug store. )
6. Where is the best place for my type of merchandise? 
7. What about doing business online? 

When are you going to open up your first retail store? 

1. Are you selling seasonal merchandise?
2. Are you fully prepared to open?  Customers wont trust you if you open , then close for renovations.
3. See good deals on merchandise and equipment, but not ready to rent a store, then rent a temp warehouse until you are.

How are going to run your Retail Store?  

1. Do you have a floor plan?
2. What fixtures and equipment do you need?
3. What supplies do you need?  Got enough bags?
4. How do I hire the right help?
5. Do I need a web site?
6. what my marketing plan?
7. What Laws do I need to know?  Do I collect tax?
8. What price do I charge?
9. Can I make enough profit to make a go of it?

You can't just open up a retail store and hope it will be profitable there is a lot of planning to do! 


Thanks for stopping by.  If you have a question please leave a comment.  Book mark this site for later review.



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If you are a retail professional looking to promote your own business here's your chance to get some free online exposure.

I'm looking for free magazine style articles to enhance my readers experience. You can add a link to your website, by line and about the author to promote yourself.

All I ask in exchange is you follow my blog and give me a reciprocal link back to this site.

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THE RETAIL CONSULTANT: Ways to Stop Shrink Casued By Your Employees

THE RETAIL CONSULTANT: Ways to Stop Shrink Casued By Your Employees: Employees cause to forms of shrink.  Paper shrink caused by mistakes and theft.  Here is a list of what you can do to control your shrink pr...

Why is RETAIL STORE PLANNING IMPORTANT?

PLANNING

 IS THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT THING

 A MANAGER CAN DO!

The most important thing is making the plan happen with ease.  Plan for everything.  I can't say that enough.  Retail store planning is important to more than just sales.  Want to know why employees say the boss doesn't care about them?  Don't plan for their needs just once and see what happens.  Biggest mistake a retail store manager can make is they don't think ahead.  I see it all the time from the main office to the local store.   People scratching their heads wondering what went wrong. 

 
Fail to Plan then your Planning to Fail!

Imagine  coming to work and your cashier didn't show up for work.   You give them a call to find out why.  Your cashier says it was their birthday and you told them they could have the day off.  But,  you forgot to plan ahead and get someone to work for them.   Now  the cashier thinks you didn't care enough to remember about them.  All the people you call to cover, think your hassling them because you forgot to do your job and plan ahead.  Even the nice employee who comes in every time you need them thinks you don't plan.   They come in because they can't afford to turn down extra money.  But that doesn't mean their happy to be woken up to come to work at the last minute. 

Plan ahead don't put yourself in this position!

This week I heard complaints from employees who's schedules was changed at the last minute.   Because of a holiday the stores  business pattern changed.  It was busy on a different day of the week then usual and closed in the middle of the week.  

The Store Managers forgot to plan ahead for the holiday business.  We all knew it was coming.  But they scheduled  help for a normal week.  So at the last minute people were asked to change their work schedule.   Everyone was upset! 

Unhappy Employees can make all the difference in good customer service and sale. 

The reason sales are down can be directly related to the managers not planning ahead for upcoming events!


So always think ahead.  Plan weeks in advance.  Planned changes may not always work out for everyone.  But,  everyone will know you thought about them and tried your best to make it work. 

Here are some tips to keeping your store running smoothly.

• Keep a list of employee day off requests.  Make sure everyone knows in advance that even though you will do your best, their request may not be met.  Example would be everyone wants the same day off. 
• Keep a list of when employees can and can't work on a regular basis and  keep up with the changes.   There's nothing worse than your employee not showing up for work becasue they had school.  
• Plan for scheduling changes for every holiday including days closed, days business may be slow or busier than usual.
• Plan for days schools out, you may be busier than usual. 
• Plan for known large deliveries.  You need to have help to unload a 400 case truck by hand. 
• Plan your schedule a month in advance and post it two weeks in advance.  This gives you time to adjust to problems and not fix them at the last minute.
• Keep track of business trends.  Your need to know how many employees you need and when.
• Re-order supplies and merchandise in advance so not to ever run out.   Have you ever gone into a resturant and were told they didn't have Coke or Vanilla Ice Cream.  I have, and I've never been back!  Don't ever use garbage bags in place of large shopping bags.  Its just wrong.
• Keep a clipboard hanging on the office wall with a check off list of things that need to be done  every week and make sure someone has done them. 
• Keep a list of need supplies to the person doing the order knows to order them. 

Don't post employee schedules on Thursday when the work week begins the following Sunday!  Thats rude to your employees and shows you don't care.  You would'nt like it done to you so don't do it to others. 

Fail to Plan then your Planning to Fail!

Plan for every event!
What's the worse that could happen?

 Plan for it too!

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