31 July 2009

Time for Business

In small towns across the country, something very interesting has been happening with businesses. In my town particularly, the businesses close at noon on Wednesday. I have been trying to figure out where everyone goes after noon on Wednesday.

Since I am conducting a seminar or meeting with clients, I wonder if there are secret meetings going on around town that I am missing. This phenomenon has taken some getting used to because I'm not the type of girl to wear a watch or closely track the days of the week. My internal alarm clock goes off on Fridays signaling the beginning of the weekend and Mondays letting me to get up just a bit earlier. However, I'm still having trouble setting my Wednesday clock to remind me to get my errands run before noon. I'm also struggling a bit with businesses not being open on Saturday.

Now this is really odd...there is a retail shop that is only open on the 1st and 3rd Friday and Saturday of each month. I can not imagine what their inventory turnover ratio looks like because they only have about 48 out of 365 days to sell their merchandise and they are relying on people to 1) remember the dates that they are open and 2) to have a need during those times. That seems like a huge gamble. Imagine them being open at least five days per week and hiring someone to manage the establishment during that time, if they are unavailable. I can not image that the costs would outweigh the potential revenue. If so why have the business at all?

At one point while operating my own business, I considered opening an office. I consulted with some people that I trusted and my dad brought to my attention the consequences of maintaining an office location. I enjoy traveling and having time off, however with an office space I would have to be open when people want to do business with me not when I want to be at work. There is a serious difference in these methodologies of operating.

Being open when people want to do business with you is like downtown shops being open on the weekends. If you rely primarily on locals for business then you have to be available when they are available which is generally when they get off work – evenings and weekends. You may not want to stay open late every night but you should consider staying open late one night per week for those working shoppers that can't make it to your location during banker's hours.

Also, you have to consider what closing shop at noon on Saturday is doing for your small business. Not everyone is early to rise and shop on the weekends. If you don't want to man the fort, consider employing some of our talented youth to assist you. Although we all enjoy time off, you also need to mind your business and think about when your ideal customer is most likely to come looking for your product.

For example, if you have a breakfast shop but you hate getting up early, you can't open later and assume that your customers are going to change their schedule to fit yours. They won't. They will go to the competition which is more than likely going to be a large corporation with extended hours. Sometimes we set ourselves up to fail against the larger companies. Many people want to shop with local businesses but you have to make sure that your hours, service and product are competitive.

Think about what a difference it will make in your sales and customer service if your business hours were focused around your target market instead of your personal schedule. I know it may suck, but there can be some trade off. If you notice that no one shops in your store before noon, then considering opening later so that you can stay open later. You may have the best product in town but if you are not open to show if off...no one will ever know.

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