Get Your Retail Groove On (advice and tips for your Retail Career)

Whether you are opening a new retail business or seeing slumping sales in your current business, there are several factors that will determine your success. Take a look around you at business owners you admire, and then look at these seven cornerstones that help determine the success of your business. How many of these successful business owners are following these building blocks?

Consider opening a business or strengthening your business on these seven building blocks; these will make a difference within the fiscal year:

The right population in the right location
In order to grow a retail business, there must be enough people around your store to shop there and support it. It is hard to grow any retail business without a growing customer base. Be sure your retail business is located where you are attracting the right population for your store. For example, if you own a children's clothing store in a singles neighborhood, chances are your store won't do as well as if you were located in a neighborhood with lots of families. You could also be located in a place where seniors purchase clothes for their grandchildren.

Appearance
Your store should never have dirty windows or windows that are left empty instead of having merchandise displayed in them. Potential customers should see merchandise that will draw them into the store. If your store doesn't have a display window, make sure the merchandise they see on the floor nearest the window is attractive.

The inside of the store should have an easy layout and enough space to walk through the racks or the aisles. The lighting should be ample yet not glaring so customers can see the merchandise. Be sure the store looks neat and clean.

The size
Think about an appropriate size for your shop. A space that is too large may not be useful to you. Too many retailers open up shop in a space that is too large for them, paying for square footage they don't really need. On the other hand, a space that is too small may not be very customer-friendly. You want customers to be able to move comfortably around your store as they shop.

Advertising
Spend your advertising dollars wisely. Determine the right place to advertise and track how new customers hear about you. Do you want circulars, direct mail or newspaper ads? Do you want a mix of all three? Should you add radio or cable TV? Decide what amount of your budget will be spent on advertising and stick to it.

Publicity and marketing
These two elements go hand in hand. Try to get as much free publicity as you can. When you are holding a special event at your store, hire someone to send a press release to get it in the newspapers. Market your store anywhere you can by word of mouth. Join local business organizations to make sure other business people know who you are. Whenever you can, donate something to an important business-sponsored event such as a Chamber of Commerce Auction or business-sponsored charity.

Merchandising
Before bringing a new product into your store, research your marketplace. Know what products will sell in your store and price them competitively. In addition, be sure to have an assortment of merchandise to meet customer needs.

Management
Good management is essential. Good managers also lead and produce good, quality employees.

By starting with these seven cornerstones of success, you'll have a strong foundation for building a successful retail business.

Hey Keen Newbie,

Welcome to the Retail Industry!

How are you feeling?

Are you chompin' at the bit to get this thing going on?

I bet you are!

You are really going to show 'em how things should really be done, aren't you?

You're guns are a blazin' and you are geared for success.

Keep that spirit up, you are going to need it!

Even though you have thought this out and you know Retail is the career of you, you are going to meet with some resistance. Those of us who have done this for a long time know how rewarding it is, but bystanders don't always "Get It".

Stand strong!

Find mentors you look up to and learn from them.
Retail is an amazing training ground from a business and life perspective. This business takes a lot out of you, but gives back tenfold in the experiences it allows you to accumulate.
With an awesome career plan in your back pocket, a network of great and giving mentors and a dedication to yourself to keep you balanced and well throughout the process, you will have the most amazing ride!

Stay open to new information. Realize the need for constant movement and change. Celebrate all your little success. And understand that in Retail, Failures are mandatory to gain the experience you need to soar above the rest!

• One Minute Salesperson
  
• One Minute Manager
  
• FISH!
  
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
  
• First Things First

These titles will get you on your way to compiling a great and useful business based library that will support you at every phase of your career path.

Ok, so you've flown through the Keen Newbie stage, have survived being the new kid on the block, and you even have your own store.

Excellent, Congratulations, Good Work and Way To Go.

Be very proud of yourself, this is where you are going to make it all happen!

As you have now graduated from Newbiedom and are really getting your career inline...stop!
That's right stop....and consider the direction you are going in.

Becoming truly successful in your career of choice will come from the ability to be an excellent commodity manager. In order for you to become and excellent commodity manager, you truly need to have a passion for what you are doing.You would be doing yourself and others a great disservice if you settled for a company over a commodity.

Be passionate about what you do and success will come easily.

Try to make something work that just doesn't get your groove on will see you struggle.

For instance, I tried clothing retail a few times because I was impressed by the company and the person that hired me. I always looked for a master Mind in the person who I would directly report to, and when I found them, I liked to see what was going on...'cause you just never know what you might be missing out on Right:)

Bad move on all occassions.
My strength in commodity management has always fallen in hard goods. Books, art supplies, gidgets, gadgets and glasses.
I love opening a new book and hearing the crack of the spine.
I'm like a kid at Christmas when a new shipment of art supplies arrives.
Don't even get me started on kitchen gadgets.

The point is, do what you love and reap the rewards. You'll be happy, you'll be productive, ideas will flow out of you and you'll have no idea where they came from, and you will FLOURISH!!

A wise person once said "Do what you love and the money will follow" Great advise for any aspiring career retailer to follow :)

Ok, off you go to follow your PASSION!!

As a new Manager on the Move, you are probably looking at this venture, this new store of yours with great hope, and maybe even a little trepidation... kind of like... "Ok, I'm here, now what?" :)

Breathe! And when you need to, go out infront of your store, turn around 3 times, come back in and start again...trust me, it gives you a totally new perspective. And well, you do attract some attention, but that just gets people following you back in, and that's not a bad thing! ( I also advise on a Happy Dance, but we'll get to that later)

Ok, so now what... you are going to want to take a look at some key areas and assess your situation.

• What is the volume of your store?
  
• What is it's history?
  
• What are its' strengths?
  
• Where are the opportunities?
  
• What do you have for staff?
  
• What are their availabilities?
  
• What will you need for staff?
  
• Is there a Merchant's Association you can join?
  
• Is there a local Business Association you can join?
  
• What trades are in place to assist you with instore repairs?
  
• Who is your nearest competition?
  
• What are they up to? Who is their Manager? What is their staff like?
  
• Where are the handicap facilities..parking, washrooms etc.?
  
• Where's the nearest dining facility...for you and to suggest to your customers.
  
• What else is available in your general vicinity?ul>
  
  You now need to become an expert in more areas than you may have ever imagined. The hats you will wear will be many and will be varied, so you're going to have to get used to a little "hat head" along the way :)

You are going to be a leader of people of all shapes and sizes; a manager of information coming in and going out: a relationship counsellor; a boxing referee;a bit of a babysitter; a master juggler and probably at some point the chef du jour as you endeavor to keep your staff fed over the holidays!

You know all those people that extol the virtues of multi tasking? They're not going to be able to hold a candle to you!

It has always been my opinion that multi tasking is overrated. In order to do and complete a task well, it requires your undivided attention. This is a time saver, just like multi tasking is supposed to be because it takes away the need to go back and revisist something that incurred errors because it wasn't properly focused on.

Instead, I propose Working Smart...couple like tasks together so you are doing the same kinds of things at the same time. Before you begin the task at hand, think through the entire process to see if there is something else that can piggy back on your efforts, making you an efficient and Smart worker rather than a tired and haggered one that keeps having to do the same thing over and over again... but, that's just my opinion :)

Now that you have assessed the situation with your new store, it's time to turn the spotlight on to YOU...

• Where are YOU at ?
  
• What have you been doing for personal development?
  
• What did you learn during the Keen Newbie stage that you can put to work now?
  
• How's your health?
  
• When was the last time you took a vaction?
  
• Seriously... take a look at all areas of your life. Success will only be reached in balance, and if you don't implement that which will keep you Balanced now, then you'll be a goner work aholic 20 pounds over weight in a bad relationship 5 years from now.

So...

• When was the last time you were at the dentist?
  
• What was the last movie you saw?
  
• When did you last speak to your Mom?
  
• How often does your dog get walked?
  
• When was the last time you washed your car?
  
• Gotten your cards read lately?
  
• What was the last book you read?
  
• Plant anything lately?

And now for the real big ones...

• How are your finances?
  
• What types of investments do you have?
  
• What is your money doing for you these days?
  
• Again, if you don't have a solid financial plan in place at this stage, you are doing yourself a serious disservice.

Get you entire "House" in order at this stage of your career.
In "House" read...health, wealth and balance.

People are going to look to you as a Leader in all areas now. Truly lead by example by playing the very best game you can each and every day.

I always had two things to balance this out, because it does take a lot of effort to put on your "A" game everyday...use these too if you like.

I had...

"Cut Yourself Some Slack" Days...we all need a break every now and then. The only catch to this one is, that you will need to tell the people you're around that day what you're up to, and you can't have more than one person "slackin'" in a single day...and, you need to extend the "slackin'" to your team when they need it too!
The other one is my favorite...
"Fat Free Frydays"...no typo there...in my world. fries are fat Free every Friday! New York Fries loved us for that one!

Ok, as you should be well established as a mover and shaker now with all your ducks in a row and the powers that be lovelovelovin' you, let's see what your going to be up against next as a tried and true expert, or as I like to call my elite group of peers....

The Seasoned Pro's

We know, you have one step out the door, but sometimes it's really darn hard to admit it.

You are there, you have arrived, you have done all that needs doing, been there, done that and got many many t-shirts!

You are THE force to be reckoned with and those Managers on the Move aspire to be YOU!

Are you feeling like now that you have everything figured out it'll be smooth sailing until you're ready to go?

Not so much huh!

As Seasoned Pro's, we just can't put it on auto pilot or cruise control.

We just aren't wired that way. We have done a great job at training to replace ourselves, and that we have done!

So, what now? Where does that leave us? What are we to do?

You have a literal MBA's worth of knowledge under your belt....you know what they say, use it or lose it!

Time to become a mentor and spread the love.

I know you're going to say that you've been training, training and training some more for the past 15 years... time to step outside the box, and believe it or not, kick it up a notch.

You need a bigger challenge, and the day to day grind, no matter how much you love it, just isn't going to give it to you anymore.

I know you're shaking your head in agreement right now :)

Bring that knowledge of yours to the world outside your JOB!

Gosh, do you have any idea how valuable a resource you truly are?

Make a list right now of all that you have learnt over the years... the things that have impacted you to your very core and sparked some serious passion... share that, with that amount of feeling and enthusiasm!

Now, let's put together a plan of action for you...